Please turn in your Bibles to John chapter 1. We'll be reading the first 13 verses of this chapter and then we'll focus our attention on verses 12 and 13. John chapter 1, 1 through 13. This is God's Word. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Let's pray once more. Father, we ask that you might do your work by your spirit in our midst this evening. We come to you in need of your work, We need to be convicted of our sin. We need to be trained in righteousness. We need Your Word, which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We need, Father, for You to magnify Your Son in the hearing of Your Word. And so, Father, we pray that You would give us ears to hear, that we would not merely be hearers of the Word, but also doers of the Word, that, Father, You would see fit to glorify Yourself through the work of Your Spirit, wielding the sword of Your Word. And we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. The Gospel of John is a book like some of the other books in our Bible in that it gives us a clear statement of purpose at the end. John tells us exactly why he writes this Gospel. He says at the end of the Gospel, these things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. And that statement, that purpose statement, governs of course the whole book and there is a sense in which that clarity, that simplicity of that statement can help us understand every chapter of it, including the verses we're going to look at today. And yet, any who study the Gospel of John, any who study it at any length, know that this Gospel also contains some of the most profound and deep theological truths, some of the most profound mysteries of the Christian faith. And so you will meet people who have read the Gospel of John and God has used this Gospel to open their eyes to the glory of Christ, to draw them to saving faith in Christ. In fact, my father, when he shared with me his own testimony of how the Lord worked in his life in his late twenties, it went something like this. Someone gave him a Bible, he was reading the Gospel of John, and God opened his eyes to the truth of Jesus Christ. And you'll meet many men and women who have that same experience. And indeed, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that is the purpose statement of the Gospel of John. And yet, you'll also meet many people who have studied this Gospel at great length and realize the depths. to which it goes. Now, we're looking at the preamble of the Gospel of John, and we'll focus on verses 12 and 13, but I want to just simply review some of the content that you just heard when I read the first 13 verses. First of all, John is revealing to us the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to whom he refers as the Word. And listen to these wonderful truths. I just want to review them for you so you don't miss them when we get to verses 12 and 13. He says in verse 1 that the Word was in the beginning. He says that the Word was both with God and was God. He says 3, that the Word is the creator of all that is. Nothing was made but through Him. He says in verse 3 that the Word is the source of life. In fact, it is quite right to call Him the life, as John does. And just as we can call Him life, we can also call Him light. According to verse 4, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. He is the light, John says, who shines in the midst of this world of darkness. And this Word, this Creator, this One who is life and light, was testified to by John the Baptist, John tells us. The Bible tells us that John the Baptist was greater than the Old Testament prophets. This light in a mystery and a wonder, that we cannot fully comprehend. This is one of the great mysteries that we encounter in the gospel of John. Came to his own people, and John tells us that he came into the world that he created, and he, the eternal word, the creator, life, and light, was rejected. John puts it this way. He came to his own people, and his own people did not receive him. But then we come to verse 12. And in verse 12, we are introduced to this glorious good news, which is that some did receive. That's how it begins, to all who did receive Him. Now, what does John mean here? by referring to those who received Christ, by who received this Word who is light and life, the incarnate Son of God. Well, the text tells us what receiving Him means. If you look at verse 12, the text tells us, to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name. In other words, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as He's revealed in the Scripture, to receive this One who is the Word, who is the Light, who is the Life, to receive Him means to believe in Him. And we'll recall then John's purpose statement where he says, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. But we want to ask ourselves, what does it mean, then, to believe? If receiving Him is equivalent to believing in His name, what does it mean to believe in His name? And I would suggest to you that one of the most basic ways in which this believing is illustrated in the Gospel of John is as Jesus Himself shows us exactly who He is. As the Gospel unfolds, we see Jesus reveal Himself. to these people and ultimately to us. He reveals himself in John 6 as the bread of life. And so what does it mean to believe in his name? Well, to believe that he is indeed the bread of life as he says. He in John 8 says that he is the light of the world. And so believing in his name must encompass that as well. In other words, there's content to it that Jesus is the one who has come as the bread of life. He's the one who has come as the light of the world. He refers to himself as the door and the good shepherd and the resurrection and the life in John 11. He refers to himself in John 14 as the way and the truth and the life and in John 15 as the true vine. So we have to say this, that to receive Jesus is to believe in Him. What does it mean to believe in Him? Well, first, it means to accept and to receive all these things that He has revealed and that God has revealed through Him about who He is. So this is an initial question we need to ask ourselves. Do you believe in this Christ? It's one thing to say that you have received Christ. It's one thing to say that you believe in Him. But is your belief in the one who is revealed on the pages of Scripture? Is the one in whom you believe a Jesus of your own invention or actually the Jesus of the Bible? Are you accepting and receiving and resting upon Christ alone as He is revealed in Scripture? for your right standing with God. And if not, if the answer to that is no, if the Jesus in whom you have placed your trust is really just a Jesus of your own imagination, a Jesus of some kind of partial teaching from the Bible, then I would say to you, the first call of this verse, the first call of verse 12, is simply this, to receive and rest in the Christ of the Bible. To receive and rest in this Word. To come to Christ in saving faith. The Bible says now is the acceptable time. And now is the day of salvation. And this could not be more important, particularly when we move on in this text. Because what we read next, in verse 12, about those who have received him, about those who have believed in him. It almost sounds too good to be true, because what it says next is this, that to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Now, What we'll see, particularly in verse 13, although we already see it revealed in verse 12, is that nothing other than trusting in Jesus Christ alone gives that right to an individual. It's only to those who believe that he gave the right to be called children of God. Makes no difference whether you have disobeyed in the past, Whether you failed to believe the truths about Christ in Scripture, the Bible says that those who believe are given the right to be children of God. Now I want you to note that John uses the word children here. It's interesting because the Apostle Paul, when he discusses some of the same truths that John's revealing here in his prologue, more often than not uses the word son rather than the word child. And there's something significant there, I think. The word son, which Paul uses to describe what it means to become a part of God's family, emphasizes something that is external and objective. More often than not, when the Apostle Paul refers to our sonship as Christians, he's referring primarily to the inheritance that we receive as sons. What a glorious doctrine that is. But as many commentators have noted, that's not the word that John uses here under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The word that John uses probably points less to the external and objective, to the inheritance that is ours in Christ, and rather points to the relational and the transformational element of being adopted into God's family. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones writes this, I think, He states it well. He says, the word children, on the other hand, and he's contrasting this with the word son, the word children, on the other hand, emphasizes something that is internal. Something that partakes of the same nature. He goes on to say that this begins to hint at what Jesus will say clearly in John 3, you must be born again. This right to be called God's child comes through a new birth. And that's quite clear in John's gospel. John is explaining it to us even now in the prologue. And this then points to One of the great truths of this verse, those who have believed in Christ, those who have received Christ in all His glory, in all the revelation we're given about Him, are those who have been born again by God. A new birth has taken place. And there are at least three significant elements to this when we tease out this idea of what it means to be called God's child. Three privileges. which come to those who, through faith, God gave the right to become children of God. The first is this, that it means that there is a new relationship that we have to God and to other people. If you are a child of God in the sense that John 1.12 speaks of, then the Bible says you have a new way of relating both to God and to others. Now, there are some today that we'll talk about All people being the children of God. In fact, Paul in Acts 17 uses this kind of language, although a different term. He says we're all God's offspring, but there he's speaking really of the fact that we're all created by God. But instead what's being described here is something different. What's being described here is that we have the kind of security that good fathers provide. And just as they provide security for us, they provide care for us. And all these things are true of those who are children of God in the sense that John 1.12 speaks of. We go through life and we face all kinds of challenges, but this text reminds us that ultimately our Father is in heaven. He cares for us. He loves us. He knows what we need before we ask. All of this comes as a result of our being His children. Jeremiah Burroughs, a Puritan writer, puts it this way, if we but knew. the privileges of adoption, what it means to be a child of God, he cites this text, then were all the riches of all the kingdoms in the world offered to us, they would be as filthy dung to us. In other words, what a great privilege this is, to have God as our Father caring for us, loving us, shepherding us, providing security to us. We also, as we emphasize the relational component of this term, we also recognize from the Scriptures that this means we have a new relationship with other Christians. As believers in Jesus Christ, as those who are truly born again by God, we're part of one household, which Paul in Galatians 6 refers to as the household of faith. Believers become our brothers and sisters in the most wonderful family that exists in this world. We're one in Christ. And as adopted children, we're invested with the rights and privileges in God's family that earthly children would enjoy in the very best of families. It's striking, isn't it, how often the Apostle Paul notes this. In fact, I'm struck particularly when reading through a book like the book of Ephesians. Paul in the book of Ephesians speaks of the glorious truths of our salvation in chapters one through three. Included among them are regeneration, what he calls spiritual resurrection. You were made alive in Christ. And then when he reflects on those truths beginning in chapter four, He says this, "...I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." He goes on to talk about the body of Christ. In other words, when Paul begins to reflect on the ethical applications of this new life that we have in Christ. He immediately thinks of the fact that we are one body together, and therefore we need to maintain this unity in Christ. More than that, you know this if you're a Christian, the Bible says that not only do we have God as our Father, and other Christians as our brothers and sisters in the family of God, children of God, The Bible also says that Jesus Christ is our elder brother in this family. In fact, this plays a significant role in what the Bible teaches about the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The very truths that John is speaking of here. Hebrews 2 puts it this way. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood. And you note that word. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same thing, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. He had to be, it says, made like his brothers in every respect. What a friend we have in Jesus. What a marvelous elder brother. That's one of the privileges of being called children of God. John puts it this way in one of his letters, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. And everyone who loves the father loves whoever has been born of him. Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. So this brings us into a new relationship with God. God as our Father, Christians as our brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ as our elder brother. But there's more to this notion of children than just that. It's a relational and also a transformational term. And this is another striking feature of this verse and this term, becoming children of God. Again, I'll quote from Dr. Lloyd-Jones, he puts it this way, the position of Christians is not that they remain what they were, somewhat better perhaps, but are now called the children of God. No, he says, they become the children of God according to John 1.12. Something happens to them. This is real transformation. In other words, what this text is telling us is that those who have received Christ, those who have believed on Him, those who have become children of God really are something new. This is why Jesus can say you must be born again. Our old self was crucified so that the body of sin would be brought to nothing and we would no longer be enslaved to sin. This of course is so significant because the Bible teaches on virtually every page the sinfulness of man by nature. By nature, our hearts are deceitful. By nature, we are bent away from God, not towards him. That out of our heart come all kinds of sins. The Bible would tell us in our fallen nature not to follow our heart because our hearts are deceitful and desperately sick. But in making us his children, he transforms us. and gives us a new heart. And this is what's promised in the Old Testament. I will give you a new heart. A new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Or as the Apostle Paul puts it when he reflects on what this means, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. I wonder if you're a Christian, what do you think God can't change in your heart? Or if you're outside of Christ, perhaps you know that you're stuck. You can make superficial changes, you can make circumstantial changes, but the heart, the heart is what matters. Because it's from the heart that all these evil things come. Children of God are given a new heart, a new nature, and, in fact, a new identity. To be called a child of God means that we have an entirely new way of identifying ourselves. In fact, the contrast is drawn quite starkly in the New Testament. We are no longer considered children of the devil or children of the world. No, we're children of God. You know, in our culture today, identity is talked about a great deal. It's not a new subject, though. Paul knew it well. Paul knew that identity could often even take on a religious tone. He speaks about this in Philippians 3. You remember he talks about the confidence he could have in the flesh were that to be where his identity was based. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to the righteousness under the law, blameless. But then he says this, speaking of his new identity in Christ as a child of God. Whatever gain I had, I count as loss for the sake of Christ. In other words, according to the scripture, there really are only two options. You are either a child of the world, and thus a child of the devil, or, or gloriously, you are one to whom he gave the right to be a child of God. This is why in the scriptures, because this change in identity is so radical, because this transformation is so thorough, because it addresses the heart. This is why in the scriptures. The Apostle Paul, for instance, can say, therefore, then, let not sin reign in your mortal body. Why? Because these things have been crucified. These things have been put to death. You are now a child of God. Don't put sin in the driver's seat. Don't let sinful desires be in charge of how you act with your body. You can no longer say, well, I'm a child of the world. This is who I am. In fact, there are probably some of you that you have sins that have taken over your life. You schedule your time around them. You expect them to be there. And to you, the Apostle Paul would say this, I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live. You are a child of God. if you truly are in Christ. That's why he can also say with equal force, do not present your members as instruments of sin, but present them to the Lord. We may not always feel this change in identity, but this text tells us that it is real, and we must act upon that reality. And you might ask this at this point. How does this new birth happen? How does it happen? What lies behind those who receive, those who believe, those who are made children of God, given this new life in Jesus Christ? This glorious new life in Christ that transforms our relationships vertically and horizontally, that transforms our identity. Well, verse 13 actually gives us some instruction on this. And you'll notice in verse 13 that it is put in a series of negatives. First, it says this, that this birth is not of blood. In other words, your family lineage in and of itself does not make you born again. Your family lineage does not make you a child of God. You may be a child of your parents, but you're not a child of God by necessity because of that. It is not, he says, of blood. We can frequently get this wrong within the church. We want to identify ourselves by our parents, by our family, by our upbringing, and all of those things may be good in and of themselves, but the Bible says that's not the mark, that's not what makes someone a child of God. Furthermore, it goes on to say, it's not of blood, nor is it of the will of the flesh. Some commentators refer this and understand this to be a comment on a mother and a father's choice. It's not simply that you were born from your parents. Actually, I think, though, it says something deeper. It says, it reminds us that in our flesh we cannot and we will not come to saving faith in God. In other words, it's not something that you inherit of your birth by nature of your parents. It's not something that you grab a hold of on the basis of your flesh. No, it's not even, according to verse 13, of the will of man at all. We are not believers who have chosen to be believers and then God makes us his children, causes us to be born again. No, it's not an act of the will of man. So what is it? Well, verse 13 tells us that those who receive Christ for who he is, those who believe in his name, those who are made his children, are made so by the grace of God. By grace you are saved, the scriptures tell us, through faith, and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, so that no man can boast. See, what these two verses teach us is that the Son of God came into the world to be rejected, but through faith in Him, we can be called children of God. Children with a new and vibrant and living relationship to our Creator from whom we were estranged. Children with an entirely new nature. removing the heart of stone, giving us a heart of flesh. The old has passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Children whose identity is not found in the vain ideas of the world. Whatever it is that we might seek for to gain our identity. Even religious things that might give us some kind of identity. No, our identity is found in the fact that we are children of God and have a secure relationship with God our Father. And you might ask at this point, what kind of a father Is God what kind of a father? Is the God who would call us His children, draw us to Himself? Well, you're perhaps familiar with the hymn that's based on Psalm 103. It describes what it's like to be a child of God, with God as our Father and Jesus Christ as our elder brother. Describes what that life is like, what this new life as a child of God consists of. You remember what it says, father like, he tends and spares us. Well our feeble frame he knows. In His hands, He gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes. And then it goes on to say, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, widely as His mercy goes. And that's an appropriate note to strike. Because you cannot help but realize in reading verse 13, that all of this is a merciful act of a loving Heavenly Father. When you realize that you are part of His family, a child of God, by grace alone, you then realize that with this new relationship, new identity, new heart, you can do nothing other than give your life in service to Him. You know, this is why In Revelation 4, that scene where these men are casting their crowns down before the Lamb, Augustine comments on that and says, it's only appropriate that they cast their crowns before him because even their crowns, even those rewards are monuments to his grace. It's by grace alone from beginning to end. That is the inescapable message of the new birth. And to that good news, to that news of God's wide mercy, His great grace, His fatherly care, His transforming power, we can only conclude this, that we must come to Jesus to receive the new life that only He can provide. And if you are in Christ, then the Scriptures would tell you to walk in newness of life. To walk as one who has become God's child. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You for the manifold blessings of Your Word, the encouragement that it brings to us, the strength that it gives. So, Father, we are so prone to wander from You, so prone to forget these basic truths. And so we would ask, by Your grace, that You would confirm them in our hearts, even this evening as we come to You. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.