But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12
One of the happiest moments of my life was when my daughter Abigail was born. It was 12 years ago now and I still remember that day like it was yesterday. My wife was in labor for almost 24 hours when they told us they needed to do surgery because she was having a hard time progressing. They took my wife away and had me dress up in a blue surgical suit with a hairnet included. They took me into an operating room and I hid behind a small curtain by my wife's head. After about 15-20 minutes, I heard a little baby cry from the other side of the curtain and they announced: "it's a girl!" When I held my daughter for the first time, I experienced a love that I have never felt before. There is a deep affection that you have for your own children that is unexplainable. I was hooked because she is my very own flesh and blood.
In that same way, if you have trusted in Jesus Christ and made Him your Master, you are His child. As we know from scripture, there was a party in heaven and I imagine one of the angels said, "It's a boy/girl!" The God of the universe took you to be His very own. He then does something outrageous by giving us the rights to become heirs of His own kingdom. He not only restored our relationship with Him but is now preparing a place for us in heaven. That is good news! We now are kids of the Most High King.
Although we have this new identity and are secure in our position as sons and daughters of God, Satan is relentless about calling this into question. He will make us doubt if we are good enough to experience the grace that God has given. He will paralyze us with fear of whether we are a child of God. He wants us to miss out on the abundant life that God promised us and always wants to make our new identity convoluted. It is in this sea of darkness that we have to push through believing that our identity is secure. When Satan brings his lies, we have to remind him of the truth from John 1:12, "To all who believed in Him and accepted Him, He gave them the right to be called children of God." We have a new identity and nature because we have made Jesus our Lord.
In the same way that I love my daughter and my two sons, God loves you. He has made you a child of God. You are royalty, a prince or a princess. Don't let anyone or the evil one tell you otherwise!
When you think about being a child of God, take some time to write out what that really means. It could be that you first journal through what life looks like as a child of God here on earth and how it makes this different from others. Then take a look at what the implications are for after this earth in heaven and what it means. Work through the idea of being a child of God and don't let Satan shake you on this one.
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”
From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
