The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.
Jesus didn’t live a very successful life if judged by the standards most people use to define success.
Jesus didn’t have much money. He didn’t have a wife and family. No house. Not many honors during His lifetime.
Yet, today this Teacher stands head and shoulders above every other person who ever lived.
And here, He gives His students the secret to His most successful life.
He always did what pleased the Father!
This is the kind of life the Teacher lived and the kind of life He wants to help His students enjoy.
This is a successful life because in pleasing God we are satisfying the One who created us. We are fulfilling the purposes He had in mind from the beginning when He created us.
The most successful life – by the world’s standards – is really a complete failure if it does not please God. Does not meet with the approval of heaven!
Does it really matter? How much money one accumulates, how many accolades, how many accomplishments – if at the end of life - our Creator is not pleased with how we lived.
But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”
This is why Jesus is the Teacher. He alone lifts our lives above and beyond earthly concerns to the heavenly. Students of this Teacher learn how to live a life that is pleasing to God.
"Who are you?" they asked. I think it interesting that they ask this question. He's been accused of being a mad man or servant of Beelzabub. They new he was a carpenters son so he couldn't be Messiah. He wasn't from the right town so he couldn't be Messiah. They ask this question like they really wanted to know. I wonder if it was because he said "If you don't believe that I am he you will die in your sins." He doesn't leave any wiggle room here, it's either or. So who is he? I know our Bibles read; If you don't believe I am he, but "he" is an added word. What these people heard Jesus say was, "If you dont believe I Am you will die in your sins. When confronted with our mortality and eternity, "who are you Jesus?" is a good question to ask. And knowing the right answer makes all the difference as to where we spend eternity. But also how we live our lives now.
ReplyDeleteI can't get it out of my head - Jesus warns them once, then explains again:
ReplyDelete"I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."
How sad that there are people still today who refuse to believe in The Lord Jesus christ or in God the Father. Jesus' truth still rings true... and they will die in their sins.
How sad it is that there may be people who want to believe, and Jesus' own students many times do little to spread the news about Him and the salvation he brings!
What are we doing to warn people around us of impending eternal death if they do not believe in Jesus?
How often and willing are we to proclaim salvation available only through Jesus?