I love the writings of John

Everyone should learn classical Greek. We sell our society short by not teaching the languages upon which ours was founded.

Anyway, reading John's gospel in it's original language, allows one to picture the aged apostle, sitting at a dusty desk somewhere, sometime in the latter portion of the 1st century. Scribbling on parchments with a quill, the Apostle must have smiled as he recollected his life and the journey that God had taken him on.

The first portion of his gospel is my favorite and specifically, Chapter 1, verse 12. In the Greek, this verse reads "Hosoi de elabon autou, edooken autois exousian tekna theo genesthai, tois pisteuousin eis to onoma aoutou". (pardon my transliteration)

The most important part of this verse for me is the highlighted portion above. This portion reads, "He gave (granted) the power to be children of God".

This unspeakable gift is in response to "those who believed in His name" which is mentioned previously. Now imagine John writing this. He may have been in the city of Ephesus, and he had no idea that he would be soon exiled to the island of Patmos in a slave-labor camp and called upon by God to write yet another book - Revelation. John was "the disciple whom Jesus loved" and was the only disciple present at the cross when Jesus was crucified. He cared for Mary, the mother of Jesus and his gospel more than any other expresses the love of God. When he wrote these words, which have been the foundation of Christian faith for more than 2000 years, did he really understand what he was saying? I believe so, and this is where the Greek language is so important. The word "exousian" means, "the granting of authority or power" (shorter lexicon of the Greek NT - Wilbur Gingrich,Fred Danker). In the Greek context, since the world at that time was ruled by Rome, this would have meant the authority of a Roman tribunal granting some power to a person - an official act. Rome brought about the rule of law (unfortunately enforced by brutality) to a unified world, and the granting of authority under Roman law was a serious issue. One did not flaunt the laws of Rome casually.

John, in writing this, tells his readers "everyone who has believed in the name of Jesus, has been granted official authority to become a literal child of God". By whom? Jesus Himself.
This authority comes from its only possible source - and cannot be derived or coopted by man. Only God can grant the right to become one of His children. This flies in the face of all of the mysticism or spirituality we see today - beliefs that empower man and deny any external authority.

My love for this passage doesn't stem from authority, (I know God has that) it stems from its meaning - that if I believe in the name of Jesus, I become a child of God; with all of the accompanying rights and responsibilities. No denominations, no church buildings, no testimonies, no clubs, no money - just believing in Him. This passage scares the heck out of most prefessional clergy because it pokes a hole in their false theology and undermines their desire to aggrandize themselves in the guise of Christianity. Yes, people are to gather together in worship and study. Yes, people are to tithe to support the poor and widows and help their neighbors and support their pastor, but it is only God's amazing grace- free and conditioned only by belief which gives us the authority and the right to become His children.

Our world does not need programs, advertising, radio stations, concerts or DVD's. What people need today is what they have always needed - a Heavenly Father who desires to grant them the right and authority to be His children.