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2. The Baptist prepares the way of Christ (John 1:6-13)
JOHN 1:11-13
11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. 12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the authority to become God’s children, 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.
The people of the Old Testament belonged to God because the Lord had bound himself to these sinners through a covenant after having purified them. He guided them for hundreds of years. He ploughed their hearts with the plough of the law and prepared them for the sowing of the Gospel. In this way, the history of the descendants of Abraham was directed towards the coming of Christ. His appearance was the goal and meaning of the Old Testament.
It is a strange fact that those who were chosen to welcome the Lord Jesus rejected him and did not receive his light. They preferred to live in the darkness of the law, hurrying towards judgment. So they missed grace completely and loved their own works more than the salvation in Christ. They did not repent, but hardened themselves against the spirit of truth.
Not only the people of the Old Testament were the property of God, but also all humanity because the Almighty created stones, plants, animals and even all mankind. For this reason, the peoples of the world carry the same responsibility as the people of the Old Testament. Our Creator and Owner wants to enter our hearts and homes, so who will welcome him? You belong to God. Did you put yourself at your Lord's disposal? Unfortunately, today the majority of nations are not ready to open up to the light of Christ. They do not want the friendliness of his rays to overcome the hardness of their darkness. This way they refuse the Son of God once more in our age.
Whoever of the descendants of Abraham or of mankind in general opens his heart to Christ and commits himself into the hands of the mighty Savior, that person will experience a great miracle. For the heavenly Light will enlighten him with divine light and overcome the darkness that resides in his heart. Also, the power of God will enter his heart and renew his innermost being. Christ delivers you from the slavery of sin and will transfer you into the freedom of the children of God. If you love Christ, then the Holy Spirit will reside in you and begin his work of salvation in your life.
Now the evangelist John does not say that we shall become or that we have become children of God, but that now we become his children, growing spiritually. We find two elements in the midst of these words, for he who believes in Christ, on the one hand, enters into a new existence, but on the other hand he also begins a process of development and growth towards perfection in his spiritual life. The power of the Lord has created us as a new creation and this same power will sanctify and also perfect us.
We did not become children of God only by adoption, but we became children by spiritual birth. The descent of the Spirit of Christ into our hearts means that we have become filled with the authority of the Lord. The outpouring of this divine authority into believers points to the fact that no power in this world or at the end of time is able to hinder their becoming full of divine moral attributes. Christ is the author of faith and its perfector.
The children of God and the children of the world cannot be compared with each other. We were born from two parents who begot us by their natural drives or by their deliberate plan. Maybe they prayed together, obeying the guidance of the Spirit. But all spiritual, psychological or physical inheritance from our parents has no relationship to our new birth from God. For spiritual renewal is holy from the beginning and comes from God, from whom every Christian is born directly. For he is our true spiritual Father.
No child is able to give birth to itself. It is born, and in this way, our spiritual birth is pure grace. Christ lays the seeds of his Gospel in our hearts. Whoever loves these seeds, accepts them and keeps them. In him the eternal life of God will grow. Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.
Birth into a Christian family and association with Christians does not make us children of God, but only faith in the name of Christ. This faith means coming close to him, immersing oneself into his qualities, understanding his gentleness and growing in dependence on his power. This growth happens until we commit ourselves into his hands, believing that he saves us and transforms us into his likeness. Faith in Christ is a heart-felt relationship between ourselves and him, and an eternal covenant. The spiritual birth will not be accomplished in us except through this faith, so that we can say that being born anew is not greater or more difficult than faith, just as faith is not less or easier than renewal. They are the same.
The evangelist John did not mention in his gospel the name Jesus Christ before coming to this passage. Instead he described his personality to believers from the nations, using words close to their way of thinking. Did you understand the six meanings from these qualities of Christ that the evangelist put forward to his church? Did you open your heart to the power of these attributes and bow down to them? Then you will truly become a child of God!
PRAYER: O Lord Jesus Christ, I bow down to you and love you and open up my heart to you. You come to me in spite of my sins, you cleanse me from all my iniquity, and you take up residence in me through your Holy Spirit. O Lord, I have opened wide the doors of my heart to you.
QUESTION:
- What happens to those who accept Christ?