Tag Archives: the world

JESUS SAID – 11

Bible Study, ,

John 3:17 NIV
[17] “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

This is possibly one of the most either misunderstood or ignored statements that Jesus ever made. Why do I say that? People so often misjudge the very heart of God.

Unbelievers hate and run from God because they think He is out to get them. They think up many kinds of ways to dodge accountability to God… agnosticism, atheism, false religions or philosophies, etc., because they fear punishment. This is true…that sin must and will be punished but…

John 3:16-17 NIV
[16] “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

God is so passionate about saving the world from the consequences of sin that He went the whole way of true love. He sacrificed His own and only Son to save us.

Why, then, would He want to punish people for their sin by condemning them to hell forever?

The Bible is full of reassurances that God’s passion is to save people, not to sentence them.

Ezekiel 18:23 NIV
[23] “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” declares the Sovereign Lord. “Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”

He repeatedly calls people to repentance so that they can live, not die.

To His people in the wilderness, He said,

Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV
[19] “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. “

Again, to the pagans in Athens, He said,

Acts 17:30 NIV
[30] “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

Peter explained…

2 Peter 3:9 NLT
[9] “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”

God delays His judgment on people because He wants them to repent and receive His salvation but… judgment will fall on those who refuse to turn from sin and believe in Jesus.

John 3:18 NLT
[18] “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”

There are two factors that determine our destiny…

  1. Repentance, changing our minds about sin and turning from sin to God…

God’s mercy through Jesus is freely given to those who believe the gospel and receive Jesus, by faith, as Lord.

  1. Making the right choice…

God never forces His way of salvation from sin and death on anyone. He confronts us with the truth but leaves us to make the choice between life and death.

Now, since we determine our final destiny, we cannot blame God for where we end.

The next imperative we must consider is what Jesus did to deal with our sin. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus died for the sin of the whole world, for all sin, for all people, for all time. Since He dealt with the problem and punishment for sin, no one need to face punishment again, not even if we sin now.

Romans 8:1 NLT
[1] “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

What do we do, then, if believers sin now?

1 John 2:1-2 NLT
[1] “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. [2] He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”

Can you see, then, that Jesus has taken care of the whole problem of sin, past, present, and future? So, why do His children still think that God is punishing them for their sin? Sin has consequences which God cannot stop but He cannot punish sin twice. Even in the human justice system, it is illegal to punish people twice for the same crime.

1 John 4:16-18 NLT
[16] “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. [17] And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. [18] Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for FEAR OF PUNISHMENT, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”

The issue, when stuff happens, is not that God is punishing us for our sin but that we do not trust His perfect love. You see, the hardships we endure are not punishment but discipline and God’s discipline means that He is treating us as His children.

Hebrews 12:7 NLT
[7] “As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?”

Divine discipline is not judgment or punishment but “tough love”. God wants us to share His holiness so that we are ready for life in His presence forever.

Hebrews 12:10 NLT
[10] “For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.”

Therefore, since holiness is imperative, so also is discipline.

Hebrews 12:14 NLT
[14]”Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.”

The trials, tests, and hardships we face, far from being punishment for sin, are the reassurance that God loves us so much that He works at honing our trust in Him and setting us free from the ravages of our old, sinful nature.

Let’s not insult God’s goodness and mercy by misjudging His love. Let’s trust Him, in our troubles, to do His work of discipline so that we can become conformed to the likeness of Jesus.

HE WAS DESPISED AND REJECTED… 2

Bible Study,

John‬ ‭1:10‭-‬13‬ ‭NLT‬
[10] “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. [11] He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.”

The fact that “the world” and “his own people” rejected Jesus because they did not recognise Him, does not disprove that He is the Son of God, nor does it mean that Jesus was a fake. Public opinion is never the measure of authenticity or truth. Honest evaluation of the evidence is the only true test of Jesus’ claims.

Why have people rejected Jesus since He came to earth as a man?

‭John‬ ‭1:1‭-‬5‬ ‭NLT‬
[1] “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He existed in the beginning with God. [3] God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. [4] The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

‭John‬ ‭1:14‬ ‭NLT‬
[14]”So, the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

The answer is simple – they refused to examine the evidence. Then we must ask the question, ” Why do people refuse to examine the evidence?”

Again, the answer is simple, Jesus’ own diagnosis for people’s unbelief – sin blinds the eyes of those who hate and fear the truth.

‭John‬ ‭3:19‭-‬20‬ ‭NLT‬
[19] “And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. [20] All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.”

The Apostle Paul lays the blame for the world’s blindness on the real culprit…

‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:3‭-‬4‬ ‭NLT‬
[3]” If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. [4] Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”

And what of the Jews?

‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3:14‬ ‭NLT‬
[14] But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth….

What is it that blinds people’s minds to the truth and hardens their hearts to the gospel of Jesus?

Sin – as we have already seen, sin
hardens the heart and blinds the eyes to the truth because fear, guilt and shame close the heart off to God’s mercy. People run from God rather than run to Him because they do not believe the truth about Him.

Prejudice is a powerful deterrent to truth. Prejudice demands to be right no matter how convincing the evidence of truth may be. Prejudice, driven by religious beliefs, is the most damaging of all.

Tradition is an equally powerful deterrent to truth. Human traditions, no matter their origin or how they are formed, hold people’s minds in bondage and keep them from an honest evaluation of the evidence. We only have to examine the traditions surrounding Christmas and Easter to see how imprisoned God’s people are to their lies.

However, the Bible is full of “but Gods”! Wherever there is a “but God”, God’s intervention makes all the difference. Look at this one.

[12] “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. [13] They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God… “

So, John states categorically, despite the attitude of both the world, i.e., mankind in general, and His own people, the Jews, in particular, that believing in Him changes everything.

John set out, in his gospel record, to provide evidence from Jesus’ life and lips that He is the Son of God, that His Word can be trusted, and that He gives life to those who believe in Him.

The truth of God’s promise becomes a powerful, life-changing reality to those who are humble enough to admit that their beliefs about Jesus were wrong, that the evidence in God’s word is convincing, and that Jesus is the Son of God.

Those who receive the truth in faith are born from above by the power of the Holy Spirit, into God’s forever family. Now that’s a powerful “but God” and well worth believing!

To be continued…

KEPT – BY THE POWER OF HIS NAME!

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KEPT – BY THE POWER OF HIS NAME!

“‘I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.

“‘I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.

“‘While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by the name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.'” John 17:9-12 NIV.

What a power-packed prayer! Not much asking — in fact only one request, but nevertheless full of assurance and affirmation!

What can we learn from Jesus’ prayer?

The first thing I notice is that this was a Son talking to His Father, expressing His confidence in and submission to the Father — not begging, cajoling, bargaining, demanding or manipulating. This is Jesus, Son of God, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, communing with His Abba in the language of intimacy and trust.

Secondly, Jesus expressed His oneness with the Father. Everything they owned, they shared. The men whom Jesus loved and trained for three years belonged to the Father, given to Jesus as a sacred trust. During His earthly life He protected them by the power of God’s name.

Where did the idea come from that is bandied about in many parts of the church today that we must “plead the blood of Jesus” over our loved ones and possessions, when the Bible teaches us that we are kept by the power of God’s name? Unlike us humans who blindly follow the error of others because it sounds good, Jesus knew the Scriptures!

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10 NIV.

Everything that God is, is in His name; His character and His attributes are represented by His name. To invoke the name of God is to call on His love, mercy, grace and power to intervene on our behalf. When Moses requested to see God’s glory, God revealed His name.

“Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’ And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.'” Exodus 33:18, 19 NIV.

From what was Jesus praying that His disciples be protected?

We erroneously think that the devil is our worst enemy. If that were true, we would be helpless victims of his wicked schemes. No, we are our own worst enemy because there are in our old, selfish natures the seeds of self-destruction. We have the power to choose. God has given us His nature (2 Peter 1:4) but it is our responsibility to nourish that nature through faith in His promises. We are transformed into His image by gazing at Him (2 Corinthians 3:18) and contemplating His glory – His name.

Kept – by the power of His name – not some external power descending on us from above but the power of God’s nature wrought in us and at work in us by the Holy Spirit that makes us immune to the deception of the devil because we know the truth and can discern his lies.

Thirdly He was one with the Father in their nature and in their purpose to redeem mankind through His death. He would not deviate from the Father’s plan no matter what the cost. It was His passion that His disciples become one as He and the Father are one because, in that unity was the power to witness to the world that He was no self-appointed upstart but that He had come from the Father.

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:20-21

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.