As the Light, Jesus Christ entered into humanity to make known His desire that we trust in Him in order to live in relationship with Him...

This week, we have been looking at a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of John. Wednesday, John revealed for us the reality that the Jewish people, whom God had chosen to enter into a special relationship with, responded to Jesus appearance to make Himself known and to shine a light on who He was as God in a bod by rejecting Him instead of accepting Him. Jesus, as the Light, came home and was told by the very people that He desired to have a special relationship with “we don’t accept you, go away, we don’t want you here.”

And that is how humanity throughout history has responded to God. The world, the very creation that Jesus created and everything in the creation, is hostile to God and sets itself in opposition to God and His kingdom. The entire world, me, you, humanity throughout history refused to accept and live in the relationship with God and one another that we were created for. Instead, we rejected that relationship so that we can love ourselves and do things out of that selfishness and rebellion that hurts God and others. And it is this selfishness and rebellion that the Bible calls sin. And it is this sin that separates us from God.

Now a question that arises here is “well Dave if that is the case, if what you said is true, if all of humanity refuses to accept a relationship with God Jesus but rejects God, then why did Jesus even bother to come in the first place? And how does one receive Jesus anyways? What does that mean? Today, we see John provide the answers to those questions in John 1:12:

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

In these verses we see John unpack what he means when he uses the phrase receive Him. However, to fully be able to wrap our minds around the significance of what John is saying here, we first need to wrap our mind around some words. When John uses the word received here, this word means to recognize and acknowledge one’s authority.  You see, while those in the world who place themselves in opposition to God and the kingdom of God by refusing to acknowledge, accept and recognize Jesus as God in a bod, John makes it clear that there are those who responded to Jesus making Himself known by recognizing and acknowledging who He is.

John the explains, that for those who respond to Jesus making Himself known by recognizing and acknowledging who He is, that Jesus gave them the right to become children of God. But what does that mean? John’s point here is that Jesus provides the person who recognizes and acknowledges who He is as God in a bod the capability to experience a change in their nature that results in entry into a relationship with God as part of the family of God.

John then answers the question “how does one receive Jesus” with the statement “to those who believe in His name”. Now the word believe here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, is the same word that is also translated trust in our English Bible. This word literally means to entrust oneself with complete confidence to someone or something. So to receive Jesus, John states that we need to place our confident trust in Jesus name.

Now this does not mean that we use Jesus name like it is a magic formula that we tack on to an end of a prayer. To believe in his name is to have a confident trust that Jesus is who He claims to be and who the Bible claims Him to be. It is to place our confident trust in the reality that Jesus is rightfully and accurately represented for who He is, what He has done and what He has promised to do.

John’s point here is that when we respond to Jesus making Himself known to us by placing our confident trust in Him and recognizing and acknowledging who He is by accepting Him as being large and in charge of our lives, we become a part of the family of God. That is what John is referring to in verse 13 when he uses the phrase “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” The phrase were born refers to the process by which one becomes part of the family of God as a child of God.

In verse 13, we see John reveal three ways that one does not become a part of the family of God. First, John reveals that we do not become a part of the family of God by being born of blood. This phrase refers to one’s physical birth parents and family tree. In other words, we do not become a part of the family of God in relationship with God by being born into the right family. Just because your parents or grandparents are Christians does not mean that you are automatically a follower of Jesus. And being a part of the family of God has nothing to do with one’s nationality, or ones ethnic or cultural background.

Second, John reveals that we do not become a part of the family of God by the will of the flesh. Now, the will of the flesh refers to our sexual desires. John’s point is that we do not become children of God simply because our parents desired to have children and acted on that desire to have children. Our sexual desires that result in physical birth does not result in our spiritual birth as a child of God.

Third, John reveals that we do not become a part of the family of God by the will of man. The will of man refers to our desires as human beings. John’s point here is that we do not become children of God simply because there are people around us who desire us to. And it is not our desire to perform for God by keeping a list of rules for God that results in us becoming a part of the family of God.

Instead, John explains that we become a part of the family of God as a child of God because we are born of God.  John here is revealing for us the reality that becoming a part of the family of God as a child of God is solely the result of God’s transformational activity in our lives. It is only through God’s transformational activity in our lives that flows from His desire to bring us into an eternal relationship with Him that results in us becoming a child of God as a part of the family of God.

We experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for not as a result of our resume, our relatives, or our religious performance. Instead we experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for by responding to Jesus entrance into humanity as the Light in order to make known and shine a light on who He is as God in a bod by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

And it is here that we see John begin to provide us the timeless answer as to why Jesus entered into humanity as the Light. And that timeless answer is this: As the Light, Jesus Christ entered into humanity to make known His desire that we trust in Him in order to live in relationship with Him. Jesus Christ, as the Light, left Heaven and entered into humanity as a baby born to a teenage girl in a cave that first Christmas in order to make known and shine a light on the reality that He is the One who is the real and genuine source of life and light.

And Jesus Christ, as the Light, left Heaven and entered into humanity as a baby born to a teenage girl in a cave that first Christmas in order to make known and shine a light on the reality that we can experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for as a part of the family of God by responding to God’s transformational activity in our lives through Jesus by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

So here is the question to consider: How are you responding to Jesus, as the light? How are you responding to Jesus desire that you trust in Him in order to live in relationship with Him? Are you still responding to Jesus entry into humanity in order to make known and shine a light on who He is by refusing to acknowledge or recognize Him as God in a bod? Are you still responding to Jesus entry into humanity in order to make known and shine a light on who He is as God in a bod by refusing to accept Him as Lord and Leader, but reject Him?

Are you trying to rely on your resume, your relatives, or your religious performance for God as a means by which you can become a part of the family of God as a child of God? Or are you responding to Jesus entry into humanity in order to make known and shine a light on who He is as God in a bod by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader?