John
1:4-13 (NIV) In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light
shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
6 There
came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to
testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He
himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true
light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
10 He
was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not
recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not
receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
NOTE: John next
defines the Word as life, and also as the light of men. The light shines into
the darkness, which is the sin-covered world that we created when we rebelled
against the creator. But, in our sin, in our blindness and darkness, we can't
recognize the light. God also sent someone ahead of the light to bear witness,
but still few in the world recognized the light. But some did and those who
did, those who believed in the true light were given the right to become
children of God, a completely independent decision that each one must make. You
see, we are not children of God even though we were created by him. We rebelled
against him and chose to live life the way we wanted. We did not want his
interference and involvement in our life. We did not want his rules, and he has
given us what we wanted. But to those who see through the darkness of our poor
choices he offers true light and adoption into God's family--then and only then
can a person become a child of God. It is not a right of creation, but only a
right to those who believe and receive. We made our choice a long time ago,
when Adam, acting as a Federal head of our race, chose to disobey God. None of
us has or will do any better. Our only hope is the offer that God gives us
through his son Jesus Christ.
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