Gods Own

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

GODS OWN

John 1:11-13

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

NIV

It is not really clear why, but the fact is, that God choose the nation of Israel as his own nation, his own people. That is the reason Jesus entered the world as an Israelite infant. But it was also clear by the time John was inspired to pen this gospel they had rejected Jesus, in fact they tried to kill Jesus, but we know by doing so they actually accomplished the will of God. Now that just might have been the master plan of God in the first choosing them as his own, knowing full well what they would do. But the great part of this all is the fact that whoever does receive Jesus will become Gods family. We who believe are now actually the children of God. As Paul wrote, we who have become circumcised of the heart are now actually the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, God’s special people, God’s own. We are children of God, but as we see not in the sense we are children of our parents or parents of our children, for that is by a decision parents make to have a child, but here we are children of God because he has declared us so, because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This should encourage us beyond measure. First we have eternal life, but also as his children we will inherit all that is his, we are in fact co-heirs with Jesus. We cannot be sure just exactly all that includes, but we know it is so far more than we can ever imagine. The truth is being born of God is being Born Again.