John 1:11-13

11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Question: In your life, what did “receiving Him” look like, or mean?

There are many interesting phrases in these verses, so I looked at each of those:

His own

We read in verse John 1:3, “All things were made through Him”, so all humanity is “His” because He made it. But the very people He created would not accept Him for who He is.

Received Him

To receive Him means a lot more than merely not rejecting Him, and the second phrase, “Those who believe in His name” points to this. When we take His “name” as referring to the fullness of the person of Jesus, it means to believe in Jesus as almighty and divine, yet also the only one who being fully human was able to take the penalty of our death upon himself in our place. And that belief comes with our only realistic response, of acknowledging our infinite debt to Him, and His lordship over our lives. Anything less is disbelief.

Children of God

This means a lot more than being made tolerable despite our failures. It means being fully restored in the deepest love a father can have for his children. We see deep fatherly love in earthly terms when a father puts aside his own pleasures and interests and sacrifices his time to work to provide for his family. But our Heavenly Father has showered us with His infinite love, a love so overwhelming that we can only receive it as a picture of a father who loves you and you alone, who gives you all of his love.

And as children we have the full privilege of being fully in the family, with all of the rights that come from being children of the ruler of the universe. Yet that also comes with full responsibility, as shown by the example of Jesus, who sacrificed His life for us.

Born … of God

This new life is not produced in any way by our own effort or any human effort. In humility we need to recognise that any attempts by us only makes things worse, as that shows yet another attempt by the Adam within us to become like God, to take over things in our control. This new life is fully a gift of God through His Holy Spirit.

Personal

My experience is that the new life God has given is not one of rest and relaxation. To know and claim the miracle Jesus has won for me, puts me under His direction. And when I wait in quiet to know God’s call on my life, it is made crystal clear, and is given as the only sensible path. And that clarity is confirmed when God provides all that is needed to follow His direction.

This also applies when we are meant to cease an activity; e.g. early last year it became clear that the strength and energy to continue leading BSF was not being provided. After stepping down from that, I found the need for surgery would have prevented me from leading — it was set in God’s perfect pattern. But other activities were quickly presented as the next stage in His path, in this new life He gives in which I am fully alive and rely on His strength despite my aging body.

Praise God!