Well, I do remember when, in a moment of parental frustration, my dad said to me, "Paul David Tripp, when are you going to make something of yourself?" Well, that thing that my dad said, in his frustration, really gets to the core of a quest for all of us. All of us are in constant search for identity. Maybe there are few questions more deeply human than, "Who am I? What is my life? What is it about? What was I meant to do?"
Well, we're going to consider one of the most important and glorious identity statements in all of Scripture. "But to all who did receive him (Jesus), 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 the will of man, but of God," John 1:12-13. Now, this amazing statement, like all the ones we've looked at, deserves careful consideration and unpacking because it is packed with deep redemptive meaning. There just simply is no identity like the one described in this passage. And we all make the mistake of looking for identity horizontally; in family, in work, in money, in physical looks, in possessions, in marriage, in children, in a hot car, in a big house, the list just goes on and on. And all these identities fail us in some way.
Well, here is an offer of identity that will not fail you, and that is eternally secure. This identity cannot be earned; there's nothing you can do to deserve it or achieve it. It is only by grace through faith. Notice the two words, John uses by which we become the best thing ever, the children of God, "receive" and "believe." What is being described here is more than intellectual assent. Belief is never just something that you do with your brain. Belief is a transaction of your heart that transforms the way you live. I mean, you can have a big theological brain and a diseased heart. In fact, I think the enemy of our soul will give us our theology, he'll give us our biblical literacy if he can control the thoughts and desires of our hearts. This is why John adds to believe the word "receive." To receive someone is an act of relationship; it's inviting someone to enter your life. And when that someone is the Messiah, it means surrendering your life to his glory and his control.
There are no other means by which we can receive the right to be called "the children of God." We can never earn this acceptance by our own will, wisdom, strength, or righteousness. What John is talking about here is a very significant theological point. He's talking about the grace of our adoption into the family of God, welcomed into the family of the King of kings as his children. Well, this welcome is only ours by grace. And it's only by grace that we receive it and believe it.
Now listen, you have to know belief is unnatural for us. Doubt is natural, fear is natural, self-reliance is natural, wanting to control your own life is natural, envying what somebody else has is natural, denying your need and arguing for your righteousness is natural, worshiping creation rather than the creator is natural. But faith isn't natural for us. It is only by grace that you believe. It's only by grace that you receive. And by the way, you and I still are in a war of faith. May we all pray for grace to believe and receive more fully and more deeply!
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
1. Where have you been tempted to typically look (horizontally) for your identity? How have those horizontal pursuits for identity failed you?
2. Even though you might intellectually agree that Christ is where every Christian should find his or her identity, why do you believe that? Why is identity in Christ eternally secure? Why is the fact that it's only received and not earned significant? How is your identity in Christ molding and shaping you right now?
3. In what ways have you been tempted to lean on theological knowledge or biblical literacy as a way to feel significant, important, or accepted? Has your theological knowledge helped to change the desires of your heart? If not, why do you think that is? If so, how has it changed you?
4. If belief is unnatural for us, why is grace so powerful and important for the Christian? How has God's grace in your life transformed your perspectives on believing and receiving more deeply?
Conversation Prompts to Use with Children
For Younger Children:
• What makes you special in the eyes of God? What is most true of you right now? What specific things helped you come up with your answer for what is most true of you? Why is what God says about us more important than what we believe about ourselves?
For Older Children:
• What is most true of you when it comes to figuring out your identity? Why might self-definition (when it comes to the topic of identity) be a dangerous or unstable thing?
• How would you define the word "grace?" How might grace be related to our own identities? Why might faith (or belief) be unnatural for us as human beings?
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