To all who received him, to those who believe 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.
We live in a time and culture of rights. "It's my right to..." - and you can fill in the blank with almost anything. But we don't have the right to be God's child. God's grace gives us that right. This right came to us at great cost to God. Jesus, God the Son, came to earth, lived, died, and was raised from the dead. We receive this grace through faith: God gives us new birth as we trust in Jesus as
Lord and we share in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection in baptism (
Romans 6:3-7;
Colossians 2:11-12), as by faith we are reborn through the power of the Holy Spirit (
John 3:3-7;
Titus 3:3-7). To be
"born of God" - to be
"born from above," to be
"born again" - is the gift of adoption into God's family, as our verse emphasizes. This costly adoption brings us all the rights of full heirs in God's family (
Galatians 3:26-29,
4:1-7). Let's not take this grace, this blessing, this adoption, this right, for granted! We are God's children right now (
1 John 3:1-3). Let's give thanks for this grace and live as those who belong in God's family by reflecting our Father's righteous character, gracious compassion, and faithful loving-kindness in our lives as his children.
Abba Father, thank you for adopting me into your family. May my life reflect your character, mercy, holiness, compassion, righteousness, and love. I want to be like you, my Father. I want to live like Jesus, my older brother, who paid my adoption price. Just as I was born into your family by the power of the Holy Spirit, please fill me more with your Spirit and transform me to be more like Jesus in all I do and say this day. In the name of my older brother Jesus, I pray. Amen.
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