Becoming a Part of God’s Family

“Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John 1:13

Let’s review: Jesus, who is and always has been God, created the world and everything in it. That world rebelled against God and fell into sin. Jesus came to his world to redeem it and bring His life-giving light into it, but the world rejected Him. However, those who put their faith in Jesus and receive Him can be right with God. In fact, God will make them part of His family. Verse thirteen talks about how a person becomes a child of God.
Becoming part of your physical family was automatic: your physical birth made you a part of the family. However, being born into God’s family requires a spiritual re-birth. A person is not a child of God simply because of his parents or his ancestry. The kind of birth that brings us into God’s family is not “of blood” or a physical birth.
Furthermore, John says, this spiritual birth is not even initiated or actualized by man. Because of his sin, he is spiritually dead. He does not respond to God. He is completely unable (and unwilling!) to do so. Spiritual re-birth into the family of God does not take place because man wills it to happen. Man does not simply require extra spiritual strength or even spiritual healing. He needs spiritual life.
John says that becoming a part of God’s family happens by the will of God. It is God who energizes this spiritual birth. He initiates the process of giving life to spiritually dead men and women and giving them the right to be His sons and daughters.
This brings us full circle: the same God who created us and gave us the life we enjoy each day also offers us spiritual life and the right to be His children because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.