John 1:12–13: 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.
Saint Augustine is attributed with having said of John’s Gospel: “It is shallow enough for a child not to drown, yet deep enough for an elephant to swim in it.” This is part of the prologue written by John in his Gospel. And straightaway he gets into the meat of who Jesus is. His Gospel is unlike the others. He does not start off with Jesus’ family history, or even his birth. Instead, he starts very theologically, forcing the reader back to the beginning of time: Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, John says, Jesus existed as the pre-incarnate Word of God, he was with God, and he was God; he was with God in the beginning. This is John’s way of telling us that Jesus is the second Person of the Trinitarian Godhead.
All that said, back to the text at hand. This is the great story of why Jesus came. To all who receive and believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, he gave them to right to become children of God. Of Jesus, Paul says in Colossians 1:13–15: [God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. By believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can become children of God, or as Paul says, we are transferred from the kingdom of darkness and dead in our sins, to the Kingdom of God through the finished work of Christ.
This rebirth happens not because we do anything to deserve it, not because we are born into the right family or nation, nor because we sweet talk the right person, or give enough money to the right organization. It is simply a gift by God through his grace, meaning something we do not deserve, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:8–9: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. This happens because of what Jesus Christ has done for you and me. This happens according to the will of God. I am a child of God through Christ because I have received Christ and I am a part of his family.
This text struck me as simply profound. So many times we look around and people are born into wealthy families, therefore they stand to inherit their parents’ privilege and money. Or they are born into the right nation and therefore are more blessed financially or physically than others. There are many examples of people talking their way to the top of an organization or living by the rule that money can buy everything, including leadership and influence. Yet, not so with God. God sent his Son as a gift to live a perfect life, to die a death I deserved because of my sins, and by dying that death, Jesus took the punishment of my sins, which would have been eternity in the Lake of Fire. Then he arose on the third day showing that he had defeated death. Through his resurrection, there is no need to fear death because on the other side, Jesus is waiting to receive us into his glorious Kingdom. Death is but a barrier, another step by which we become more like Jesus and we can see him face to face.
This text is profound (indeed, the whole Gospel of John is) because, it simply shows the wonderful grace exhibited by God the Father through God the Son, Jesus Christ.
The Abiding Life 