John 14:1-4 NIV “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
We live in troubling times and our hearts and minds can be easily influenced by what we see and what we hear. But for those of us who believe in Jesus, have an alternate source to balance and calm the tide, we have His words and His presence, to bring order from chaos.
I mentioned to BJ the other day, the author of The River Walk, the devotional that I follow, that sometimes I feel like I am on a merry-go-round and I can’t get off. BJ said that what I feel is being felt all over the world right now. And based on what I see and hear from the News, I have a tendency to think he is not far from the truth.
I don’t know about you but I can’t live like that. I need to have assurance in my heart that although there are many waves upon the sea that I am on, the one to whom I follow, who created and controls all things, knows what He is doing and He is the one who will determine what happens next, and my faith is in Him.
This is not wishful thinking. Jesus, the Son of God actually walked on this earth. He actually died for us on the cross and He actually rose from the dead.
John 14:15-29 NIV “If you Love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
This was Jesus talking to the disciples before he was crucified. Listen to His words ….. “Because I live, you also will live.” He is talking about the resurrection.
Jesus says “on that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.“
Sometimes it is difficult to look at the world that we see and hear around us and couple it with what has happened in the past. It can seem distant, something that happened long ago. But the crucification and resurrection of Jesus Christ wasn’t just any something, it is the crowning proof of everything that Jesus said to us and showed to us, the final declaration of our Heavenly Father’s and the Son of God’s will and love for us.
Yes it can be hard to grasp, hard to really comprehend, hard to bring what happened two thousand years ago in history to today, but this is still reality, even today, even this very minute.
John 14:28-31 NIV “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.“Come now; let us leave.”
Once again, this is before the crucification, and Jesus says that the prince of this world is coming so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
The world and those within the world that have not or did not learn from the Resurrection, also did not learn how Jesus perfectly fulfilled the will of His and our Father, culminating in the ultimate declaration of God’s forgiveness and love.
The crucification and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the declaration of God’s love to us. One simply accepts God’s declaration of love or rejects it, today, right now, while there is time. 2 Peter 3:9 NIV reads “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
And in the interim, as Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Thats the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Christ, in us, today, right now and always. If we believe, He is in us. Draw close to Him and He will draw close to you (James 4:8).
Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!
Filed under: Apologetics, Defending Christianity, Faith Tagged: Christian Apologetics, Faith
