John 1:9-12

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. 

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:

Do you remember back in John 1:4 when Jesus is referred to as the “light of men”. Here in John 1:9, John refers to Jesus as the “true light”. The “true light” came down from heaven into the world. The fact that John calls Jesus the “true light” leads us to believe that there will be false lights. People will put their trust in other people or things besides the “true light” of Jesus, to guide them through this life. But in reality they are following Satan, who has transformed himself into an “angel of light” to trick them. (2 Corinthians 11:14) The word “true” here is translated to mean real or genuine. According to blueletterbible.org, the word “true” is used 24 times in the New Testament with 19 of them being found in the book of John. That makes so much sense, because that is exactly what John’s purpose for writing this book is…..to prove that Jesus, the “true light”, is truly the Son of God. The light of Jesus is here for everyone. Everyone has the same opportunity to walk in “the light”. Some just choose not to believe in the light at all, and some follow a light that they think is Jesus, but in reality it is not Jesus. Our entire concept of time is based on Jesus’ being here on earth. It is 2025 A.D. (the year of our Lord) only because Jesus Christ was here. That is amazing to me. He is the single most important human being who ever lived. In verse 10, John says that “the world did not know Him”. Even though he made the world, and then came to the world for the sole purpose of dying for the world, the world does not recognize who He is. The world didn’t recognize Him then, and now…..2000ish years later…..the world still doesn’t recognize Him. 

In verse 11, we see the sad state of the Jewish nation. Jesus’ own people…..the people God chose as His special people…..the people He rescued time and time again…..the people He forgave over and over again…..rejected His one and only Son and murdered Him. 

In verse 12, we see that all hope is not lost though, because some received Him and believed in Him. I think about His apostles, Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the people of Samaria, the nobleman whose son Jesus’ healed, and many more that we will study about later in this gospel account. Jesus gave all these people “the right to become children of God”, because they believed in Him. They were spiritually adopted by God, because of their belief in Jesus. I think about the people who were in Jerusalem on Pentecost in Acts 2 when Peter preached the first gospel sermon. This sermon revealed to them the horrible thing that they had done in murdering the son of God. This caused the people to be “pricked in their hearts”. “What do we do?” they asked. Peter answered, “Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:36-38) 3000 souls obeyed the gospel that day. (Acts 2:41) They did exactly what Peter told them to do in the above verses. These 3000 people became children of God, and were spiritually adopted into God’s family. Jesus gave them that right when He died for their sins, and He has given us that right also. We are spiritually adopted, if we have believed and obeyed Jesus in repentance and baptism exactly like those 3000 people did on Pentecost so many years ago. Nothing has changed since then about how we obey the gospel. Galatians 3:26 says that we “are all sons (and daughters) of God through faith in Christ Jesus”. Galatians 4:4-7 says, paraphrasing, “When the time was right, God sent His Son to be born of a woman, under the law, to redeem us so that we could become adopted children of God. And because we are children of God, we call Him Father. When we become Christians, we have the Spirit of Jesus within us. At that point, we are children of God, and because we are children of His, we are also heirs of God.” This all happened because of Jesus and what He did for us. And one more beautiful verse…..Romans 8:17 says, paraphrasing, that we will be heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus if we suffer with Him, and after that we will all be glorified together. It makes me catch my breath just thinking about it. Why would anyone not want to be a child of God? They must just not realize the magnitude of blessings that are coming. It is up to us to show them what they are going to miss out on before it is too late. I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday today, and a wonderful Lord’s Day tomorrow! 

Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? If you aren’t, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out. 

God’s Plan of Salvation

Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins.  (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)