Oh, What Glory!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011, 8:42 a.m. – The song, “Magnify Him,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read John 5:16-47 (quoting vv 16-30):

Life Through the Son
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

My Understanding: Jesus often healed people on the Sabbath (Saturday). Because he did these things on the Jewish Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. They hated him and desired to kill him, too, because they felt that he broke the Sabbath, and because he was making himself equal with God, proclaiming himself to be God the Son. And, indeed, Jesus was letting them know that he was God the Son and that everything that God the Father did, he also did. He told them that just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son also gives life. Only God can give life, so Jesus was most definitely letting them know he was God. Not only was he God the Son, but he was the judge of all men, so that all men might honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He was saying, in essence, that he was equal with God the Father and should be given the same honor as they gave to God the Father, and for this they hated him and wanted him dead.

Then, Jesus let them know the way to eternal life with God. They must believe in Jesus Christ’s word and believe God the Father, who sent Jesus, i.e. they were to believe that Jesus was sent from God, that he was God the Son, and they were to believe what God the Father had said about him, concerning the Son.

To believe in what God says (his word) means to obey it. Belief is not a mere intellectual assent to something or an emotional decision, as the Bible says that even the demons believe and they shudder. The kind of belief that Jesus and the writers of scripture spoke of was the kind of belief that put action to the words (read Hebrews 11). If we say we believe that Jesus died for our sins so that we can go free and we believe in him to be our Savior and yet we willfully continue to walk in sin, that is not belief. We show that true faith exists within us by putting feet to our words (read I John and the book of James, for example).

Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. He took all our sins upon him. They were crucified and buried with him, and then he rose from the dead, triumphing over hell, Satan, death and sin so that we could go free from the ultimate penalty of sin (eternity in hell) and so that we could be free from the control of sin over our lives, so that we could walk in freedom and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ on a daily basis. So, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, the Bible says that we are crucified with Christ, i.e. we die to our sins and our old way of living, we are buried with Christ and then we are raised to new life in Jesus Christ, free from the control of sin and free to walk in victory in the power of the Holy Spirit of God now living within us and giving us new life. Our baptism symbolizes what takes place in our hearts when we come into genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, and it symbolizes what Jesus Christ did for us when he died for our sins and when he was resurrected.

Then, Jesus told them about another resurrection. Our first resurrection is a spiritual one in which we are raised to new life in Jesus Christ after having died to our old lives of sin. The resurrection he talked about next, though, was a physical one at the second coming of Christ at which time the dead in Christ will be raised and those in Christ Jesus who are alive and remaining will be caught up with the Lord in the air and forever we shall be with the Lord (read I Thessalonians 4:13-18). Yet, those outside of faith in Jesus Christ will rise to be condemned. And, Jesus said that his judgment, which comes from the Father, is just.

One day Jesus is going to come back for us and he will judge the earth and those who live upon the earth. For those of us who are truly his by his grace and through genuine believing faith (faith in action), it will be a glorious time for us when our Lord returns for his bride. Yet for those outside of Christ, which includes many who think they know the Lord because they have bought into a lie which tells them that turning from their sin and obedience to Christ are not necessary for salvation, they will be eternally condemned. So, make sure today that you have turned from your sin and that you are walking in obedience to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so that when he comes back you will hear his voice and you will rise to live with him for eternity in glory!

Magnify Him/ An Original Work / April 17, 2011

Glory to the Father, and glory to the Son;
Praise the Holy Spirit – our God, the Three in One.
Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end;
Savior, sanctifier, healer, the Amen!

Jesus reigns forever; He is the King of kings.
He is our Redeemer, the Lord of everything.
Through His blood He saved us, and brought us victory;
Purifying, our debt buying, so we’re free!

Soon He’s coming back for us, to make us His bride.
He asks that we watch ‘til the time when He arrives.
When He comes, what glory then will be ours to share;
Magnify Him when we meet Him in the air!

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to song