Mercy? I know mercy.
God never gives me what I deserve.
He let His Son take it.
The flogging,
The pounding,
The pouring out of wrath
In torrents
Until,
until, it was spent!
While I,
I emerge
A new creation.
Esther Griggs www.estherstable.com April 7, 2022.
Jesus came to His own people; His Fathers, family, and friends. The promises of God had been given to them. God the Father had chosen them from among all the nations of the world to be His own special people. Surely, His Son would find a royal welcome here. It did not happen. His own rejected Him. In John 7, we see more division among His listeners, the promise that living water will flow and His Father’s sovereignty.
There is more division among His listeners. Preconceived ideas about where the Messiah would come from and their own knowledge, did not add up. They looked to their leaders for direction. Who were they saying He was?
Some of the people believed in Him because of the signs He did. All were amazed by His boldness. The people tried to reason the spiritual with the flesh. Still, Jesus spoke to His future death, and the promise that rivers of living water will flow.
Isaiah wrote of this great invitation. Here, on the last day of the feast of tabernacles, Jesus cast it out. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” He then proclaimed; “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Did not Isaiah’s words resound in their hearts as Jesus cried out?
John clarified for his readers. Jesus was speaking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came after Jesus was glorified. Those who believed in Him would receive the Spirit.
In John 7:25, it was becoming known by some that Jesus was being sought in order to kill Him. They were surprised at His boldness in light of this situation. In verse 30 we are given insight. “Then they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.” In verse 32, officers are sent to take Him. Again in verse 44 some want to take Him. God controlled the scenario. He, in what appeared a hopeless situation, was in charge of the timing.
Jesus despite rejection, misunderstanding, and threats continued His mission. He proclaimed the promises, and obeyed His calling. In John 7, we see more division among His listeners, the promise that rivers of living water will flow and His Father’s sovereignty.
The infant’s cry shattered the stillness of the night. The voice of Immanuel, a life-giving voice reverberates throughout eternity. One must only hear the words of His voice and believe Him to pass from death to life. In the prophecies written of the coming Messiah we read of His authority to judge, His healing powers and the call to live. In the Book of John we read of the fulfillment.
Jesus makes clear in His teaching to the Jews, He is the judge. His judgement is righteous because He judges as He hears from His Father. It isn’t about His will or how He sees it. His judgement carries out the will of God. Daniel 17: 13 and 14 speaks of One like the Son of Man brought before the ancient of Days where He is given a dominion, glory and an everlasting kingdom. Jesus is the fulfillment. Yet as John records the words of Jesus, we need not fear His judgement: “he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me .. shall not come into judgement.”
The prophet Isaiah (35: 5&6) foresaw the blind seeing and the lame leaping. Jeremiah saw the lame and the blind (Jer. 31) among those He will call to walk by rivers of waters! When righteousness is restored healings occur. Already John has written of Jesus as the healer. Those who heard His voice and responded with faith were restored to health such as the nobleman’s son and the man by the pool. Perhaps you are among them.
In Daniel 12:2 we read “and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Isaiah (26:19) writes of the Saviour, “Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.”
While man became a living being after God breathed life into him, Jesus, like His Father, had life in Himself. While Adam became a living being, Jesus became a life giving spirit. He tells the Jews of an hour coming when the dead will hear and live. He also speaks of a time when all will hear His voice and come out of their graves. At that time judgement will come. The cry of the baby becomes the voice of the Messiah whose word is power. In the prophecies of the coming Messiah we read of His authority to judge, His healing powers and the call to live. Hear His voice of life giving power this Christmas and believe!
John loved Jesus. However, as he walked with Him to His death and resurrection, he received further understanding through Divine revelation. These insights elevated the love he had for the man Jesus into worship of the risen Lord. When we read the first few verses of The Gospel According to John, we read his revelation about the word, the life and the light.
John starts at the beginning. As Genesis 1:1 declares, “In the beginning God created” John, penetrates the veil of our understanding by writing about the Word. He was in the beginning, but not only was He there with God, He was God. Everything that was made, was made through Him. Nothing was made without Him. These truths were further confirmed in John 17:5, when Jesus prayed, “O Father glorify Me .. with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” Paul in His letter to the Colossians also writes of Jesus as the creator. Further understanding comes in Revelation 19:13 where we read of the One whose robes were dipped in blood. His name is called “The Word of God.”
Beyond the Word, he speaks of the life, the life which was in Him. Was it not at creation that God breathed into the nostrils of man, the breath of life resulting in man becoming a living being? However, when man broke the trust, death punctuated life. Man was driven from the garden and blocked to the tree of life.
In 1 John 5:11 we read that God has given us eternal life. This life is in His son.
Finally, the life of Jesus gives light. The darkness fell on mankind when they gave up their authority to the evil one. Their minds became darkened to the truths of God. They became enslaved to fear and placed under judgement. Still, Jesus comes, His life, as a light thrust into the darkness. It is not reasonable. The darkness does not understand it. The Sprit reveals it. We take ahold through faith. Jesus tells us He is the light of the world. If we follow him, we will not walk in darkness. When we believe in Him, we won’t live in darkness.
When we read the first few verses of The Gospel According to John, we learn of his revelation about the Word, the life and the light. As God further reveals His Son to us, I pray that like John, there will be deepening of our love for Jesus into worship of the risen Lord.
Paul and Timothy continue to direct the Colossian believers. They write to them about a different life. Sometimes it is difficult to understand Paul’s writings just as the apostle Peter said about them, “in all of his epistles, … , in which are some things hard to understand, which those who are untaught twist to their own destruction.” but we have the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth as we look to Him. Paul uses symbols from the life of Christ to help new believers understand their new life in Christ, where to live the life and its future.
Our new life comes as we are raised with Christ. God raised Jesus from the dead and is using that same power to work within the believer. It is a spiritual work. Through it, God places believers in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus. There, we enter a whole new world replete with things to think about and consider, things that do not perish with time. We can set our minds on truths not affected by mold or rust or thieves. For Christ is there, and in Him we find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. It is the place to go in prayer to seek answers for our lives. We gain a new mind set.
The new life results from having died to sin because of the work of the cross. This life is a hidden life. In it, we hide away with Christ in God. We die to the world and live to Christ. You cannot see someone who is hiding nor does a dead person respond to anything. It reminds me of the words of an old hymn, “Let me hide myself in Thee” and of the Psalmist, “Hide me under the shadow of Thy wings.” It is a safe place in temptation or in trouble. Paul says this is where we can live. It isn’t just a place to retreat, it is a place from which we live our lives.
Now, Christ becomes our new life. He enables us to be something different. No wonder the world seems so strange to us and us to the world. We are being fitted for a new dwelling. He has promised to come again and when He does, we will appear with Him in glory. I get excited when I read Paul’s writing to the Corinthians in this regard. “The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. it is raised in weakness, it is raised in power.” As another old hymn puts it, “What a day that will be!”
Paul uses symbols from the life of Christ to help new believers understand their new life in Christ, where to live the life, and its future. Ponder it!
To the Jews, circumcision symbolized their covenant with God. With the Christian church rising from the their foundations, confusion came in when certain Jewish Christians believed it to be a required rite. Paul instructs the church about the circumcision not made by hands. He writes about the power of the cross to bring life to the dead, to erase the list of requirements against those who are in Christ and to emasculate the enemy.
Paul tells his readers “in Him you were also circumcised.” This surgery for the Christian however, is done without hands. God deals with the sins of our flesh through the cross of Christ. In the letter to the Romans Paul says, “our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” Here he speaks of circumcision, being buried with Christ in baptism and being raised with Him by believing in God’s work of raising Jesus from the dead. Now because of faith, we who once were dead in our trespasses and sins and the nature of our flesh, have been made alive, together, with Him. All of our trespasses, have been forgiven. The power of the cross provided it.
There was a list, written by hand. On it were all the things against us. I can picture the accuser of the brethren standing in front of God’s throne. Each of His children are also there. He is pointing at the list and bringing charges against them before the Father. Jesus is also there, the historical Jesus on the cross, having done an eternal work for all generations. The list is gone, wiped out, no longer in the way. Jesus took it to the cross and nailed it there. No longer can the enemy accuse those who are in Christ Jesus. The cross eliminated it.
Remember the darkness about the cross when Jesus cried out in despair, “My God, My God why have You forsaken me?” Imagine the enemy thinking he has won, the taste of victory on his tongue, having killed God’s precious Son. Then the sun rises on resurrection morning and an earthquake not only opens the tomb, but disarms all principalities and powers. Then He makes a spectacle of them, not just on this one day in history, but for all eternity, a public spectacle. The Lord Jesus Christ has triumphed over death. The cross emasculated the enemy.
Paul has written of the circumcision of Christ. He describes it as the power of the cross to bring life to the dead, to erase the list of requirements against us and to emasculate the enemy.
According to Paul, we face a formidable foe. Although he is a defeated foe, a battle still rages. Because of the work of Christ, we have the armour necessary to stand up in the evil day and at the end to be still standing.
In this next passage, Paul identifies the pieces of armour to wage war against our enemy. We don’t take guns or bombs, nor do we take clever speeches and arguments. Paul in Corinthians says we don’t use fleshly armour. He also tells us the weapons supplied to us are mighty.
We read that we need to redeem the time. Our days are evil. We can stand. We can buy back the time. It is necessary. We need to stand.
Paul tells the Ephesians. “Having done all to stand.” Here we have a victor’s stance. Christ Jesus has given us all that we need to be victors in this evil day. The provision of Christ has provided every piece of armour.. We only need to make sure we have it all on.
I have heard stories from new Christians describing the change in their lives. One described the beauty of the world around them as if they had never seen it before. Still others speak of the hunger they have for the word of God which was new to them. There exists a definite change when Jesus enters a life. In Ephesian chapter two, Paul speaks regarding the change. First he discusses the situation mankind finds himself in, then what God does about it, and finally the reason He did so.
First he describes the situation. We have been made alive. It has not always been that way. Paul says we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Like everybody else, we followed the influence of the prince of the power of the air. We lived according to our flesh, with our cravings never satisfied, our moods dependent on the weather, and under the wrath of God. As a result, in our death, our disobedience, the hardening of our hearts, we were kept deaf to His word, blind to His works and unable to taste the goodness of the Lord.
Secondly Paul explains what God does about it. “But God” I love that Paul begins this way. Yes, this is the situation “but God”. God who is rich in mercy, God who has a great love for us when we were dead, functioning at a level so beneath His intentions, made us alive together with Christ. It is all grace. He made us alive in Him but way beyond that, He granted us a new position which results in a whole new perspective. He has seated us together with Christ in the heavenly places.
Finally Paul explains the “why”. In the ages to come God is wanting to show the exceeding greatness of His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Our being saved is all about His grace, and about faith. Our abilities and strivings do not affect it because it is a gift. Therefore we are his workmanship. He has made us a new creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works. This was God’s plan prepared long ago. We are prepared for good works as a way of living. As a result, our lives now flow out of our position in Christ. Because now we are seated with Him in heavenly places. I found a quote this week from a book I read long ago. It speaks to me today.
It comes from a book entitled “Born for Battle” written by R.A. Matthews. At one time he was the leader of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. He states that Satan is a panic artist. He blows up a storm on the lake or causes a riot, or the wild beasts in Ephesus to get us in a panic so we will act according to our immediate predicament without taking time to lay hold of the objective facts of God’s promises.
In addition, Matthews quotes J.O. Frazer. “Each time your spirit goes under and faints in the trials which come to you, you lose mastery over the powers of darkness i.e. you get below them instead of abiding above them in God. … The mastery of them depends on your spirit abiding in the place above them and the place above them means knowing God’s outlook, God’s thought, God’s plan, God’s way by abiding with Christ in God.”
Therefore, Jesus we pray. Keep us abiding in the love of God.