But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, John 1:12 ESV

When you think of who you are in your relationship to God, what word first comes to mind?

A saint? A sinner made clean? A worshiper? A servant? 

John tells us that if we receive Jesus, if we believe in his name, then our truest and greatest identity is this: child.

John says we are given "the right” to become children of God. The Greek word for “right” is exousia, which means privilege or power. Through Jesus, God has given us the greatest privilege. To be a son or daughter of the King of the Universe, and therefore heirs to that same kingdom. 

This right is for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. 

When we remember this, we remember that our place in God’s family is not earned by our own doing or something owed. It is a privilege given through the powerful blood of Jesus alone.

The order of your identity matters. If you were to see yourself first as servants of God, you might begin to try to earn your standing with Him. If you see yourself first as a saint, you may forget where righteousness came from. Before every other title we carry, we are carried as children of the King, and this matters.

Before servant, saint, worshiper, or anything else, you are a child of God.