You Are a Child of God
John 1:1-14 (NLT)
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
Reflection
Life has a way of persuading us that our mortal body is all there is to us humans. We screw things up. We fall short. We say the wrong thing, misunderstand easily, and lose focus quickly. As soon as we learn one thing, we forget another. Our muscles weaken, our skin wrinkles, and our voice cracks. Microscopic viruses can stop us in our tracks and drain us of our energy. Disappointment crushes us and grief cripples us. We get hungry, we shiver with cold, and we tire with any real expenditure of effort. We are but fragile jars of clay. It can be so easy to overlook what we carry inside of us, the preciousness of what we carry in our spirits.
The unseen reality is that our spirits are eternal. We are the masterpiece creation of an eternal God. He crafted us with His own hands, painted us individually and uniquely, then breathed into us His breath of life. This broken world of sin we were naturally birthed into severed our relationship with our Heavenly Father, but His loving grace prompted Him to “come into the very world He created” to rescue us (verse 10).
The essence of Christmas is distilled into this exquisite sentence in verse 14: “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory”!
It’s a miraculous and magical reality! When we accept Him, we are reborn in the spirit as His children, with His DNA flowing through our veins. His image is stamped on our hearts, and we carry His name forward in our bloodline. His life within us is a light that can never be extinguished (verse 5)!
Our spirits are bound for eternity, not meant to live just for the here and now. Our voices are eternal, bound to join a heavenly chorus. Everlasting victory is already in our possession!
We can transcend the temporary for the eternal when we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on the unseen. We can pour into others’ spirits and invest in God’s image. We can help each other hold onto our hope, to proclaim that in God there is a lifting! We can laugh and be filled with joy; we can walk in our freedom and live in abundance of spirit. We can flourish in our inner selves even as our outward bodies are decaying.
All because we are the children of the Most High God!
Action Steps
1. Has the Christmas miracle entered into your own heart? Has your relationship with your Heavenly Father been restored? If not, don’t wait another moment! It’s as simple as turning to Him in your heart and speaking to Him in prayer. Make God your Sovereign King right now, and accept His free gift of Jesus as your Savior. That’s ALL it takes to be reborn into His eternal family!
2. If you are already a child of the King, have you been walking with a view toward eternity? Spend time with the Holy Spirit right now and ask Him to change your perspective on yourself and your life!
Prayer
Lord God, Christmas day has passed, but we are just in the beginning of Your beautiful, eternal story! Thank You for allowing me to be a part of Your kingdom of light, and for the rebirth of my spirit into Your family. I can’t believe I have the privilege of being a child of the Most High God! It’s better than any other inheritance I can imagine. Help me truly realize what it means to be Your child! You have written eternity into my heart, and I can’t thank You enough! In Jesus’ most precious name I pray, amen.
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
Reflection
Life has a way of persuading us that our mortal body is all there is to us humans. We screw things up. We fall short. We say the wrong thing, misunderstand easily, and lose focus quickly. As soon as we learn one thing, we forget another. Our muscles weaken, our skin wrinkles, and our voice cracks. Microscopic viruses can stop us in our tracks and drain us of our energy. Disappointment crushes us and grief cripples us. We get hungry, we shiver with cold, and we tire with any real expenditure of effort. We are but fragile jars of clay. It can be so easy to overlook what we carry inside of us, the preciousness of what we carry in our spirits.
The unseen reality is that our spirits are eternal. We are the masterpiece creation of an eternal God. He crafted us with His own hands, painted us individually and uniquely, then breathed into us His breath of life. This broken world of sin we were naturally birthed into severed our relationship with our Heavenly Father, but His loving grace prompted Him to “come into the very world He created” to rescue us (verse 10).
The essence of Christmas is distilled into this exquisite sentence in verse 14: “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory”!
It’s a miraculous and magical reality! When we accept Him, we are reborn in the spirit as His children, with His DNA flowing through our veins. His image is stamped on our hearts, and we carry His name forward in our bloodline. His life within us is a light that can never be extinguished (verse 5)!
Our spirits are bound for eternity, not meant to live just for the here and now. Our voices are eternal, bound to join a heavenly chorus. Everlasting victory is already in our possession!
We can transcend the temporary for the eternal when we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on the unseen. We can pour into others’ spirits and invest in God’s image. We can help each other hold onto our hope, to proclaim that in God there is a lifting! We can laugh and be filled with joy; we can walk in our freedom and live in abundance of spirit. We can flourish in our inner selves even as our outward bodies are decaying.
All because we are the children of the Most High God!
Action Steps
1. Has the Christmas miracle entered into your own heart? Has your relationship with your Heavenly Father been restored? If not, don’t wait another moment! It’s as simple as turning to Him in your heart and speaking to Him in prayer. Make God your Sovereign King right now, and accept His free gift of Jesus as your Savior. That’s ALL it takes to be reborn into His eternal family!
2. If you are already a child of the King, have you been walking with a view toward eternity? Spend time with the Holy Spirit right now and ask Him to change your perspective on yourself and your life!
Prayer
Lord God, Christmas day has passed, but we are just in the beginning of Your beautiful, eternal story! Thank You for allowing me to be a part of Your kingdom of light, and for the rebirth of my spirit into Your family. I can’t believe I have the privilege of being a child of the Most High God! It’s better than any other inheritance I can imagine. Help me truly realize what it means to be Your child! You have written eternity into my heart, and I can’t thank You enough! In Jesus’ most precious name I pray, amen.
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