OFFSPRING OF JESUS, THE SON OF ABRAHAM
John 1: 9- 13 reads, ‘The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not
recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to
all who did receive him, to those who believed 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.’
This verse captures perfectly the difference between being a person of God by
creation or natural descent, and being a spiritual child of God through Jesus. He
came to His own, people who had been created through Him, and also in this case,
Abraham’s natural descendants, but most rejected Him. But those who received
Him were given the right to become spiritual children of God.
And so Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5- 8 , ‘ “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter
the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh,
but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^ must
be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot
tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”’
We are born again through the Holy Spirit. This truth which we have extensively
explored, is emphasized throughout the Bible, and Titus 3:5-7 says, ‘...He saved us
through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us
generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace,
we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.’
Jesus our elder brother worked for our own good. Unlike the elder brother in the
story of the prodigal son, He knew that all that the Father had belonged to Him.
As a matter of fact God, His Father, created all things, including us, through Him.
Yet when we got lost, Jesus willingly came looking for us. He worked with the
Father, and obeyed Him through dying on a Roman cross, so that we could be
reconciled to God through Him. Jesus rejoices over every sinner who repents,
unlike that elder brother.