A. There is a sense in which all people are children of God, for He is the Father of all.
1. In Ephesians 4:6, the Scripture says that there is "one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."
2. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all men. In this way, He is the Father of all, and they are all His children.
B. However, there is a more exclusive sense in which only certain persons are children of God.
1. This distinguished sense is evident in 1John 3:1-3:
1See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
2. Children of God in this special, spiritual sense must be obedient and holy, for they are redeemed by the blood of Jesus and adopted into the household of the Father (Eph. 1:3-6; 1Pet. 1:14-19).
C. Presently, let us consider who has the right to become spiritual children of God according to John 1:11-13:
11He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
II. THOSE WHO RECEIVE JESUS
A. The Lord's own people, the Jews, did not receive Him and forfeited their rights to be God's children.
1. As a people, the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah and crucified Him.
a. There were times when Jesus was popular among the Jews, but the majority merely wanted to see His miracles and did not believe in Him (John 12:37-43).
b. In the end, the multitudes of Jews turned against Him and demanded His crucifixion (John 19:6, 12, 15).
2. The Jewish people assumed the right to be God's children by virtue of their fleshly lineage through Abraham. However, Jesus showed that it was faith that defines the children of God.
a. It was not the fleshly lineage of Abraham that mattered, but rather it was the spiritual lineage of faith (see John 8:33-40; Rom. 10:6-8; Gal. 3:7).
b. When the Jews claimed that God was their Father, Jesus said, "If God were your Father, you would love Me..." (John 8:42). As it was, they did not love Him, and God was not their Father.
B. Contrary to the Jews' rejection of Jesus, those who receive Him have the right to become children of God.
1. The idea of receiving Jesus has been twisted by some to mean a mystical entrance of Jesus into the heart. This is an unscriptural concept that is closely related to the Calvinistic doctrine of irresistible grace.
2. Furthermore, the idea of receiving Jesus is sometimes considered to be a mere mental acceptance of Jesus on any level. This too is unscriptural, for even many of the Jews accepted Jesus at times as a prophet or a miracle-worker, but they still did not receive Him.
3. The correct concept of receiving Jesus can be considered to be the opposite of what the Jews did.
a. They did not believe that Jesus was the Christ or the Son of God. They also refused to comply with His words. Thus, they did not receive Him.
b. Therefore, to receive Jesus, one must believe in Him as the Christ and the Son of God and conform to His words. This is exactly what is taught in John 1:12-13, where John describes those who receive Jesus as "those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."
4. The right to become a child of God is actually a privilege granted by Christ. He bestows it only upon those who truly receive Him.
III. THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIS NAME
A. Belief in Jesus is the foremost requirement for membership in God's household.
1. Consider Christ's words when He was comforting His disciples in John 14:1-4:
1"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4And you know the way where I am going."
2. Notice that if we receive Jesus by believing in Him, then He will receive us to Himself so that we may be with Him in His Father's house.
3. The apostle Paul wrote, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26). He also wrote that through faith in Christ we "are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household" (Eph. 2:19).
B. Belief in Him is very specific. It requires acceptance of the Bible's revelation of both Jesus and His words.
1. To "believe in His name" is to believe in the reputation that is asserted about Jesus in the Bible.
a. He is reputed by the Scriptures to be the Christ, the Son of God, the Creator, the head of the church, and many other roles that are represented by His name.
b. Children of God believe in all that the Bible says about Him without exception.
c. His name has been established by God as "the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:9-11).
2. Believing in one's own personal version of Jesus is not the same as believing in His name.
a. Jesus taught that simply using His name (saying, "Lord, Lord") is insufficient. Instead, one must do the will of the Father (Matt. 7:21-23; see also Acts 19:13-17).
b. Many people claim the name of Jesus and wear the name "Christian" who do not believe or practice the will of the Lord as revealed in Scripture. Instead, they follow doctrines of men and believe unscriptural ideas about Jesus. These are not children of God.
IV. THOSE WHO ARE BORN OF GOD
A. Consider what the birth of a child of God is not.
1. The Scripture explains that this birth is "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man" (John 1:13).
2. A child of God is born "not of blood," which refutes the confidence the Jews had in their lineage from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
3. Likewise, a child of God is not born "of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man," which eliminates any manmade religion as a path to the Father.
B. Now consider what the birth of a child of God is.
1. The children of God are "born...of God" according to John 1:13. This entails several things.
a. 1John 5:1 says, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God..."
b. 1John 4:7 says, "Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."
c. 1John 3:9 says, "No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."
d. 1Peter 1:23 says, "For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God." (See also Jas. 1:18.)
2. The birth of a child of God is explained in John 3:3-6:
3Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" 5Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
3. Thus, the birth of a child of God is a spiritual birth that is associated with the medium of water (see also Tit. 3:5). This is clearly a reference to baptism into Christ through which sinners obtain a newness of life (Rom. 6:4, 11).
V. CONCLUSION
A. The right to become a child of God is available to anyone who will receive Jesus by believing in His name and being born of God according to the Scriptures.
B. Are you a child of God? If not, then receive Jesus as prescribed in the Scriptures and become God's child.
