John 1:13: “[Children of God] who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
There are few things in human life that are more miraculous than the birth of a child. The beginning of a new life that is so helpless and vulnerable brings such great joy and celebration to those impacted by the birth. Jesus is the King of the Kingdom of God, and He said, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36). When considering the possibility of the existence of a different world, it would not be unreasonable to think that the birthing process might be different from our world.
In today’s verse, the Apostle John is in the beginning parts of his amazing Gospel, and he is quickly pointing out there’s a different definition of children and a different methodology to the birthing process in the Kingdom of God. Verse 12, the one preceding today’s verse, says regarding the definition of children in the Kingdom of God, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” By “receiving” Him, John is stating those are the ones who receive the truth of Who Jesus is. John made that very clear in the first verse of his Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus is God – He is a co-equal member of the Holy Trinity along with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. It is this critical truth that a child of God must receive Jesus – must believe in Him – to warrant being called a child of God.
Today’s verse, though, speaks to the methodology of becoming a child of God. For us humans, we have a choice to determine whether or not we’re going to try to reproduce. Yes, there are “accidents”, and God still needs to bless the biology of the reproductive process. However, we humans do have a say – or an act of our will – in the process of bringing children into our world. Not so in the Kingdom of God. Today’s verse says there is indeed a birth of a child in the Kingdom, but that birth is first not of blood. We take from this that the child of God is not a human birth as humans all have blood. The child of God is born of the Spirit. (John 3:5) Upon receiving the truth of Jesus as God and what He did on the Cross, we are born again – given a new birth as a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). What gives life to the child of God – this new creation – is the giving of the Holy Spirit to each person who receives Jesus. God is a giver of life, so He gives Himself to us through His Spirit. He dwells with, communes with, and guides us the rest of our days on Earth until we are called home to heaven.
The final portion of today’s verse makes it clear to become a child of God does not come naturally to humans. We were designed to be children of God, but Adam and Eve’s fateful choice to follow Satan’s temptation in the Garden of Eden voided this right. Their sin separated them from God, and every human, with one exception (Jesus Christ), has inherited the sin gene. That means each human born is a creation of God but is not a child of God. There is highly likely a period of grace in the early years of every human that God gives a “pass” on – where they are not held accountable for their understanding of God. However, there comes a point where every person is “on the hook” – accountable – as to whether or not they are going to choose to believe in Jesus.
The key to making that choice possible, though, is it would have been impossible without God’s will. God could have elected to be so angry that humanity chose to not believe in Him, but He did not. It was His will – not ours – to come up with a plan to make a way for His unbelieving creations to recognize the truth of Who He is and how much He loves and desires for them to believe in Him and become His children in His Kingdom. That mechanism is found in His Son on the Cross. The God Who gives life, directed the Son to give up His life for total payment of our sins, then resurrected Him so we could have new life. It is God Who makes it possible for us to become His children. That is His desire for everyone of His creations. Do you want to be a child of God? Will you receive Him?