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Author: Dan Keating, from the Servants of the Word, an international, ecumenical brotherhood of men living single for the Lord.

In the gospel according to John, he writes: “But to all who did receive [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

It is God who first comes to us, not we who first come to God. Jesus ‘came’ to us because the Father ‘sent’ him to us. What is our role, then? To ‘receive’ him. And to receive Christ means to believe in his name. But what does it mean to believe in his name? It means to accept that Jesus himself is God’s beloved Son, sent to save us, sent to give us new life. In response, we believe in him, we trust him, and we entrust ourselves to him.

Remarkably, John says that those who receive Jesus are given the ‘right’ to become children of God. Most translations say: ‘power to become children of God.’ This same author—John—in his First Letter says the same thing in different words: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1) We are not slaves or hired hands, but children of God—his sons and daughters.

As those who have received Christ and believed in him, are we aware of the astonishing status we have as a son or daughter of God?

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.