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DA I LY D E V O T I O N A L S T U D I E S IN T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T FOR INDIVIDUAL MEDITATION AND FAMILY WORSHIP By R. A. TORREY '
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Saturdayi April i. John 1 : 10 - 13 .
but He. did not receive the welcome He sought, He was rejected and murdered rather than received and worshipped. But while the world, and even His own as a whole, rejected Him, there were an elect few who “received Him;” and to every one o f them the door o f His Father’s house was opened and they entered as “children” (v. 12, R. V .). Those who reeeive the Son o f God by that act themselves becotne children, no matter who they are nor what they are, they may have been the poorest o f the poor or the vilest o f the vile, but the moment they receive the Son o f God they “ become children o f God.” The vilest sinner o f earth who receives Jesus Christ, i. e., takes Him into his heart to be all Jesus desires to be, Saviour, Lord, Teacher, Friend, that instant that sinner becomes a child o f Gad. In verse 12 we step out o f the deepest darkness (that comes from rejection o f the Lord Jesus) into the brightest light (that comes from receiving H im ). Those who thus receive Him show by their receiving Him that they have been born “not o f blood, nor o f the will of the flesh, nor o f the will o f man, but o f God.” It is not o f man’s natural heart to receive Jesus Christ. What is natural to man is seen in verses 5, 10 and 11. But God by His grace begets men anew and those who are thus begotten receive Jesus Christ and thus become children o f God (John 3:3-15; Jas. 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:17). Sunday, April 2 . John 1 : 14 . The eternal Word who through all eter nity was with God, and through whom all things were created, became a real human being. Deity clothed itself with real humanity. His divine' glory became a mat ter o f sensible perception, something that
Verse 10 refers to the presence o f the eternal W ord in the world before the incar nation. The Word did not first come into the world when Jesus was born in Beth lehem, He was in the world from the begin ning o f creation, just as He was with the Father before creation. He was in the world not merely as speaking through the prophets, He was in thé world in His per sonal presence. But though He was in the world, the world did not recognize Him, it “ knew Him not.” Here the hostility of man to the light and to God appears in still darker aspect than in verse 5 : not only did the darkness not apprehend the light (v. 5), man ever since the fall has been blind to the presence o f God. The world was created through His agency, as we have already seen in verse 3, but in spite o f that fact, and though the whole created universe declares His glory (Ps. 19:1 ; Rom. 1 :20), “ the ' world knew Him not.” What a dark, blind world this is. The personal character o f thè Word, even before the incarnation, is brought out in verse 10 by the word “Him.” In verse 11 we have a still further advance in the hos tility o f man to the light and to God; not only did the darkness not apprehend the light (v. 5), not only did the world which He was in and which was made by Him not know Him (v. 10), but His own home and people, even they “ received Him not” to themselves. How complete is the aliena tion o f man from God and light. The land o f Israel was “ His own” home, the people o f Israel were “His own’’ people, still even they did not receive Him when He came. In His incarnation the W ord came first o f all to those who were His own, seeking a welcome from them (cf. Matt. 21:37),
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