What does it mean to receive Jesus Christ?

"As many as received him, to them gave he power [authority] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" ( John 1:12). To become a Christian one must receive Christ by faith into one's heart as the sent one of God, as one's own personal Savior. Like Zacchaeus of old, one must "come down" and receive Him joyfully (Luke 19:6).

And how may we receive Him? you ask. He is not here on earth as He was then, and we cannot receive Him in the same way as Zaccheus did. If you want to receive Him, the Word of God tells us the way: "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:12). The way we receive Jesus is by believing on His name. If you want to receive Him, He is willing to receive you. You believe on His name, and Christ is yours, and you are Christ's.

A narrow gate, and a narrow way, lead to life. The reception of one Person leads to the blest relationship of sons unto God. Who would have thought that such hopeless conditions as men presented in this world could have been met by so simple a solution? Who would have supposed that such a solution to men's needs should be attended by so stupendous an issue? A blind man does not per-ceive, but he can re-ceive. We don't all have the chance of receiving money, and garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants and maidservants (see 2 Kings 5:26). But to each hearer of the good news of the Saviour, Son of God, comes the opportunity of receiving Christ. The world knew Him not in His lowliness, His own people of Israel received Him not; but some submitted to Him, opened their hearts to Him, welcomed Him within by placing their faith in His name; and so proved themselves to be born of God.

“HE CAME TO HIS OWN” (neuter), and “His own (masc.) received Him not.” But there were those who did, and He Himself gave the right to such to be children of God. They believed on His Name, having received in faith the truth of who and what the world’s Maker and Israel’s King is. They were “born of God” (John 1:13). A new family thus appears. The Lord had brought Israel out of the fierce furnace of Egyptian bondage. But when tested under law, they proved themselves a perverse generation, rebellious children, and when their rightful Ruler came to His own rights, He was refused them. Then He uses His divine and royal prerogative, to grant to those who receive Him in faith, the unquestionable “RIGHT” to take the place of God’s children. Today these have the witness of the Spirit, and the love of the Father assuring them of that relationship, being born of God, yet “the right” granted sovereignly by the Son adds boldness to our divinely assured faith. How vastly important and encouraging is this Word. The MAKER OF THE WORLD, ISRAEL’S KING, JESUS, the Son of God, unknown by the world, and refused His own crown and kingdom by Israel, has given to those who receive Him, the right to take this honoured place of relationship and blessedness,—THE PLACE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. How great and glorious is the One who grants this right! How rich is the right granted to those who believe on such an One! What holy confidence is thus imparted! Everlasting praise be His. The world was made through Him! Israel’s throne belongs to Him! God’s children are abidingly blessed by Him.

The first chapter of John's gospel opens with that magnificent reference to the glory of His eternal Person as He, the eternal "Logos," the Creator, comes into this world. He came to His own interests, and His own people received Him not. He was unknown to the world, but He was also refused and rejected by His earthly people. "But," says the Scripture, "as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to be children of God, to those that believe on His name." The word "received" is a word of great import. It does not refer to a mental reception of the truth, important as that may be; the word indicates receiving something to hold, tenaciously and permanently. The very word is used in relation to the Pharisees and Sadducees in Mark 7, where it says "they received to hold the traditions of men." That which proceeds from the minds of men — denigrating the Person and glory of Christ — held tenaciously today, and I am praying as I speak that if there are any in danger of being held by such traditions; receiving them to hold, only to find the end of them to be destruction, that God may turn your hearts and minds to Christ, that you might find in Him the answer to all your difficulties and problems.

Christ alone is the sinner's salvation. He alone meets all our need. "God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." Clearly, then, the Son must be received, or we can never receive eternal life, for the life is in Him. The one question then is, Have I received the Son as my eternal life — my eternal all? When Christ is received by faith, all is received — life — righteousness — pardon — peace, and acceptance.

Make your choice now, my friend: let me counsel you; decide for Christ, make a thorough surrender of yourself to Christ, and what will be the result? The moment you receive the Lord Jesus Christ, that moment salvation is yours. The moment you receive, in simple faith, Him who came from Heaven, and who died, and who is gone into glory, that moment you are entitled to know you have salvation. Salvation is a word that wraps up in itself all the blessings of the gospel. Be you like Simeon, take salvation the very moment you have the opportunity. The 2nd of Luke says that when His parents brought the child Jesus into the Temple, Simeon received Him into His arms, and "blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." That is it, I get everything in Christ, pardon in Christ, eternal life in Christ, He is my righteousness too, my sanctification, and my redemption likewise. Do I receive Christ? Then I receive everything. I get my sins forgiven, my soul saved, and I stand before God in the conscious possession of salvation, His free gift.

I would now, my friends, ask if you have received Jesus the Son of God as your Saviour? I do not ask if you have good intentions; for I believe multitudes intend to go to heaven who are still treading the broad road to destruction; neither do I ask if you have some knowledge of the doctrines of Christ; but I do ask if you have received Him? You may say, I pray more, give more, deny myself more, and the like; but that is not the question. To know Christ, and take Him as your very own Saviour, because there is no other, knowing you must perish in eternal misery without Him because of your sins, this is the vital question. For it is not knowing doctrines, or giving alms, or saying prayers, that can deliver you from death and judgment, but Jesus the Son of God, and Jesus only. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." "Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish." Or, as the blessed Lord said in another place, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation" (or judgment). (John 5:24.) Blessed deliverance! Happy indeed are those who, having simply received Christ as their Saviour, can rest their heads on their pillows in sweetest confidence and peace, knowing that their sins were purged by the sacrifice of Christ, and that they will not come into judgment. Such are already on the other side of death. "They have passed from death unto life."

There are two things which are very distinct in connection with the reception of Christ. In the gospel a Person is set before us. Paul says, "It pleased God to reveal his Son in me." And there are two distinct things connected with this: one is, a renunciation of the state you are in; the other, an unfolding of that to which you have come. Simeon (Luke 2) is an instance of this. He turns his back on everything in connection with the hopes of man. When he has the Saviour in his arms, he says, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." It is an immense thing for the soul to understand what the reception of Christ means. Paul's word to the jailer is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." A Person is brought in. The more truly I have received Christ, the more I must abandon that which is antagonistic to Christ. It is not merely to say, "I believe," and to go on as usual — that is impossible. What I really receive must characterise me. It so characterised Simeon, that he can completely surrender everything of man's hopes and fears, and say, "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."

Now verse 12 places before us "as many as received him". I hope that each and every one here present in this room has received the Lord Jesus. We find here the two great elements of conversion. First of all, that we receive the Lord Jesus as the light, the light that shines into our innermost being, and convicts us that we are sinners and that we have sinned. This fact also makes us tremble because we understand that we deserve judgment. But then the second element comes in, that God has provided an escape, by believing on the name of the Lord Jesus. On Calvary's cross He died for us, and in faith we may find our support in Him. We may know that Christ's work at Calvary is sufficient with regard to the problem of sin dwelling in us, and also with regard to the matter of sinful deeds.