“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
– John 1:12
What a great phrase John 1:12 is. What a glorious reality. I am reading that, just thinking of what I deserve in my sin: to be separated from God, to experience eternity in hell away from God. This is what I deserve. Yet because he came to die on the cross for my sins, not of anything I do, because he came, and I believe he came. Like, to those “who believed in his name.” Not based on anything I do, but just because he came, and I believe he came. I believe he came, as John 1 describes, as God in the flesh to pay the price for sin, as Lord over all creation. So I believe in his name. And by believing in his name, I have the right to become a child of God. I have become a child of God.
By God’s grace through faith in Christ, we have been given the right to become children of God.
John 1:12 Tells Us We Are Children Of God
A child of God. I think about my children. I think about how much I love them. How much I adore them. I just love being with them. Love spending time with them. Love playing with them. I love being their dad, and just to think, this is the language God uses to describe me, his child, someone he loves being with, that he delights in. Oh, this is too good. I would say “too good to be true,” but it’s the Word of God. It’s true, it is gloriously true. So I pray, we pray to our Father in heaven. Oh God, our Father. I’m just freshly blown away by this, oh God, that I’m your child, that I’m talking to you like a son to his dad, yet you’re the God of the universe, and you’re my Father.
This Verse Thanks Jesus For Saving Us From Our Fate
Oh, not just mine, but others who are praying with me right now who have believed in the name of Jesus. Oh, Jesus, thank you, thank you, thank you for making this possible. Thank you for saving me and us from what we deserve. God, we don’t deserve to be in your family. We deserve to be forever away from you. Thank you for designing salvation around belief, around trust in your love. We believe in your name, Lord Jesus, we believe in you. And we praise you for this right you’ve given us, to be a part of the family of God.
John 1:12 Asks Us To Honor God
So help us to live the way you’ve designed us to live, as part of your family, oh God. Our Father, please help us to honor you, help us to glorify you. We want to know you more. We want to enjoy you more, we want to walk with you, we want to experience the depth of love relationship with you. God, we can’t believe we’re saying this to you, that you’re the Creator of the universe, and we’re saying to you you’re our Father that we get to enjoy, and walk with, and know, and hear from, and cry out to for help, and you hear us, and you answer us.
Oh God, we praise you, our Father. We praise you, we praise you, praise you for this privilege. We thank you for making us your children. Help us to realize the wonder of this reality, and to live in it all day long, to live in it. In Jesus’ name, his name we believe in, in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
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David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
