“But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name,” (‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬ HCSB)

As I share Jesus with people, there is one quote that many unbelievers like to use to justify not surrendering their lives to the Lordship of Christ, “I don’t need to do that because I believe we are all God’s children, and God would not punish His children.” So, when I ask them to share with me how they became “God’s children”, they reply, “We are all born children of God”.

There are so many people out there who believe this and are living in a false sense of security. They think that because they believe that they were born into this world being a child of God already, they will be spending eternity in heaven with God. However, this is not what the God they say they believe in, says.

In today’s Scripture, God, through the Apostle John, tells us the only way we can become true children of His:

1.  “But to all who did receive Him,” – this portion of the verse tells us two things, 1) “But to all” means that every single person in the world is included. Jesus reiterates this in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…”. God excludes no one from His abounding love – NO ONE (2 Peter 3:9)! 2) “who did receive Him” means those who receive and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives – those who surrender their lives to the Lordship of Christ. We must surrender our lordship over our lives, to Jesus’ Lordship over our lives. In Romans 10: 9, God says, “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
2. “He gave them the right to be children of God,” – only those who receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior are given the right to become real children of God. We are not born with that right. God gives it to those who receive Jesus’ gift of salvation through faith in what He did on the cross for all of us.
3.  “to those who believe in His name,” – it’s not just about the name, it’s about the person behind the name – Jesus, the Christ, God’s Anointed One who He sent to this world to suffer the consequences for the world’s rebellion and sin against Him so that the world may be saved through faith in Him, and Him alone.

Jesus said,

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God (John‬ ‭3:16-18‬ ‭HCSB‬‬).”

God says,

“But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! (Romans‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭HCSB‬‬).”

Sin has caused us to rebel against God. Jesus paid the consequences for our rebellion so that we can be reconciled with God:

“Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life! And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have now received this reconciliation through Him (Romans‬ ‭5:9-11‬ ‭HCSB‬‬).”

It is only when we place all our faith in confidence in what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross in such a way that we surrender our lives to His will, that we can become God’s children and inherit God’s kingdom, along with Jesus:

“All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “ Abba, Father! ” The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs — heirs of God and coheirs with Christ — seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him (Romans‬ ‭8:14-17‬ ‭HCSB‬‬).”

Are you sure you’re God’s child? If not, would you like to be certain of it? Here’s how He says you can make certain of it:

1. Recognize that you’re a sinner and thank Him for sending Jesus, His only Son, to die on the cross in order to pay the ultimate price for your sin (Romans 3:23; Romans 5:8) and raising Him from the dead in order to give you eternal life (John 3:16-18; Ephesians 1:13-14).
2. Tell Him that, at this moment, you willfully and intentionally choose to stop living your life in rebellion against Him and choose to start living your life as His disciple; that you commit to seeking Him, every day; following Him, every day; and that you will strive live in immediate, radical, costly obedience to Him and only Him, no matter the cost – even if it costs you your life (2 Corinthians 5:15; Romans 10:9-10). Then, do it.
   This is the only way you can become God’s child (John 1:12) and experience the fullness of His love, goodness, joy, peace and perfect care. Do this right now!

If you have any question, message me and let’s talk about it.

In Christ’s love,

Phil