There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:6-13

The role of John the Baptist is made very clear in the first paragraph of our reading today. He was a witness to the Light (Jesus), but not the Light himself. No man can be compared to Jesus. However, don’t pass over the phrase, “there came a man sent from God.” I pray that by the time your life on earth is over hundreds of people will have heard such a decisive, life-changing word from God through you that they will say, “There was a person sent from God whose name was _____________ (fill in your name).” We too are to bear witness to the Light.

In the second paragraph we see a clear presentation of how to become a Christian. Jesus came to those who belong to Him by right of creation. You belong to God by creation (He created you) and now He wants you to belong to Him by re-creation – a new and spiritual rebirth.

Here’s the tragedy of Advent – “But His own did not receive Him”. The tragedy is that those who are rightfully His by creation have rejected Him as the Light. God is everybody’s Creator, but God is not everybody’s Father. We all have one Creator but we do not all have the same Father. We become a part of God’s spiritual family through the light of Jesus Christ by receiving and believing.

I love the rhyming words “receive” and “believe”. Verse 12 pairs these two words together. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name…” Receiving Jesus means taking Jesus into your life for who He is. Believing in His name is an acknowledgement that Jesus is who He said He was – God, the Creator, the Messiah, and the only Savior of the world.

As you pray today praise His Holy Name with a grateful heart. The moment you believe in Jesus, the moment you receive Him for who He really is, in that moment He gives you not only a new birth, but the right and authority, as a sinner, to lay claim to your inheritance as a child of God.

Weekly Memory Verse: For nothing will be impossible with God. Luke 1.37