An Unbelievable Invitation

What an unbelievable invitation the Apostle John is speaking about! Anyone who personally accepts Christ as Lord and Savior is granted the privilege of becoming a child of God—including all the authority and benefits of being fully included in God’s family. Now that is an invitation to which no other compares!

Because of statements like that the Gospel of John is, arguably, the best loved of the four Gospels. John speaks from a closeness to Jesus that few have ever experienced—and it leaks through every line in his account of Jesus. There are more memorable verses in this Gospel than the others—John 3:16 for instance, the entire Bible in summed up in just one verse. Each chapter inexorable draws the truly interested and open-hearted seeker to desire Jesus more and more. It’s no wonder people love John’s clear and compelling story.

And what John is describing in this stunning invitation is nothing less than unfathomably profound! Think about the One who is really making this offer: It is none other than the eternal and exalted Christ himself. John describes him in the most eternal and lofty language possible in the opening lines of chapter one. Let me offer you this paraphrase (from the Living Bible) of how John sees Jesus:

“Before anything else existed, there was Christ, with God. He has always been alive and is himself God. He created everything there is—nothing exists that he didn’t make. Eternal life is in him, and this life gives light to all mankind. His life is the light that shines through the darkness—and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:1-3)

It was God himself, in the person of Jesus, who came into a world he created—a world that for the most part, not only missed the true consequence of his arrival, but actively rejected it: “But although he made the world, the world didn’t recognize him when he came. Even in his own land and among his own people, the Jews, he was not accepted. Only a few would welcome and receive him” (John 1:10-12)

But here is the good news—and it is the best news you will hear today, or any day hereafter for that matter: “But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them.” (John 1:12b)

What that means is that if you are trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior (the only one who can forgive you and cleanse you from your sins), and have personally invited him to be the Lord of your life (the one to whom you have turned over control of your moment-by-moment life), then you have been given the right (authority given by God himself) to be made right with him, brought into his eternal family, given the gift of eternal life (John 3:16) and given the opportunity to walk in intimate relationship each and every day with the very Agent of Creation (the One who spoke everything into existence by his own breath for his eternal purpose).

Wow! You matter to God that much; you are that important to him!

You have been invited into a close, personal fellowship with Jesus—the Creator of the universe. If you can begin to fathom what that means, it will absolutely blow you mind, in the best sense of the phrase.

The right to become a child of God—now that is an unbelievable invitation! I hope you will believe it—and live like God’s true children are meant to live.

“God’s desire is to not only have you experience His love, but to totally overwhelm you with His love. To have you experience it to overflowing. To have you sense, feel, taste, and touch His love for you. He really wants you to experience Him!” (Linda Boone, Intimate Life Lessons)

Getting To Know Jesus: Memorize John 1:12 in your favorite version. Each day this week, list a benefit of being a true child of God and throughout the day, declare that to be true of you.