John Week 4

Hello Friends,

Thank you to all of you who have been reading so faithfully. As I continue to read through John many things are hitting me in deep ways. This week I was hit by John 8:54-56. Jesus says, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." Right before this the Jews accused Jesus of being demon possessed. Jesus says in verse 49 that he is not demon possessed but rather is here to bring glory to his Father. This shows such an interesting relationship in the trinity. My head is still spinning a little bit (Ok like crazy). Jesus is God, but while on earth he is distinctly man and was here to do the will of his Father. But by calling God his Father he is stating that he is in fact God in the flesh. AHHH. Despite my head wanting to explode I am hit by how much Jesus relies on his Father. I went back through John up to chapter 9 (this is almost half way through the book) and started to compile a list of all the times Jesus spoke about relying on his Father. Here is the list so far:

2:16
3:36
4:34
5:16-18
5:19-28 (really good stuff here)
5:36-38
5:43
6:9
6:29
6:37-38
6:44
6:65
7:16-18
8:16
8:19
8:42

This is a pretty good sized list. Basically he mentions his tie to his Father at least once a chapter in a very straight forward way. I have had conversations with people where they claim that Jesus never said that we are to worship him. This would make a good argument for the "Jesus was just a nice enlightened dude" argument. If you read only these verses out of context you may be able to support that. But what we all need to understand that in that day Jesus calling God his father was the same claim as saying "I Am God." With that aside, back to what I was hit with.

Jesus was completely obedient and submitted to his Father. He knew he was on the earth to do his Father's will and he was willing to do what ever it took to accomplish it. Ultimately, that led him to being tortured and murdered on a tree by the very souls he came to save. Could you imagine being that submitted and dedicated to the will of God in your life?

Thankfully none of us will ever be asked to die for the sins of the world. But I am certain that there are many things in our lives that God has or is calling us to that we are simply saying "No" to.

Why?

Why don't we listen?

Do we think that our plan is really better than the one who made the stars?

Do we think that our desires for our selves will really make us happy for eternity?

If I am honest with my self most of the time I would answer yes, I do think my plans are better. I can control them and I can make things happen for my self. I like being safe. I like knowing my next move. If I even take the time to ask God what he wants of me (rather then spouting off my usual spiritual Christmas list every night) I am really good at picking the easy things and ignoring the hard things.

Could you imagine if Jesus was picky about what he wanted to do? I bet he would have just run around on lakes while turning them into wine so everyone would think he was the cool kid on the block. But he didn't. He did a lot of hard things because he knew that is what it would take to make us healthy again. Not many people liked him, not many people thought what he was doing was of any importance. But he did what was asked of him. And he knew and trusted 100% that what his Father was asking him to do was only possible because it was his Father's will. He knew that apart from the trinity he was just a man.

Apart from our heavenly Father we are just dirty and wrecked people. We can't do anything he asks us to with out him working through us. First, he pours his salvation upon us, then he asks us to go help him pour it out upon others.

What?!

The God of the universe wants us to help him?

I want to end with this. How great do you feel when you accomplish something that at first presented it self as a challenge? I know that I feel accomplished. Like what I did mattered. God is challenging us. Apart from him his will in our lives is impossible. He has saved us by Jesus' work first. If we step up to the challenge or not we are redeemed. Nothing we do can ever earn that for us. But I know I am getting tired of saying no. In my life I am going to start asking our Father how he wants to challenge me. I believe that by his Spirit I will have the strength and courage to stand up and accomplish his will in my life. I invite you to join me in the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.