“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God… And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:12-16 (NRSVUE)

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In this Sunday’s message, Pastor Kevin Myers invites us to rediscover what it truly means to live from the fullness of Christ not through striving, but through receiving. John’s Gospel reveals a God who steps into humanity, offers Himself freely, and fills His people with grace upon grace.

To All Who Received Him – He Made Them FULL

John 1:11–12a

“He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.
But to all who received him, who believed in his name…”

• John draws a sharp contrast: He came to His own yet they did not receive Him. But those who did receive Him stepped into fullness.
• “Received” — paralambánō (3880) To actively take hold of what is offered.
• Not passive acceptance, intentional reception.
• “Believed in His Name” — pisteúō (4100)
• Faith birthed by God, not self-made optimism.
• John forces a question to the surface: What have you done with what Jesus offers you?
• His fullness is not occasional. It’s continuous.
• Every sign, every healing, every moment of compassion shows us what God is like because Jesus is God made visible.

To All Who Received Him – He Made Them HIS

John 1:12b

“…he gave power to become children of God,”

• “Power” — exousía (1849) Delegated authority. The right of family, not merely forgiveness.
• “To Become” — gínomai (1096) To transition into a new condition as something you were not before.
• This is not behavior modification, it's adoption.
• Jesus meets the Samaritan woman in John 4 not with shame, but with access.
• He reveals Himself to the outsider, gives dignity to the overlooked, and invites the unqualified.
• This is what Kingdom work looks like: He doesn’t just forgive you, He names you. He calls you His.
  

To All Who Received Him – He Made Them NEW

John 1:13

“…who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”

• John expands it in chapter 3: Nicodemus comes to Jesus slow, cautious, confused.
• Jesus answers with clarity: To see the Kingdom, you must be born from above.
• Born of water and Spirit.
• What is born of flesh is flesh; what is born of Spirit is spirit.

New birth gives:

• A different kingdom: “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)
• Different sight: brand new eyes
• A different start: Spirit to spirit, not flesh to flesh
• A different way of being: life shaped by the Spirit, not driven by the world
• You don’t enter God’s Kingdom by improvement, you enter through rebirth
  

Discussion Questions

• Where in your life are you trying to “receive Jesus” without actually receiving His grace?
• How does knowing His favor flows from His fullness reshape your understanding of identity or success?
• What would it look like to live this week as someone who has already been made full, made His, and made new?