Devotionals

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John 1:12, 13 (NIV) “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

What does it mean “but born of God”? Does the Bible not tell us that everybody is born in the image of God? Are not these two the same thing? Scripture indicates that the two are different. Genesis 1:27 states that “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” The creature or creation has no choice in its creation and God has chosen to create “man in His own image”; we have no say so in the matter (that is probably a good thing). In today’s passage we read that in order to be “born of God” a couple of decisions need to be made on our part. Before we can be “born of God” we must have “received Him” and “believed in His name” To receive Him means to open your hearts and let Jesus take possession, to live in you; John 15:4 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you…” To believe in Him is more than lip service; this means to commit to obeying and following His ways, His words. It is only after we meet these two requirements that “He gave the right to become children of God.” God has given us the “right”, another decision; we still need to choose to “take off the old and put on the new” in order to be truly “born of God.”

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