John 1:6-13: That All Might Believe

John 1:6-13: That All Might Believe

For the Christmas season, we’re working our way{ through the first chapter of the Gospel of John. And today the next passage we come to is John 1:6-13. It says,

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we’re told that there are different kinds of soils on which the seed of your Word falls—thorny soil, rocky soil, soil on a path, and good fertile soil. And it’s only when the seed falls on that last kind of soil that it actually produces fruit. So, please, help us to be that fertile soil this morning, so that the seed of your Word can take root and bear fruit in our lives. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.There are certain situations in which it’s not possible to avoid making a decision. For example, if you’re a woman and the man you’ve been dating gets down on one knee and asks you to marry him, you kind of have to respond in some way. It’s not really possible to avoid giving some type of answer to his question. Even if you refused to say anything and simply walked away, that in itself would be a pretty clear answer to his proposal. So, there are certain situations in which we’re basically forced to make some kind of a decision—since any attempt to avoid making a decision would itself be a decision. 

And I’d like to make the argument that Christmas fits into that category. As just about everyone understands, Christmas is about Jesus being born into this world. Yet Christmas isn’t merely a holiday to be enjoyed. It’s a holiday that brings us face-to-face with a decision that has to be made. And that decision is how we’ll respond to the Savior God’s sent into the world. 

And the passage before us today of John 1:6-13 highlights the two responses that are possible. Those responses are belief and unbelief. There’s no middle ground and no way to avoid responding in one of those two ways. The reality is that God sending his Son Jesus into this world to be our Savior means that we have an unavoidable decision to make of whether we’ll believe in Jesus or not believe in him. And this passage highlights that reality. 

In fact, this passage actually goes even further than that and tells us that Jesus came to this world so that all who believe in him can be born into God’s family. That’s the main idea of this passage. Again, Jesus came to this world so that all who believe in him can be born into God’s family. So, let’s walk through this passage together and see what it says to us about the coming of Jesus and what his coming means for us. 

The passage begins in verse 6. It says that “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.” Now, the John that’s introduced in this verse is a different John than the one who wrote the Gospel of John. This verse is referring to the John often known as “John the Baptist.” And the reason he’s often known by the title is because a prominent feature of his ministry was baptizing people in order to prepare them for the coming of Jesus. 

You might compare John to the opening act at a concert. The function of an opening act is to warm up the audience for the main band or the main performer featured in the concert. Similarly, John’s role was to get everyone spiritually warmed up and ready for Jesus. John preached about the need for people to turn away from their sins and prepare their hearts for the coming Messiah. 

We learn more about John’s ministry in verses 7-8. It says that 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. So, John’s identified here as a “witness,” which was courtroom term that referred to someone with firsthand knowledge about a person or event who would share that knowledge in a courtroom setting. 

And John’s witness revolved around “the light.” Verse 7 states that “he came…to bear witness about the light.” Now, as we saw last week in our examination of John 1:1-5, “the light” is a reference to Jesus and what Jesus offers. In the midst of a world that’s covered in darkness, Jesus is our light. This means, first of all, that Jesus is our ultimate source of understanding about spiritual realities. Just as physical light helps us see physical realities, Jesus helps us see spiritual realities. 

In addition, light is also a symbol of hope. You may have heard people say to someone who’s going through a difficult time, “Hey, don’t worry, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.” Light represents hope—and Jesus is the one in whom we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life in heaven. 

You see, the Bible teaches that our sinful rebellion has alienated us from a holy God and made us deserving of God’s eternal punishment in hell. But Jesus came to our rescue. He entered this world as a man, lived a perfectly sinless life, and eventually died on the cross in our place and to pay for our sins. You might say that we were on death row, but Jesus voluntarily stepped in and switched places with us, suffering on the cross the punishment our sins deserved. Yet that’s not the end of it, because Jesus was then triumphantly raised from the dead and is therefore now the source of eternal life for everyone who believes. That’s the sense in which Jesus functions as the light. And as we see here in verses 7-8, John’s role was to bear witness about that light. 

Not only that, we also see in verse 7 specifically that John bore witness for a particular purpose and with a particular goal in mind—namely, “that all might believe through him.” That’s the response required on our part in order for us to be saved from our sin and enjoy the gift of eternal life that Jesus offers. 

The word “believe” is actually a very important word in the Gospel of John. In the 21 chapters of John’s Gospel, it’s used a total of 98 times. We’re told again and again that “believing” in Jesus is what’s necessary for us to receive eternal life. The most famous instance is undoubtedly John 3:16, in which we’re told, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

We’re also told just two verses after that in John 3:18 that “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” And as if that weren’t direct enough, we read yet again later in the chapter—in John 3:36—that “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” So, believing is the response that determines a person’s eternal destiny. 

And notice in that last verse I cited that, interestingly enough, the word “believe” is actually used interchangeably with the word “obey.” “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life.” So, belief in Jesus is inseparable from obedience to Jesus. Believing is itself a form of obedience—since we’re commanded to believe—and also leads to further obedience to all of the things Jesus tells us to do. 

And that’s something we see in numerous places throughout the Gospel of John. From the way John speaks about “believing,” it’s very clear that he’s referring not merely to someone giving intellectual assent to certain propositions about Jesus but to someone also going beyond that and actually putting their trust in Jesus and committing their life to Jesus. You might compare it to the way a skydiver “believes” in—or places his trust in—his parachute. The skydiver isn’t just intellectually assenting to the idea that the parachute can ensure a safe landing. He’s actively entrusting himself to that parachute. That’s the sense in which we have to “believe” in order to receive eternal life. 

So, the most important question for you to answer this morning is, have you believed in Jesus in that way? Not “Have you attended church regularly?” or “Have you tried to be a good person?” or “Have you done this or that religious thing?”—but “Have you believed in Jesus in the sense of putting your total trust and confidence in him?” 

And returning to our main passage, we also see that God’s desire is “that all might believe.” According to verse 7, that’s why John bore witness to the light—“that all might believe through him.” I don’t know about you, but I find that statement to be very striking—because it gives us a window into the very heart of God. God’s heart goes out to every person in this world. He desires “that all might believe.” 

This is consistent with what other verses in the Bible tell us about God. 2 Peter 3:9 describes the Lord as “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” And 1 Timothy 2:4 describes God as one “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 

And that should be our desire as well. In the words of verse 7 of our main passage, we too should desire “that all might believe.” You know, one thing I’ve noticed is that it’s so easy for us to get caught up in the busyness of life and the various responsibilities we have and the things we’re a part of that we lose sight of this great imperative of people who are far from God being brought close to him and believing in him. That’s why I find it essential to regularly remind myself of God’s heart for those who are from him and seek to cultivate that same heart within myself. 

If you zoom out and look at the big picture of the Bible, the central theme of the entire Bible is God seeking and saving those who are lost. That language is taken from Luke 19:10, where Jesus says of himself that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” And that’s a great way to summarize what God’s doing throughout the Bible—seeking and saving those who are lost. That’s his central purpose and passion for this world. Therefore, that should be our purpose and passion as well. 

Charles Spurgeon speaks of being amazed by Jesus and what he’s done on the cross to such an extent that we fall to our knees and cry out “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.” Spurgeon then writes, “Can you bow before the Crucified [one] in loving homage, and not wish to see your Monarch [be the] master of the world? Out on you if you can pretend to love your Prince, and desire not to see him [be] the universal ruler. Your piety is worthless unless it leads you to wish that the same mercy which has been extended to you may bless the whole world.”

Sometimes, we think that we’ve obtained a high level of spiritual maturity because we’ve managed to accumulate a lot of knowledge about the Bible or theology. Yet perhaps a better measure of our spiritual maturity would be the extent to which we’ve come to have God’s heart for those who are far from him. To what extent do we desire to see God glorified in this world among all people and see all people receive the mercy we ourselves have received? 

According to the New Testament, the central aim of our sanctification—or our growth in godliness—is that we be conformed to the image of Jesus. And it would seem that a key element of being conformed to the image of Jesus is having our heart brought into progressively greater alignment with his heart—so that what’s important to him becomes increasingly important to us. 

Yet from what I’ve observed, it seems that the opposite sometimes occurs when it comes us having God’s heart for those who are far from him. Even though we should be growing in our care and compassion for those who are far from God, it instead seems like, the longer someone’s a Christian, the less connected they often are to those who aren’t yet Christians. I mean, once someone’s been a Christians for five years or so, they often seem to have allowed many of their relationships with non-Christians to fall by the wayside so that the only people they ever hang out with are Christians. Yet having God’s heart for those who are far from him involves cultivating relationships with non-Christians and seeking ultimately to bring them to God so that—in the words of John 1:7—“all might believe.” 

By the way, this is also the reason we’ve decided to start having two worship services at our church. Obviously, having two services is a lot more work. It also involves a lot more people having to step up and serve in various capacities as volunteers. And having two services also just feels a lot different. It feels kind of strange only having half as many people in this room as we did last Sunday—and I, for one, definitely miss the energy in the room that comes from having a room that’s full. But the reason we made this transition is because our primary concern isn’t the level of energy in this room but the people all around us in this community who don’t yet know Jesus—and us wanting to make sure there’s room for them in this church. 

And I’d encourage you to view all of the empty chairs in this room—including the ones that are stacked up behind that partition in the back—as opportunities for more people to come to know Jesus. What if, every time we noticed all the empty chairs in this room, we prayed for them to be filled very soon with people who are currently far from God? I have to believe that there are people out in the community around us who are right now perhaps still recovering from last night’s hangover who will one day be sitting in one of the empty seats in this room and hearing the gospel and eventually embracing it. And that should be our passion. We learn from verse 7 that it’s God’s desire “that all might believe”—and that should be our desire and our passion as well. May all of us who are Christians come to have God’s missionary heart for those who are far from him. 

And before we leave verse 7, notice at the end of the verse the words “through him.” John “came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.” Think about the fact that God could speak to people directly—apart from any human agency—and make the gospel known to people and bring people to himself. Yet that’s not the way God’s chosen to work. Instead, God’s chosen to use his people to accomplish his purpose. Just as God appointed John as his “witness” so that people might believe “through him,” he’s likewise appointed us as his witnesses as well, that people might believe through us. 

And what an incredible honor that is. To put things into perspective, imagine how much of an honor it would be to be appointed as an ambassador of this nation to another nation and be the person responsible for representing the United States of America somewhere abroad. That would be quite an honor. Yet how much more of an honor is it be appointed by God as his ambassador to the world and be his representative among those who don’t yet know him? What a privilege that God invites us to a part of what he’s doing in this world. 

Then, after verse 8 clarifies that John himself wasn’t the light but simply came as a witness to the light, we read in verse 9, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” You can just feel the anticipation building in this verse. After centuries—and even millennia—of waiting, the Messiah God had promised was finally “coming into the world.” 

However, things take an abrupt turn in verse 10, which says that “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.” Can you imagine any greater irony? Even though Jesus was responsible for creating the world, “the world did not know him.” His own creation refused to recognize him for who he was or embrace him when he came to them. 

I once heard a story that sounds like it might be fictional but that’s thought-provoking nonetheless about an impoverished family during the Great Depression. This family earned their livelihood by farming a small tract of land. And there was a son in the family whom the parents loved deeply and for whom they were determined to provide a better future no matter how much they had to sacrifice in order to do so. So, the parents sacrificially saved up all they could for years and years as their son was growing up so that they were eventually able to send their son to college—which happened to be rather far away. 

Then, after the son had been at college for about a year, his parents missed him so much that they sold some of their possessions in order to be able to afford to travel to see their son at college. And after several days of travelling, the parents finally arrived on the college campus, dressed in the only clothes they had, which were dirty and tattered from their work in the farm. And before long, they saw their son on the college campus talking with some other students. So, they ran over to him and eagerly greeted him. 

Yet their son didn’t show any outward sign that he recognized him. So, again, they greeted him and said, “It’s us—your parents—and we’ve come to see you!” But their son—perhaps because he was embarrassed by the obvious poverty of his parents—turned to the other students he was with and said, “I don’t have a clue who these people are. They must be crazy or something.” Can you imagine if something like that happened? 

I have to believe that story’s fictional—because I just can’t imagine something like that actually happening. Yet that’s more or less what happened when Jesus came to this world. “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”

And it actually gets even worse in verse 11, which says that “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” Even his own people—the people of Israel—refused to receive him!

However, verses 12-13 tell us, 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. Now, there’s a lot in these two verses, but looking first at the beginning of verse 12, we see the proper response to Jesus encapsulated in two key words: “receive” and “believe.” 

Of course, we’ve already discussed the significance of the word “believe,” but think about “receive.” What does it mean to “receive” Jesus? In English, the word “receive” sounds pretty passive, but the original Greek word translated as “receive” often had a much more active meaning. It often meant to “take hold of” something or to “grasp” something. Similarly, “receiving” Jesus involves actively taking hold of him and welcoming him into your life. 

And notice how “receive” and “believed” are used somewhat interchangeably in this verse. A good paraphrase of the verse might be, “But to all who did receive him—that is, to those who believed in his name—he gave the right to become children of God.” So “receiving” Jesus and “believing” in Jesus are two sides of the same coin. They can be distinguished but not separated. 

Notice also that this verse speaks not merely of those who “believe” but, more specifically, of those who believe “in his name.” In this context, the “name” of Jesus is a reference to all that Jesus is. Therefore, to believe “in his name” means to embrace him for all that he is and all that he’s said about himself. 

We then read at the end of the verse that to these people—who received him and believe in his name—“he gave the right to become children of God.” Isn’t that an amazing thought? This may very well be the most astounding blessing of the gospel. It’s amazing enough that Jesus would die in our place so that our sins can be forgiven. It’s even more amazing that Jesus would clothe us with his righteousness so that we can be holy and blameless in the eyes of God. But to think that, through Jesus, God would actually adopt us into his family, as his own beloved children, is even more amazing than that. 

God could very easily have cleansed us of our sins and left it at that. He could have blessed us from a distance. But that’s not what he did. Instead, his love for us is so immense that he’s granted us not only forgiveness but also adoption. What a breathtaking blessing! 

And as verse 13 tells us, it’s not just that we’ve been included in God’s family through adoption but, more specifically, that we’ve actually been “born” into his family. Of course, this is where the human metaphor of adoption begins to break down, since adopted children obviously aren’t “born” into their adoptive family. But God’s children are. We enter God’s family through a spiritual rebirth of sorts that occurs at the moment of our conversion. That is to say, we’re transformed into new people. 

And this spiritual rebirth comes about not through us but through God. As we can see, verse 13 describes God’s children as those “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” In other words, this birth isn’t one that originates in the physical birthing process or in any kind of human decision. Instead, it’s “of God.” According to this verse, Christians are those who have been “born…of God.” That means God’s the one who takes the initiative to bring this about. God’s the one who brings about the inward transformation we experience at conversion. This transformation isn’t something we do to ourselves but something God does to us. 

And in that sense, it’s similar to our physical birth, right? After all, none of us did anything to bring about our physical birth. Our birth wasn’t in any way the result of our initiative or our choice. I never had an opportunity to say that I wanted to be born to Nick and Linda Tancordo at a particular hospital in Forth Worth, Texas, on a rainy day in June of 1989. In fact, I never even had an opportunity to say that I wanted to be born. It was chosen for me. Likewise, according to verse 13, our spiritual rebirth is the result of God’s initiative and God’s decision. We’re “born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Of course, we do have a role to play in that we’re called to exercise faith in Jesus. But the original initiative lies with God rather than with us. 

So, you ultimately have to take into account all that these verses tell us about conversion. On the one hand, we have to “believe” in Jesus and “receive” him for all that he is. We’re responsible for doing that. Yet, at the same time, we have to understand that it’s ultimately God who enables us to respond in that way. 

So, where does that leave you if you’re not yet a Christian? Well, I’d strongly advise you not to worry about God’s role—since God’s more than able to handle his own role—and instead focus on your role—which, as we’ve said, is to believe in Jesus. That involves renouncing all confidence in yourself and your own efforts to be a good person and instead put your confidence exclusively in Jesus. That’s the only way anyone can be forgiven of their sins and become a child of God and receive eternal life. 

I once heard a story about the French emperor Napoleon, who was on a military campaign and was seated on his horse. And he wanted to read some papers that had been given to him, so he let go of the reigns of his horse for a few moments in order to do so. And at that moment, his horse decided to suddenly rear up on its hind legs and almost unseated Napoleon. Fortunately, though, a young corporal—which was a very lowly rank—saw what was happening and quickly ran over and grabbed the horse’s bridal and brought the horse under control. 

After Napoleon had regained his composure a bit, he said to the soldier, “Thank you, Captain”—to which the lowly soldier replied, “Of what company, Sire?” “Of my guards,” answered Napoleon. Immediately, the man walked over to the headquarters of the general staff—tearing off his corporal stripes as he did so—and entered the headquarters. He then took his place among the emperor’s officers. After a few minutes, someone came over to him and asked him what he was doing. He replied that he was a captain of the emperor’s guards. “By whose authority?” asked the man. “By the authority of the emperor,” said the soldier. 

The point of that story is that it was the emperor’s authority that made the soldier’s promotion from corporal to captain legitimate. If it were simply one of the man’s fellow soldiers who called him captain, it wouldn’t mean anything. Or if the man himself simply started calling himself captain, it wouldn’t mean anything either. If he tried to do something like that, he’d succeed only in making himself the laughingstock of the army. But because the emperor declared this man to be a captain, he became a captain. 

Similarly, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether you call yourself a Christian or believe yourself to be a child of God. The real question is whether God considers you to be a Christian and whether he’s declared you to be his child. And we know from our main passage in John chapter 1 that it’s only those who “receive” Jesus—and who “believe” in his name—that God gives the right to become his children. Have you ever done that? If not, there’s nothing more important or more urgent for you to do today.