John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: KJV
To begin our study first read the Hebrew for the words power and become, (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
NT:2983 lambano (lam-ban'-o); a prolonged form of a primary verb, which is use only as an alternate in certain tenses; to take (in very many applications, literally and figuratively [properly objective or active, to get hold of; whereas NT:1209 is rather subjective or passive, to have offered to one; while NT:138 is more violent, to seize or remove]):
NT:1849 exousia (ex-oo-see'-ah); from NT:1832 (in the sense of ability); privilege, i.e. (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely, magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence:
Apparently, according to some, it is not enough these days to declare that we were sinners in the hands of an angry God. Or that we were dead in trespasses and sins and without hope in the world, that our life accounted for nothing and that we were gentiles carried off by dumb idols. Some Christians who error have thrown this off as if it were a negative and they will have nothing to do with negative things. Instead of needing a savior they tell us we need to remember our past which holds the truth of our true identity which is not marred by sin. This enables them to name and claim they preexisted in some spirit realm before they came to the earth. They came from heaven and are returning to their lost paradise. This gives license to declare almost anything they wish since they pre-existed in an atmosphere free of the encumbrances of this world. They make no mention of Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: For that very atmosphere they claim was corrupted by Lucifer and if corrupted then they still need a savior. That same voice is heard again in the Garden of Eden when the serpent told Eve, Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. The results of this thinking claiming to be gods are the same. They create a fall. Lucifer fell from heaven and Adam fell from grace. Lucifer was banned from heaven and thrown to the ground. Adam was thrust from the garden to till the ground that Lucifer landed on. This was a sorry state of affairs for both losers. However, God provided a way of salvation for man but not for Lucifer and his angels. This is scary since one was fallen from heaven and received no plan of salvation one might not want to claim they came from the same origin.
This is why we need to be born again. Not born of woman or the will of man but born by the power from above by a life-giving spirit. We had need of a savior all of our natural life so that we could become the sons of God. We were not born a son of God, we had to become a son of God through the power of the resurrected Christ. Herein lies the difference: Christ was the son of God born into the world. Christ did not have to become the son, he is the Son of God….And as many as receive him to them gave He the power to become (ginomai) a son of God. NT:1096 ginomai (ghin'-om-ahee); a prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to cause to be ("gen"- erate), i.e. (reflexively) to become (come into being), used with great latitude (literal, figurative). The word to become implies a process that begins to generate a possible outcome--the generating of a human being into a new life not previously received since we needed the power (exousia) to become a superhuman. This power of necessity was given to us by the process of receiving (lambano) or laying hold of the gift given. We can do this both in a passive sense and in a violent more aggressive approach. It most likely depends in how much we really believe we need this power to become a son of God. This is a key to our salvation. How much do we really realize the importance of a born again experience that will transform our physical substance into new birth from above? Or how far did Adam really fall that required the precious blood of our Savior crucified on a rugged piece of wood, the wood that represents the fallen human race?
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WHO ARE YOU? LESSON TWO