There are only two kinds of people in the world, children of God and children of the Devil. All humanity is born as children of the Devil because of Adam’s sin that handed down a sinful nature to every human (Romans 3:23,5:12 & John 8:42-44). However, every person can be born a second time (born again) with a new nature as a child of God. The only requirement to be born again as a child of God is to receive and believe in Jesus.

JOHN 1:1-18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all 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 everyone 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 did receive 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.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

SERMON TEXT

John 1:9-13, “9 The true light that gives light to everyone 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 did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent [*human parents], nor of human decision [**sexual desire] or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

*Further explanation from the original Greek added from the NET translation and **notes.

  1. REJECT: Jesus was rejected by the majority of Jewish people because their hearts were harden by sin, vs. 9-11.
  2. RECEIVE: Those who received (accepted) and believed (fully trusted) in Jesus were given the privilege of becoming children of God, vs. 12-13.
  3. EXAMPLE: In John 6:25-70 we read that the faithful Jews which were serving the Father and waiting for the true Messiah were drawn by the Father and were transferred to the Lordship of Jesus (v. 45, “Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me”). Those Jews who rejected the faith of Moses and lived by the mere traditions of men rejected Jesus because they lacked faith in God to provide the true, “Bread of Life” (v. 64, “some of you who do not believe”). Later on in John 8:31-59 Jesus called the Jewish people who rejected His full message, “children of the devil” (v.44) because they did not have God as their Father. He reiterated His points from John 6:45 and said in John 8:47, “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

RECEIVING & BELIEVING IN JESUS

John 3:1-20, “1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

Be born again as a child of God by believing and receiving Jesus as God the Son in the flesh who died for your sins (John 3:16)!