JOHN 1:10\u201313<\/b><\/p>\n
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God<\/i><\/p>\n
(John 1:12)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
When Christ entered into His public ministry, the world did not acknowledge Him. Even though Christ was God, Creator of all things, and even though all creatures should have recognized Him and worshiped Him, they rejected Him. This is a sad commentary on the state of this world. It revels in darkness, refusing to embrace or even recognize God as having any authority over it.<\/p>\n
An even sadder commentary is that which John gives concerning the Jewish people. Jesus first proclaimed the Good News to His chosen people. From the time of the fall, God set His love on a particular nation\u2014Abraham\u2019s seed. To them, He gave all the promises of the covenant. But, as Paul points out elsewhere, not all of Abraham\u2019s offspring were the true Israel. Only those who believed in the promises of God were truly His children.<\/p>\n
So when Jesus came to proclaim the coming of His spiritual kingdom to the Jews, many rejected Him. They did not acknowledge Him as their Messiah. As John puts it, they did not receive Him. They should have known Him, but because of their rebellious and stubborn hearts, they opposed Him (Isa. 1:2\u20133).<\/p>\n
Those who received Christ, whether they were Jews or Gentiles, obtained the right to become children of God\u2014to become members of the true Israel. This implies two things.<\/p>\n
First, fallen people are not children of God. They do not bear His likeness in holiness and righteousness, and they do not have intimate communion with God as their Father. Only those who have been renewed by the Spirit are adopted as children into the family of God. There is no other way to become a child of God except through faith in Christ.<\/p>\n
Second, we become God\u2019s children by His authority and His will. Our membership in God\u2019s family doesn\u2019t rest on a decision of our own wills. Nor is it rooted in physical heritage. It is a right given by God Himself to those whom He has chosen since the foundation of the world. Here God\u2019s sovereignty in redemption is stressed\u2014a needed reminder to any who think they are God\u2019s children because of their own deeds, choices, or nationality. Only those who are given faith (Eph. 2:8\u20139), the ability to receive Him, are called sons of God.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Genesis 23\u201324<\/p>\n
Matthew 8<\/p>\n
Read Galatians 3:15\u201329. How would you answer someone who says that all humans are God\u2019s children? Who are God\u2019s true children? Do you trust in Christ alone for your salvation? If you do, praise Him for the gift of faith. If not, ask Him to show you mercy by giving you faith.<\/p>\n
For further study: Luke 4:16\u201330; 14:15\u201324 \u2022 Gal. 3:15\u201329 \u2022 Heb. 1:1\u20134<\/i><\/p>\n
friday<\/p>\n
january<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JOHN 1:10\u201313 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). When Christ entered into His public ministry, the world did not acknowledge Him. Even though Christ was God, Creator of all things, and even though all creatures should have recognized Him and worshiped Him, … Continue reading “CHILDREN OF GOD”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12888\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}