The Light Shines in the DarknessSample

Becoming a child of God

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become 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.” (John 1:12-13)

When God created the first man and woman, He had a personal relationship with them. He walked in the garden where they lived and spoke with them. God and man lived in perfect harmony. But they chose to disobey God and thereby disrupted the relationship. Since then, humans are alienated from their Creator.

However, God so loves this sinful world that He wants to reconcile humanity with Himself. He wants us to become part of his “family” and to be his children. That is impossible if we stay as we were born, since we are all sinful. Therefore, we need to be “born again” — not physically, but spiritually. We need to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:23-24).

How this transformation takes place, is a mystery. Jesus says: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). But the Bible makes totally clear what we need in order to be born again: faith in Jesus Christ.

Do you believe in Him?