I was reading John chapter 1 in the middle of the night a couple of nights ago, and rhema came (That's when the word just becomes revelation to you).
I've read John 1 how many times, and I realized that the glory of God is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the glory of God. That got me thinking about when Moses asked God to see His glory, and God said all of His goodness passed before him. I was like, Moses saw Jesus. Jesus passed before him.
That got me excited, because we already have the glory. We're already in the glory because we're in Christ. We're not looking to work up His glory or waiting for it to multiply, we already have it, and it's all in Christ.
Today I want to give you a revelation of what it means to be children of God. We hear that phrase a lot throughout the scriptures and we kind of brush over it. I heard another pastor say this book requires the author to be present for you to understand what was written, so don't ever read the scriptures without asking the Holy Spirit to teach you.
We know that's true because the Pharisees had the first five books memorized, studied the scriptures without the Holy Spirit, and totally missed it. If we try to study this book with our intellect alone, our intellect doesn't have the capacity to receive what God has written to us in His holy word. This is the incorruptible seed, and when it goes into good ground, it produces a harvest of righteousness in our lives.
There's a lot of attack on the Bible about translators getting it wrong, but God didn't say "I'm sending you My Bible to lead you into all truth." He said He's sending His Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth, because without the Spirit, you're not getting there. I'm not discounting the word of God, I'm a Rhema graduate, and at Rhema we say it's the word and the spirit, working together, prioritized the same.
Jesus is the glory of God made visible, and because we're in Christ, we already have that glory too.
"So the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son." (John 1:14, NLT)
He gave us His word, He gave us His spirit, He gave us apostles and prophets and pastors and teachers. He wants to make sure we get it, and we're growing. We're maturing, coming to the full stature of Christ in this house, and we refuse to stay babies.
Receiving Jesus opens the door and gives you the right to become a child of God, but receiving Him and becoming His child are not automatically the same thing.
"He came into the very world He created, but the world didn't recognize Him. He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him. But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn, not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God." (John 1:10-13, NLT)
I want to break this down phrase by phrase. Let's start with "but as many as received Him."
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." (John 1:12, NKJV)
What does it mean to receive Him? It means bringing Him into your life, but the word "received" in the Greek means to take, and it's not passive. It means to take actively and aggressively, because the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force.
We have a hard time with that thought because we think the things of God should always be calm and collected. You will get nothing of God by living a passive life toward the things of God. You have to be aggressive and say, "That's mine, and I'm taking it."
So as many as received Him, meaning they welcomed Him instead of rejecting Him, He gave them the right. The word "right" means privilege. It means He gives you delegated influence, authority, jurisdiction, and power, simply because you welcomed Him.
The word that stood out to me is "become." Just because you have the right doesn't mean you're going to choose to become. The word "become" means to emerge, to come into being through motion, movement, or growth, meaning becoming a child of God takes movement on your part.
A godly view of children isn't the American view of children, and we have to reframe how we see the word before we can understand what it means to become one.
We got this messed up in America. The way the family works in general here is messed up, with disobedient kids and parents who won't lead their children. I was at the tag office the other day getting my license updated, and these parents walked in with their four or five year old who was running a muck, loud and shouting, while the dad negotiated with her, offering ice cream if she'd just be quiet.
The child was clearly the one in charge, and that's the story of most American households today. But children actually get one of the Ten Commandments. "Honor your father and your mother so that you can live a long life and prosper" is reserved for the children, and if we don't bring our kids to a place of obedience, we're doing them a disservice.
That's not how it goes in my house. Our kids know there's no "one, two, three," and if you don't listen the first time, the repercussion is a spanking, because there's only one reason you get one, and that's if we don't listen. You guys will save yourself a lot of trouble too if you'll just listen to God the first time.
To God, children are precious, not a nuisance. Remember when the children came to Jesus and the disciples tried to shoo them away because they were interrupting ministry, and Jesus said that's not how He sees children, bring them to Him. We have to reframe how we see children through God's eyes before we can understand what it means to become His.
A godly child is somebody who has full dependence on the father, trusting that he'll take care of everything without even having to think about it.
My kids fully rely on me to provide for them. They're not out there wondering how the groceries are going to get paid for, they just know mom's going to load them up, go to Sam's, and bring food home. That's full dependence, there's no limit to what the father can do in their minds.
No matter how blessed a child is or how much stuff they have, they don't really care, and a child who grows up with one toy can be just as happy as one with a room full of them. A child never even realizes they did without something until they're an adult and somebody tells them. Last Wednesday, the air conditioner for the kids' rooms went out.
We live in a farmhouse built in 1993, and the air conditioners were original to the house, 34 years old, which the repair guy said is almost unheard of since they normally last 10 to 15 years. I was looking to God for wisdom, and I got a quote to replace the whole system for 25,000 dollars. Then on the way to get my haircut, I saw a portable air conditioner in the barbershop and the light bulb came on, window units.
My grandpa and my dad were both in the heat and air business, and it's like I was channeling that. Two window units for the kids' rooms cost 400 dollars, and it held us over until we could get the real system fixed. The kids loved it, they thought they were having a cabin experience like the ones we stay in at Branson.
That very same day, God took care of it. That's how a child of God thinks: dad's going to take care of it. Full dependence is number one.
A child of God doesn't just submit because they have to, they submit willingly and gladly, and God found that important enough to put it in the Ten Commandments.
That's the second thing, and it's twofold with full dependence. Not just "I'll submit because I have to," but willing and glad submission. You think a rebellious child is a godly child? No, and I don't know why people blame children for rebellion, it's usually the parents' fault, and children are just reflecting their upbringing.
You have to honor the word of God by teaching your kids to honor the word of God. When God calls you a child of God, He's looking for you to fully depend on Him, and He's looking for you to willingly and gladly submit to Him.
We become children of God by believing in His name, which means adhering to, trusting in, and relying on Him, not just saying yes one time.
The word "believe" in the Amplified means to adhere to, trust in, and rely on. Adhere means drawing up real close to God. You trust Him in all things and rely on Him in everything.
There's so much to unpack about the name of Jesus, and I'm still unpacking it. Back then, your name was the authority you carried, the character you carried, the thing that distinguished you from everyone else. When we believe, we become children of God, but when we merely receive, that doesn't automatically make us children of God.
We've painted the gospel in America as just saying yes to Jesus at an altar call and everybody's saved. In those situations they received Him, they welcomed Him, but have we instructed them to take the next step? First you receive, then you believe, then you become.
I feel strongly that America needs to wake up, because some people are stuck on the receiving. That's not necessarily a bad place to be unless you get caught there on judgment day, because we all have to go through that step of receiving what Christ has done for us. But then we have to do more than receive it, we have to believe in His name, meaning we're coming into His household.
Receiving Christ opens the door to God's house, but you have to actually walk in through submission and reliance, and once you're in, He corrects the ones He loves.
When you receive Christ, meaning you don't reject Him, the door to God's house opens. But you're still standing outside, looking in, saying, "Wow, look how beautiful it is in there." Entering the house requires you to submit and rely on Him.
You think I'd allow anyone to enter my house without following my rules? You think God is a loose father who allows rebellious children? No, because it says He corrects those He loves.
Just because my kids are in my house doesn't mean they behave perfectly, we're working on that, and they don't get to slide by with disobedience. There's going to be discipline and repercussions, and the word tells us to patiently endure His discipline. It hurts for a little while, but it produces great things for us in the long run.
I actually believe probably all of you in this room are truly children of God. What I'm giving you is instruction on how we lead people into the kingdom all the way, not just to the door. Don't just open the door and say "look how beautiful it is in here," say "now come in, become a child of God."
We don't earn anything from God by what we do, but true faith always produces obedience because it breaks down our pride and teaches us to rely on Him.
Some people think I'm saying we earn our salvation. No, because Jesus opened the door for you, that was a gift. But for you to actually take a step into His house, you're taking a step of submission and obedience, submitting to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Believing has fruit, that's why the word says faith without works is dead. True faith produces works. When you truly believe in Christ, it produces obedience in you and reliance on God, and it takes you on a journey where all of your pride is broken down.
I was listening to Andrew Wommack yesterday, and he was asked about the greatest misconception about God he had to overcome. He said his father died when he was eleven, and as an eleven year old he fasted for his dad so he wouldn't die, and then his dad died anyway. He said one of the greatest misconceptions is thinking you're going to earn something from God by what you do.
You don't earn anything from God, we receive from God through Christ. It's only through understanding that when God sees me, He sees Christ, because I'm in Christ. And you can't say "I'm in Christ" and then live contrary to Him and not be submitted to Him, because how could you not be submitted to somebody you literally live inside of?
Everyone who is led by the Spirit of God is a child of God, and if we're going to share in His glory, we also share in His suffering, but that suffering is persecution, not sickness.
"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. And now we call Him Abba, Father. For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm we are God's children. And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we're going to share in His glory, we must also share in His suffering." (Romans 8:14-17, NLT)
That last part is everybody's favorite. What is the suffering Christ went through? Did He suffer sickness?
I didn't read about Him being sick, I read about Him healing the sick. Don't let the enemy talk you into sickness being suffering for Christ, that's not it. What Christ suffered was persecution, especially from those closest to him, and it's suffering with Christ, not for Christ.
Staying full of the Holy Spirit costs us something, and one of the ways we get refilled is through persecution.
Remember the lesson on being the sponge and the rock, and how the Holy Spirit is not a one-time filling. If your testimony is "I was filled with the Spirit back in 1992 and spoke in tongues," and that was the last time you got filled, we've got a problem, you've got to stay full.
In the parable of the ten virgins, five were wise and five were foolish, and they all had oil, they were all waiting on the bridegroom, but the foolish ones had no extra. The Holy Spirit is a free gift, but it costs you something to continue to stay full of it, because as soon as you're filled, you're filled with boldness.
The early church was filled with the Holy Spirit every time they were persecuted. Peter denied Christ to three little girls at a campfire, and just weeks later he's speaking to thousands with boldness because he was filled with the Spirit. There's something soft about my life if persecution isn't happening, because darkness doesn't like the light of Christ.
We become children of God through faith, not through the law, and once we're His children we're called to live clean, obedient lives that show the results of our salvation.
"For you are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are true children of Abraham. You are His heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you." (Galatians 3:26-29, NLT)
When you find out you have an inheritance, don't you want to go find out what it is? That should stir you to go find out what God has left us.
"Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up. Even though they actually own everything their father had, they have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. And that's the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children, we were like slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. But when the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law so that He could adopt us as His very own children. And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, 'Abba, Father.' And now you are no longer a slave, but God's own child. And since you are His child, God has made you His heir." (Galatians 4:1-7, NLT)
It's so good to be a child of God, an heir, His rich and glorious inheritance. Becoming a child of God isn't some kind of lesser life, it's an invitation into something much greater and more wonderful than what you were doing before.
"Dear friends, you always followed my instruction when I was with you. And now that I am away, it's even more important to work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. So do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life, and then on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain, and that my work was not useless." (Philippians 2:12-16, NLT)
Is there ever a time to complain or argue? No. Children of God are led by the Spirit, not the flesh, and they live clean, innocent lives.
John makes it clear that righteous living and love for other believers are the marks of a real child of God, and someone who keeps on sinning on purpose shows they belong to the devil instead.
John wrote this and he's the same author who called himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. I pray that I'm as confident in God's love as John was, confident enough to just tell people about it.
"See how much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is who we are. But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know Him. Dear friends, we are already God's children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as He is pure." (1 John 3:1-3, NLT)
That gives me permission to remind you Jesus is coming, because if you don't have an expectation for His return, you're going to struggle living pure. My four year old told me this week, "Dad, Jesus is coming back tomorrow," and I told him I hoped he was prophesying.
"Everyone who sins is breaking God's law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in Him. So anyone who continues to live in Him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know Him or understand who He is. Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this. When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God's family do not make a practice of sinning, because God's life is in them. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God." (1 John 3:4-10, NLT)
Can we make it any clearer than that? This is a black and white message that America right now seems to struggle with.
"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves His children too... We know that we love God's children if we love God and obey His commandments. Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God." (1 John 5:1-5, NLT)
John is intent on making sure you know that true children of God love other children of God too. If somebody is living a righteous life but is mean to other people in the church, talking bad about people or ministers, the Spirit of God doesn't allow that kind of behavior. We all think dumb things sometimes when somebody makes us mad, but you take every thought captive and swat it, you don't let it stay.
Some people say they have faith and they don't, and you know it by the fruit. You become a child by faith, but you know you're a child by a yearning to obey Him and by assurance of His provision in your life.
The younger son understood full dependence on the father but not submission, and the older son understood submission but not the father's generosity, and both were missing something a real child of God needs.
"A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, 'I want my share of your estate now, before you die.' So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him, but no one gave him anything. When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, 'At home, even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger. I will go home to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant."' So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.' But his father said to the servants, 'Quick, bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet, and kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began." (Luke 15:11-24, NLT)
How many of y'all realize this younger son had a revelation of having full dependence on his father? He was so sure of his father's provision that he demanded his inheritance early, and his father gave it to him.
"Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants, 'What's going on?' 'Your brother is back,' he was told, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.' The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, 'All these years I've slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to do. And in all that time, you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf.' His father said to him, 'Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day, for your brother was dead and has come back to life. He was lost, but now he is found.'" (Luke 15:25-32, NLT)
The older brother said "I've slaved for you," and that's submission, but is it willing and glad submission? The father gave him a revelation: everything he had was already the older son's too. The older brother's complaint wasn't about the father's stinginess, it was a wrong understanding of who the father was to him.
Father wasn't struggling or doing without when the younger son squandered a chunk of the money, because father had more where that came from. The younger brother understood full dependence but didn't understand submission, he went out and did the opposite of what the father taught him. The older brother did submit, even though it wasn't willing and glad, but he didn't understand the father's abundance.
Which brother was actually in trouble? The younger one, because he was dead and came back to life, meaning if he had never repented and come back, he would have died in his sins. The older brother, even though he needed a revelation of how wonderful his father was, was still safe and still called the father's child. Repentance is always an option, and the father was watching for him, expecting him to come back.
What does it mean to receive Jesus versus becoming a child of God? Receiving Jesus and becoming His child are not the same step. Receiving Him welcomes Him in and gives you the right to become a child of God, but becoming actually happens through belief, meaning you adhere to, trust in, and rely on Him, which takes movement on your part.
What are the two things that define a child of God? A godly child has full dependence on the father and willing, glad submission to him.
Did Jesus suffer sickness, and does that mean I have to suffer sickness for Christ? I never read about Jesus being sick, I read about Him healing the sick. The suffering we share with Christ is persecution, especially from people close to us, not sickness, so don't let the enemy talk you into believing sickness is suffering for Him.
How do I stay filled with the Holy Spirit instead of running on empty? I compared it to the parable of the ten virgins, where the wise and foolish both had oil but only the wise had extra. I said staying full costs you something, and one of the ways the early church stayed filled was by being persecuted, because persecution fills you with boldness.
How can I tell if someone is really a child of God? The marks are living righteously and loving other believers, not just claiming the name. Someone who keeps on sinning on purpose and someone who's mean to other people in the church, even while living an outwardly moral life, is showing something other than the Spirit of God.
What does the prodigal son parable teach about being God's child? The younger son understood full dependence on his father but not submission, since he demanded his inheritance and squandered it. The older son submitted but didn't understand the father's abundance, complaining that he'd never gotten so much as a young goat when in reality everything the father had was already his.
Do I earn my way into being a child of God through good behavior? No, you don't earn anything from God, Jesus already opened the door for you as a gift. But true faith always produces obedience, because when you truly believe, it breaks down your pride and produces reliance on God, so faith without works is dead.
What does it mean that God's Spirit lets us call Him "Abba, Father"? When God adopted us as His children, He sent His Spirit into our hearts so we could call out to Him as "Abba, Father." That's the mark of no longer being a slave, but of being a true son or daughter and an heir of everything God has.
