John 1:12,13 - He gave the right to become children of God

1:12,13

Now this gospel at the time it was written was increasingly presented to Gentiles. It may have seemed strange that the God who created Israel was rejected by Israel, even to the point of crucifying Him. So the necessity of the rejection by the Jews is one of the themes in John’s gospel. Yet while the Jews as a whole rejected Christ (and ultimately they will accept Him, they will mourn for the one they pierced (Zech 12:10)), not all of them did. By the way the phrase “all means all” is not always true! Here 1:11 does not mean that all Israel rejected Christ. However, why should the Gentiles want to accept a rejected messiah? Because those who did receive Him received the right to become children of God. How do we receive Him? By believing in His Name. Name is more than a label, it includes, in fact means, the character of Christ. It means believing in all that He is. Here Jesus is described as the “son” of God, we are described as “children of God”.

And we are born of God. There has always been a tendency to think that our cultural heritage determines what we “believe”. So many will argue that someone is a Muslim because they were brought up in a Muslim nation, or someone is a Christian because they were brought up in a nation that has a Christian heritage. This is not true. We become Christians, children of God, because we are born of God.