Born Of God Series

"Born of God" John 1:12-13

So many people today who experience difficulties in family, work, and many social relationships tend to blame their troubles on their background, birth or their parents, and regardless of how those factors may or may not have influenced the present, there is always the possibility of a NEW BIRTH in Jesus Christ.

Look at John 1:9 (esv): “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He (Jesus) was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” Last week we looked at verse12: “But to all who did receive him:” (Receiving Jesus is to entrust yourself to Jesus, to acknowledge all of His claims, and to confess Him as Savior and follow Him as Lord.)

“Who believed in his name”: (Knowledge of, Assent to {you are persuaded by the evidence}, Trust in and Surrender to Jesus {Allegiance}; we actively yield ourselves to the One who bears that Name, the Lord Jesus. If we are surrendering to Jesus, then we are also being obedient to Him. Obedience always accompanies believing, and believing always accompanies obedience. If you are obedient and believing, you are following Him. If you are following Him you are obedient and believing.)

“He gave the right to become children of God”: The authority to ENTER is by the Gift of God. The WORD, the Lord Jesus, gives the right to become children of God. Jesus was ALWAYS the Son of God in His Person and Deity. God in Christ issues the right for some who are spiritually dead and blind to come into the Family of God and BECOME His Beloved Children. It is God’s divine agency which initiates salvation.

NOT OF BLOOD

Now today, Verse13 explains three ways that you DO NOT become a child of God: “Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” This is also one of the main themes of John’s Gospel: The possibility of a NEW BIRTH through faith in Jesus Christ: The New Birth is the possibility of a NEW BEGINNING, a spiritual awakening, a totally NEW LIFE; If you truly want to be a child of God and live and experience His goodness and grace, the old structures must be removed if the new is going to be erected.

Our text tell us that a child of God is “BORN NOT OF BLOOD” (actually “bloods” in the plural) The word for “born” is “Genao” and it describes the commencement of life where previously none had existed. Where you are today has something to do with your physical birth: You are alive! You were born into this world, but your physical birth has absolutely nothing to do with you receiving a NEW BIRTH in Christ. Being a child of God has nothing to do with your heritage. It has nothing to do with “noble blood”. If you were born into a wealthy family, you may also be wealthy, but you are not a follower of Christ, because your parents were, and you cannot be eliminated from God’s Family if your parents were not.

There is the TV show “Blue bloods”: Everyone in the family is in law enforcement because they were “born into” their occupation. They are following their heritage. The downfall of Israel was their pride in their heritage: They so often said, “We are Abraham’s children. How could we be sinful?” God said in Deuteronomy 32:18: “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.”

The truth is that we are not “born into” God’s family at birth, and our ancestry does not give us a “Kingdom of God” edge, but neither does our heritage deter us to enter in God’s Family: We are born dead in sin and sin keeps us from being a child of God. So being a child of God is NOT OF BLOOD(S).

NOT THE WILL OF THE FLESH

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, (the second part) not of the will of the flesh.” “The Will of the Flesh” is used here in the sense of our natural human appetites, instincts, desires and even emotions. It would even include sexual impulses. What God is telling us is that you will not become a child of God through any of those exercises. Your carnal instincts, desires or emotions will not transform you into a Child of God. The “will of the flesh” does not pave the way for becoming a child of God. Becoming a child of God is not initiated in the “senses” any more than it could be accomplished by your physical birth into a noble family. Your family background did not place you in God’s kingdom, and neither do your carnal impulses place you into God’s Kingdom.