John 1:10-13 - Lesson #5

The long awaited Light and giver of Life had finally arrived. The One who would right all wrongs and make order out of chaos, the One of whom the prophets had written so long ago, was right here in our midst! Should we not have rejoiced and received Him with open arms?

John 1:10-13
"He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, 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."

The first portion of this passage is a repeat of what John has already written in the previous verses; "All things were made through Him" (1:3), and "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (1:5). If this message is worth repeating so soon, it must be an amazing truth. Can it be that man is in such a sinful condition that he cannot see light when it shines in darkness? Can it be that the world is so self-consumed that it fails to see the very One who created the world? Can it be? John's answer is a resounding yes!

The Light had come first to the Jews (His own) and then to the world, but all were blind - unable to know or receive. Sin had closed our eyes such that we could not even see what Jesus came to give. And yet, John immediately gives a message of hope; "But as many as received Him, to them He gave..." How does this work where the blind can see enough to believe and become children of God? How can sinful man recognize an absolutely Holy God? John doesn't say - at least not yet. And the reason he doesn't say is that the true message of hope is that the Light is here, so believe and receive the right to become a child of God.

John will maintain this focus all through his gospel. He will teach great theological truths, but he will never lose sight of the need to believe and be born of God, "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Many people become involved in great debates about who can come to God and yet miss the point that the message is to COME! If we will receive, He will give - so receive!!

Through belief in His name, with all His name implies - Creator, Son, Savior, Lord - we receive the right to become His child. But John is quick to point out that becoming His child is not something we can just add on top of our current birth, not simply an improved life. We can only become a child of God through a birth unlike anything we know, "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (1:13). Today, all the authority of God has given us the right to be His child through belief in Jesus. Let's receive Him and begin to walk with boldness and an unshakable hope that we are born of God.