“TO ALL WHO DID RECEIVE HIM, WHO BELIEVED IN HIS NAME, HE GAVE THE RIGHT TO BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD.”
— John 1:12
In the twenty-first century, forgiveness is a concept we’ve heard of. Unconditional love is still a popular idea. But there’s an aspect to the Christian faith that very few people grasp, a pinnacle that many have yet to climb.
We, who had each gone our own way and become enemies of God, slaves to sin, and destined for hell, are suddenly and unexpectedly chosen. The King of heaven walks into the orphanage of our world, sees all the children behaving badly, and calls some of them his own.
Down goes the payment for our adoption. His signature is scrawled across our file. We’re stripped of our orphan rags, washed in the blood of the lamb, and dressed in new clothes. We’re fed with the best of food. He himself teaches us from the book of life. We’re not asked to perform or behave. We’re simply and radically loved as his own.
We realize God was never looking for the nice boys and girls. God loves the lost and the lonely. He sees the fearful and anxious and says, “I choose you! Yes, you! The one stuck in your sin, wounded and broken. I choose you to be my child!”
Adoption is the greatest surprise of the gospel. It’s the good news that God chooses to be more than our maker and more than our savior. God chooses to be our Father forever. Who could have guessed that the highest gift God wanted to give us was himself?
The requirements on our side are simple: To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. The cost on his side was much higher. Three blood-stained nails pin the adoption paperwork to our door. They remind us that an exchange happened, one life for many.
Everyone who receives and believes in Jesus gets an identity upgrade. God sees you, not as a beggar or a sinner, but as his beloved child. There’s no greater status you could ever achieve, no higher position you could ever be given.
Throughout the gospels we see Jesus always thought and spoke of himself as a son, the unique Son of God. This affected everything. Jesus walked through a crowd who wanted to make him king. He said “No” to the temptation of all kingdoms and their glory. It was far better to be a son than a king.
At our worst we’ve been chosen. At our lowest we’ve been loved. It is finished and settled, paid for and done. There’s a legal right we’ve been given. We have a new identity to claim.
To all who did receive him, who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God.
© John Rinehart 2025