TOPIC:‌"Life's Most Exciting Experience"

                  by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap

 

TEXT:‌John 1:10-13

 

"He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God" (1:11-12, NIV).

 

‌Let me ask you a question: What do you believe to be life's most exciting experience? As you ponder that question I know many various experiences will come to your mind. And I am sure each one of those experiences has a special place in your life. Your graduation. Your first date. Your wedding day. Your lifetime employment. The birth of your children. I could mention many more!

 

‌But may I be so bold to say to you, that none of these experiences can compare to the most wonderful, powerful, splendid and glorious transaction in life, than when one becomes a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ.  That is the most exciting thing that will ever happen to you. Let me show you what I mean.

 

I.

 

‌To begin with, think of what being a child of God DEFINITELY IMPLIES. We read in verse 12: "He gave the right to become a child of God." Two things stand out here.

 

‌First of all, it implies that it is one thing to be a CREATURE of God and still another thing to be a CHILD of God. They are totally different. Let me explain. We are God's creatures the moment we are born physically, but we become God's child the moment we are born spiritually. All people are creatures of God by the very fact that God created them. But only those people who have been born into God's family by faith in Jesus Christ become the children of God. Now man the creature has gone wrong in so many different ways. He is described in the Bible of being lost and in desperate need of being found and forgiven. He is everywhere in chains to all kinds of sin. He is a problem to himself, a menace to others, a threat to the world, with the judgment of God upon him. Give ear to the way God describes fallen mankind:

 

‌Turn with me to Romans chapter 3 verses 10 through 18. In these verses we have a description of man the creature outside of Jesus Christ. Here we find the Apostle Paul piecing together five passages from the Psalms, one from Ecclesiastes, and one from Isaiah to set forth the sinfulness of fallen mankind. In verses 10 through 12 we have sins against God. In verses 13 and 14 we have the sins of speech. And in verses 15 through 17 we find sins against neighbors. Let me briefly list them.

 

‌"There is no one righteous, not even one" (v. 10).

‌"There . . .