Alright, listen, this is one
of the greatest passages anywhere in the New Testament with regard
to Christology. Let's read the first 13 verses
because down in verse 12 is where we want to focus principally
in this passage of the Scripture. John 1, 1 through 13, please. In the beginning was the Word,
And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him.
Without Him was not anything that was made. In Him was life,
and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in
the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it or did not overcome
it. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. The same came for a witness,
to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. He was not that light, but was
sent to bear witness of that light that was the true light
which lights every man that comes into the world. He was in the
world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him
not. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power, or right, or privilege, or authority to
become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name,
which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of
the will of the flesh, but of God. Verse 12, As many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. It has been but a short time
now since we had a study on heavenly citizenship, or our divine citizenship. And this surely is related in
some way or degree unto that. For the heavenly citizenship
that we possess in Jesus Christ is reserved and restricted for
the sons and the daughters or the children of God. Now concerning
our subject today, adoption is a blessed part of the saving
process, God saving sinners. I repeat, it is a blessed part
of the saving process of salvation and redemption. And it has its
proper place in preparing the elect for their eternal happiness
in the world that is to come. Yet, for some reason, it's one
of those doctrines again that's kind of ignored in study and
in preaching in our day. And when it is mentioned, it
seems to be based upon or patterned strictly after the manner of
civil or civilian adoption. That is, the practice as it is
among the family of men. With that in mind, our first
text is the one in John 1 and verse 12 concerning becoming
the sons of God. Because, you see, adoption means
placing among the sons. The very word adoption, the thing
to adopt is to take one who would ordinarily be outside of the
family and make them or put them in the family, placing them among
the sons. We'll have more to say about
that later on. First of all, a few thoughts
about the Gospel of John in which our great text is found. Notice
that the opening of John's Gospel is rather unique in regard to
all of the others. It is the opinion and even the
judgment of some very good expositors that John wrote some time later
than the other Gospels were written. And by that time, eras concerning
the person of Christ had already began to be disseminated and
had crept into Christianity. And I think that account for
the very heavy emphasis that John places upon the deity of
Christ. For his gospel is geared toward
that end. That Jesus Christ is very God,
that He possesses deity. And he writes that against some
of the heretics, they say, like Ebion and Corinthians, who early
on in the spread of Christianity taught that Jesus was just an
ordinary man. Even in the first century, there
had arisen this damnable and pernicious doctrine concerning
the person of Christ. And so, those men and others
like them both denied the divinity of Christ, but they also denied
the pre-incarnate existence of the Lord Jesus Christ. They denied
that he existed before he came in the flesh and was born of
Mary. So those eras had arisen early. John Gill said, or thought, that
that's the reason why John begins his gospel by declaring openly
and unashamedly the deity of Christ. He opens with these words. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. You will notice
that John, unlike some of the other Gospel writers, says nothing
about the physical birth or the youth of the Lord. Well, because
Luke has already given us a good account of these. John does not
cover the temptation of the Lord. He does not include the Sermon
on the Mount, for Matthew has given these at length in his
Gospel. John also skips over the transfiguration
of the Lord. He does not give us an account
of the appointment of the Supper of the Lord. He goes straight
to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and lays it there on the
line for us. David Brown, an author, wrote
the keynote of the gospel of John is there in chapter 1 in
verse 14. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory. And that glory was as the glory
of the only begotten Son of the Father. the incarnate Son, Jesus
Christ, who being in the beginning with God the Father, assumed
flesh in union with His divine nature, and became the God-man,
that holy thing that shall be born of thee. But before John
sets forth that incarnation in verse 14, he declares the deity
of Christ in verses 1-5. Then in verse 6, he breaks in
and gives a long account of the ministry of John the Baptist
who was the forerunner and who went before to prepare the way
of the Lord. He begins with these words in
verse 6. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. And this man sent from God? because
it pleased God when He would have His Son to be openly manifested
in the flesh, to have one go before Him like unto kings in
old times, one to herald His way and announce His coming and
prepare the people to bear testimony of Him who is life and who is
life. And me thinks that there is more
in verse 4 and verse 5, than we can ever realize on our own
concerning Christ as the light. For there is a mighty thing here
that is ascribed to Christ, which elevates Him beyond and above
an ordinary man, and which we might confess will only be understood
when our minds are fully enlightened at some later time. But let's
focus for the present our attention upon verses 10 through verse
13. And here we will meet with the
most precious doctrine, that of spiritual adoption and sonship
by and through Jesus Christ. Now, look at verse 10. And it
was a surprise to read the number of expositors who understand
from verse 10 to be speaking of Christ before His incarnation,
before He assumed flesh and dwelt among men. Essentially, what
Paul teaches in Romans 1 here regarding the signs of the existence
and the power of God. That Christ was in the world
before He became incarnate, in that as God, He created the world,
He filled it up with His presence, His power, and His glory, and
upheld it by the word of His power, and so forth. That even
before He came in the incarnation, His power was seen and John says
He was in the world. Still there are others who think
that verse 10 does refer to the incarnate Christ saying He was
in the world. Well, it seems certain that there
in verse 11 it speaks of the Lord's appearance in the world
and in or wearing the likeness of the flesh of men, because
he was in the world, he came unto his own, and his own received
him not." Now, here is a place where a little extra study will
make verse 11 clearer, hopefully, in our mind. Because of the two
expressions, his own, you will notice that that is there twice. Those two words, that expression,
His own appear twice in that verse of the Scripture. And the
thing about them is that they are not exactly the same words
in the Greek. The first being what those Greek
scholars call neuter gender, and the second one of them being
in the masculine gender. It makes a lot of difference
if you understand the Greek. So that here is how it is translated
in Marshall's Interlinear of the New Testament. To his own
things he came, and to his own people, and they received him
not. To his own, first one, things,
and his people in the second. In the margin you will see the
first, his own, as his own things. or his own domain, or his own
possession. He came unto his own things,
or his own domain, and the world knew him not. Then in the second,
his own, is meant, as Gil put it, the whole body of the Jewish
nation, to the seed of Abraham in their great number. They received
him not. That is, the greater part of
the body of them rejected the Lord, refused Him, and had Him
crucified. They set aside His claims and
His proofs that He was the Messiah. They called Him a blasphemer. They secured His death at the
hands of the Romans, and they called down His blood upon their
own heads. Let His blood be upon our head. But coming now to that great
and wonderful text in verse 12. We see here that there is a blessed
contrast throughout the larger part of the nation. Rejected
the Lord Jesus Christ. Most of them did that. The body
of religious leaders did it and led the way. And yet not all
did that. The greater part of them did,
but not all. Now should Messiah have come
on a fruitless and an empty mission, He is not left without a people. He is not left without the bounty
of His death, a people to worship and to serve Him. Now if you
see the contrast in verse 11, His own received Him not. While in verse 12, as many as
received Him, to them gave He the glorious privilege of being
the sons or the children of God. Now we understand the words here,
as many as, those three words, to convey the idea, whosoever,
whatsoever persons there were who believed and received Him. Such as received Him. Everyone
that received Him. Those that received Him. Which
in verse 12 is synonymous with those who believe on His name. For those believing on His name
are the ones also that have received Him. Now we emphasize this because
of all of the merit mongers that they are abroad in the world
today because we know that free will merit mongers will turn
these words in favor of free will every time they see them. Anytime they see the words like
whosoever and receiving the Lord, they insist on ascribing that
or putting that under the column of free will. For example, the
words in John 1 and verse 12. As many as are from the same
word used in Acts 13 and verse 48. We see the meaning of them
there. Acts 13 and verse 48. Paul has turned to preach to
the Gentiles, and that verse said, when the Gentiles heard
that, they were glad They glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed." So there is not
free will, there is the sovereign purpose of God. Many did not
believe, but as many as were ordained to eternal life Besides all of this, verse 13
of our text, John 1, gives the reason why the as many as received
and believed on the Lord to the saving of their soul. It was
a result of divine regeneration, of being born of God. For they being born of God, received
and believed on the Lord Jesus. Note that John is quick to exclude
in verse 13 all causes which men might claim to merit or to
gain them salvation. And he ties the new birth to
this wonderful work of God. Tying in verse 12, the last part,
and verse 13 together, them which believe on His name, which were
born of God." And again, their believing is not the cause of
their new birth, but vice versa. They do not believe in order
to be born again, but they believe because and as a result of their
being sovereignly, divinely quickened, regenerated by the Spirit of
grace. I think we see that in 1 John
chapter 5 and verse 1. It's a great text to study when
you go start to Bible school. Sometimes this is one of the
first that you might meet. Listen, whosoever believes that
Jesus is the Christ or the Messiah is born of God. Whosoever believes that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Now the thought is, everyone
believing that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God. Faith in Christ, therefore, is
both the result and the evidence of divine regeneration. They stand in relation to each
other as cause and effect. One is the cause, the other is
the effect. Regeneration is the cause, conversion
and faith and repentance and such like are the effect. But our present focus is upon
becoming or being the sons or the children of God. In other
words, we're discussing this morning the privilege of adoption. And in verse 12 we read, "...of
such given the power to become the children of God." In 1 John
3 and 1, it, that is, adoption, is an evidence of the love of
God for that He had called children of God. And in the second verse
there, 1 John 3, "...now are we the sons of God. Even now are we the children
of God. Let's take a look at the word
power in John 1 and verse 12. We can't understand this verse
fully unless we understand more fully this word power here. To them gave He power to become
the sons of God. Now this word power as it appears
here in the Scripture, is not the word dunamis, which means
force or might or strength or ability, such as the power that
overshadowed Mary and gave conception to the Lord. Luke 1.35. Or the power of Christ's resurrection. Romans 1 and verse 4. It's not
that word dunamis. It is not the word kratos, a
vigor, a dominion, power, strength. This is what Paul uses in Ephesians
1 verse 19, Hebrews 2 and verse 14, and Jude verse 25. It is not those words. Rather,
this word here is the word exousia, and it could be translated authority
or right. or privilege. In the New Testament,
it can mean right, privilege, and liberty or authority. As an example, this is the same
word used by Pilate as he stands before Jesus and he tells the
Lord in John 19 and verse 10, Do you not know that I have power
to condemn you? and I have power to set you free."
And that's where the Lord gave the great answer, you could have
none at all except it was given by my Father. But it is the word
used by the Lord in John 10 and verse 18 concerning His death. He says, I have power to lay
it down, I have power to take it up again. In other words,
I have authority to lay my life down, And I have authority to
take it up again. Again, it's the word in John
17 and verse 2 of Jesus saying, As thou hast given him authority
over all flesh, that he might give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. The word power, again, there
is the word authority. Thus, believers have the right
Believers have the authority, they have the privilege of becoming
the children of God. They have every right to view
and to call God as their Father. Now, this becoming or being children
of God is one and the same with adoption, which means, as I said
earlier, son-placing. Adoption is to put among the
children, bringing one in from outside of the family, placing
them in the family as a member of the family. Taking one that
is not a biological or a natural child, not a son or daughter
by birth. One is by birth a stranger and
an alien. and bringing such and such into
the family and then bestowing upon them the fullness of adoption
and the fullness of the privileges of the family. And the actual
experience of sonship, or the knowledge of adoption, follows
regeneration. We can't know our adoption until
we have been regenerated. where the new birth comes, that
feeling of paternity, when we are born of God, that we are
the sons of God, that He is our Father, and that all of the saints
are our brothers and our sisters. And in a sense, Christ is our
elder but much superior brother. But as John Gill wrote, in his
very large volume, The Body of Divinity, in the chapter on adoption. Actually, there are two chapters
in that book on adoption. But in one he said this, quote,
Adoption did not begin in time, but commenced in eternity, being
an act of God's will. Unquote. He calls it imminent. And let us put a text to that. See if we can prove that. Is
Dr. Gill right? Remember Ephesians
1, 5, and Paul there has written these words, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of sons or children by Jesus Christ unto
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. Now notice
predestination. predestinated for ordained, set
forth, marked out for the adoption of children. Paul gives us this
great passage which we might call a eulogy. And speaking of
these spiritual blessings that were bestowed upon us in Christ
before the world ever began. And in Ephesians 1 through 11,
you have one of the great eulogies from the Apostle in all of the
Scripture. Two things are most prominently
set out in this great eulogy. They are, number one, election,
and number two, predestination. Election. Having chosen us in
Christ before the foundation of the world. And then he goes
on in verse 5. Predestinating. Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. So the two things go together.
One follows after the other. Chosen in Christ before the world,
predestinated to the adoption of children. Election is choosing
out from a greater number. To predestinate, then, is to
foreordain or before a point unto a certain end, to mark out
and to ordain to a particular goal. Here it is the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ. Notice two things in Ephesians
1 and 5. First of all, there is adoption. There is sonship. Being children
is something that we are appointed to before the world began. And
the second thing is, it is through Jesus Christ. So that adoption
is from eternity, took place prior to our believing, and may
I say it with guilt, even before the incarnation and appearance
of our Lord. And even before the death of
our Lord upon the cross, for it is something to which the
elect were foreordained unto through Christ. Till Paul says,
it has its medium through Jesus Christ. And that is not realized
by the adoptee until they are regenerated and given a new heart
and given a mind to know God. Now get this, adoption in and
of itself is in some ways like under justification in that neither
of them in and of themselves and by themselves, change or
renew the corrupt nature. Neither of them are, therefore,
an inward work or an inward renewal, and both of them are from eternity,
being imminent acts of God which He has determined to bring to
pass. Justification does not make us
holy, just as condemnation is not an infusion of depravity. But the justified ones, then,
are also sanctified as God carries the work further. So that sanctification
is not the cause of justification, but a result of it. Even so,
adoption is something which God has decreed from everlasting,
therefore does not take its rise from regeneration. I mean, it's
not because we're regenerate that we are adopted. This is
the way Gil made the connection between adoption and regeneration. Quote, by adoption, they are
put into the relation of children. By regeneration, they have given
unto them a nature suitable to that relation, unquote, to illustrate
or to get a grip on the blessing of adoption, let's consider just
for a bit civil adoption of which we find some examples of it in
the Scripture, particularly in the Old Testament. I would find
three. There would be Moses, there would
be Esther, and there would be Mephibosheth in the Old Testament. Mephibosheth adopted by David. 2 Samuel 9, Esther adopted by
her uncle named Mordecai in Esther 2 and verse 7. And Moses adopted
by the daughter Pharaoh in the book of Exodus 2, verse 10. And by the way, Stephen mentions
it in Acts 7 and verse 21. And in these civil adoptions,
such adoptees are of another family than the one who has adopted
them, but they are brought into the new family. Full membership
is given unto them. They are made full and equal
heirs of the new family. They take the name of their adopter. All ties are severed. from their
original family or birth mother, though in some cases they are
orphans or deserted that are taken in adoption. John Owen
wrote, quote, by virtue of adoption they are invested with all the
rights, the privileges, the advantages and title to inheritance of the
family into which they are adopted as if they had been born in that
family." They are brought in as if they were born in that
family. However, the causes of civil
and spiritual adoption are not always equal and alike. In civil adoption, a family may
adopt because they cannot have children, or because they have
lost their children to death, or they may adopt the children
of a dear friend or a deceased relative. For as Gil said, in
civil adoptions generally, there are causes, there are reasons
that influence one to make the act of adoption. As with Moses,
Pharaoh's daughter saw him. And Moses was, according to the
Scripture, a lovely child. Exodus 2 and verse 2. Not only that, He was crying
pitifully when she found Him in the bulrushes. And the Scripture
said she had compassion on Him, even though she said, this is
one of the Hebrew women's children. Exodus 2 and verse 6. Again, Esther was adopted, an
orphan. But Esther, the Bible says, was
a very beautiful girl, a very beautiful young lady, and adopted. And Mephibosheth was a pitiful
cripple. And David brought him in and
set him at his table and said, from now on you eat here. But
in spiritual adoption, the only moving cause is the sovereign
good pleasure of Almighty God. It is a result of the distinguishing
grace of God. It is done to those who are chosen
in Jesus Christ, and God's love is fixed upon them. As one author
put it, adoption is part of the grace of the covenant and of
the sovereign purpose of God. For Paul has stated it too clearly
for any to oppose or deny in Ephesians 1.5, having predestinated
us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. It was not because
God foresaw them, or foresaw who would believe, nor did He
see them fair and desirable and beautiful to the eye, nor because
God had no sons, for He had the Son the Son of His love. There was absolutely nothing
outside of God's goodwill and pleasure that influenced either
the election or the adoption of any. No worth, no merit, no
goodness, no loveliness. There's another distinction between
civil and spiritual adoption, and that is in the first civil
adoption, one may adopt bring the adoptee into the family,
give them the family name fully and free, make them heirs of
the family, own and freely call them their children. However,
the adopting parents in civil adoption cannot give the one
that they adopt a new nature. They cannot renew their heart.
in their mind. Somebody said they cannot give
them a suitable disposition and change the natural temper. They can bring a child, an orphan,
into the family, but they cannot give it a new nature. Gil noted
the adoptee may turn out to be a fool, or he might even become
a reprobate, for they have the genes of those that begat them,
and that will always be true. However, many or most adoptions
in the civil sense turn out very well both for the parents and
for the adopted one. However, spiritual adoptions
are regenerated. They are given a new heart. They
are renewed inwardly. Therefore, they are inclined
to love and to honor and to relish, and to reverence, and to worship
their Father God. Let us not be guilty of sliding
the part which the Holy Spirit takes in these adoption. For He is the Regenerator. He
is the One who births the adoptee. He is the One who puts life in
them. They are born of the Spirit in
John chapter 3. For it is the Spirit that quickens."
John 6, 63. The Spirit quickens those who
are foreordained to the adoption of children. He is called the
Spirit in Romans 8 and verse 15. The Spirit of adoption. Paul shows that sonship is the
guarantee or evidence of eternal life. And that the Spirit bears
witness in Romans 8 to that adoption or sonship. How is the Spirit,
the Spirit of adoption? Is it because He applies adoptive
truths unto our hearts? Or because He is ever-present
to ensure our adoption? Or because He regenerates and
prepares us for our adoption? Do all of these have truth in
them? I ask the question, is this what
Paul is saying or meaning by the spirit of adoption? Or can the context answer the
question? Look at that in Romans chapter
8. Paul says, you have not received
that or a spirit of bondage. Notice the contrast here. That
is, you have not received as Christians and believers a slave-like
spirit which genders fear or puts in bondage. But you received
a spirit of adoption whereby, or by which, or by reason of
which we cry or say, Abba, Father." Father in two languages there.
Some good expositors have seen that Paul's meaning to be You
have received the Spirit. However, you did not receive
the Spirit as a spirit again under bondage. But you received
the Spirit as a spirit of adoption, causing you to cry, Abba, Father. That the Spirit, in Romans 8.15,
impresses upon the adoptees that filial feeling that exists between
a son and a father. Because of that, they're able
to view themselves then as the children of God. And this is
confirmed by Romans 8 and verse 16. The Spirit Himself bears
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Consider Galatians 4 and verse
6. Because you are sons, God has
sent forth the Spirit into your heart, crying, Abba, Father. Therefore, one must be regenerate
to have the witness in themselves that they are the children, the
sons and the daughters of the living God. One must have that
testimony of the Spirit. They must have received the adoption
of children. On the other hand, None can consider
themselves. None should consider themselves. None ought to consider themselves
children of God who have not the spirit of adoption or the
spirit crying out, Abba, Father. Romans 8 and verse 9, If any
have not the Spirit of Christ, He is none of His. Jude verse
19 speaks of some having not the Spirit. Therefore, in conclusion,
adoption is a great spiritual blessing. A part of that great
cluster of spiritual blessing with which we were blessed in
Christ before the foundation of the world. And by it, that
is adoption, God has put us among the children. And we can both
consider and act as ourselves to be the children of God. He has given the right, He has
given the privilege of being the sons of God that they might
cry out, Abba, Father! Father! Father! And He look upon
us as sons and daughters, or as children. Yes, to them who
received Him, He gave them the right, the privilege, the authority,
to become the children of God. Now some think that's awful presumptuous
to call ourselves the children of God, but it is God who has
granted the privilege and afforded us the right to be the children
of God. Sons of God we are, even now,
and it doth not appear what we shall be, but sons of God. What love has the Father bestowed
that we be called the sons of God. May that blessing resonate
in your heart today. May the spirit of grace rise
up and cause us to say, Father, Father. All right, let's stand
together please for a word of prayer.