John 1:9-13 PODCAST
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a man’s will, but born of God. (John 1:9-13)
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a man’s will, but born of God. (John 1:9-13)
In v.9, we are told The true light who is the Lord Jesus Christ gives light to everyone coming into the world. He uses three primary means to draw all men unto Himself: creation, man's conscience and His cross. There is no one on the face of this earth who hasn't received some form of communication from the Lord. Therefore, no one has any excuse for not believing and receiving His free gift of salvation.
According to v.10, He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. The Lord Jesus came to the land that had been promised to Abraham, to the ones who had been instructed for centuries of the coming One who would be the suffering Servant, but His people did not receive Him.
So Jesus Christ came into this world of darkness as the light of the world. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not understood it. And the darkness did not grasp the light, it could not understand it. Christ’s light-giving life is offered to all as the only remedy to our darkness problem.
In v.13, we are given the mistaken ways people think they are made right before God.
The first, not of natural descent. This means we are not made right in God's sight by inheritance, and not by human ancestry. We can grow up in a Christian home, attend a Christian school, spend all our life involved in Christian activities, but until we are born again we are not Christian.
The second, not of human decision. We cannot talk ourselves into becoming Christian. We cannot will ourselves into becoming Christian. It is only by being born again do we become Christian. It is the nature of faith to be our response to God's divine persuasion. Without His allurement, we would never come to the light.
The third, not of the will of man. It is not by any human's efforts that we become followers of Jesus Christ. No Pope, no preacher, no archbishop, no priest, no human, not even ourselves, can make us Christian. We cannot become Christian by a ceremony or by baptism.
The only way that anyone becomes Christian is discovered in v.12: he gave the right to become children of God. This is what happens when we turn to God and receive Him into our hearts. This is the new birth. This is done by being born of God. It is all by God, so it is beyond any human effort. To all who did receive him. Not all who merely believe in Him, but we must receive Him into our lives. Many people say, "I believe in Christ. I believe that he lived, that he died and rose again. I believe he was who he said he was." But that does not make us Christian. It is when we receive Him that we become Christian. It is by receiving Him, by inviting Him to make our spirit alive to Him; that is the only way into the kingdom of God.
Once we have been made alive to God, the Bible becomes a different book to us. Once we receive His life and read the Bible we will have new light. It will make sense where it never made sense before. Where once it was dull and uninviting, now it seems to come alive with revelation from God that we never had seen before. This is the mark of a new birth.
Once we have been justified and born again, we enter into a process called sanctification. It does not happen overnight. It takes place gradually. This process involves the changing of our souls which is made up of our minds, wills and emotions. Our souls begin to be influenced by Him to the point that He begins to define our thinking, our choices and our emotions.
Once born again, we begin to see Christianity differently than we did before. We recognize it as a relationship with the Lord Jesus Himself. When we read about Him in the Bible, we find ourselves relating to Him, accordingly. Where once we thought of Christianity as adhering to certain rules and rituals, we now recognize it as the interchange of our heart with His. I like how the late Mike Yaconelli put it, “Christianity is not about learning how to live within the lines; Christianity is about the joy of coloring.”
