Christ was born into the world so that men might be born of God.
John 1:11-13 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Christmas season commemorates the coming of Christ, but it also poses a danger—even to believers. We may know the story, we may sing the songs, we may keep the traditions, and still miss the Person. Worse, we may surround ourselves with holy things and yet remain unchanged. Yes, it’s entirely possible to celebrate Christmas without receiving Christ.
Here, in the eleventh verse of the first chapter of John’s gospel, lies the summary of the Synoptics: how Christ came to His own, manifested the glory of Yahweh in their midst, and yet was rejected by those who claim to be His people.
The tragedy of the incarnation was not that there was no room in the inn, but that there was no room in the heart. Israel had the Scripture, the feasts, the prophecies, and the promises. Yet, when God Himself appeared in their midst, in the flesh, he was misunderstood, rejected, and eventually killed by them.
The Jews expected a Messiah who fit their assumptions: a king and a warrior who would free them from the oppression of the Roman Empire. We, too, often prefer a Christ who is sentimental, soothing, and symbolic, rather than sovereign, confronting, and ruling. If we are not careful, we can end up wrapping Christ in seasonal imagery, reducing Him to moral inspiration, or invoking Him to affirm personal values rather than demanding allegiance.
Nevertheless, it is in this rejection by His own people that a way was opened. Yes, His own rejected Him, but what about those who open their hearts to Him? What about those who receive Him for who He truly is? The answer is glorious indeed: “to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” For the first time in Scripture, the Word of God declares the sonship of the one who believed.
The Gospel in One Statement
If the eleventh verse is a summary of the Synoptics, the preceding verse is the summary of the Gospel message itself. Observe how it describes, firstly, the object of the Gospel, humans who are by nature children of wrath, but by grace have hope to become children of God, secondly, the one to whom we are to look to attain divine sonship, and thirdly, the means by which we are to attain it.
We learned in the previous statement that the natural man has no ability to apprehend the light, so that they remain in darkness even if the true Light is shining in their midst. But this Light brings grace with Him and makes it possible for some to grasp even just a tiny ray of illumination. And that tiny ray of illumination is enough to bring hope and cause the inanimate to come to life.
It is God alone who illuminates, but for anyone to become a child of God, He must acknowledge and follow the Light. We are all familiar with the concept of woke culture and modern society’s attempts at inclusivity. The names may have changed, but the concept remains the same. Even in the past, many have attempted to turn God into an inclusive personality with the false teaching that all men are children of His.
Such doctrine teaches that as long as man lives right and acknowledges the existence of a god in their religion, he is a child of God and all will be well with him. John writes otherwise. Only those who believe in the name of the one whom Yahweh had sent, and only those who receive Him, are given the right to become children of God. That said, all men are God’s creation, but not all men are children of God.
Origin of Divine Sonship
The manner in which natural man becomes a child of the divine is just as glorious: not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh. Not of blood, which means no one is born into this world a Christian. The Jews boasted of being related to Abraham by blood, calling him their father, but that wasn’t enough to make them children of God. In the same way, many people today assume that being born into a Christian household, baptized as an infant, or culturally identified with Christianity is sufficient. However, none of these confer divine sonship.
“Nor of the will of the flesh” means no one can work their way into becoming a part of God’s family. You may give to charity all you want this Christmas, attend all religious gatherings in the church, and observe all types of spiritual discipline, but those won’t qualify you to gain the title “child of God.” Self-improvement, ethical living, and social activism—all of these may seem valid, but they cannot produce the new birth, no matter how noble they may seem to be.
To be a child of God, you must be born of God. It is not something that you or any human being can decide to attain. The family of God is not a club that you can join through some sort of initiation. You cannot pay your way into it. One cannot simply declare oneself a child of God by personal resolve. You can’t just wake up one day and say, “I’m joining God’s family and be a child of God.” Yet, the way is much simpler: believe in His name. Whose name? The name of the Son of God, Jesus.
The Demand for a New Birth
Christmas proclaims the birth of the Messiah, but it also confronts natural man with the necessity of being born of God. Society has always been content with symbols and traditions, but the incarnation reminds us that proximity to sacred things is not always the same as participation in divine life. Christ came into this world, born as a human, so that men might be born from above.
Without the possibility of the new birth brought about by the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus, Christmas remains merely a story. It may be admired and celebrated in every generation, but unless we commemorate it for what it truly is—a way for the salvation of sinful man—it will remain a tradition marked by noise, consumerism, and a false assurance of belongingness. This season, may we be reminded that only those who are born of Him truly belong to Him.
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