Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - You're a Part of God's Family | Advent | John 1:6-13

Episode Date: December 8, 2022

What were your parents like? What kind of family did you come from? In today's episode, Patrick shares what it's like to be a part of Jesus's family, as told in John 1:6-13. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: John 1:6-13 Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. I don't know why, but I've always found the phrase born-again Christian, a bit weird. I mean, what's it even mean to be born again? I guess I'm a little like Nicodemus. When Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be born again, he responds with this kind of graphic question. It's something to this effect.

How am I, an old man, supposed to clamber back up into my mom's womb? Okay, maybe he missed the point. John doesn't open up his gospel with the normal Christmas stories about Mary and Joseph and the angels and the magi. Instead, he gives a magisterial description of who Jesus was before creation and what he accomplished by entering into the world that he created as a human. Amongst those accomplishments is an invitation. Jesus came to invite every human to be born again, to be a member of God's family as one of his children. John one. 9. The true light, that's Jesus, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not know him. He came to his own people, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, 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 of the will of man, but of God. John makes it clear, being born again, isn't a about flesh and blood. It's not about climbing back up into your mom's womb. It's not about

wounds and bodies at all. It's about something more fundamental. It's about the renovation of the human soul. It's about God retrieving the children he's made from the powers of darkness and crowning them with his family name. Now, you have to understand just how offensive this was to Jews living in Jesus' own day. They would have said, we're the children of Abraham, and Abraham was the father of God's earthly family. And so, of course, we're a part of God's family. We don't need to be made into children of God. We're already children of God. Maybe the Gentiles need to be born again, but not us. And yet, John says that Abraham's family rejected Jesus. He says, Jesus came to his own people, but they didn't accept him. The truth is that every human needs to be born again.

I think this matters, because in a real sense, family can be the very thing that makes us think we don't need Jesus. There's a common form of this. Maybe you grew up in a Christian family and you were around church and in some sense, that experience tricks you into thinking, yeah, I'm a part of God's family, but following Jesus isn't about coming from a Christian family or being a part of a Christian culture or anything like that. It's about receiving Jesus as your king and accepting the gift of forgiveness and resurrection. On a deeper level, I think sometimes families send us the message that we aren't worthy. We're not worthy to be a part of our own family. We're certainly not worthy to be a part of God's family. We heard things and we had experiences that make us think, even if God had a family, I can never

be a part of that because I'm too shameful, too sinful, too far gone to even be considered. I remember a friend years ago sharing an experience that he had with his father. His dad wasn't a bad guy, but he also wasn't very interested or engaged with his children. He worked almost constantly. And when he was at home, he really didn't want anybody to bother. He was. him. My friend has this very distinct memory of standing atop the staircase leading down to his dad's office, and his dad is down there working, and my friend wanted nothing more than to just be with his dad. He wouldn't bother his dad. He just wanted to be welcomed into his presence, and he wanted to know that his dad loved him and wanted him to be there. But he never took that step

forward, because deep down he knew he wasn't welcome. He knew that he would be sent back upstairs. He knew that he was excluded. He knew that he wasn't worth his dad's time or attention. Now, I doubt that his dad intended to send that message to his son, but a lifetime of indifference towards his children did the trick. What about you? What messages did you learn from your family about your worth, about your value? Maybe you grew up with high achievers and you came to believe that your worth is attached to your success, but you've never been successful enough to truly think that you're worthy. Or maybe you grew up a part of it. from your dad and mom. You don't know him or her or you barely know them and you heard from their

lack of presence that you're not worth it. Or maybe you grew up in a family full of anger and you heard that you're a problem to be solved. Or maybe you grew up in a family full of disappointment and shame and you learned that you're a disappointment and you're a shame. Or maybe you grew up in a family that cared only about reputation and you've never measured up. You see, we all have a desperate need to be born again because we were all born into desperate, sinful families. No parent is perfect. No family is perfect. And in a deep way, we've internalized the imperfection of our families and we've internalized them as lies that we believe about ourselves, about our worth, about our value. To you, I think Jesus wants to say this. I welcome you. I think you're worthy.

I think you're lovely. I want you to be in my family. I want time with you. I want to celebrate. how I made you, I want to live alongside you. Don't let your sin, shame, and insecurities build a wall between you and Jesus. Instead know that Jesus came to give you the right to become a child of God. And as a child of God, you, you are a beloved treasure. You see, in the Old Testament, the children of God were both God's people and the king of Israel. He gave the people a mission to bless the world and he invited them to dwell with him and he did the same for the king. Now, you know, you you're invited into that family. You're invited to become a king or a queen in God's family, robed in the majesty of his love, his care, and his mercy. He has a purpose and a calling for your

life, and he'll help you walk in it. Jesus came to earth for many reasons, but one was that he could find you and invite you into his family. Receive his gift and know that you are a beloved child of God. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-m- minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that's going to help you beat that midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.