Becoming Children of God (John 1:12-13)

The apostle John, in his prologue to his Gospel, informs his readers about the coming of Jesus into the world (John 1:1-18). He, who calls the Word in verse 1 and the Son of God in verse 14, became man and revealed his divine glory in a life marked by grace and truth. People responded to him by either receiving him or rejecting him.

Why should they have received Jesus? John gives two reasons. First, Jesus, as the Son of God, participated in the work of creation; it was through him that the world had been created, but they had not recognised who he was. Second, he came as the Messiah to his own people of Israel, but in the main they did not receive him as such. So he was rejected despite giving evidence that he was both the Creator and the Messiah, with the evidence being the miracles that he performed.

Yet there were some who received him, and they were given by him the right to become children of God. John is describing those who responded to Jesus while he was here on earth, that is, his disciples, although their experience was the same as those who subsequently received him when they heard the gospel after he had ascended to heaven.

John’s words are: ‘But 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’ (John 1:12-13). The contents of the verse raise three obvious questions: (1) What does it mean to believe in his name?, (2) What does it mean to have the right to this status?, and (3) What does it mean to be born of God and not born of the other options?

Believing in his name

It is obvious that this response of faith was made to Jesus and what he revealed of himself. In the rest of his Gospel, John will describe many activities of Jesus and record many of his statements about himself. He even tells readers why he wrote his account: ‘Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name’ (John 20:30-31).

It was to such information given by Jesus that individuals responded by faith. In John’s account, we read of several who discovered who Jesus was, people like the disciples mentioned in John 1, or Nicodemus and the woman of Sychar, or the blind man to whom he gave sight. They did not all have the same experience in their interaction with him, but they discovered who he was and responded to him. We also read of his miracles such as turning water into wine at a wedding or feeding a large crowd from a basket of some bread and fish; such miracles surely pointed to him being the Creator, with power to do what others cannot do. And we are also told of several self-descriptions that he made, such as when he said that he is the light of the world or the good shepherd, which at one level are claims to deity.

On one occasion, John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, sent two of his disciples to Jesus with a very important question: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ In response, Jesus acted and spoke. First, he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.’ Those actions were proofs that he was the Messiah whom God had sent to deliver his people. Then Jesus said to John’s disciples: ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me’ (Luke 7:20-23). Jesus indicated that, while he might not be the Messiah that people wanted, he was the Messiah whom God had predicted would come and who had stated the kinds of activities in which he would engage.

In that interaction with the disciples of John, Jesus revealed his character as compassionate and caring as well as showing his authority over death and disease. His character and authority were also revealed in the good news that he announced, the gospel that he declared, which was his explanation of why he was in the world and of what he would do on behalf of sinners. His actions and his message were a call to observers and listeners that he was the God-sent Messiah, with authority to deliver sinners from the consequences of their rebellion against God.

The response Jesus required of the disciples was that of faith in him based on what he had revealed about himself. They had to depend upon his character and acknowledge his authority. Although they did not grasp everything at once about Jesus, they grew in their understanding and their initial steps of faith became a steady commitment to Jesus. This growth was indicated by the disciple Peter when he answered a question from Jesus about their loyalty: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God’ (John 6:68).

It was the case that they had difficulties coming to terms with the fact that Jesus had to die at the hands of his enemies, of realising that his death was God’s way of providing atonement for their sins. Their difficulties were removed by the resurrection of Jesus and one example of such a disciple was Thomas. Although he had been absent from the first meeting the risen Jesus had with his disciples on the evening of the resurrection day, he was present at the next gathering a week later and after seeing the risen Saviour he freely expressed his faith in Jesus by saying to him, ‘My Lord and my God.’ The response of Jesus to Thomas was challenging to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’ (John 20:29). Clearly what is essential is a living faith in a living Saviour.

This faith is a response to a divine person, but it is also a response to what that divine person did. It involves commitment to him as well as dependence upon him. Dependence is necessary because he alone has performed the role of a substitute in the place of sinners when he paid the penalty of sin on the cross. Commitment is seen in them becoming his followers, clear evidence that they now are living changed lives, and are eager to be devoted to him.

Right of family membership

John mentions that Jesus gave to those who believed in him the right of family membership. This divine gift indicates that prior to them believing in Jesus they were not members of the family of God although some of them were devout Israelites living in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. It is true that God was working in some of them, such as Peter and his brother Andrew, to create a longing for his coming, and those disciples had identified with the mission of John the Baptist who announced that the Messiah’s arrival would be soon. Others were nominal Israelites, like Matthew the tax-collector, but despite his previous lack of interest he received the right of family membership at the same moment the more dedicated ones did, which was when they believed in Jesus in a personal way. But the point is obvious. Membership in the family of God followed upon faith in Jesus and did not precede it. Even the physical brothers and sisters of Jesus were outside the family of God until they believed in him as the risen Lord and Saviour.

Yet when they did believe, they discovered that they were given a right to family membership. Literally, John says that they were given power to become sons of God, which could suggest that they were given strength for this role. But the word power also has the idea of authority, and that is its meaning here. Jesus gave to his disciples the great privilege of family membership. They did not deserve it, but he gave it to them, whether their faith in him was weak or strong.

Jesus’ ability to give this status is a reminder of his great authority over sinners and in the kingdom of God. Although he has come as the lowly Messiah, as the Servant of the Lord, he is a person possessing divine authority. What he states about a situation is accurate and decisive. He speaks with the authority of heaven because he is the eternal God. He had the complete right to give this privilege to all who believed in him, and no one could prevent it from taking place.

Born of God

John is careful to ensure that his readers recognise how those disciples became the children of God. It was not because they had become the followers of Jesus. The reverse is true. They became his followers because they had become children of God. But how or why did the great change occur?

John mentions three reasons that could be suggested as causes for the change: blood, the will of the flesh and the will of man. Various suggestions have been given for what John had in mind by them. Blood seems to refer to a person’s ancestry or pedigree; the will of the flesh to sinful human desire; and the will of man to human ability. Whatever the precise meaning of those three options, the point that John is making is that the new status of being children of God does not come about by human activity or ingenuity. Instead it takes place because God has initiated it and brought it to pass.

John here is saying in one verse that which will be expanded more fully by Jesus in his dialogue with Nicodemus in John 3. In that dialogue, Jesus informs the teacher of Israel that new birth occurs by the activity of the Holy Spirit. It is he who gives new life to a sinner, and the effect of that new life is that the regenerated sinner believes in Jesus and receives him and his message.

Of course, there is a great deal of mystery about how the new birth takes place. But here we are reminded by the apostle John that the new birth is a divine activity, a divine prerogative, one that should never be assigned to a sinner be it the individual himself or anyone else who happened to interact with him at the time. It is not only a mystery; it is a miracle, an action that only God can perform. He alone can make a spiritually-dead sinner alive, he alone can illumine a spiritually-blind sinner about the truth of the gospel.