Born By the Will of God
- David Fairchild
- Oct 13, 2002
- Series: Gospel of John
Opening
As we begin tonight, I want to start by giving you a hint as to where we are going with the next 8 verses of John.
I know that many of you are use to powering through 2 to 3 chapters a night in your Bible studies, but I need to say that we will not be doing that as we go through this Gospel, nor any other book that we decide to teach through from first verse to last. We may, on some weeks, handle a half of a chapter, and on other weeks we may only look at one specific verse.
And I believe that God has orchestrated that each and every word be placed where He wants them and I desire to teach and to know what God is communicating to us through His word by studying it thoroughly. You can not study the Bible by powering through the whole collection of scriptures in one year, although I know many churches try. GodÂ’s word is so powerful and so full of wisdom and nourishment that my mind seems feeble every time I try to teach itÂ’s great truths. LetÂ’s allow the scriptures to teach us by carefully examining them each week and then meditating on them each and every day in our own personal study.
Tonight we will be handling verses 6-13. And in looking at these verses it became clearer to me how omnipotent or in other words, how all powerful God is.
And as we read these verses it should become clear to each of us how Sovereign God is and how much He controls to accomplish His purpose.
I would like us to consider the Fathers hand in the salvation of sinners, or as we will discover in the text, what He has done so that men will become “born of God.”
I believe we can do this by showing that God has sent: a witness, a light and a declaration.
As we cover verses 6-13 of JohnÂ’s Gospel we will doing so with that intention.
LetÂ’s prayÂ…Â…Â…Â…Â…Â…Â…
Consider with me the first of these 3 points which we see in verse 6 of John chapter 1.
The Father sends a witness (6-8)
(6) “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.”
God sent John
The first thing we should notice in this verse is that the man John, was sent from God. John did not send himself. God in His sovereign plan, chose John before time ever was, that he and only he, would be the man that would be sent to accomplish His foretold plan from the Old Testament prophets. It was GodÂ’s choosing, not JohnÂ’s, and we see all that the Lord caused to come to pass so that His will would be accomplished.
LetÂ’s think through some of what occurred as described by the other 3 Gospels:
We see that John’s birth was a miracle and that God had a special plan for Him. John’s father was Zechariah who was an on old priest and was married to an old godly woman named Elizabeth. The couple had wanted a son, however, Elizabeth was barren and unable to have children. One day Zechariahs name was drawn to enter into the temple and burn incense before God. And God sent an angel to this old man and told him that he was going to have a son and that he was to name him John, which means “Jehovah has been gracious.” The angel said he would be a blessing to his parents and great in the sight of God. The boy was to grow up sanctified and was to never drink alcohol and he would be filled with the spirit in his mothers womb and he would bring people back to the Lord like Elijah did.
Can you imagine being told such a story from an Angel that God had sent?
What would your reaction be to this?
Well, giving us a glimpse of ourselves, and our nature, God shows us what we do. If any of you are familiar with the story, you know that instead of believing God’s promises, his father doubted the words of the angel Gabriel. And God working through his sent Angel, shut up the mouth of the priest and rendered him speechless until the day of his son’s circumcision when God opened Zechariah’s mouth so that he could blurt out “He is to be called John!”
God worked in JohnÂ’s life and grew him into a strong man in body and spirit and determined his place of residence, which would be the desert, spending his nights and days eating locusts and wild honey, wearing camelÂ’s hair clothes and a leather belt.
Then around the age of 30, God worked on this man whom he had been preparing, and sent him out to began preaching that people should confess their sins to him, change their ways, and undergo a ceremonial baptism to prepare their hearts for the coming of one John considered himself unworthy to serve.
JohnÂ’s ministry had no lights, no cameras, no tapes, no CdÂ’s, no Mp3Â’s, no videos, no great sound system, no miracles or gimmicks and yet God caused the power of JohnÂ’s words to be enough to gather large crowds. Is that enough for us? Is GodÂ’s word enough that He would bring in those from all over to hear his word being spoken? I believe it is. I believe that before we ever have anything of comfort in this Church, we must first have the word of God spoken in power.
We can see why Jesus says of this man in Matthew 11:11 “…Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist….”
Consider with me the next two verses:
(7) “This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. (8) He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.” God sent John to bear witness
We see in these two verses the very reason that God sent John. Was to bear witness and give testimony of the Light. And the reason God sent John to bear witness of the Light, is so that all might believe.
This is the same man that was prophesied by Malachi in Malachi 3:1, "Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts.
Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. And after the inspired book of Malachi, there was silence from God for 400 years through His prophets, and then John Bursts on the scene as the last of the Old Testament Prophets and indeed prepares the way for the Messiah.
Also we that John makes mention of his ministry by quoting Isaiah 40:3, that his position is that of the one Crying in the wilderness to make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah said.
God chooses John as the one which will fulfill the prophecy given through Isaiah some 700 years earlier.
This was no man on his own mission and he knew it. And John spoke with a burning authority that pricked the hearts of his hearers. God had ordained from eternity past that John would be the one that He would send. JohnÂ’s entire purpose in life was to come in the world as Jesus cousin, be a witness of the light, which is Jesus, and die by being beheaded for Jesus.
And John knew, that he was not the light, and that his role was that of nothing more than a spokesman, a herald for His cousin Jesus. John, in His burning and shining brightness, considered himself nothing. Not even worthy, and yet he fulfilled his ministry to God with obedience. What great humility we see in a man that is so bold. And what great courage we seen in a man that was not even worthy of loosing the straps of the sandals of the one that he proclaimed.
Follow the example of John
Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we are to learn of anything that is given to us by this example, we should learn that John desired nothing more than to do the will of his Father that had sent him.
John had confidence that he had been thrust into this world, without his own choosing, that he was to begin and complete the work that the Father had placed before him, and that all that could be gained as his life was taken from him, even by GodÂ’s sovereign hand, was that God would receive the Glory in the obedience of his life.
His role, as is ours, is to bear witness to the light. The fact that John had to bear witness then, and that we need to bear witness now, is a sad indictment against mankind. You see only the blind need to be told when the light has burst forth with all of its glory.
We are to bear witness, we are to illuminate this darkened world with the testimony that the Light has come and that man is so darkened that he can not see it. You see, as God had so ordained, from all eternity, that John would be the one to bear witness of that light, so God has so chosen you, His elect, that you might so grasp the truth stated in Ephesians 1:4 that He chose us in Him before the foundation of the World. That this truth would so penetrate our hearts and fill it with wonder and awe, and penetrate that prideful flesh and humble us in lowly gratitude that we might participate in His great plan to usher in His Kingdom.
As we live our lives in this new ministry, may God show us that our chief end in this church and in our lives, is to give Glory to Him and Him alone. That we are to be obedient, even obedient to point of death, so that God would receive what is fully due to Him. That all honor, all Glory, and all praises would be GodÂ’s and GodÂ’s alone. And if this church or we as individuals ever attempt to take any credit or glory for His work, may God show us our sin, and may he give us a heart of confession to him, and as the scriptures say, for it is God that works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
May God grant us, that are in positions of proclaiming the Gospel, a burning and shining righteousness that is rooted in the fear of God. May we be aware of our lack of worthiness in preaching the Gospel and preparing the way of the Lord in the hearts of those that hear us.
Can you see the Fathers hand in these verses?
The Father sends a Light (9-11)
(9) “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. (10) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
(11) He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him..”
Last week we spoke of the identity of this Light, and we recognized that the Light that was being referenced was Jesus Christ Himself. And we also discussed that Jesus as the Light of the world, has given a conscience to each and ever man that comes into this world.
Again we consider GodÂ’s sovereign plan from eternity past, that Jesus would leave His throne, come into the confines of a human flesh and live a perfectly obedient life to the Law of God so that He could show us the standard that God would expect from each man.
Jesus Christ was and is the TRUE LIGHT. He is pure, He is perfect, and He is holy, and a man that does not know Jesus, should look at His perfection in awe and bewilderment, and burst in tears that he is not like Christ.
Was there truth and light in Moses day? Of course, but God so graciously showed us the TRUE LIGHT and the essence of His TRUTH all in the man named Jesus.
Oh that we would understand what Christ has done. That we as believers would appreciate the act of the Father sending the Son to accomplish His will. That we would comprehend the waves of love that God has lavished on us in sending His son. And that we would understand how God feels about the sin of man as he but used wicked man to accomplish His purpose by sending His son to be crucified. That GodÂ’s hand was the hand of the one turning the hearts of the wicked in every curse, in every spit, in every blow to the face that came from the mouth and hand of man. That God so caused men to rip His flesh open with the whips and to nail Him to a Roman cross so that Jesus could stand as the perfect light that fulfilled the perfect will of the Father.
Looking at verse 10 we see that the entire world, and as we discussed last week, all of creation, the galaxies and planets, all that we see and even what we canÂ’t see came into being through this man named Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews states in the book of Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2: “God…has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;”
We also see in the same book in chapter 11 verse 3: That, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
And as we discussed, that although the world was made through Him, man in his natural darkened state was so blind he didnÂ’t even know who he was.
Would you? Would you have known the word so well that you would have noticed Him? A better question is, do you know His voice now?
We see in verse 11 that God came to His own race. He came to the Jews and yet they would not accept Him. The promise of the Messiah coming through the bloodline of Adam, Abraham and David was not recognized by the very race that should have noticed Him first.
Paul says in the book of Acts chapter 13 verse 46: “Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.”
The word went to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. Thank God that His plan for salvation included all mankind. Both Jews and Gentiles alike.
Can you see the Fathers hand in these verses?
We have seen the Father send a witness, we have seen the Father send a Light, and now let us consider the last two verses this evening, the Father sends a Declaration.
The Father sends a Declaration (12-13)
(12) “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:”
Here we see in verse 12 that the Father sends a declaration to man in the Gospel of John. We see that the Father, after sending a witness for His son, then sending His Son as the True Light, sends through the Holy Spirit to John the words of this great declaration being proclaimed in verse 12, that as many as received His Son, He gave them the right to become His Children. Who gave the right to become His? He gave.
God is not saying that all men will receive Jesus, and God is not saying that He gave the right to all men to be Children of God. On the contrary, God says through John that only those that have received His son and His SonÂ’s claims, and only those that have believed in His Son and in His sons name, will be His Children.
Jesus holy character should cause you to confess your sins and Jesus Holy title, should cause you to place your faith in Him and Him alone for your salvation.
Jesus says in this Gospel chapter 5 verse 24: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
You must receive Jesus as the one He claims to be, the Savior, the Son, the Lord, the King and God in the flesh. And you must believe that He is, to be His child.
LetÂ’s finish this evening by looking at the last of the 8 verses we set out to consider, so that we may see once again the Hand of the Father in the Salvation of sinners.
(13) “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
LetÂ’s consider 3 negatives and 1 positive in this verse as it relates to mans salvation.
When we hear the word “born” we know from other scriptures that this means, being born of the spirit of God. It means having spiritual life. And we know that man in his native pollution, does not have spiritual life.
Contrary to the popular view of modern religion and tolerant politics, God says very clearly in the book of Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 we see mans state: 1 “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
We also see in verse 5 of Ephesians: “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),”
Also, Colossians chapter 2 verse 13 states: “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,”
You see philosophy doesnÂ’t give you life, the enlightenment offered by Buddha doesnÂ’t give you life and new age feelings, no matter how much you chant their mantras, wont give you spiritual life. Man is dead without being born of God.
Looking at this last verse, a few things become clear.
1. not born of blood. Being born of some religious heritage, will not give you entrance into GodÂ’s family.
You may falsely assume that being born in a “Christian” family, automatically makes you a Child of God. And we know that this does not give anyone life, no matter how rich their family’s lineage is in Christ, without you personally coming to repentance of your sin and faith in the Son of God, you will by no means enter God’s family.
2. nor of the will of the flesh. The second of these false assumptions is that your own flesh, your own will and your own work will place you in GodÂ’s true family.
Man is woefully deceived when he believes that his own power will grant him life. All other world religions base their salvation in something that man does.
In his pride, man attempts to earn GodÂ’s favor by jumping through hoops like a boy scout earning a merit badge. Somehow God will be so impressed that He will turn His head away from His son on the cross and see your work as better than that of Christ finished work. What a tragedy to think that you would put God in a position of debt to you because you work and deserve a wage from Him.
3. nor of the will of man. This last negative saddens a preacher of the Gospel, because if I could, I would put Christ in your heart. Yet this verse shows us that even with all my might and with all my prayers and with all of my preaching that my will can not give you life.
When preachers think they hold some power that gives them special privilege over others to bring a man into the family of God, he assumes too much of himself.
I am not capable, your mother and father are not capable, your wife or husband is not capable, your children are not capable and your friends are not capable of doing what can only be done by God Himself.
God must desire your salvation for you to be saved.
And now, stated positively in the last portion of this verse, the scriptures clearly states; but of God.
ItÂ’s not by our bloodline or lineage, it is not of our own flesh and work and it is not of my or any others hopes or desires for you. It simply is but of God
And just as God has chosen John as an instrument to be used as a witness. And just as God has chosen His Son as the sacrifice and redemption of His children. And just as God has chosen the Holy Spirit as the one that would cause our hearts to soften to His will, so God must choose you for adoption into His beloved.
The book of Acts in chapter 13 verse 48 “Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” Will you be glad and glorify the word of the Lord by believing? I pray you will.
The beauty and freedom of His word is that God only asks that we proclaim the Gospel to all men. That we send His words out with much assurance that His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
We realize our place is nothing other than a messenger of the King. We can not and will not force any of you to do what God must do in your heart.
I end by saying that you have heard His word this night, and have listened to the testimony of His Son. All that is in me and all that I hope and pray for is that you will heed itÂ’s warning and repent of your sins and put your trust, put your faith and give your life to Jesus Christ for the salvation and security of your soul.
Well saints. Can you see the Fathers hand in these verses? I pray you do.
May God be pleased to give us an increase of His Holy Spirit and a greater desire for His Holy Word. So that we can be more conformed to the image of His Son.
As we begin tonight, I want to start by giving you a hint as to where we are going with the next 8 verses of John.
I know that many of you are use to powering through 2 to 3 chapters a night in your Bible studies, but I need to say that we will not be doing that as we go through this Gospel, nor any other book that we decide to teach through from first verse to last. We may, on some weeks, handle a half of a chapter, and on other weeks we may only look at one specific verse.
And I believe that God has orchestrated that each and every word be placed where He wants them and I desire to teach and to know what God is communicating to us through His word by studying it thoroughly. You can not study the Bible by powering through the whole collection of scriptures in one year, although I know many churches try. GodÂ’s word is so powerful and so full of wisdom and nourishment that my mind seems feeble every time I try to teach itÂ’s great truths. LetÂ’s allow the scriptures to teach us by carefully examining them each week and then meditating on them each and every day in our own personal study.
Tonight we will be handling verses 6-13. And in looking at these verses it became clearer to me how omnipotent or in other words, how all powerful God is.
And as we read these verses it should become clear to each of us how Sovereign God is and how much He controls to accomplish His purpose.
I would like us to consider the Fathers hand in the salvation of sinners, or as we will discover in the text, what He has done so that men will become “born of God.”
I believe we can do this by showing that God has sent: a witness, a light and a declaration.
As we cover verses 6-13 of JohnÂ’s Gospel we will doing so with that intention.
LetÂ’s prayÂ…Â…Â…Â…Â…Â…Â…
Consider with me the first of these 3 points which we see in verse 6 of John chapter 1.
The Father sends a witness (6-8)
(6) “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.”
God sent John
The first thing we should notice in this verse is that the man John, was sent from God. John did not send himself. God in His sovereign plan, chose John before time ever was, that he and only he, would be the man that would be sent to accomplish His foretold plan from the Old Testament prophets. It was GodÂ’s choosing, not JohnÂ’s, and we see all that the Lord caused to come to pass so that His will would be accomplished.
LetÂ’s think through some of what occurred as described by the other 3 Gospels:
We see that John’s birth was a miracle and that God had a special plan for Him. John’s father was Zechariah who was an on old priest and was married to an old godly woman named Elizabeth. The couple had wanted a son, however, Elizabeth was barren and unable to have children. One day Zechariahs name was drawn to enter into the temple and burn incense before God. And God sent an angel to this old man and told him that he was going to have a son and that he was to name him John, which means “Jehovah has been gracious.” The angel said he would be a blessing to his parents and great in the sight of God. The boy was to grow up sanctified and was to never drink alcohol and he would be filled with the spirit in his mothers womb and he would bring people back to the Lord like Elijah did.
Can you imagine being told such a story from an Angel that God had sent?
What would your reaction be to this?
Well, giving us a glimpse of ourselves, and our nature, God shows us what we do. If any of you are familiar with the story, you know that instead of believing God’s promises, his father doubted the words of the angel Gabriel. And God working through his sent Angel, shut up the mouth of the priest and rendered him speechless until the day of his son’s circumcision when God opened Zechariah’s mouth so that he could blurt out “He is to be called John!”
God worked in JohnÂ’s life and grew him into a strong man in body and spirit and determined his place of residence, which would be the desert, spending his nights and days eating locusts and wild honey, wearing camelÂ’s hair clothes and a leather belt.
Then around the age of 30, God worked on this man whom he had been preparing, and sent him out to began preaching that people should confess their sins to him, change their ways, and undergo a ceremonial baptism to prepare their hearts for the coming of one John considered himself unworthy to serve.
JohnÂ’s ministry had no lights, no cameras, no tapes, no CdÂ’s, no Mp3Â’s, no videos, no great sound system, no miracles or gimmicks and yet God caused the power of JohnÂ’s words to be enough to gather large crowds. Is that enough for us? Is GodÂ’s word enough that He would bring in those from all over to hear his word being spoken? I believe it is. I believe that before we ever have anything of comfort in this Church, we must first have the word of God spoken in power.
We can see why Jesus says of this man in Matthew 11:11 “…Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist….”
Consider with me the next two verses:
(7) “This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. (8) He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.” God sent John to bear witness
We see in these two verses the very reason that God sent John. Was to bear witness and give testimony of the Light. And the reason God sent John to bear witness of the Light, is so that all might believe.
This is the same man that was prophesied by Malachi in Malachi 3:1, "Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts.
Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. And after the inspired book of Malachi, there was silence from God for 400 years through His prophets, and then John Bursts on the scene as the last of the Old Testament Prophets and indeed prepares the way for the Messiah.
Also we that John makes mention of his ministry by quoting Isaiah 40:3, that his position is that of the one Crying in the wilderness to make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah said.
God chooses John as the one which will fulfill the prophecy given through Isaiah some 700 years earlier.
This was no man on his own mission and he knew it. And John spoke with a burning authority that pricked the hearts of his hearers. God had ordained from eternity past that John would be the one that He would send. JohnÂ’s entire purpose in life was to come in the world as Jesus cousin, be a witness of the light, which is Jesus, and die by being beheaded for Jesus.
And John knew, that he was not the light, and that his role was that of nothing more than a spokesman, a herald for His cousin Jesus. John, in His burning and shining brightness, considered himself nothing. Not even worthy, and yet he fulfilled his ministry to God with obedience. What great humility we see in a man that is so bold. And what great courage we seen in a man that was not even worthy of loosing the straps of the sandals of the one that he proclaimed.
Follow the example of John
Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we are to learn of anything that is given to us by this example, we should learn that John desired nothing more than to do the will of his Father that had sent him.
John had confidence that he had been thrust into this world, without his own choosing, that he was to begin and complete the work that the Father had placed before him, and that all that could be gained as his life was taken from him, even by GodÂ’s sovereign hand, was that God would receive the Glory in the obedience of his life.
His role, as is ours, is to bear witness to the light. The fact that John had to bear witness then, and that we need to bear witness now, is a sad indictment against mankind. You see only the blind need to be told when the light has burst forth with all of its glory.
We are to bear witness, we are to illuminate this darkened world with the testimony that the Light has come and that man is so darkened that he can not see it. You see, as God had so ordained, from all eternity, that John would be the one to bear witness of that light, so God has so chosen you, His elect, that you might so grasp the truth stated in Ephesians 1:4 that He chose us in Him before the foundation of the World. That this truth would so penetrate our hearts and fill it with wonder and awe, and penetrate that prideful flesh and humble us in lowly gratitude that we might participate in His great plan to usher in His Kingdom.
As we live our lives in this new ministry, may God show us that our chief end in this church and in our lives, is to give Glory to Him and Him alone. That we are to be obedient, even obedient to point of death, so that God would receive what is fully due to Him. That all honor, all Glory, and all praises would be GodÂ’s and GodÂ’s alone. And if this church or we as individuals ever attempt to take any credit or glory for His work, may God show us our sin, and may he give us a heart of confession to him, and as the scriptures say, for it is God that works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
May God grant us, that are in positions of proclaiming the Gospel, a burning and shining righteousness that is rooted in the fear of God. May we be aware of our lack of worthiness in preaching the Gospel and preparing the way of the Lord in the hearts of those that hear us.
Can you see the Fathers hand in these verses?
The Father sends a Light (9-11)
(9) “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. (10) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
(11) He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him..”
Last week we spoke of the identity of this Light, and we recognized that the Light that was being referenced was Jesus Christ Himself. And we also discussed that Jesus as the Light of the world, has given a conscience to each and ever man that comes into this world.
Again we consider GodÂ’s sovereign plan from eternity past, that Jesus would leave His throne, come into the confines of a human flesh and live a perfectly obedient life to the Law of God so that He could show us the standard that God would expect from each man.
Jesus Christ was and is the TRUE LIGHT. He is pure, He is perfect, and He is holy, and a man that does not know Jesus, should look at His perfection in awe and bewilderment, and burst in tears that he is not like Christ.
Was there truth and light in Moses day? Of course, but God so graciously showed us the TRUE LIGHT and the essence of His TRUTH all in the man named Jesus.
Oh that we would understand what Christ has done. That we as believers would appreciate the act of the Father sending the Son to accomplish His will. That we would comprehend the waves of love that God has lavished on us in sending His son. And that we would understand how God feels about the sin of man as he but used wicked man to accomplish His purpose by sending His son to be crucified. That GodÂ’s hand was the hand of the one turning the hearts of the wicked in every curse, in every spit, in every blow to the face that came from the mouth and hand of man. That God so caused men to rip His flesh open with the whips and to nail Him to a Roman cross so that Jesus could stand as the perfect light that fulfilled the perfect will of the Father.
Looking at verse 10 we see that the entire world, and as we discussed last week, all of creation, the galaxies and planets, all that we see and even what we canÂ’t see came into being through this man named Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews states in the book of Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2: “God…has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;”
We also see in the same book in chapter 11 verse 3: That, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
And as we discussed, that although the world was made through Him, man in his natural darkened state was so blind he didnÂ’t even know who he was.
Would you? Would you have known the word so well that you would have noticed Him? A better question is, do you know His voice now?
We see in verse 11 that God came to His own race. He came to the Jews and yet they would not accept Him. The promise of the Messiah coming through the bloodline of Adam, Abraham and David was not recognized by the very race that should have noticed Him first.
Paul says in the book of Acts chapter 13 verse 46: “Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.”
The word went to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. Thank God that His plan for salvation included all mankind. Both Jews and Gentiles alike.
Can you see the Fathers hand in these verses?
We have seen the Father send a witness, we have seen the Father send a Light, and now let us consider the last two verses this evening, the Father sends a Declaration.
The Father sends a Declaration (12-13)
(12) “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:”
Here we see in verse 12 that the Father sends a declaration to man in the Gospel of John. We see that the Father, after sending a witness for His son, then sending His Son as the True Light, sends through the Holy Spirit to John the words of this great declaration being proclaimed in verse 12, that as many as received His Son, He gave them the right to become His Children. Who gave the right to become His? He gave.
God is not saying that all men will receive Jesus, and God is not saying that He gave the right to all men to be Children of God. On the contrary, God says through John that only those that have received His son and His SonÂ’s claims, and only those that have believed in His Son and in His sons name, will be His Children.
Jesus holy character should cause you to confess your sins and Jesus Holy title, should cause you to place your faith in Him and Him alone for your salvation.
Jesus says in this Gospel chapter 5 verse 24: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
You must receive Jesus as the one He claims to be, the Savior, the Son, the Lord, the King and God in the flesh. And you must believe that He is, to be His child.
LetÂ’s finish this evening by looking at the last of the 8 verses we set out to consider, so that we may see once again the Hand of the Father in the Salvation of sinners.
(13) “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
LetÂ’s consider 3 negatives and 1 positive in this verse as it relates to mans salvation.
When we hear the word “born” we know from other scriptures that this means, being born of the spirit of God. It means having spiritual life. And we know that man in his native pollution, does not have spiritual life.
Contrary to the popular view of modern religion and tolerant politics, God says very clearly in the book of Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 we see mans state: 1 “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
We also see in verse 5 of Ephesians: “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),”
Also, Colossians chapter 2 verse 13 states: “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,”
You see philosophy doesnÂ’t give you life, the enlightenment offered by Buddha doesnÂ’t give you life and new age feelings, no matter how much you chant their mantras, wont give you spiritual life. Man is dead without being born of God.
Looking at this last verse, a few things become clear.
1. not born of blood. Being born of some religious heritage, will not give you entrance into GodÂ’s family.
You may falsely assume that being born in a “Christian” family, automatically makes you a Child of God. And we know that this does not give anyone life, no matter how rich their family’s lineage is in Christ, without you personally coming to repentance of your sin and faith in the Son of God, you will by no means enter God’s family.
2. nor of the will of the flesh. The second of these false assumptions is that your own flesh, your own will and your own work will place you in GodÂ’s true family.
Man is woefully deceived when he believes that his own power will grant him life. All other world religions base their salvation in something that man does.
In his pride, man attempts to earn GodÂ’s favor by jumping through hoops like a boy scout earning a merit badge. Somehow God will be so impressed that He will turn His head away from His son on the cross and see your work as better than that of Christ finished work. What a tragedy to think that you would put God in a position of debt to you because you work and deserve a wage from Him.
3. nor of the will of man. This last negative saddens a preacher of the Gospel, because if I could, I would put Christ in your heart. Yet this verse shows us that even with all my might and with all my prayers and with all of my preaching that my will can not give you life.
When preachers think they hold some power that gives them special privilege over others to bring a man into the family of God, he assumes too much of himself.
I am not capable, your mother and father are not capable, your wife or husband is not capable, your children are not capable and your friends are not capable of doing what can only be done by God Himself.
God must desire your salvation for you to be saved.
And now, stated positively in the last portion of this verse, the scriptures clearly states; but of God.
ItÂ’s not by our bloodline or lineage, it is not of our own flesh and work and it is not of my or any others hopes or desires for you. It simply is but of God
And just as God has chosen John as an instrument to be used as a witness. And just as God has chosen His Son as the sacrifice and redemption of His children. And just as God has chosen the Holy Spirit as the one that would cause our hearts to soften to His will, so God must choose you for adoption into His beloved.
The book of Acts in chapter 13 verse 48 “Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” Will you be glad and glorify the word of the Lord by believing? I pray you will.
The beauty and freedom of His word is that God only asks that we proclaim the Gospel to all men. That we send His words out with much assurance that His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
We realize our place is nothing other than a messenger of the King. We can not and will not force any of you to do what God must do in your heart.
I end by saying that you have heard His word this night, and have listened to the testimony of His Son. All that is in me and all that I hope and pray for is that you will heed itÂ’s warning and repent of your sins and put your trust, put your faith and give your life to Jesus Christ for the salvation and security of your soul.
Well saints. Can you see the Fathers hand in these verses? I pray you do.
May God be pleased to give us an increase of His Holy Spirit and a greater desire for His Holy Word. So that we can be more conformed to the image of His Son.
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