The Excellency of Sonship

John 1:12-14

As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God

St.John’s first view of Christ the key to his Gospel

I. These verses DESCRIBE THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE OF ST. JOHN. In this point of view the order of time is different from the order of the statements. The several steps are these
1. The apprehension of the glory of Jesus,
2. The receiving Him and believing on His name.
3. The effect of the power to become sons of God.
This agrees with the actual experience of the evangelist.
1. He sees Jesus as pointed out by the Baptist. But where was the glory?
(1) That of “the Lamb of God.”
(2) The revelation of grace and truth in him. God’s infinite love, holiness, justice: His own self-sacrifice.
2. He goes home with Jesus and gave himself up to His gracious influences, believed on His name.
3. What followed we know. He became a son of God.
II. THIS EXPERIENCE DETERMINED THE STRUCTURE, SUBSTANCE, AND SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL.
1. It serves to account for the subordinate place which miracles and Christ’s external life generally hold in it. John’s grand purpose, as marked by his own experience, was to illustrate the self-commending glory of Christ as the Word and only-begotten of the Father, that those who had never seen Him with the eye of sense might come to the blessedness of those who had not seen and yet had believed.
2. It serves to account for the prominent place which the inner life of Christ and the manifestation of His Sonship-glory occupies here. The two grand pivots on which the Gospel turns are Christ the LIGHT, and Christ the LIFE. Christ the Light, revealing the Father and all that concerns the Father; Christ the Life, communicating by the Spirit a new life to men so as to make them God’s sons. Its twofold purpose is to set forth Christ as the Incarnate Word and Only Begotten, full of grace and truth; and also the reception of Christ, the believing on His name as the commencement of the new life of sonship. Thus it is that so much prominence is given to Christ’s relation to the Father on the one hand, and to the fellowship of Christ with His people on the other.
3. From these considerations we see the groundlessness of the objections against the Johannian authorship of the Gospel. Given John’s conversion, as here shadowed forth, and his warm, fervid nature, his life of Jesus could not well have been any other than it is.
III. THE MORE GENERAL RELATIONS OF THE SUBJECT, as setting forth the essential glory of Christ and the glory communicated to all who, by receiving Him, become sons of God.
1. What is the connection between the two? That there is a connection is seen in the difference between John and his companions and the mass of the Jews. The one perceived His glory, the other saw it not. To the one He appeared a miserable pretender, to the other the Eternal Son. Moreover they recognized in Him the Saviour that taketh away the sins of the world. They received Him, and then the standing and spirit of sonship became theirs.
2. How is it that this view of Christ’s glory is followed by such effects?
(1) By such means we see our emptiness, guilt, and misery.
(2) But He invites us to Him, tells us of His fulness, pardon, grace, asks us to receive Him and let Him put forth His power.
(3) Must we not welcome Him? The blessed change is wrought in the very act of seeking it. (W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)


Receiving Christ and becoming sons
I. CHRIST WHO HAS COME INTO THE WORLD SEEKS ADMISSION TO THE HEART as a lawful and everlasting tenant. The Christ in the book, in the creed, in the church, effects but little for us. Christ in the heart becomes all our salvation and desire.
II. THE RECEPTION OF CHRIST IN THE HEART IS FOLLOWED BY SENSING.
1. There is a natural sonship pertaining to all men; for we are all His offspring.
2. There is a special, redemptive, restored sonship bestowed on those who receive Christ.
3. All that pertains to this sonship is supernatural. Adam was not a son by blood, nor by the will of the flesh, but by the will of God; and a restored son is as marvellous a creation as Adam.
III. THIS SONSHIP INVOLVES A NEW BIRTH AND ELEVATION TO THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE POSITION. There is nothing higher than being admitted to sonship with God. What we want is not some new spiritual dignity, but the recognition of this exalted condition.
IV. TRUE FAITH IS HERE DESCRIBED AND EVIDENCED.
1. Faith in receiving. Christ comes into the believer. Christ without does not save, but Christ within.
2. Faith is evidenced by the opening of the eyes to see the glory of Christ, and the affiliation to God which follows.
V. GOD HERE RECEIVES ALL THE PRAISE.
1. The power and the will are of God. Ascribe to Him the wisdom and the glory.
2. The Christ whom we receive is God’s “unspeakable gift.”
3. Faith and its attendant privileges are by power bestowed by God. (S. Martin.)


The connection between receiving Christ and becoming sons
I. These two things are connected IN RESPECT OF GOD; it is the will of God that all should believe in Christ, and He has appointed the mediation of Christ as the channel through which all should receive salvation, and all that is necessary for its attainment.
II. These things are connected IN RESPECT OF CHRIST: for, in consequence of what He has done, all may become the sons of God, and, may be enriched with all the blessings of His grace.
III. They are connected IN RESPECT OF MEN: all who would obtain salvation must receive Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. (C. C.Tittman, D. D.)


That act by which we do effectually apply Christ to our own souls
I. THE NATURE OF THIS RECEIVING OF CHRIST.
1. No man can do this in the darkness of natural ignorance. If we know not His nature and offices we do not take, we mistake Christ. The receiving act of faith, then, is guided by knowledge.
2. This receiving of Christ implies the assent of the understanding to the truths of Christ in the gospel—His Person, offices, incarnation, satisfaction—which assent, although it is not saving faith, is its groundwork. This is more than conjecture or opinion, it is belief.
3. This also implies hearty approbation, liking, and estimation; yea, the very acquiescence of our souls in Christ as the most excellent remedy for wants, sins, and dangers (1Pe_2:7). There are two things in Christ which must gain the approbation of the soul.
(1) That it can find nothing unsuitable to it in Christ as it does find in the best creatures—no weakness, pride, inconstancy, or passion. He is the altogether lovely.
(2) That it can find nothing wanting in Christ necessary or desirable. In Him is the fulness of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
4. It consists in the consent and choice of the will; and this is the opening of the heart and stretching forth of the soul to receive Him (see Christ’s complaint, Joh_5:40, and Eph_1:19).
5. The respect that this act of acceptance has unto the terms upon which Christ is tendered to us in the Gospel. Faith answers the gospel offer, as the impress on the wax does the engraving on the seal (1Co_15:11). There is no receiving Christ but on His own terms.
(1) He is offered sincerely and really, and is received with a faith unfeigned 1Ti_1:5).
(2) He is offered entirely, and is received in all His offices as Christ Jesus the Lord (Act_16:13).
(3) He is offered exclusively, and the soul singly relies on Him (Ac 1Co_3:11), and not partly on His righteousness and our own.
(4) He is offered freely as the gift, not the sale of God (Joh_4:10;Isa_55:1.; Rev_22:17). So the believer comes to Him with an empty hand.
(5) He is offered orderly. First His Person, then His privileges (Rom_8:32), so the believer does not marry His portion first.
II. THIS IS THE JUSTIFYING AND SAVING ACT OF FAITH.
1. The faith which gives the soul right and title to spiritual adoption, with all the privileges and benefits thereof, is true saving faith.
2. That only is saving faith which is in all true believers, in none but true believers, and in all true believers at all times.
III. THE EXCELLENCY OF THIS ACT OF FAITH (2Pe_1:7; JmsJohn 6:29).
1. Considered qualitatively it has the same excellency that all other precious graces have. It is the fruit of the Spirit. It is singled out to receive Christ. As it is Christ’s glory to be the door of salvation, so it is faith’s glory to be the golden key that opens that door.
(1) It is the bond of our union with Christ (Eph_3:17).
(2) It is the instrument of our justification (Rom_5:1).
(3) It is the spring of our spiritual peace and joy (Rom_5:1; 1Pe_1:8-9).
(4) It is the means of our spiritual livelihood and subsistence. Take away faith and all the others die (Gal_2:20).
(5) It is the great scope and drift of the Gospel to get men to believe. The urgent commands aim at this (1Jn_3:23; Mar_1:14-15; Joh_12:36). Hither, also, look the great promises and encouragements (Joh_6:35-37; Mar_16:16). The opposite sin of unbelief is everywhere threatened (Joh_16:8-9; Joh 3:18; Joh 3:35).
IV. APPLICATION:
1. For information: If there be life in receiving Christ, there must be death in rejecting Him.
2. If faith be accepting Christ, then there are fewer believers among professors than were thought to be, and more believers than dare conclude themselves such.
3. Those who have the least degree of saving faith, have cause for ever to admire the bounty of the grace of God to them therein (Eph_1:3).
4. For examination:
(1) The antecedents of faith—illumination (Act_26:18); conviction Mar_1:15); self-despair (Act_2:37); vehement and earnest cries to God for faith.
(2) The concomitants of faith—seriousness (Act_16:29); humiliation Eze_16:63; Luk_8:38); a weary condition (Mat_11:28); a longing condition.
(3) The consequents of faith—evangelical meltings (Zec_12:10); love to Christ, His ways, and His people (Gal_5:6); heart purity Act_15:9); obedience (Rom_16:26).
5. For exhortation:
(1) What is in Christ whom you are to receive?
(2) What is the offer of Christ by the gospel?
(3) What is in the rejecting of that offer? (J. Flavel.)


Reception of Christ our introduction into sonship
I. THE HONOUR. To become sons of God not merely by adoption, but by generation (Rom_8:16; 1Jn_3:1). On our side is sonship, on God’s Fatherhood. Sonship is
1. Higher;
2. Nearer;
3. More blessed;
4. More glorious than—creaturehood. There is sonship in the angels, in unfallen man; but this is beyond these. As
(1) Introducing us into a more intimate intercourse;
(2) Making us partakers of the Divine nature.
II. THE GIVER OF IT. Christ Himself; elsewhere it is the Father. All gifts are in Christ’s hands—living water and bread of life, Himself, sonship. This right or power of sonship He purchased for us; for those who had no right, or power, or title.
III. THE WAY OF ATTAINMENT.
1. Receiving Him—doing the reverse of what Israel had done; accepting and owning Him for all that God announced Him to be.
2. Believing on His name, i.e, Himself.
IV. THE PERSONAL CHANGE THROUGH WHICH THIS IS REACHED. “Born:”
1. Not of natural descent.
2. Not by natural generation.
3. Not by human adoption.
4. But of God (Jas_1:18). (H. Bonar, D. D.)


The grace of Christ to those who received Him
The grace appears in
I. HIS PREVAILING WITH MEN TO EMBRACE THE OFFER MADE TO THEM, and in what is implied in that.
1. Christ offers Himself, and we welcome and receive Him. The first acting of true faith is to accept Himself; not merely the special benefit He brings.
2. We exercise implicit confidence in Him. We have a right knowledge of Him; rejoice in His character; accept and hide Him in our hearts.
3. In the form in which Jesus is proclaimed in the Gospel, His saved ones receive and believe in Him. “So we preach; so ye believed.” There is a correspondence between the Gospel and faith of the same kind as that between the seal and the wax.
(1) Christ is offered sincerely, and He must be accepted with a faith unfeigned.
(2) He is offered exclusively, and must be accepted as the sole basis of our hope.
(3) He is offered as a gift; we must not attempt to merit Him.
4. The actual committing of our all to Christ When we receive Him. What is the saving act of faith?
(1) Not assent, although that must be a part of it.
(2) Not assurance, although that will follow it.
(3) But acceptance of Him and confidence in Him.
II. THE SPECIAL PRIVILEGE WHICH HE BESTOWS ON THOSE WHO RECEIVE HIM.
1. The saved are by nature the children of wrath; but in His person God is reconciled towards them.
2. Having reconciled them, He makes them sons—co-heirs with Himself.
3. Of Him also is the comfort and dignities of sonship.
III. THE CHANGE WROUGHT IN THEM WHO RECEIVE HIM, to which their accepting Him is ascribed.
1. A new form of existence—a new birth; all things have become new.
2. This change is
(1) not by natural inheritance;
(2) nor by the operation of the natural will;
(3) nor the fruit of superior endowment or acquisition;
(4) but of God, by the office and operation of the Spirit. (A. Beith, D. D.)


Man’s part in the advent
I. THE RECEPTION. A true reception of Christ for every man alike is of three parts.
1. Belief that He is what He says He is. For any messenger the first condition of acceptance is that He be found to be what He claims to be—much more the Saviour of mankind.
2. Sympathy. A plenipotentiary, an agent, a purely mental operator does not need this. But the moment you include a moral purpose, spiritual influence, there must be common feeling and assimilation. Interests must be felt to be identical. Loyalty must bind the subject to his king. Enthusiasm must mount at the leader’s name. If Christ’s purpose was to fill human hearts with love, we cannot be His without loving Him.
3. Service: not compulsory, but that which love disdains to call service. In the hungry, sick, ignorant, etc., the Lord makes new advent to your heart every week; and Christ will not be received till everybody within our reach is made, somehow, better by our faith in Him.
II. THE BLESSING. Servants and creatures we were before, and, in a sense—but not the full and glorious sense—children of God. Now sons ofGod, a royal line, conquerors, sufferers rejoicing in the midst of temptation. Born now, their immortal seed remained in them.
III. THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST’S NAME WILL SEEK TO RECEIVE HIM.
1. By giving up the dearest preference that hurts the simplicity and humility of their faith.
2. In the New Testament, Christian instruction, prayer, doing God’s will; and counting faith, not doubt, the glory, and power, and joy of man.
3. In the communion of His body and blood. (Bishop Huntington.)


A new year’s guest
The text in connection with Mat_25:35. Suggested by the motto on a new year’s card.
I. A STRANGER TAKEN IN. House-room is a larger gift than refreshment at the dour. We must not be satisfied with benefactions to His representatives. Notice three strange things.
1. That He was in the world and the Maker of it, and yet a stranger.
(1) When born in the Bethlehem of His father David, there was no room for Him in the inn.
(2) Soon there was no room in the village itself, whence He had to flee into Egypt, a stranger in a strange land.
(3) On His return, there was no room among the mass of the people. Jew and Gentile proved how truly He was a stranger. All this a sadly singular thing; and yet we need not wonder, for how should a wicked and selfish world know Jesus or receive Him.
2. That we should be able to receive the Lord Jesus as a stranger. He has gone to glory, but we can yet receive Him.
(1) By owning Him when and where believers are few and despised.
(2) By showing brotherly kindness to a poor saint.
(3) By holding fast His faithful Word when its doctrines are in ill-repute.
(4) By taking up our cross where Christ’s precepts are disregarded, His day forgotten, and His worship neglected.
(5) By receiving the gift of spiritual life. Profession is abundant, but the secret life is rare.
3. That Christ will deign to dwell in our hearts. This is a miracle of grace, yet the manner is simple enough.
(1) A humble, repenting faith opens the door, and Jesus enters.
(2) Love shuts to the door with the hand of penitence, and holy watchfulness keeps out intruders.
(3) Meditation, prayer, praise, and obedience, keep the house in order.
(4) And then follows the consecration of our whole life as His people.
II. THE STRANGER MAKING STRANGERS INTO SONS. The moment Christ enters the heart, we are no more strangers and foreigners, but of the household of God.
1. He adopts us and puts us among the children.
2. The designation of sons brings with it a birth, with the actual condition of sons.
3. Living, loving, lasting union seals our sonship.
4. This union creates in us a likeness to God. A small window will let in the great sun; much more will Jesus let in the life, light, and love of God into our souls, making us like God.
III. HAVING RECEIVED JESUS AS A STRANGER, WE FEEL A TENDERNESS HENCEFORTH TOWARDS ALL STRANGERS; for we see in their condition some resemblance to our own. When Christ is in us, we search out opportunities of bringing prodigals, strangers, and outcasts to the great Father’s house. (C. H.Spurgeon.)


Receivers and sons
I. BELIEVING IS A RECEIVING OF CHRIST.
1. Under what notion should we receive Christ? As our Mediator. Isa_61:3-4).
(1) Our Prophet, receiving His doctrine as delivered by Himself Heb_1:2; Heb 2:2-3); by His prophets and apostles (Heb_1:1; Mat_10:40); by His ministers (2Co_5:19-20; Heb_4:11-12).
(2) Our Priest (Heb_7:23-26); and so we must believe
(a) His satisfaction for our sins (2Co_5:21; Heb_9:28; 1Jn_2:2), to the justice and law of God Gal_3:13);
(b) His intercession for our souls (Rom_8:34; Heb_9:11-12; Heb 9:24).
(3) Our King (Psa_110:1-2): so we must
(a) acknowledge His sovereignty (Mat_28:18);
(b) obey His laws (Luk_6:46; Joh_14:15);
(c) submit to His penalties (Col_3:24-25).
2. How should we receive Him?
(1) Penitently (Act_2:36).
(2) Willingly (Psa_110:3).
(3) Affectionately (Luk_14:26).
(4) Constantly (Rev_2:26).
(5) Only (Act_4:12).
II. BELIEVERS ARE THE SONS OF GOD.
1. In what sense? Not by generation, but regeneration (Joh_3:31).
(1) Man lost the favour of God (Rom_5:19).
(2) The Son undertakes his redemption
(a) by becoming man;
(b) by dying, whereby He purchases all believers to Himself, to be members of His body (1Co_6:20; Tit_2:14);
(c) and so from Himself the dead conveys His own spirit unto them Tit_3:5-6).
(3) The Spirit regenerates and makes them new creatures (2Co_5:17).
(4) Being new creatures, they are received into the favour of God Rom_8:15), and made His sons (Rom_8:14).
2. With what privileges?
(1) Privative. They are freed from the slavery of sin (Rom_6:14); from., slavish fears (Rom_8:15); from the curse of the law (Galatians In. 13).
(2) Positive.
(a) They have access to God (Gal_4:6).
(b) They are interested in God’s providence (Rom_8:28; 2Co_6:18).
(c) They rejoice in God (Php_4:4).
(d) God rejoices over them (Zep_3:17).
(e) Their glorious inheritance is assured (Col_1:12; Col 1:18).
(f) This inheritance is witnessed to them here (Rom_8:16-17), and sealed (Eph_4:30), whereof they now have the pledge (Eph_1:13-14).
3. How known?
(1) By prayer (Gal_4:6).
(2) Obedience (1Pe_1:14-15).
(3) Parity (2Jn_3:9).
(4) Conformity to the Divine image (Rom_8:29).
(5) Faith (Son_3:26).
USES.
1. See the honour of believers.
2. Live like the sons of God.
(1) By despising the world.
(2) By patiently enduring all chastisements (Heb_12:6-9.
(3) By longing to come to your inheritance in heaven (Psa_42:1-2). (Bishop Beveridge.)


Faith and its attendant privileges
I. FAITH MAKES THE GRANDEST OF DISTINCTIONS AMONG MEN. “He came to His own, and His own received Him not”—that is one company; “but as many as received Him”—that is another.
1. There are many distinctions among men—rich and poor, governors and governed, teachers and taught. But these will pass away. The grand distinction, which will out-last all time, is that of faith or the want of faith.
2. This distinguishing faith is
(1) A receptive faith; one which accepts Christ by confiding, trusting, and depending on Him.
(2) Faith in His name, as
(a) The Word: receiving His messages from the Father.
(b) The Life: receiving His vitality in spirit.
(c) The Light: seeing all things in the light of Christ..
3. This distinction is one which obliterates all others. If a chimney-sweep receives Christ, he is a child of God; so is an emperor—but not the one more than the other.
II. FAITH OBTAINS THE GRANDEST OF ALL ENDOWMENTS. “Sons of God.”
1. There is a distinction here between son and servant. The believer ceases to be a slave, and becomes a child; and yet he becomes a servant. Christ was first His Father’s Son, and then His servant; so we, being sons, have the joy of serving our Father.
2. We are also sons by likeness—miniatures, and sometimes caricatures, yet resemblances.
3. We are sons, in having the privilege of free access to our Father.
III. FAITH IS THE EVIDENCE OF THE GRANDEST EXPERIENCE. Every believer is a regenerate man. It is of no use to attempt to mend the old nature. A man brought his gun to be repaired. The gunsmith told him it wanted a new stock, lock, and barrel. That looked like making a new one. You must begin de novo. Baptism cannot regenerate; nor blood, the natural way of birth; nor man’s carnal will, nor his best will; but God, who, as the Creator, newcreates the soul.
IV. FAITH RAISES THE BELIEVER TO THE NOBLEST CONCEIVABLE CONDITION. He is fitted to be a child of God.
1. Notice the inconceivable honour. All others pale before it.
2. The safety.
3. The happiness.
4. The duties. There is an old French proverb which says, “nobility obliges.” There is an obligation on nobles. If you are a son of God, you must act like one. (C. H. Spurgeon.)


Faith is receiving
It is the empty cup placed under the flowing stream; the penniless hand held out for the heavenly alms. (C. H. Spurgeon.)


Sonship more than adoption
The sonship is not effected in virtue of a mere act of adoption on the part of God. A child may be taken out of the family to which he originally belonged, and be planted in another; he may get a new name; he may be trained to forget that he had other birth; he may be made heir to great estates; he may be as dearly loved and as tenderly cared for as if he were own child to those who have adopted him: but the fact remains that he is really the child of another, and nature may prove too strong for the new bonds, and he may pine for his native home, and at length go back to it. The “sons of God,” however, are sons by birth, for such is the significance of the word here used, having not only a new name and position, but also a new life. It is not simply that they are called sons; they are sons, partakers of the Divine nature, with a filial relationship, and a filial resemblance to the eternal God. The sonship is already established in fact and in principle, though it awaits its full manifestation hereafter (1Jn_3:1-2). (J. Calross, D. D.)


Comfort for the dying
When Philip Melanchthon was dying, he said aloud and distinctly to his surrounding friends, “I have those words of John concerning the Son of God, my Lord Jesus Christ, before me continually: ‘The world received Him not; but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.’“ (R. Besser, D. D.)


Receiving the light
Suppose you were in a dark room in the morning, the shutters closed and fastened, and only as much light coming through the chinks as made you aware it was day outside. And suppose you could say to a companion with you, “Let us open the windows, and let in the light.” What would you think if he replied, “No, no; you must first put the darkness out, or the light will not enter”? You would laugh at his absurdity. Just so we cannot put sin out of our hearts to prepare for Christ’s entering; we must open and take Him in, and sin will flee; fling the window open at once, and let Christ shine in. (J. Edmond, D. D.)


The honour of adoption
I have heard of some fine gentleman in London, dressed in all his best, walking out in the park. He had a poor old father who lived in the country, add who came up dressed in his rustic raiment to see his son. As the son was not at home when the father reached the house, he went into the park to find him. Now the fine gentleman did not absolutely disown his father, but he went out of the park at a pretty sharp trot, for fear anybody should say, “Who is that country fellow you were talking with?” He did not like to own his father, because he was a labourer. We could not thus wonder if the glorious Lord refused to own us. There is such a come-down from the loftiness of His holiness to the depth of our faultiness. But yet He has such love, such a manner of love, that He bestows upon as this honour, that we should be openly called the sons of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)


The treasure unreceived
A nobleman once gave a celebrated actress a Bible, telling her at the same time that there was a treasure in it. She, thinking he meant religion, laid the Bible aside. She died, and all she had was sold. The person who bought the Bible, on turning over its leaves, found a £500 note in it. Poor creature! had she read the book, she might not only have found the note, but the “pearl of great price.” (Sunday School Chronicle.)


Christ must be received
There is dew in one flower and not in another, because one opens its cup and takes it in, while the other closes itself, and the drops run off. God rains His goodness and mercy as wide-spread as the dew, and if we lack them, it is because we will not open our hearts to receive them. (H. W. Beecher.)


Believing is receiving Christ
He comes to your door. He wants to get in. He knocks. He waits. Is not that wonderful? I was lately visiting that part of the country where our beloved Queen stays when she comes to Scotland. She visits among the poor. I saw some of the cottages to which she is in the habit of going. In the house of one of her servants I saw her own likeness, and the likenesses of several of her family—all gifts from themselves. You say, What kindness! what condescension! And so it is: But what would you think if I told you—what I am glad I cannot tell you, for it would not be true—that when they saw the Queen coming, they locked their doors and pretended to be out, and kept her standing knocking at the door, refusing to let her in, though she came to speak kindly to them and to do them good? You would say, Surely the people must not be in their right mind. And yet that is just what King Jesus does—Queen Vietoria’s King. He comes to your door to bless you, to save you. He says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” Most people keep Him out, and will not have anything to do with Him. They say, “Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” Opening the door to Him, saying, “Come in, Lord Jesus, come in”—taking Him to our heart, and only fearing lest He should ever go away again—is believing. The believing heart is the heart that has let in Jesus, and in which he dwells Eph_3:17). (J. H. Wilson.)


Privileges of adoption
By adoption, God gives us
1. A new name (Num_6:27; Rev_3:12).
2. A new nature (2Pe_1:4). Whom God adopts He anoints; whom He makes sons, He makes saints.
3. A new inheritance (Rom_8:17). When the Danish missionaries in India were translating a catechism, with some of the convetted natives by their side, and when they came to a part where it was said of Christians that they were the sons of God, one of the natives, startled at so bold a saying, as he thought it, said, “It is too much; let us rather translate it: ‘They shall be permitted to kiss His feet.’”
Adoption and justification
Justification is the act of God as a Judge, adoption as a Father. By the former we are discharged from condemnation, and accepted as righteous; by the latter, we are made the children of God and joint-heirs with Christ. By the one, we are taken into God’s favour; by the other, into His family. Adoption may be looked upon as an appendage to justification, for it is by our being justified that we come to a right to all the honours and privileges of adoption. (Dr. Guyse.)


Which were born
Three great negations
The children of God are born
I. NOT OF BLOOD. Grace does not run on the lines of nature. Many beautiful and graceful things do come by gentle and noble blood, but not this. It needs a very narrow field of observation to convince us that no parent, however pious, can command the conversion of his children. Else why should there be in this world that bitterest spectacle of a pious parent’s heart being broken by a wicked child!
II. NOT OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH. The expression relates to any desire which, ruling in a man’s mind, might be supposed to lead him to some act whereby he should become a child of God, and the idea is utterly repelled. Every one who is a subject of the grace of God is so first passively, that afterwards he may be so actively. He is first acted upon by a will and power without him, and then he acts out that will and manifests that power.
III. Not of the will of man. Observe the steps. Not of parents, not of self, nor of any creature whatsoever. One man, indeed, may will the conversion of another; and if he clothe that will with prayer, if he offer that will with faith, and if he does all in his power to forward that will, God may give him that man’s soul. But God never promises He will do this. A soul passes into the family of God and becomes an heir in the register of sons when he receives Christ, and only then. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)


The three negations illustrated
When it pleased God to bring Abraham and his family into covenant with Him, that family consisted of three classes of persons; first of all, there were his own children; secondly, there were those who were born of his men-servants and maid-servants; thirdly, there were those slaves, whom he purchased and adopted. All these three classes were admitted into covenant with God, by reason of their relation to Abraham. “Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, and circumcised them” Gen_17:23). Of these classes, Ishmael was born of blood, as being his own flesh and blood, as we say; those born of the flesh were the other children born in his house, not his own; and those born of the will of man were those who, having no right to his protection, being yet bought of his free will, acquired a right by purchase and adoption. To these three classes were the benefits of the first covenant confined.… The truth, which St. John here announces, is that to all who received the message of the Lord Jesus, all who believed on His Name and submitted to His ordinances, to all those He gave the same power, even to become sons of God Gen_3:16-17; Rom_5:13). (G. Cornish.)


The being born of blood and of God considered
I. In their ANTAGONISM.
II. In their essential DISTINCTION.
III. In their congenial CONNECTION.
IV. In the MEDIATOR OF THEIR UNION. (Lange.)


The new, celestial, divine birth constitutes the true nobility of grace as contrasted with
I. The aristocracy of BIRTH.
II. The aristocracy of MONEY.
III. The aristocracy of MERIT.
IV. The aristocracy of FAME. (P. Schaff, D. D.)


Not of blood
The blood through which the chyle is distributed to the different parts of the body is the seat of life, hence the connection between child and parents is called blood relationship; and in classic usage also we have the expression “to spring from the blood”—that is, from the seed of any one (Act_17:26). (Tholuck.)


Not of the will of man
According to the teaching of some men, how is it? “I am a minister of God—I am a man—as a man I may will to take a child and baptize it, and I may will to baptize it by a certain hour of the clock; and just as I am going to baptize it, I may will to put it off till to.morrow; and when to-morrow comes, I may will that I will not baptize that child at all—for if baptized, the child may die. And so, according to the caprice of my will, the child is baptized at this hour, or at that, to-day, or to-morrow, or it is not baptized at all; and therefore, following the caprice of my will, and just according to my will, the child is inevit ably a child of God at this time of the clock, or at that time of the clock—today, or to-morrow, or the next day, or never at all.” What, I ask, is this but to be “born of the will of man”? (J. Vaughan, M. A.)


The simultaneity of faith and regeneration
We must be careful that we do not interpet the words “which were born” as if the new birth was a change which takes place in a man after he has believed in Christ, and is the next step after faith. Saving faith and regeneration are inseparable. The moment that a man really believes in Christ, however feebly, he is born of God. The weakness of his faith may make him unconscious of the change, just as a new-born infant knows little or nothing about itself. Bat where there is faith there is always new birth, and where there is no faith there is no regeneration. (Bishop Ryle.)


The spirituality of religion
This verse is most emphatically in the style of John. Never can he lose sight of the perfect spirituality of Jesus Christ’s work. John shows the very religiousness of religion. Christianity is to him more than a history, more than an argument, more than a theology—it is a spiritual revelation to the spiritual nature of man. On the part of man it is to be not an attitude, but a life—the very mystery of his spirit, too subtle for analysis, too strong for repression, too divine to be tolerant of corruption. (J. Parker, D. D.)


The higher generation
The result of receiving Him remains to be explained. How could they become “sons of God”? The word which has been used (Joh_1:12) excludes the idea of adoption, and asserts the natural relation of child to father. The nation claimed this through its descent from Abraham. But they are Abraham’s children who are of Abraham’s faith. There is a higher generation, which is spiritual, while they thought only of the lower, which is physical. The condition is the submissive receptivity of the human spirit. The origin of life is “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (H. W. Watkins, D. D.)

John 1:10-13

He was in the world, and the world was made by him; and the world knew him not. (11) He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name : (13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God:

This is a most beautiful passage, and serves to illustrate and explain the many glorious truths which the Evangelist had before been advancing concerning Christ. He was in the world. When? Yea! from all eternity. Not in his human nature, for he had not as then, openly tabernacled in flesh. And it is not said of his divine nature only, for in that sense it would have been a needless observation. But He was in the world when in his covenant character he was set up from everlasting, and when Jehovah possessed him (as he himself expresses it) under another of his Mediator-names, Wisdom; see Pro_8:22 with 1Co_1:24. And the world was made by him. This hath been before shewn, see Joh_1:2-3. And the world knew him not. By the fall in the Adam-nature of sin, all men lost all apprehension of God, and became ignorant both of themselves and their Maker. Psa_14:1-2; Psa_10:4. He came unto his own. What own? The world and all that is therein was his own by right of creation. But this is not what is meant by the phrase his own. Neither is it meant his own by right of redemption, when it is added, that his own received him not. For they did, and will all of them receive him. For so the promise in the charter of grace runs, Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Psa_110:3. And the Lord Jesus himself confirms the same, when he saith, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Joh_6:37. But the own of Christ here spoken of, means his own nation the Jews, to whom was committed the law, and the service of God and the promises; and they fulfilled their own scriptures in rejecting him. See Rom_9:4 with Act_13:27. For a further account of Christ’s own, see Joh_13:1. Now, Reader! having taken notice of those who, though Christ’s own, as a nation received him not; I pray you to mark the very different character of those his own in right that did. And observe well for you own sake how they are known; and then see whether in experience you bear a correspondence to them. They are described as not born of blood. Nothing of the hereditary blood of Adam gives birth to this chosen seed; neither the outward blood of circumcision by Moses; not the old birth of nature contributing to the new birth of grace. Nor of the will of the flesh. Nothing derived by human generation from father to son; nothing arising out of the corrupt stock of a fallen race, can lead to a spiritual regeneration by the Lord. Nor of the will of man, but of God. No ungodly man can will an ungodly man into these high privileges. No! Neither can a godly father will the son he loves into them. The great father of the faithful Abraham wished it for Ishmael, but could not will it. Gen_17:18. It is not (saith One that could not be mistaken,) of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. Rom_9:16. Reader! what saith your own personal knowledge of these things? Oh! the preciousness of distinguishing mercy!

                                                            Grace For Grace

John 1:14

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

If there be a single verse in the Bible marked with the special emphasis of God the Holy Ghost, surely this is one. Every word tells. Here is the glorious person so much and so highly spoken of before under the name of the Word, declared to be made flesh. And this distinct from the person of either the Father or the Holy Ghost. It is the Son of God only. He is made flesh. The original word translated flesh, is very strong. It is Sarx. The same word as is used Rom_3:20. where no flesh is said to be justified. And elsewhere Christ is said to be made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Rom_8:3. And it is a word of the same significancy with one in the Hebrew, used Gen_6:12 corrupt flesh. So that no word of stronger import can be found to denote the vast humiliation of the Son of God in the assuming of our nature. Had the verse expressed that the Word was made Man, though the same nature would have been implied, yet it would not have been so strong, as to the point of degradation. The word means our full nature, both of soul and body, complete man. And it is so very fully expressed by the word flesh, that the assumption implies the most perfect union of the both natures, divine and human. Not by any change or alteration of the one by the taking the other; but by the junction forming and constituting one whole person, God and Man Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. As Augustine hath happily expressed it, when speaking of the word being made flesh; " Not (said he) by changing what he was, but by taking what he was not." And what endears the whole, and renders it truly blessed to all his people who are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones, is, that this union of God and Man in one person, is indissoluble and forever. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Heb_13:8.

And how blessedly John speaks of his and his brethren’s knowledge of Christ under this precious union, He dwelt among us (said John,) tabernacled, as the word is, alluding to the Tabernacle in the wilderness, which was (and no doubt considered as such by holy men of old,) a type of Christ’s human nature, in which Jehovah dwelt, and from which manifestations were made. We beheld his glory, (said he,) observe, his glory. Yes! because in his divine nature, truly his own, underived as it was, it could be called no other. And this glory, like to that of God’s own Son, full of grace and truth. Reader! think what a blessed testimony is here to the Godhead of Christ, to the Manhood of Christ, and to the union of both. And do not fail to observe, that all this was in the same time while Christ came to his own, and his own received him not; distinguishing grace taught John and his brethren thus to behold Christ’s glory, and rejoice in it. Depend upon it, so is it now, so hath it been in all ages of the Church, and so will it be as long as the earth shall continue!

John 1:14

(with Rev_7:15 and Rev_21:3)

The word rendered "dwelt" in these three passages is a peculiar one. It is only found in the New Testament—in this Gospel, and in the Book of the Revelation. The word literally means "to dwell in a tent"—or, if we may use such a word, "to tabernacle;" and there is, no doubt a reference to the Tabernacle in which the Divine Presence abode in the wilderness and in the land of Israel before the erection of the Temple. In all three passages, then, we may see allusion to that early symbolical dwelling of God with man.

I. Think, first, of the Tabernacle for earth. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt, as in a tent, among us. St. John would have us think that, in that lowly humanity, with its curtains and its coverings of flesh, there lay shrined in the inmost place the brightness of the light of the manifest glory of God. The manifestation of God in Christ is unique, as becomes Him who partakes of the nature of that God of whom He is the representative and the revealer. Like the Tabernacle, Christ is the dwelling-place of God, the place of revelation, the place of sacrifice, and the meeting-place of God and man.

II. We have the Tabernacle for the heavens. "He that sitteth on the throne shall spread His Tabernacle above them," as the word might be rendered. That is to say, He Himself shall build and be the tent in which they dwell; He Himself shall dwell with them in it; He Himself, in closer union than can be conceived of here, shall keep them company during that feast.

III. Look at that final vision which we have in these texts, which we may call the Tabernacle for the renewed earth. "Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will tabernacle with them." The climax and the goal of all the Divine working, and the long processes of God’s love for, and discipline of, the world are to be this, that He and men shall abide together in unity and concord. That is God’s wish from the beginning. And at the close of all things, when the vision of this final chapter shall be fulfilled, God will say, settling Himself in the midst of a redeemed humanity, "Lo! here will I dwell; for I have desired it. This is My rest for ever." He will tabernacle with men, and they with Him.

A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth, Nov. 26th, 1885

I. "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." This is St. John’s declaration. He does not invent a great many arguments to prove it; he simply says "so it was." This poor fisherman, who was once upon a time sitting in his father’s ship on the Lake of Galilee, mending his nets; this man who was infinitely humbler and less self-conceited now than he was then; says out boldly and without hesitation, "This everlasting Word, in whom was life and whose life was the light of men—this Word, who was with God and was God—was made flesh and dwelt among us." And he adds, "We beheld His glory—the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father." We are sure that in this poor man, thus entering into our feelings and circumstances, we beheld the living God. Not some unseen power, some angel or Divine creature who might have been sent down on a message of mercy to one little corner of the earth, or to us poor fishermen of Galilee; it is not such a being whom we saw hidden under this human form: we declare that we saw the glory of the Father, of Him who made heaven and earth and the sea, of Him who has been and is and is to be.

II. That a meek, humble man, who believed that nothing was so horrible as to trifle with God’s Name, should have spoken such words as these, so boldly and yet so calmly, with such a certainty that they were true, and that he could live and act upon them, this is wonderful. But yet, this might have been, and the world might have gone on as if no such sounds had ever been proclaimed in it. What is the case actually? These incredible words have been believed. The question was, Who is the Ruler of the world? The Apostles said, "This Jesus of Nazareth is its Ruler." Their word prevailed. The masters of the earth confessed that they were right, Here in England, at the other end of the world, the news was heard and received. Then the day which said, "The Word has been made flesh, and has dwelt among us," became the Queen Day of the year. All the joy of the year was felt to be stored up in it. Every man, woman, and child has a right to be merry upon it. This is the festival which makes us know, indeed, that we are members of one body: it binds together the life of Christ on earth with His life in heaven; it assures us that Christmas Day belongs not to time but to eternity.

F. D. Maurice, Christmas Day and Other Sermons, p. 1.

The Incarnation.

The Word was from the beginning the only-begotten Son of God. Before all worlds were created, while as yet time was not, He was in existence, in the bosom of the Eternal Father, God from God, and Light from Light, supremely blessed in knowing and being known of Him, and receiving all Divine perfections from Him, yet ever true with Him. who begat Him. The Son of God became the Son of Man: mortal, but not a sinner; heir of our infirmities, not of our guiltiness; the offspring of our old race, yet the beginning of the new creation of God.

I. God was in the Prophets, but not as He was in Christ. In like manner the Holy Ghost came on the Apostles at Pentecost and at other times; and so, again, the Jewish Temple was in one sense inhabited by the Presence of God, which came down upon it at Solomon’s prayer. This was a type of our Lord’s Manhood dwelt in by the Word of God as a Temple; still, with this essential difference—that the Jewish Temple was perishable; and again, the Divine Presence might recede from it. But even when Christ’s body was dead the Divine Nature was one with it; in like manner it was one with His soul in Paradise. Soul and body were really one with the Eternal Word—not one in name only—one never to be divided.

II. Again, the Gospel teaches us another mode in which man may be said to be united with Almighty God. It is the peculiar blessedness of the Christian, as St. Peter tells us, to be a partaker of the Divine Nature. But still, inexpressible as is this gift of Divine mercy, it were blasphemy not to say that the indwelling of the Father in the Son is infinitely above this, being quite different in kind; for He is not merely of a Divine Nature, Divine by participation of holiness and perfection, but Life and holiness itself, such as the Father is—the Co-eternal Son incarnate, God clothed with our nature, the Word made flesh.

III. And lastly, we read in the patriarchal history of various appearances of angels so remarkable that we can scarcely hesitate to suppose them to be gracious visions of the Eternal Son. Whether or no the temporary outward form which the Eternal had assumed was really an angel, or but an appearance existing only for the immediate purpose, still, anyhow, we could not with propriety say that our Lord took upon Him the nature of angels.

IV. Great is our Lord and great is His power, Jesus the Son of God, Son of Man. He raised human nature, for Man has redeemed us. Man is set above all creatures, as one with the Creator. Man shall judge man at the last day. So honoured is this earth that no stranger shall judge us. But He, our Fellow, who will sustain our interests, and has full sympathy in all our imperfections; He who has given us to share His own spiritual nature; He from whom we have drawn the life’s blood of our souls,—He, our Brother, will decide upon His brethren.

J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. ii., p. 26.

Christ the Healing of Mankind.

According to the revelation made to us of the character and kingdom of God, and of the nature and conditions of man, there appears no other way by which we could be saved but by the manifestation of God in the flesh.

I. For, although it is most true that God might, in His almighty power, destroy the sinful race of mankind, and create another all holy in its stead; or separate the taint of sin and the power of death from our nature, and abolish them altogether; yet, we must not forget that God is not power alone, but Holiness, Wisdom, and Justice. There are deeper necessities in the perfections of the Divine mind and the laws of the spiritual world, which are the expressions of these perfections, than we can penetrate. As man, who has fallen under the power of sin and death, is a moral and responsible creature; and as his fall from God was through the misdirected energies of his moral powers; so the restoration of man, it would seem, can only be effected through the same means and under the same conditions. And therefore it may be that the immutable justice of God’s kingdom demands no less than the atonement of a Person.

II. Again, sin and death had power in and over the personal nature of mankind. It was from this we had to be redeemed. And for this cause the Person who should undertake the salvation of mankind must assume to Himself our humanity—that is, the very nature which He was to heal and to save—and put Himself into personal relation to us.

III. As the burden of our humanity is too great for any of us to bear without falling, no created and finite being, either man or angel, could so assume it as to raise it from its fall, restore its imperfections, and sustain it in strength and mastery over the powers of sin. Our humanity needed to be hallowed and strengthened: if fleshly, to be again made spiritual; if mortal, to be raised above the power of death; if outcast from God, to be knitted to Him again. So closely, indeed, are we knit to Him, that St. Peter does not fear to say that we are made partakers of the Divine Nature. Therefore He must needs by Himself purge our sins. None but He that in the beginning said, "Let us make man in Our Image," could restore again to man the Image of God.

H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. ii., p. 1.

The Holy Scriptures only can answer the question, Who was Jesus?

They tell us—

I. That He is God. (1) The peculiar name of Deity is given to Jesus. (2) Works which belong to God alone are declared to be performed by Jesus. (3) In the representations of Scripture, attributes which can only belong to God are ascribed to Jesus. (4) Honour and worship, equal to the honour and worship of, God are claimed for Jesus. (5) Jesus is distinctly affirmed to be God.

II. That He is Man. (1) Jesus Christ calls Himself, and was called, the Son of Man. (2) The records of His life prove Him to have been really Man. (3) God the Father acted toward Jesus as a Man; and Jesus recognised this fact.

S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 3rd series, p. 1.

References: Joh_1:14.—Homilist, 3rd series, vol. ii., p. 338; Ibid., vol. iv., p. 170; Ibid., vol. vi., p. 340; F. D. Maurice, The Gospel of St. John, p. 15; H. P. Liddon, Christmastide Sermons, p. 123; A. Barry, Cheltenham College Sermons, p. 306; S. A. Brooke, Christ in Modern Life, pp. 63, 75; W. Braden, Christian World Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 385; A. F. Joscelyne, Ibid., vol. xvii., p. 182; J. F. Haynes, Ibid., vol. xx., p. 198; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 22; Spurgeon’s Sermons, vol. vii., No. 414; Ibid., vol. xxxi., No. 1862. Joh_1:15.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. ix., p. 38.

John 1:14

the Word: Joh_1:1; Isa_7:14; Mat_1:16, Mat_1:20-23; Luk_1:31-35, Luk_2:7, Luk_2:11; Rom_1:3-4, Rom_9:5; 1Co_15:47; Gal_4:4; Phi_2:6-8; 1Ti_3:16; Heb_2:11, Heb_2:14-17, Heb_10:5; 1Jo_4:2-3; 2Jo_1:7

we: Joh_2:11, Joh_11:40, Joh_12:40-41, Joh_14:9; Isa_40:5, Isa_53:2, Isa_60:1-2; Mat_17:1-5; 2Co_4:4-6; Heb_1:3; 1Pe_2:4-7; 2Pe_1:17; 1Jo_1:1-2

the only: Joh_1:18, Joh_3:16, Joh_3:18; Psa_2:7; Act_13:33; Heb_1:5, Heb_5:5; 1Jo_4:9

full: Joh_1:16-17; Psa_45:2; 2Co_12:9; Eph_3:8, Eph_3:18-19; Col_1:19, Col_2:3, Col_2:9; 1Ti_1:14-16