vi. Verses 10-11 “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not recognize him.” These verses address the fact that the Jews and the rest of the world did not accept him as the Christ. In Romans 1:19-20, Paul says that we are all without excuse since God has revealed Himself through his creation. The rock band Live has a song that says:
“I don't need no one to tell me about heaven
I look at my daughter, and I believe.
I don't need no proof when it comes to God and truth
I can see the sunset and I perceive”
We should all have this type of faith that is based on what I think we all really know to be true in our hearts. If we truly seek truth and search our own hearts it will be revealed to us no matter our circumstances. It is revealed in ourselves and in our world. We each have an inner longing for the eternal and this is no mistake.
The author uses “the world” to refer to those that refuse to acknowledge or to seek God and instead pursue the “ways of the world” as you may have heard it said. I think another term that could be interchanged with this today is society.
The other concept in these two verses is about Jesus coming to earth in bodily form. He specifically came to His people (the Jews) and His land (the Holy Land). These are a people that have been set apart by God and a place that was special. It was in this setting that he was rejected. God’s people had been prepared for the task of receiving Jesus for centuries and they refused when the time came. It is the ultimate demonstration of love and humility that He demonstrates by allowing Himself to be rejected and killed by His own for their own good.
QUESTION: How has God prepared you to receive Him? Have you refused or dragged your feet?
vii. Verses 12-13 “Yet to all who receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural decent, not of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” Not everyone rejected him and for those that “receive him” there is a reward. The best model of this is adoption. Actually, in Jewish law someone can disown their naturally born children for certain things, but once a child was adopted, there is no such allowance. Once you are adopted, it is for good - there is no going back. That is the confidence we can have in our adoption as children of God. All of us are children of God in the sense that we owe our existence to Him. This fact does not allow us to approach God and establish a relationship with Him. In fact, the Jews did not even think that this was possible. Moses, Abraham, Noah, Adam and the prophets were approached by God first. This was the pattern of close relationship with God. The rest of us relied on the law to keep us in good with God. When Jesus came in the flesh, it allowed people to actually see and talk with God. Although not everyone understood this at the time, it was God approaching everyone and offering a way to bridge the abyss between us and God and establish a personal relationship. This was done at the will of God, not by any effort on the part of us. Another interesting thing is that it is referred to as a right, not a privilege. It is something that we can depend or even demand – a promise of God. It is ours as long as we receive Jesus.
QUESTION: How would you live differently if you had an adoption certificate showing that you had been adopted by God and He would be coming to get you soon?
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