Jesus Christ is Our Hope. Hope is a joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation. Through Christ, all who believe in Him receive eternal salvation, are welcomed into a personal relationship with God, and are given the Holy Spirit. Our hope in Jesus should shape our focus, our lives, and all we do and say. This hope is not a passive hope, but a confidence in the future He promised to those who hold to faith.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of [a]God! Therefore the world does not know [b]us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Hope in Christ leads to many things in the life of a believer. We must first come to know Jesus and believe in Him as Savior. The Truthabout Christ is revealed through the Word of God, and we should diligently seek to learn and understand the wisdom and knowledge revealed to us through Scripture, which gives us hope. Those who are believers have the Holy Spirit to guide them into the Truth so that they may learn and understand, and then know what to do with the Truth they have learned. As we allow God to guide us through His Word, revealing to us what He knows needs to be revealed at any given time, our hope in Christ will grow as well.
4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the [a]patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
As we trust in Jesus, place our hope in Him, and grow in faith through the Word, we learn more about our redemption through Jesus Christ. Jesus is our hope for redemption – it is through Him we can be saved. There is salvation for those who believe that Jesus is the One and Only Son of God who came to earth and lived a sinless human life, fully man and fully God, went to the cross to die a horrendous death that we ourselves deserved, paying the debt for our sins, and then 3 days later rose from the dead, later ascending into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God.
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Our hope in Christ leads to salvation, which will impact us in this life, but its full benefit will be experienced in eternity. Redemption reconciles us to God so that we can have a personal relationship with Him through our faith in Christ, and then prepares us for the hope ahead in eternity when we can be with Him forever. When we place our hope in Him, it is not only for this life, but for all time. Our focus should be on our eternal fate, and our hope in Christ will help us to live today for the hope we have for tomorrow.
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers,[a] you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children[b] of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. 23 Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am [a]gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Our hope is found in eternity, not in earthly, temporal things. When we focus on Christ as our hope, the veil over our hearts is removed and we are given access to God through Christ. With this unveiling, we are given spiritual life through the indwelling of God’s own Spirit. With the help of His Spirit we are able to discern the difference between eternal and temporal things, and also learn to see worldly things with eternity in mind.
12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— 13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Through our hope in Jesus, we gain freedom from the bondage of sin over us. Through the power of Jesus, the control of sin over our lives is broken and we are able, with the help of the Spirit, to resist sin and temptations. Through our hope in Jesus, we also gain freedom from fear, anxiety, and anger and we have free access to His peace, joy, and strength in all circumstances.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Through this freedom, we are able to choose the path Christ has for us. As we grow in faith and are sanctified by His Spirit, we learn to let Christ rule our lives and lead us in this new freedom we have in Him. When we allow Christ to rule our lives, we live with eternity in mind, strive to make a Kingdom impact, and use our freedom to draw others out of bondage to sin and toward this freedom found through faith and hope in Jesus.
Stand[a] fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Those who have the Spirit living in them have been given the gift of new life because of their hope in Jesus. The Spirit makes you new, and begins the sanctifying work of transforming you according to the righteousness of God. As the Holy Spirit works in you, and you grow in your knowledge and understanding of the Word, you will learn how to live the life God has called you to because of your hope in Christ.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
22 to take off[a] your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed[b] in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on[c] the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.
9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
13 Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Our hope, or confident expectation, in what is ahead should lead us to focus on what our hope is in, and to prepare for it. If our hope is in Christ, and we confidently expect the eternal promises ahead, then we are called to do what is pleasing to Christ in this life, knowing that one day we will give account for what we do while we wait for Christ to return and eternity to begin. As we learn and grow through the Word and the Spirit, we should live what we learn. We should also lead others in the Truth as the Spirit guides us to do.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, [a]we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces [b]perseverance; 4 and perseverance, [c]character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and [a]labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become [b]sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
The hope we have in Christ is not meant to be a private matter. We are called to go out into the world and share our hope, spreading the good news of the gospel throughout the world. Faith is not meant to remain private. Our hope and faith should run so deep we cannot help but want others to share in it with us, growing the Kingdom of God, bringing glory to the Lord, and living out the great commission Jesus gave to His disciples before ascending back to Heaven.
19 Go [a]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” [b]Amen.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant.[a] He is a faithful minister of Christ on your[b] behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
We should grow in our hope by going deeper in scripture, learning to discern and obey the Spirit, and therefore live in the will of God, live in our Christian freedom, and be sanctified through our own spiritual journey. We are also called to proclaim the good news to others, teach others what we have learned through God’s Word and walking with the Spirit, and encourage others to come to Christ themselves. Our hope is not just for us, but should be used to glorify God, and draw others to the Light of the World so they, too, may have hope and be redeemed. God places us where we are so that we may shine His bright light and Truth wherever we are.
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us [a]diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. [a]For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
Jesus is the Word, and the Word is the One who sets free. We are set free through believing in the Word and are disciples of Jesus when we abide in the Word and the Word abides in us. To be His disciples, we not only believe in the One who sets free, but we continue to learn more about Him through His Word, grow in our faith and understanding, and become better examples of Jesus as we mature spiritually.
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
If you hold to the Word, endure in it, continue in its instructions, and live your life according to the Word of God, you are a true follower of Jesus. If we abide in the Word, we will know the Truth. We must be in the Word, continuing to learn from it and live according to what we have learned, and in so doing we will find freedom through knowing the Truth from the Word of God.
The Truth sets us free from bondage to sin. When we are enslaved to sin, it has a hold on us and our lives. Our decisions are influenced by the pull, weight, and temptations of sin, and draw us away from God. Before we come to believe in Jesus as our Savior, we are living in our sin and are destined for destruction because death is the price for sin.
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil [a]dwell with You.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified [a]freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a [b]propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
When we believe in Jesus, we believe that His death was for our own personal sake, that He died the death we deserve so that we would not have to pay it ourselves. God does not want us to be separated from Him, but sin cannot dwell with God, and death for sin is separation from God. God wants a relationship with each of us, and Christ died in our place so that we could be in a relationship with God, and have His Spirit live in us to teach and guide us.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Without faith, we are enslaved to sin. By faith in Jesus, we believe the Word of Truth, repent of our sins, are set free from the power of sin over us, and have the power of Jesus Christ to conquer sin in our lives. To repent of our sins means we agree with God so deeply about our sins that we cannot help but turn away from our sins, look to Jesus for our salvation, and follow the conviction and guidance of God’s Holy Spirit.
To Abide in the Word, we must grow in the Word
As we come to know more of the Word, God reveals more of His Truth to us, which continues to sanctify us and strengthen us against temptation and sin. By knowing the Word deeper, we are able to go from the infant stages of faith to more mature stages of faith. It is like going from being bottle-fed milk to eating solid food. At newer stages of faith, we have a more basic understanding of the Word, which is like the milk, and as we abide in the Word we should be moving up to the meat, that is diving deeper into the Word and what God wants to reveal to each of us through it in order to grow our faith and glorify Him more.
2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and [a]behaving like mere men?
To grow in the Truth and abide in the Word, we must continuously learn more about the Word. The Word is given for our instruction and when we fail to learn from His Word, we fail to prepare and equip ourselves with the tools needed for spiritual warfare and the resisting of sin and temptation. Sin loses its hold on us and loses its appeal as we learn more about God and His righteousness, and our divine purpose to glorify Him in all things.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [a]instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Holy Spirit leads us to understand the Truth that sets free
When we remain as infants in our faith, we are lacking the knowledge of the Truth that sets us free from the bondage of sin. The more we know, the more there is to believe. The more we believe, the more we receive from God. The more we receive, the more we can bring God glory with what He has given. Just as Christ glorified God in all He has done and will do, we are to bring God glory as well. The more we know of the Truth, the more glory we can bring to our Father in Heaven.
Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He [a]should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
When we have faith in Jesus, the One who sets us free, we are forgiven of our sins and enter into a personal relationship with God the Father through Jesus the Son. We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, who guides all of us into all truth, reveals Jesus, declares what is to come, and reveals the truth about righteousness, condemnation, and sin. Once we come to believe the Truth that sets free, the Holy Spirit continues to work in us, guiding us in righteousness, and helping us to understand the Word and apply it to our lives at every stage of our faith.
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He [a]will take of Mine and declare it to you.
The One who sets free should have priority in our lives. The freedom we have in Christ should never be taken for granted, nor taken lightly, but honored, cherished, and put first in all we do. Christ died in our place so that those who believe in Him as the One who sets free would truly be free from the power of sin and the fate of eternal separation from God. To prioritize Jesus is to invest in His Word, learn from Him constantly, and apply what we learn to our lives. We should be guided by His Holy Spirit, and go through the growing pains of going deeper in our faith in order to bring God glory and reveal the Truth that set us free to others so they too may be free indeed.
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 [a]gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
God’s Not Dead scene gives an explanation about being enslaved to sin
I don’t quote or reference movies and other media very often, but I find the God’s Not Dead movie series valuable as a Christian. Take a look at the following clip of a scene from God’s Not Dead that gives a chilling explanation of one way we become enslaved to sin, and why we need the One Who Sets Free.
Have you accepted the grace of God?
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
Just as Christ is our Savior, He is our Mediator. He is our go-between, intervening for us to God. Jesus was our ransom, paying the price for our sins, and becomes our Mediator between us and God so that we can enter into a personal relationship with God. Jesus restores us to God when we have faith in Him as our Savior, and from then on we can personally know and speak with God through our faith in Jesus Christ.
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
God is the only God, and Jesus is the only Mediator. There is no other Mediator by which we can be saved or gain access to God. Jesus is the only One. Those who have faith in Jesus as their Savior gain Him as their Mediator, and are then able to pray to God and grow in holiness. He teaches us how to live godly lives and grow in our relationship with God the Father. As we learn and grow in faith, Jesus will one day be our Mediator on the Last Day.
12 And there is (A)salvation (B)in no one else, for (C)there is no other (D)name under heaven given among men[a] by which we must be saved.”
In all of these ways, Jesus leads us to salvation through faith in Him, by the grace of God, and is the door to the ultimate salvation in eternity. By faith in Jesus, we are saved, redeemed to God through His blood, and then sanctified to be saved on the Day of Judgement.
We are all called to godly living, allowing sanctification to take place in our lives every day. To be sanctified is to be made holy, and this should be an active pursuit of all believers. Active faith bears the fruits of sanctification, and godly living is evidence of true saving faith in Jesus Christ. As we grow in our faith, we should likewise be growing in godliness, learning how to become more like Jesus and less like who we were before we had faith in Jesus.
7 (A)In him we have (B)redemption (C)through his blood, (D)the forgiveness of our trespasses, (E)according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 (F)making known[a] to us the mystery of his will, (G)according to his purpose, which he (H)set forth in Christ
Faith in our Mediator makes us new. Our old self dies and we are reborn spiritually, given the gift of God’s Holy Spirit which Jesus promised God would send in the name of Jesus to all who love and obey Him. The Holy Spirit will indwell believers and will teach us the things of God. In order to learn from the Holy Spirit, we must learn the Word of God as well.
23 Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.(A)24 The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.(B)
25 “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit,(C) whom the Father will send(D) in my name, will teach you all things(E) and remind you of everything I have told you.(F)
The Word of God teaches us about God and the way in which He wants us to live so that we may bring Him glory, draw others to Himself through faith in Jesus, and become more and more like Jesus by obeying the Word. The Holy Spirit will reveal God’s truths, wisdom, and knowledge, help us understand, and remind us of what we have read and learned.
12 For the word of God is(A)living and powerful, and (B)sharper than any (C)two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is (D)a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
As we learn more about God, grow in godly living, and increase in faith we will also learn to focus on the Kingdom of God and Heavenly things over things of this life and world. We must be focused on the will of God and bringing Him glory, and resist the temptations we face in this life. Christ as our Mediator will provide for all of our needs as we navigate this earthly life, giving us His strength, His Word, His peace and joy, and anything else we will need along the way.
3 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.(A)2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.(B)3 For you died,(C) and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When we have faith in Jesus, we gain access to God the Father through our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus intercedes for us with God, and our faith brings us into right standing with our Heavenly Father. When we are reconciled to God through Jesus, we are instructed to pray to God. We are taught to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. When we pray by faith in Jesus, and by faith we are aligned with God, our prayers are heard. Our faith in Jesus is the key, and as we learn to live a godly life, we become more aligned with God and His will and learn to pray for the things He wants us to pray for.
12 “Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me(A) will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these,(B) because I am going to the Father.(C)13 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified(D) in the Son.(E)14 If you ask me[a] anything in my name,(F) I will do it.[b](G)
The closer we become to Jesus, the stronger our prayer life should also become. We can have confidence in our relationship with the Lord, and confidence to pray by faith. When we pray according to the will of God, we get to make an impact on the Kingdom of God. This is possible because Christ mediates for us with God. We are seen through His blood, being made children of God through our faith in Jesus.
2 Therefore I [a]exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 (A)for kings and (B)all who are in [b]authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and [c]reverence. 3 For this is(C)good and acceptable in the sight (D)of God our Savior, 4 (E)who desires all men to be saved (F)and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Through prayer we can intercede for others, lifting them up to God in the name of Jesus, and pray for our own needs and lives as well. We also learn to praise God, be thankful in all circumstances, and place our focus on Jesus Christ. As our prayer life increases by faith, our trust in God’s Sovereignty also increases, and we grow in our faith, relationship with Him, and sanctification by Him.
10 This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom(A) may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.(B)11 This is according to his eternal purpose(C) accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him we have boldness and confident access(D) through faith in him.[a]
On the Day of Judgement Jesus will also mediate for those who have walked with Him by faith. Those who have done the will of God and called on the name of Jesus to be saved will have their names written in the book of Life, and Jesus will mediate for us saying that because we had faith in Him, our debt has been paid, and our sins will be forever wiped away. We will have gained the right to inherit eternity with God because Christ mediated for us with God.
16 (A)For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten (B)Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 (C)For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Jesus mediates on the Day of Judgement for those who have faith and obeyed the will of God through faith. Those who love God obey God, and those who love and obey Him will come to Him by faith in Jesus and will allow the sanctification of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus to occur throughout their life. Through sanctification, the fruits of a growing faith will be evident in the way you live, love, and obey God in every area of life.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.(A)12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.(B) Another book was opened, which is the book of life,(C) and the dead were judged according to their works(D) by what was written in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades(E) gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.(F) This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
On the Day of Judgement, we will all stand before God to be judged. Those who truly accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior will be judged according to their faith and the works that were produced as evidence of their faith and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We are not saved by works, but by faith in Jesus. If our faith does not produce godliness, we will be judged accordingly on the Last Day. Those who have obeyed God and done His will by true faith in Jesus will be welcomed into eternity with God, never having to suffer from the curse of sin again.
15 Therefore he is (A)the mediator of a new covenant, so that (B)those who are called may (C)receive the promised eternal inheritance, (D)since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.[a]
Jesus died to save all who would believe in Him as Lord. All who come to Jesus in faith, and who obey Him out of love and faith, will be blessed because of His divine mediation between us and God the Father. We don’t have to wait for this mediation, as He is with us throughout our life on this earth, and the closer we come to Him in this life, the more eagerly we get to wait for His return and the day we will be judged and welcomed into His Kingdom forever.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform these humble bodies of ours[a] into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
All of us at one point or another were wanderers, living life apart from Christ, needing repentance and the forgiveness that only faith in Jesus provides. Every human being is tainted by the curse of sin, and none of us are able to enter eternity with our Heavenly Father on our own efforts. We all fall short and it is only by the grace of God that we are offered Jesus Christ, the Shepherd and Overseer of Souls, as a living sacrifice in our place. Those who choose to place their faith in Christ are those who have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of Souls, repenting of our sins, and entering into a relationship with our Father in Heaven.
25 For (AH)you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned (AI)to the Shepherd and [h]Overseer of your souls.
of Gentiles passing over to the religion of Christ
to turn one’s self about, turn back
to return, turn back, come back
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 But they are justified[a] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God publicly displayed[b] him[c] at his death[d] as the mercy seat[e] accessible through faith.[f] This was to demonstrate[g] his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed.[h]26 This was[i] also to demonstrate[j] his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just[k] and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.[l]
Jesus is the Head of the Church, presiding over all of His people. He is also the guardian of His people. He is in charge of ensuring that those He oversees are doing what they ought to be doing. Not only this, but He is the Overseer of souls. He guards, leads, and is in charge of our very souls, that part of us that will live on into eternity. He shepherds our souls and oversees not only the things we do but the part of us that affects our very emotions, thoughts, desires, and minds. Jesus is charged with the duty of leading our very souls to salvation.
the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.)
the (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life
the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body)
As we enter a relationship with our Heavenly Father through faith in Jesus, we humbly submit ourselves to His instruction. As followers of Jesus, we are commanded to be obedient to His teachings and live by the example that He sets. Faithful obedience is commendable before God and is the calling we have through faith.
18 (B)Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. 19 For this is(C)commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.
As followers of Jesus, we are to live a life of faithful obedience to the Word and will of God. By this, we live in active faith, proclaiming the gospel with the skills, resources, talents, and circumstances God has given us, and drawing others to Himself. Faith is not idle but is constantly working, growing, strengthening, stretching, and impacting. True faith produces fruit as evidence. We should never sit idly by while others work the harvest, but we should be workers in the harvest ourselves no matter the cost. Those who endure in faith – living out active faith in Jesus Christ – will be saved.
15 For (A)I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
Not only are we to be obedient to Christ, but we are to be obedient to those He has placed in positions of authority over us in this life. We are all called to be humble, placing ourselves in the position of a servant. As Christ also humbly served all of mankind, we also are to take up His example and serve others with humility. This is all helpful in the great commission and will share the light and love of God in this darkening world.
22 And (A)you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. (B)But he who endures to the end will be saved.
We will be hated for our faith, but the Lord tells us we have no need to be afraid. This is part of enduring, that we will suffer and be persecuted for our faith but we must remain faithful, standing firm, trusting in the Lord to the very end. We will not always understand, it will not make sense, but it would not be faith if we knew all the answers. The example that the Shepherd and Overseer of our Souls sets for us can be trusted, and by His strength, we can endure.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet (A)He opened not His mouth; (B)He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was (C)taken from [a]prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For (D)He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 (E)And [b]they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any(F)deceit in His mouth.
5 (A)Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, (B)with fear and trembling, (C)in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 6 (D)not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 (E)knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
6 (A)In this you greatly rejoice, though now (B)for a little while, if need be, (C)you have been [a]grieved by various trials, 7 that (D)the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though (E)it is tested by fire, (F)may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Active faith requires living by the example that Jesus sets for us all throughout scripture. His responses in every situation we read about, every lesson He teaches us through His Word, every manner in which He treated others of all backgrounds, and even every prayer He lifted up to Heaven are all opportunities to learn. We should learn about Him, and by learning about Him we should be learning how to live more like Him.
20 For (A)what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 21 For (B)to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for [a]us, (C)leaving [b]us an example, that you should follow His steps:
22 “Who(D) committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
23 (E)who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but (F)committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 (G)who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, (H)that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—(I)by whose [c]stripes you were healed.
As the Shepherd and Overseer of Souls, He is the source of true rest for our souls. By abiding in Him, learning from Him, and truly living in active faith, He will provide all that we truly need and lead us to eternal rest. All that we will go through in this present life will be worth the blessings ahead of us in eternity with Him for those who endure.
29 Take My yoke upon you (A)and learn from Me, for I am [a]gentle and (B)lowly in heart, (C)and you will find rest for your souls.
Spend time with Jesus every day. Learn more from Him, and prayerfully live out every day for Him. As we continue to live in this darkening world, we must cling to the Light of the world, the One who has the power to lead us in the right direction, and the strength we need in order to endure every trial we will face along the way.
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve (A)in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
In John 10 we learn that Jesus is the door, also referred to as the narrow gate, for His sheep. He explains that those who enter by Him are saved. Through Him is the only way to salvation. We are warned that there are others, thieves, robbers, and strangers, who will try to enter salvation by other ways, and will also seek to prevent others from entering salvation by Jesus.
7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came [a]before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 (C)I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Jesus warns that there are those who seek to obtain salvation and eternal life by means other than Himself, and these He refers to as thieves and robbers. He warns us that they seek to steal, kill, and destroy. With this, they will seek to lure the sheep (believers) away, leading them to the path of destruction. The enemy wants to steal our confidence in the Door we have entered by, our joy in His faithfulness, and our peace in His promises. The enemy also wants to kill our relationships, our progress, and our faith, and lead us into complete destruction, where the enemy himself is headed.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
We are commanded to flee from the voice of strangers. This requires us to know the voice of our Shepherd, and recognize the Door by which we must enter, and the path which we are meant to follow. We must learn more about the correct way through Jesus to salvation and eternal life, and recognize when it is His voice and instruction, or that of a stranger leading us astray and away from the godly path.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end
to ruin
render useless
to kill
to declare that one must be put to death
metaph. to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell
to perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyed
to incur the loss of true or eternal life; to be delivered up to eternal misery
8 (A)But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, (B)their portion will be in (C)the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is (D)the second death.”
We enter through the narrow gate when we enter through Jesus. The way to salvation is through Jesus alone, the narrow gate, the only door, and it is a difficult path to follow Him. This difficult path leads to salvation and eternal life, and He promises to provide for us along the way. We will never be left alone. We have His presence, guidance, wisdom, protection, and grace with us always to lead us down His path.
13 (B)“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 [a]Because narrow is the gate and [b]difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
8 All who ever came [a]before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 (A)I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
Those who belong to Jesus will recognize His voice. They will learn to discern the difference between Holy Spirit guidance and the deceptive tactics of the enemy. In order to tell the difference, though, it is not a matter of simply entering through the Door and belonging to Jesus, but also following His commands and teachings. This requires being committed to learning more about Him through His Word and prayer daily.
12 And there is (A)salvation (B)in no one else, for (C)there is no other (D)name under heaven given among men[a] by which we must be saved.”
We abide in Christ when we cling to Him, look to Him, follow Him, and strive to live the life He wants us to live. When we abide in Christ we are more in tune with the difficult path we are meant to walk as followers of Jesus. Those who are of God will not follow the voice of strangers. They will be able to identify the source of the instructions and guidance they have received because they are so close to Him that they know what lines up with His instructions through His Word, and what does not.
38 Then Peter said to them, (A)“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the [a]remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever.
over and above, more than is necessary, superadded
exceeding abundantly, supremely
What door will you go through?
There is the door that leads to salvation, and the door that leads to destruction. Jesus is the only way to salvation, and any other will lead to destruction. Those who enter the door that is Jesus choose to put their faith in Him as the Savior and walk the difficult path to eternal life.
36 (A)He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the (B)wrath of God abides on him.”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am (A)the way, and (B)the truth, and (C)the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 (D)If you had known me, you would have (E)known my Father also.[a] From now on you do know him and (F)have seen him.”
5 He who overcomes (A)shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not (B)blot out his name from the (C)Book of Life; but (D)I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Those who choose the wide gate choose to walk through the door of destruction. Although this path may be an easier way of life, it will not lead to eternal life in the Kingdom of God. The struggles we go through in this life for the sake of faith in Christ are incomparable to the joy that awaits us in Heaven with Him.
24 (A)“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for (B)many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 (C)When once the Master of the house has risen up and (D)shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, (E)‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, (F)‘I do not know you, where you are from,’
9 And (A)they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded (B)the camp of the saints and (C)the beloved city, but (D)fire came down from heaven[a] and consumed them, 10 and the devil (E)who had deceived them was (F)thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where (G)the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
Jesus makes seven I Am statements throughout the Gospel of John, five of them are absolute statements in which He uses the exact same words God used when identifying Himself to Moses at the burning bush. Each of these I Am statements teaches us about His omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. When Jesus goes to see Mary and Martha after their brother, Lazarus, has died He declares “I Am the resurrection and the life”.
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever.
Resurrection is the divine miracle of someone who is dead being raised to life in body and soul. This is either temporal life, such as with Lazarus, or eternal, glorified life, which is the case for Jesus when He rises from the dead after the crucifixion, and will be the case for His followers upon His return.
9 He is the one who saved us[a] and called us with a holy calling, not based on[b] our works but on his own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began,[c]10 but now made visible through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. He[d] has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel!
In declaring that He is the Resurrection and the Life, He is declaring that He is God, and He is also foretelling His own resurrection. He is also teaching that He is the source of the resurrections of the righteous and unrighteous; the living and the dead.
6 Jesus told him, “I am(A)the way,(B)the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will also know[a] my Father.(C) From now on you do know him(D) and have seen him.”
Jesus being the Life indicates that He is the giver of life – all things are created through, by, and for Him, through faith in Him those who believe obtain spiritual life, and one day will obtain eternal life. Not only this, but with eternal life everything will be made new, and the righteous will also receive new spiritual bodies that will, by the power of Christ, be immune to the power of death.
11 Moreover if the Spirit of the one[a] who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ[b] from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you.[c]
12 So then,[d] brothers and sisters,[e] we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh 13 (for if you live according to the flesh, you will[f] die),[g] but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are[h] the sons of God.
Those who have faith in Jesus are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and have personal access to the power of Him who was raised from the dead defeating sin and death. By the power of Jesus, we can resist sin in this life and obtain the promise of eternal life. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we can rely on His almighty strength in our own battles, and cling to Him, enduring until the end of our earthly lives in faith, whenever that may be for each of us.
To expand on your understanding, explore these studies as well:
There will be a resurrection of life for the righteous, those who are followers of Jesus, and another resurrection of condemnation for the unrighteous, those who died in their unbelief. There will also be a resurrection of the body – those who have faith in Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life will be blessed with an eternal spiritual body and death will no longer have any power over them, while the unrighteous will be condemned to suffer for their unrighteousness.
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in [a]hell.
28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Those who have done the will of God, believed in Jesus Christ as the Resurrection and the Life, and endured to the end of their earthly life in faith and obedience to the Lord, will obtain the promise of eternal life after Christ returns. Those who have fallen away or clung to unbelief, dying without personal faith and relationship with Jesus, will have died in their sin, without the blood of Jesus to cover them, and will not have their names written in the book of Life. Those whose names are not written in the Book of Life are sent to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire, separated from God and all that is good with no chance of relief or release.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, because a time[a] is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and will come out—the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation.[b]
31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
12 Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the[a]maimed, the lame, the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we get to benefit from the power of resurrection by means of receiving a resurrection body. Those who have died for their faith will get to reign with Christ as part of the first resurrection, while the rest will be given their resurrected bodies after Christ’s 1,000-year reign. Just as we share in the earthly body given to Adam, those who have faith in Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life will inherit a spiritual body as Jesus has a spiritual body after His resurrection.
4 Then[a] I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge.[b] I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These[c] had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They[d] came to life[e] and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.)[f] This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who takes part[g] in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them,[h] but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform these humble bodies of ours[a] into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 Fool! What you sow will not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed[a]—perhaps of wheat or something else. 38 But God gives it a body just as he planned, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 39 All flesh is not the same: People have one flesh, animals have another, birds and fish another.[b]40 And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The glory of the heavenly body is one sort and the earthly another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory.
42 It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.[c]43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”;[d] the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 Like the one made of dust, so too are those made of dust, and like the one from heaven, so too those who are heavenly. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear[e] the image of the man of heaven.
Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. He is the author and perfector of life, gives new, spiritual life to those who believe in Him, and one day all who believe will also be resurrected as He was resurrected. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life will be with Him for eternity one day, and those who choose to continue in their rejection of Him as the Resurrection and the Life will inherit eternity separated from Him and all that is good. Today is the day of salvation – we are not promised tomorrow and should seek to know Jesus Christ as our Risen Lord while there is still time before time runs out and He returns to judge the world.
Have you accepted the grace of God?
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
As we have explored the names of Jesus that speak of Him as the Son of Man, Son of God, and the Truth each name has been leading up to and preparing us to focus on Jesus as Savior. Over the next couple of months, we will be exploring Jesus’s different names that teach us more specifically about Him as our Savior, beginning with the name Savior itself.
As we study Jesus as Savior through the remainder of this year’s studies, we will learn some of His most important names and roles. These names will help us to better understand His other names as Son of Man, Son of God, and the Truth, and the goal is always to learn more about Him, His role in our lives, and grow in our faith and relationships with Him. If you are here and do not know what it means to have a relationship with Jesus, you are also in the right place! No matter where you are on your personal journey, this is relevant for you.
In 1 Timothy, the Apostle Paul exhorts, or encourages, Timothy to pray for others, as well as for those in positions of power and authority. He explains that this should be done because it is good and acceptable to God. He then further explains that God wants everyone to be saved and to know the truth. God desires for all to be saved.
Therefore I [a]exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in [b]authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and [c]reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time
This doesn’t say all ARE saved, but that He desires all to be saved. He also desires that all come to know the truth, not that all will or do know the truth. So if God desires it, why are all people not saved and why is there so much confusion and conflict about “the truth”?
God takes pleasure in all people being rescued from danger and destruction, being delivered from the penalties of sin and judgment, and in making all people partakers of salvation through Jesus. It is pleasing to God for us to pray for others, and it is pleasing to God for all to be saved from destruction.
Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all people
Paul goes on to explain that there is One Mediator between God and men (mankind), and that is Jesus Christ. Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all. The word for “gave” indicates that He willfully gave as a gift, to supply. He gave Himself as our ransom. This word for ransom means “what is given in exchange for another as the price of his redemption” (G487). Jesus exchanged places with us to pay the price of our redemption so that we did not have to pay the price ourselves. He supplied Himself to pay the wage we owed. He did this as a gift, not unwillingly, not grudgingly.
Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all of us, but why did He do that? Why was it necessary for Jesus to die in our place? Back in Genesis, we read about the very beginning of creation. God created everything in 6 days and rested on the 7th day after He saw that everything was “very good”. He had created man and woman in His own image, placed them in the Garden of Eden, and put them in charge of the animals and the earth.
One day, a crafty serpent came along and deceived Eve, leading her to question God, which resulted in her and her husband, Adam, performing the first sin of mankind (Genesis 3). Ever since the sin of mankind has been on every single person to ever live.
18 Therefore, as through [a]one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one[b] Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God, being holy, hates sin. Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden because of their sin causing them to be separated from God and killing their perfect relationship and unity with Him. God in His righteousness also requires justice for sin. Sin is such a serious matter that the penalty for sin is death, therefore all sin is deserving of death.
17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
God in His mercy knew we could never pay the price for sin, and did not want us to have to pay that price and be eternally separated from Him. He wants communion with His creation. In His grace, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, to live a sinless human life and die a horrible death carrying the entirety of every single sin to ever be committed in all of existence. He loved us so much that He bore the full weight of the sins of the world to pay the debt that we all owe for our sins.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Because Jesus is God, He had the power to resist sin, to carry the weight of the world’s sins to the cross, and also to rise from the dead 3 days later defeating the power of sin and death. He paid the price for us so that those who believe in His holy and precious works on our behalf, those who have faith in Him as their Savior, would be redeemed. Those who have faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior can receive the forgiveness of God for their sins, are justified through the blood of Jesus, and enter into a personal relationship with God.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We all need a Savior because, without Him, we would be eternally separated from God, the source of all that is good, and the One who created us and knows us better than we know ourselves. Faith in the Savior is the only way to eternal life and a personal relationship with God, the Creator of the Heavens and Earth who is working all things together for the good of those who love Him. Not only this, but without faith in the Savior, we miss the blessings, strength, peace, joy, and so much more that comes from a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, [a]we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be[a] children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent,[b] or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man,[c] but of God.
14 The Word became flesh and dwelt[d] among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son[e] from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Because God takes great pleasure in the salvation of each and every human life, He chose to save mankind by sending Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God, to live a sinless human life on earth, being 100% God and 100% man, and then die the death we deserve.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
The penalty for those who choose sin over salvation and die in their sin without faith in Jesus as their Savior is eternal separation from God. The penalty for sin is death, and all who choose to remain in their sin will reap the consequence of eternal suffering that never ceases. This is not what God wants for any of us, but unfortunately is what so many choose by denying Jesus as their Savior.
10 For to this end[a]we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
God draws all of creation to Himself and reveals Himself through creation. There is not one person or created thing that is not drawn to God, and He is clear that there is no excuse for those who reject Him. He desires all to be saved and gives the option to each and every one of us, revealing Himself, drawing us in, and teaching us about Himself. He does not force it on anyone, but gives us each a choice to come to Him, heed His promptings, seek Him out, or not.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who [a]suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is [b]manifest [c]in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and [d]Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like [e]corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
For those who have faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, He gives the gift of the Holy Spirit, each of us is reborn with new spiritual life, and His Holy Spirit indwells us, teaching us, guiding us, and transforming us. He begins the sanctifying work of making us more like Jesus and less like our sinful nature. We have direct access to the power of Jesus that defeated sin and are also given direct access to talk to our Heavenly Father.
While Paul was writing to Timothy to encourage him in his ministry work, he made the point not only about salvation but also of the importance of prayer. Prayer is an essential part of every believer’s life. Those who have faith have access to talk to God, seek His help, give Him praise, and worship Him in Spirit and truth.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
We are taught that as followers of Jesus, those who have faith in Jesus as our Savior, should pray for others, leaders around the world in every level, and ourselves. We should worship the Lord, praise Him with thankfulness, lift up the needs of others, and seek His presence and guidance in our own lives. We should also be praying for the salvation of others.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 [a]But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
God desires all to be saved, and once we are in a personal relationship with our Creator by faith in Jesus we get to play a role in drawing others into the beautiful gift of salvation as well. By praying with and for others we get to participate in God’s plan to draw others to Himself for salvation.
37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Jesus is at the door every day, every moment, awaiting the turn of the nob and the invitation inside. He will not force the door open, but He will keep knocking. None of us knows the day or the hour He will stop knocking on the door and the last opportunity to invite Him in has just passed by. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Not because you’re afraid of the eternal consequence, but because of what He has done for your sake while you were still in your sin.
While you were still in your sin, He paid the penalty for your sins. Even before you knew you owed an eternal debt, He paid it in full so that you would not have to suffer from the eternal separation from God. He loves you so much that He humbled Himself to live a human life, resisting sin, and carrying everyone else’s sins to His death on the cross, paying the debt we all owe. He knew then what the future held, from beginning to end. He knew who would come to Him and who would not. He knew every sin you would ever commit and knowing all of that He died in your place because He still loved you so much He wanted to save you from the consequence of your sin. He wanted to give you a way into communion with God.
He has His hand out to you today. I pray you take His hand, accept Him as your Savior, and by faith begin anew with Jesus Christ as your cornerstone and strength.
Dear Lord,
I don’t know who will read this, but You do. You know who needs to hear this today, right now, this minute this second, and I pray over them that you convict their heart and that they humble themselves into Your holy embrace. I pray that today is the day they open the door and invite You in. For those who already know You, I pray that You convict them to share your love, truth, and salvation with the world in all the ways you have called and prepared for them to do. Draw them to You today and teach them of Your holiness, love, mercy, goodness, and grace. Teach them to be Your children, and to grow to become more like You each day. Thank you for drawing them here today, Lord, and thank you for the strength You give each of us, and all You have planned ahead for each and every one of us.
Amen
Have you accepted the grace of God?
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
Over the last several weeks we have explored many of the names of Jesus that teach us about Him as the Truth. He is the Truth, and His Word is Truth. By studying these many names, we can all better understand Jesus’ identity, role, ministry, teachings, and works. Not only this, but we can also learn a lot about what it should mean for us, and how this truth should transform us.
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Way to and the Truth of eternal Life. The Truth teaches that the Way to spiritual and Eternal Life is by faith in Jesus Christ. Your faith should produce obedience and fruitfulness according to the Spirit of God that gives life to a believer’s spirit. By entering salvation by the Way of Jesus you accept His Truth, are given new Life through His death and resurrection, and then get to learn more of the Truth. In order to live the life we were made for we must have faith and believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. No one receives salvation and the forgiveness of their sins except through Jesus Christ.
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will also know[a] my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
The Word is the only way to the Truth, and the only way to true life. Through the Word come life, light, grace, and truth for our lives, our very souls, and to prepare us for eternity with the Father. All of us are called to believe in the Word, abide in the Word, and share the Word. He will teach us in all of these things, and strengthen us to do His will, drawing us and those around us closer to Him by His Word.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [a]comprehend it.
Christ gave Himself so that we may live in eternity with the Father. He came as a man and left lessons for His disciples to follow so that we may be prepared on the day He returns for us. As our great Teacher, He is the One to look to in all circumstances, lean on in every trial, praise in every joy, and always be humble at the foot of the cross where He died for our sake. He didn’t just die for us – He also gave us His Word to teach us why He died, and how to live because of His death and resurrection.
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born [a]again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Coming to Jesus – following His instruction, obeying His commands, and being in a personal relationship with Him take constant diligence and intention. It takes active participation to remain faithful and obedient, and for all relationships to thrive. Jesus tells us to take communion, or the sacraments, in remembrance of Him as the Bread of Life. This is one part of training ourselves to continuously come to Christ and remain in our relationship with Him. When we remember the sacrifice He made for us, we are better able to actively learn, engage, and grow in our understanding and relationship with Him.
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
His light is a lamp to our feet, guiding our steps, instructing our decisions, guarding our minds and words. When Jesus is the light of our life we allow Him to lead the way and let His light shine on the right path to follow.
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Followers of Jesus have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us, therefore we are no longer our own. We are not making choices that only impact ourselves, but also affect the dwelling-place of God’s Spirit, and have a Kingdom impact. As branches within the Vine, we get to have an impact on the Kingdom, serve and glorify God in Spirit and Truth, and bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit. By our fruits, whether of the Spirit or of the world, we will be known. If we are known by the fruits of God’s Spirit we can share the Truth of the True Vine with the world.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He [a]takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you[b] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Jesus performed the greatest act of service ever known to man in His death by taking our place on the cross. His life was given as a ransom; He paid the price for our lives with His own life. Because of our sin we deserve death, but because He loves us so much He humbled Himself and came down from Heaven to be like us, live a perfect life none of us could ever achieve, and die in our place as a spotless sacrifice in order to pay the blood price for our sins and give us access to God that we could never obtain on our own.
27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,
30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
By learning and growing in our faith, God works in us by His Spirit to produce the fruits of our faith in Him. As we grow in faith and understanding of the things of God, we grow in the likeness of His character and nature. We display His character more, and less of our sinful human character. We not only grow in godliness, but we are living testimonies for the world around us. As we bear fruits of God’s Spirit, we plant seeds for the gospel in the lives of the people around us because we are setting an example of Christ and drawing them to the Risen Lord.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by [a]Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have [b]fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
We all have work to do for the Kingdom, and those who are faithful with the work He provides for us to do for the Kingdom are given the promise of co-ruling with Christ when He rules over the earth. As we prepare for the return of Christ, we should be diligent in prayer and steadfast in reading His Word so that we can continue to learn and continue to be prepared for the day of His return. Not only this but growing in prayer and our understanding of scripture will help us to grow in faith and build up our defenses against the schemes of the devil. As we grow in faith, prayer, and the Word we are better equipped to resist sin and come to repentance when we fall short.
14 “To[a] the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following:[b] “This is the solemn pronouncement of[c]the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator[d] of God’s creation: 15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.[e] I wish you were either cold or hot! 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going[f] to vomit[g] you out of my mouth!
By faith, we not only have access to His power over sin in our lives, but we gain access to the promise of eternal life at the end of the age. We are also made new in this life by the gift of spiritual life through the Holy Spirit dwelling in those who believe in the Victorious One. By faith in Christ’s victory, we recognize our sin and need for a Savior and are forgiven our sins because of Jesus’s death in our place.
21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
When Jesus returns with His bride all on white horses ready for His Millennial Reign, then conquers the enemy once and for all, the whole of creation will all be judged. His Faithful and True judgment will determine each of our eternal fates. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and have a personal relationship with Him will have their names written in the Book of Life.
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war.
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
This week’s name of Jesus is a bit intense. We have been exploring the names of Jesus that teach us about Him as the Truth, and in the book of Revelation, we learn quite a few different names for Jesus that increase in depth and lead us to a deeper understanding of Him and His role in our lives as well as in creation and eternity.
Toward the end of the book of Revelation, starting in chapter 19, we read about what it will be like at the End of the Age. At the end of the Age, Jesus will return, the marriage of the Lamb will take place, and then Jesus will bring His bride to make war on the enemy and defeat him once and for all. He will return riding a white horse, and bearing the name Faithful and True He will impart justice on the enemy because of his evil schemes. Satan will be bound, and the saints will reign over the earth with Jesus for 1,000 years.
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war.
This 1,000 years will be called the Millennial Reign of Christ. During this time Satan will be bound and those who clung to Jesus and did not give in to the enemy will reign with Christ. This will be the first resurrection and those who died clinging to their faith or were martyred for their faith are those who will get to reign with Him in this time. Those who did not believe until Jesus and His armies went to war with Satan and his armies will have to wait for their resurrection.
During this time, there will be the opportunity for those who have yet to believe to turn to Jesus. Jesus will restore the earth. After the Millennial Reign of Christ, Satan will be released and will again deceive the nations, but will then be consumed by fire from Heaven and cast into the lake of fire to burn in torment for eternity, never to be released again. It is at this point that creation will be judged.
Why is it important that Jesus is named Faithful and True?
At the End of the Age, when Jesus returns with His bride to bind Satan and reign over the earth for His Millennial Reign, the name He is given is Faithful and True. He is also given the names King of King and Lord of Lords and the Word of God, both of which we studied a while back. We also get a glimpse of how Jesus will return atop His white horse.
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns[a] were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. 15 A sharp[b] sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule[c] them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. 16 And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Atop His white horse as Faithful and True, Jesus has eyes of fire, many crowns on His head, robes dipped in blood, a sharp sword coming out of His mouth, and comes to strike the nations and rule with an iron rod. Every detail tells us a bit more about Jesus as Faithful and True. Back in Revelation 13:4, the question of who can make war against the beast is asked. Here in chapter 19, we see that it is Jesus, Faithful and True, who can defeat the enemy.
4 They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against it?”
Not only will Jesus come riding a white horse, but so will His army of saints. White horses represent victory and are used here as a sign of Jesus’ victory over the enemy. Those riding and fighting with Him will be on white horses with Him as a symbol of our victory in Christ. He is the Victorious One, and every victory belongs to Him.
Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven[a] seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a conqueror in order to conquer.[b]
In Revelation 6 we learn about the scrolls which only Jesus is worthy to open, and the first scroll reveals that the antichrist will also be on a white horse. This is an important reminder that the enemy seeks to deceive, and this is one of the methods he will do so. There are many other characteristics of Jesus that we must also know so that we will not be deceived. Christ tells us throughout the gospels that His sheep know His voice. Those who truly follow Jesus know Him intimately and will be able to recognize Him as opposed to an imposter.
Eyes like fiery flames
Jesus having eyes like fiery flames is an incredible image I cannot even fathom being in the presence of. This description coordinates with the very beginning of the book of Revelation where John is realizing who is speaking to him and revealing all of these things to him. It is Jesus Himself, with His eyes like a fiery flame.
12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man,[a] dressed in a robe and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest. 14 The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snow—and his eyes like a fiery flame.
His eyes being like fiery flames is a reference to His holy righteousness and His judgment of everything that is corrupt and impure. He sees the truth of each person and their thoughts and deeds, He is Himself the Truth, and as Faithful and True He testifies about the truth of every soul. His testimony is what counts at the time of judgment.
Jesus’ many crowns show that He is in fact the Faithful and True King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that He is more powerful than the enemy. This is vital because those of us who place our faith in Jesus can do so because Jesus is all-powerful. He can in fact defeat the enemy and is strong enough to conquer all evil and sin. These crowns on His head represent His strength and authority over all of creation, even Satan and sin.
3 Then another sign[a] appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven crowns.[b]4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child. 5 She gave birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule[c] all nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be nourished there[d] for 1,260 days.
7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.
Jesus also came wearing robes dipped in blood. This is significant because it stands as a reminder of the blood He spilled on behalf of the world to defeat the power of sin and death. His blood washes clean those who believe in Him as Faithful and True. It also serves as a reminder of the wrath of God. The penalty for sin is death and Jesus will pour out the wrath of God, which is described as Him trampling the winepress of God’s wrath. Blood will be spilled and His robes will drip with the blood of those who are trampled for their evil. Those who choose to remain in their sin and side with the enemy will pay the ultimate price for their choice. His bride, on the other hand, will be clothed in pure white linen on white horses with Him in His victory.
7 If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus— 20 he has inaugurated[a] for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his flesh)— 21 and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.
Jesus will also have a sharp sword coming out of His mouth. The Word of God is like a double-edged sword. Jesus is the Word, and the Word of God is active and living. The Word discerns the heart and judges thoughts and intentions. Jesus will come with a sharp sword in His mouth to judge and pierce souls and minds. By His sword, He will know, as Faithful and True, where our heart and intentions truly are – with Him, or with His enemy.
16 He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth, and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.
12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
We are also given the sword of the Spirit as part of the Armor of God. This armor is given to all believers in order to fight the ongoing spiritual warfare of this life. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. The same sword we are all given for combat against the enemy in this life is the sword that is coming from the very mouth of Faithful and True as He comes astride His white horse with eyes of fire.
10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. 13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. 14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, 15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
When Jesus returns with His bride all on white horses ready for His Millennial Reign, then conquers the enemy once and for all, the whole of creation will all be judged. His Faithful and True judgment will determine each of our eternal fates. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and have a personal relationship with Him will have their names written in the Book of Life.
16 For God loved the world in this way:[a] He gave[b] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
On the day of judgment, those whose names are in the Book of Life will be forgiven, their works will be judged, and they will gain the right to enter the Kingdom of God. Those who have chosen to reject Christ and failed to enter a personal relationship with Him through faith will not have their names in the Book of Life and will be cast into the lake of fire, being eternally separated from God and all that is good because they did not place their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
5 “In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.
Jesus is Faithful and True. He keeps His promises, is able and willing to defeat the enemy, and is also able to defeat the giants we face in this life. He is faithful to His Word, and He is the Word. He is true, and He is Truth. Jesus is the answer and hope in all circumstances and is the only way to salvation and eternal life in the Kingdom of God. The only way to Heaven is through faith in the One who is Faithful and True.
All of us must get to know Jesus intimately within a personal relationship with Him by faith in Him in order to be saved on the day of judgment. Through a personal relationship with Him, we will get to learn more about Him and learn to tell the difference between Him and the antichrist, and things of God and things of the enemy. When we have faith in Jesus that He is in fact our Faithful and True Redeemer, our names are written in the Book of Life, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and are granted personal access to God the Father through Jesus the Son.
God then teaches us through His Word, the Bible, about Himself, His Son, and His Spirit, as well as His commission and plan for our lives. He guides and provides for us throughout our lives, and as we spend time with the Lord in His Word and in prayer we grow in our relationship as well as our knowledge.
We can prepare for what is to come by being diligent in our personal relationships with Jesus, making our faith and relationship with the Lord a priority, spending intimate time with Him daily in His Word and in prayer, and learning how to live out our faith and become vessels for the Lord and imitators of Christ in our lives. We must live in active and growing faith, learning every day more about Jesus Christ, and applying what He teaches and reveals to us so that we will be ready when He returns, and when we are in front of the Great White Throne of Judgment.
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
Those who believe Jesus is the Son of God are those who are overcomers, but how can we be overcomers? We can overcome because Christ overcame first and for all. Our strength and ability to overcome is from Jesus, not ourselves because He is the Victorious One, the one who overcame the world and gave His strength to those who believe in Him.
21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
What can we overcome? Christ died and rose from the dead three days later, claiming victory and defeating the power of sin and death. Through faith in Christ’s victory over sin, we gain access to the power of Christ that is victorious over sin. By faith in Christ’s victory over death, we get to share in spiritual and eternal life because Christ defeated the grave.
Every victory belongs to the Lord
Sin entered the world all the way back in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, the very first human beings. Ever since all of mankind has been under the curse of sin and the penalty of sin is death. Because God is perfect and holy, He cannot be in the presence of sin. Because we are all under the curse of sin, we are separated from Him. God, the Creator of all things, having made all things through, by and for Jesus Christ, loves all of His creation and wants all of His creation to be reconciled to Him. Because God is not only holy but is also just, there must be justice for sin, the price must be paid, in order for mankind to be able to be in a relationship with God.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
The price for sin is death, but this death is eternal separation from God. God wants a personal and intimate relationship with His creation, but He knew that it was impossible for mankind to pay the price for our own sins. He knew we could never pay the price we deserve to pay for our sin, so because God is a gracious and merciful God, He sent Jesus, His Only Begotten Son, to pay the price for our sins, to defeat the power of sin and death, and be the sacrifice on our behalf.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Christ came down from Heaven, fully God and fully man, to live a sinless human life, and die bearing no sins of His own but instead carrying the entirety of every sin of the entirety of mankind for the entirety of time. When He died on the cross bearing the weight of every single sin to ever occur, He was paying the price for every single sin. Three days after Jesus died carrying every single sin, He rose from the dead defeating the power of death.
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities[a] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.[b]
In order for your sins to be paid for, you have to have faith in Him, in His sacrifice for your sake, and in Jesus as your Savior. You have to have faith in His victory over sin and death. He paid the price, and we are all called to have faith in the victory He has over the power of sin and death. When we have faith in Jesus as the Victorious One, we gain access to the power of Jesus to overcome sin in our own lives because of His victory.
8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s[a] seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
By faith, we not only have access to His power over sin in our lives, but we gain access to the promise of eternal life at the end of the age. We are also made new in this life by the gift of spiritual life through the Holy Spirit dwelling in those who believe in the Victorious One. By faith in Christ’s victory, we recognize our sin and need for a Savior and are forgiven our sins because of Jesus’s death in our place.
We can never defeat sin on our own, and can never be made right with God or inherit eternal life without faith in Jesus. It is because of Jesus’s victory that we can overcome, and through His power, we have victory in our own lives. It is by the strength of Christ that we are made strong.
13 I can do all things through [a]Christ who strengthens me.
When we have faith in the Victorious One, He sends His Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us, teaches us, trains us, and leads us. Once we have entered into a relationship with God through faith in Jesus as the Victorious One, we have access to true understanding, wisdom, and knowledge that only comes from God. By His Holy Spirit, we are taught God’s divine truth and the ways in which He calls His followers to live our lives.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall [a]direct your paths.
3 By faith we understand that the [a]worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, we are taught to pray as well as to learn and understand God’s Word. We are given God’s own armor and taught how to use it so that we can be victorious in the war against spiritual forces and sin. Through Christ’s victory, we can be confident that we can overcome in the spiritual warfare that constantly rages around us, seeking to devour us.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the [a]wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
By learning how to put on the whole armor of God, we learn to rest in the peace of God no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. By faith, we can persevere and grow stronger in our faith and relationship with the Lord, knowing that He overcame the world and is with us in our own battles. Every victory in our lives is by the mighty strength of Jesus Christ.
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—[a]our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be[i] against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.[j]35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Tell the world of the Victory we have through the Victorious One
God provides for all of our needs, and also gives us a command to love Him with our entire being and life, and to love others as ourselves. One of the main ways we get to live this command out is by telling the world of the victory of Jesus and the victories we have through Him. We are called to not only love God and love people but to go out and make disciples throughout the world.
We can overcome because Christ overcame first and for all. We are commanded to share this beautiful truth with all the world, drawing others to the Victorious One so that they, too, can share in the victory over sin and death. As we grow in our understanding of the Word of God, in our relationships and faith in Him, and learn to discern and rely on His strength and truth throughout our lives, we will be better prepared for the great works He prepares for each of us to do for His sake.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
If we stand fast in our faith, we will gain access to the mercy of the Father at the end of the age and will inherit the promise of eternal life to dwell in the Kingdom of God in the ultimate and eternal victory of Jesus Christ. It is a difficult road, but every victory belongs to the Lord, and those who are with Him have His strength to overcome all the battles of this life and a beautiful hope ahead for those who endure to the end.
50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
Throughout scripture, Jesus is given many names and we are taught more about Him with every name. In the book of Revelation, we read letters from Jesus to the Seven Churches, and in each letter, He identifies Himself with a different name. We are going to focus on the letter to “the Church in Laodicea”. In this letter, Jesus addresses Himself as the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God’s creation. Both the name He identifies Himself with at this moment, as well as the context of the Laodicean church is important.
14 “To[a] the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following:[b]
“This is the solemn pronouncement of[c] the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator[d] of God’s creation: 15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.[e] I wish you were either cold or hot! 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going[f] to vomit[g] you out of my mouth!
There are a few different interpretations of these letters. One of the main interpretations is that the churches these letters are addressed to represent the different generations of believers, which puts the Laodicean church as representing the present age of believers alive right now until the return of Christ. Another major interpretation is that they were addressed to the believers of the literal churches during the time they were alive. Regardless of the interpretation, the significance of these letters is just as important, and the warnings, rebukes, and praises of each letter are just as relevant for believers today to take to heart.
The Laodicean Church was a lukewarm church. Laodicea was a wealthy community located at the top of a hill somewhere in modern-day Turkey. It also shared a prosperous trade route with Hierapolis and Colossae. Laodicea did not have a water source of its own and had aqueducts that fed water from Hierapolis, which boasted of its healing hot springs, and Colossae, which had cool water that was ideal for drinking. When the water arrived in Laodicea it was no longer hot or cold water, but lukewarm and no longer good for healing or drinking.
Roman History claims that the city of Laodicea was destroyed by an earthquake in 60 AD and the city declined all Roman aid to rebuild, wanting to rely on their own resources to rebuild their city themselves. Being known for their wealth, pride, and self-reliance, their claim to success was the material wealth of their economy and the ability to provide for themselves, which is why we see Jesus rebuke them the way He does. They were focused on themselves, arrogant about their wealth, and did not think they needed anything, even the Lord.
23 Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
10 For the love of money is a root[a] of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Laodicea focused on fending for themselves, lived in luxury, and relished their wealth and material prosperity. In Jesus’ letter to the Laodicean church, He named Himself “the Amen” signifying that He is firm and faithful. It accentuates the next part of His name, that He is the “Faithful and True Witness”. The Laodicean church was known for being self-sufficient, focusing on their worldly riches, and believing they had no need for anything else. They were complacent, arrogant, and didn’t see their need for the Lord. Jesus is pointing out that He is a faithful and true witness, that He sees their deeds and their hearts, and that His testimony about them is true and trustworthy.
5 For there is one God and one intermediary[a] between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human,[b]6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, revealing God’s purpose at his appointed time.[c]
All of creation was made through, by, and for Jesus. Everything was made by the divine means of Jesus, through the divine power of Jesus, and for Jesus’s divine purposes. He is the source of all creation, the ruler of creation, and is in the first place over all creation. Jesus is superior, and takes precedence over all of creation, and should be the priority in the lives of all people.
16 For by[a] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
By declaring Himself the Beginning of the Creation of God in His letter to the Laodicean church He is reminding them that He should be first in their lives. He should be the cause and recipient of all praise and worship. Jesus is reminding them that as the source of all creation, He is the source of all that they have. It is not for themselves to boast about, but it is thanks to Him that they have all that they have. He created them for His purposes and gives them what they have to be used for His purposes. Not only this, but as the source of all creation, all credit should go to Him rather than themselves and they need to recognize their need of Him.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
While there are a couple of different interpretations about the recipients of these letters to the seven churches, it is clear that Jesus is giving a warning to all believers who have grown to be lukewarm in their faith. To be lukewarm is a reference to the kind of water the Laodiceans had. It was a result of the healing hot springs and the refreshing cold drinking water traveling miles to Laodicea by aqueduct and losing its original beneficial temperatures and properties. It was neither healing nor refreshing by the time it reached the city. It was lukewarm, making it disgusting to drink and not beneficial to use.
16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
The people, like the water, were spiritually indifferent and did not make themselves open and available to God, preventing God’s blessings from flowing, and also preventing themselves from being used by God. They claimed that what they had was due to themselves rather than a gift from God, and used it for selfish worldly luxury and boasting.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Those who are lukewarm are spiritually indifferent believers who rely on themselves and fail to put Christ on the throne of their lives and heart. They are self-sufficient and seek their own kingdom versus the Kingdom of God. Because of this, they fail to do the work God has prepared for them to do for His Kingdom. Because they fail to do the work God has prepared for them to do, they miss out on the blessings that flow from faithful obedience to the Lord. They rely on their own abilities and resources and chase their own gains and pleasures. They don’t rely on the help of the Lord, fail to recognize their need for Him, and don’t give God due praise, gratitude, or glory. They are complacent and indifferent.
What are the dangers of having a lukewarm faith?
In this letter, Jesus is warning those who are self-reliant and fail to live in obedience to the Lord that if they do not repent and come into an intimate relationship with Him they will continue to miss out on blessings, and will not get to rule with Him when He comes back to rule over the earth. Those who are faithful and prove they are true to the Lord and the works He has given them to do will get to rule with Christ one day.
21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
He declared to the Laodicean church that those who conquer He will grant to sit with Him on His throne. Those who conquer sin in this life, who rest in and rely on the Lord as their strength, who persevere in faith and the works God has given us to do, those are the ones who will sit on the throne with Him as He reigns over the earth for 1,000 years.
6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
While all believers will get to spend eternity in Heaven with the Lord, not all believers will get to rule with Him in His time on His earthly throne. When Christ returns to earth those who have proven themselves faithful workers for His Kingdom will share in additional blessings on this earth before we spend eternity in Heaven with Him. There will still be work to do for His Kingdom, and those who have proven to be good workers will be blessed by being used for the Lord’s purposes until we enter eternity with Him. Those who are lukewarm when Christ comes will not be in an intimate relationship with Him and will be risking missing out on the blessings that flow from that closeness to the Lord.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for [a]a thousand years.
Spiritual complacency puts you at risk of falling away from your faith and drifting completely from the Lord. When we are not zealous for the Lord, living our lives with Him as our focus, we are failing to strengthen our faith and our defense against the schemes of the devil. We are called to judge rightly according to the Word and will of God, which requires a right and close relationship with the Lord and His Word. If we do not learn and grow in right judgment in earthly matters, how can we prove ourselves trustworthy to judge matters of the Kingdom?
2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
We must all be careful that we don’t stray from a close, intimate, and personal relationship with Jesus and become lukewarm and complacent. Those who overcome until the end are those who, even with the temptations of the world, overcome and remain steadfast with the Lord until the end of their life. Those who conquer are those who stick to Jesus, truly follow Him and live by His example and strive to learn more from and about Him every day.
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
As we grow with Him we grow in faith and bear the fruits of true faith. Jesus is the Amen, the true and faithful witness, and will judge us righteously. If we have strayed and are found far from Him when He returns He will judge us accordingly. It is like the parable of the talents where a master entrusted his servants with different amounts of money. When he returned, some had invested the money and returned more to the master than he left them with while one of them hid the money and did nothing with it. The servants who had invested the money were praised while the other who hid the money was rebuked and what he had was taken from him.
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
To be zealous for the Lord is to devote your life to the Lord and His great works. If we are living devoted to the Lord, we will be living out His plan for our lives, learning daily about how to grow in faith, our relationship with Him, and in godliness. To be zealous for the Lord is to recognize that all you have is from Him and to be used for Him, and to focus on how to glorify Him in every area of your life. Essentially, it is to live fully reliant and focused on Him and serving His Kingdom.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Christ’s message to those who believe and live as if they have no need of Him and His salvation is that He sees what they do, He knows the intentions of their heart, He knows they are not zealous for Him, and He pleads with them to repent, be zealous, and come back to an intimate relationship with Him.
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
The response Jesus wants from those who are spiritually lukewarm is to repent and be zealous for Him. How can we be zealous for Him when we drifted away and become reliant on earthly things rather than Him? The two main things Jesus describes for us in this letter are sanctification and repentance. All of us need spiritual refining and healing, and all of us need to repent before that can truly take place.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [a]instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
But know this, that in the last days [a]perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, [b]unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
How can I glorify Jesus as the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, and the Beginning of the Creation of God?
Jesus wants us to cling to Him, learn from Him, and seek His healing and instruction. All of us are called to endure this earthly life to the end in faith, just as Christ endured even to His death. We are called to follow Him, resist the devil, and live a life worthy of the gospel of Jesus, doing the works He has prepared for us to do. Each of us has the calling to share the gospel with the world and plant seeds in the hearts of others that God will grow to lead them to Himself.
23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
We all have work to do for the Kingdom, and those who are faithful with the work He provides for us to do for the Kingdom are given the promise of co-ruling with Christ when He rules over the earth. As we prepare for the return of Christ, we should be diligent in prayer and steadfast in reading His Word so that we can continue to learn and continue to be prepared for the day of His return. Not only this but growing in prayer and our understanding of scripture will help us to grow in faith and build up our defenses against the schemes of the devil. As we grow in faith, prayer, and the Word we are better equipped to resist sin and come to repentance when we fall short.
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the [a]wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
Put on the full armor of God today, cast off complacency, allow the Lord to take back His throne in your heart and life, and rely on Him in all circumstances. He is faithful and just, and He will forgive you and strengthen you for the works ahead of you. Take some time today to pray over your own relationship with the Lord, asking Him to reveal any hidden sins, any self-sufficiencies, and any other complacencies that prevent you from giving Him all due praise and honor in your life.
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Have you accepted the grace of God?
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and of all mankind. Throughout scripture we get to learn more about Him, what He has done, what He will do, and how it applies personally to each and every one of us. The Bible teaches us of countless promises as well as events that have already been. The main theme of the entire Bible rests on the truth that Jesus is the Risen Lord. The entire message of the gospel, the events of the New Testament, and even the foreshadowings, prophecies, and promises from the Old Testament all rest on the pivotal truth that Jesus Christ is in fact the Risen Lord. What does it mean that Jesus is the Risen Lord and why is it so important? That is what we will be diving into today.
Jesus Christ literally rose from the dead
The book of 1 Corinthians is a letter from the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. Corinth was an important trade and commerce hub located in ancient Greece, and had a diverse population well known for idolatry and sexual immorality. Paul had heard about some members of the Corinth church behaving in ways that are not in accordance with godly living, and wrote this letter to remind them of the importance of godly living and the reason for it.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is teaching and reminding the Corinthians, and all believers, of what it means that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. He explains that if Christ did not really rise from the dead, everything that has been done in the name of Jesus is for nothing, faith is meaningless, and godly living is empty. He goes on to explain that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead and was seen alive by hundreds of people after being seen dead and buried. Paul himself also had an encounter with Jesus which transformed him from being a dangerous persecutor of Christians to writing the majority of the New Testament with fierce conviction and faith in the gospel of Jesus.
Because Christ really did rise from the dead, we are all called to believe in the Risen Lord and live our lives by His example and teachings in faith. Our faith in His death and resurrection should have a personal impact on us and our lives. His message to the Corinthians is just as relevant and applicable to us today as it was to the worldly Corinthians back then.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by [a]Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have [b]fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Jesus came to earth and lived a sinless human life, glorified God through his ministry on earth, and then went to the cross to die in the place of all mankind. He was crucified and three days later, after being buried in a tomb, rose from the dead and spent 40 days on earth after His resurrection. After 40 days, He ascended back up to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father to prepare a place for and intercede with God on behalf of all who would believe in Him as the Risen Lord. Luke 24:1-53 tells us more about the events around Jesus’s resurrection and how His disciples saw Him alive again and provides witness to the fact Jesus did in fact rise from the dead by the power of God.
14 But you rejected[a] the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed[b] the Originator[c] of life, whom God raised[d] from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses![e]
It can be difficult to fathom the reality of Jesus being literally dead and then later being literally alive again, but the reality is there. This is a true story. It really did happen, and the resurrection is important because it is why we have the promise of eternal life and how we, being sinners unworthy of the grace and mercy of God, can receive forgiveness for our sins, receive salvation, be freed from the penalty of our sins, and enter into a personal relationship with our Creator.
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[a] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus not only died and then came to life again, but He did this to pay the price for our sins that we could never pay on our own. We could never be enough on our own, and knowing this He became our spotless sacrifice, dying the death we deserve for our sins. When we have faith in the Risen Lord, we have Jesus interceding for us with God. He is at the right hand of God and for those who believe in Him He essentially tells God “I paid the price for this one, their sins are forgiven” and we then get to have personal access to God. We are saved, redeemed, restored, and then transformed by God because of the works of Jesus Christ.
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.[a]
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Those who believe in Jesus as the literal Risen Lord will one day also be resurrected from the dead and given new, perfect, spiritual bodies. Paul explains in detail that those who believe in the Risen Lord will share in the resurrection as well one day. He explains that God has created many different kinds of bodies on this earth, and one day will create for us new spiritual bodies suitable for spending eternity with Him. The way to inherit this new spiritual body is by faith in the Son of God as the Risen Lord. Faith in Jesus should transform us in this life in order to inherit this promise of a new body later.
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain.38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind[a]of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
40 There are also [b]celestial bodies and [c]terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made[d] of dust; the second Man is[e]the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the [f]man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we[g] shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
There is a promise ahead for those who believe, and there is also a promise while we are still in this life awaiting the promise to come. Those who have faith in Jesus as the Risen Lord receive salvation and with it the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. Our names are written in the Book of Life, and we are given spiritual life in this life by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who guides us, transforms us, and works to prepare us for the ultimate day of salvation at the final resurrection.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus[a] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
As the temple of the Holy Spirit, we are called to live lives worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ in which we believe and put our faith. We are instructed to be led by the Spirit and not by the flesh, that is to be led by God and not by our sinful human nature so that we can grow in holiness, learn to glorify God with our lives, and prepare for the days ahead of us.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
By learning and growing in our faith, God works in us by His Spirit to produce the fruits of our faith in Him. As we grow in faith and understanding of the things of God, we grow in the likeness of His character and nature. We display His character more, and less of our sinful human character. We not only grow in godliness, but we are living testimonies for the world around us. As we bear fruits of God’s Spirit, we plant seeds for the gospel in the lives of the people around us because we are setting an example of Christ and drawing them to the Risen Lord.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 [a]gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
We are called not to be idle while we wait for our inheritance, but to be like the good stewards who took what the Master had entrusted them with and multiplied it for their Master. While Christ is in Heaven preparing a place for those who believe in Him, we should be working for Him and preparing for His return, so that when He does return we have been glorifying Him with our lives and doing our part to help grow the Kingdom of God.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithfulservant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
23 Whatever you are doing,[a] work at it with enthusiasm,[b] as to the Lord and not for people,[c]24 because you know that you will receive your[d] inheritance[e] from the Lord as the reward. Serve[f] the Lord Christ.
It is important to recognize that He doesn’t need our help, but He chooses to include us in this important work. We should be so changed and grateful for our own salvation that we cannot help but share it with others and desire for others to come to the Lord to be saved as well. As the Lord sanctifies us, making us holy, transforming us to make us more like Himself, we should do all we do for His glory, serving Him in all things. We should be using the tools resources, skills, finances, time, and all that He gives to us to serve and glorify Him, and care for His Kingdom. When the day comes that we get to be with Him in Heaven we will get the joy of learning the impact we were blessed by God with the opportunities to make in this life.
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify[a] you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The promise for those who believe in the Risen Lord
Scripture is very clear that those who believe and have faith in the Risen Lord become part of God’s family. When we have faith, we are saved from the penalty of our sins and adopted as children of God who get to share in the inheritance of eternal life in the Kingdom of God. With this, God is teaching and correcting us and His children, giving us work to do for the Kingdom we are to inherit and bring God glory throughout our lives.
6 For I am sure of this very thing,[a] that the one[b] who began a good work in[c] you will perfect it[d] until the day of Christ Jesus.
40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
One day, the Lord will return. We do not know the day or hour of His return, but we are instructed throughout scripture about how to prepare for His impending return. We do not want to be caught unaware, wishing we had taken this time to do the work we kept putting off for another time. He calls on us to be Kingdom-minded, not focused on the world. We should live in the world without being of the world – we should make the best of the time we are here in this life on this earth for the Kingdom of God, not our own earthly lives and desires. One day the Risen Lord will descend upon the earth once more and He will call on His faithful servants to join Him.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel,[a] and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
How do you prepare for the return of our Risen Lord? I encourage you to be diligent in scripture, learn what He has to teach you through His Word, grow in your prayer life and develop a strong prayer relationship with the Lord. Surround yourself with godly people, seek godly counsel, and participate in the great commission to share the gospel with the whole earth. Let God lead you in the work He has prepared for you specifically to do for the Kingdom, and trust Him to provide for you in and through it all. If He calls you to it, He will provide for you through it. Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord, is faithful and never leaves those who are known by Him.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go [a]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” [b]Amen.
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
Jesus Christ has many names we get to read and learn about all over the Bible. We have studied a great deal of them so far, and today we get to explore one of His numerous names that teaches us an important lesson in holy living. Jesus is the Holy Servant who teaches all of us by His own incredible example how we should live holy lives of service. So many blessings flow from serving God and others, and our Savior lays the ultimate foundation for us to follow.
27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. 29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
In Acts 4 we are reminded that Jesus, the Holy Servant, was anointed by God and that it was by God’s hand and purpose that Jesus was handed over to suffer. Jesus suffered immensely even before He was put to death by crucifixion, and every step was for the sake of holy service to God and to mankind. It was the greatest act of service that could possibly be done, to sacrifice His very life so that all who would believe in Him could have spiritual and eternal life through His sacrifice.
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
He served God by doing what only He could do so that mankind could be reconciled to God and saved from the penalty of our sins if we have faith in Him as the Holy Servant. God created us to be in a relationship with Him, but because of His holiness, He cannot be in the presence of sin. The penalty for sin is death, and all of mankind is under the curse of sin. Because of our sin condition, we deserve death but God doesn’t want that for us. He sent Jesus to be our scapegoat, to take the penalty we deserve so that we don’t have to pay the price of eternal separation from God and all that is good.
24 For whoever wants to save his life[a] will lose it,[b] but whoever loses his life because of me[c] will save it.
God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to live a sinless human life and die a brutal death carrying the entire weight of all of eternity’s sins upon Him so that those who would believe in Him as the Holy Servant would accept His sacrificial service for our sakes and be forgiven. When we have faith in Him as the Holy Servant, accepting His sacrifice for our sake, we accept Him as our personal Savior, acknowledging He died in our place for what we deserve so that we could be freed of the debt for our sin. He died so we could be forgiven by God of our sins and be restored to a personal relationship with Him, being washed by Jesus’s blood so that when we stand before God Jesus declares “I paid the price for this one, they are free in me”.
For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Jesus performed the greatest act of service ever known to man in His death by taking our place on the cross. His life was given as a ransom; He paid the price for our lives with His own life. Because of our sin we deserve death, but because He loves us so much He humbled Himself and came down from Heaven to be like us, live a perfect life none of us could ever achieve, and die in our place as a spotless sacrifice in order to pay the blood price for our sins and give us access to God that we could never obtain on our own.
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom[a] for many.”
To understand the depth of His service and sacrifice, consider for a moment the worst sin you have ever committed. Now, remember how burdened you felt or maybe even still feel about that sin. Then think about the weight of that burden, and then multiply that by all the sins ever committed in all of existence, beginning to end, past, present, future, all mankind. He bore the full weight of every sin to ever occur in all existence because we cannot pay even the price of our own sins. He knew we couldn’t, and loves us so much that He took that weight upon Himself as only He could do, took it to the cross, and when He died the weight of all of those sins, every single one of them, was forgiven and washed clean by His blood.
13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, [a]sanctifies for the [b]purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without [c]spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
This is a weight we were never meant to carry and that He paid the price to save us from. He has already paid the ransom for our forgiveness and redemption as the ultimate act of service because He is the only one who can handle that kind of weight, and He wants us to be able to have a personal relationship with God through our faith in Him as the Holy Servant. When we believe that Jesus is the Holy Servant who served us in this unfathomable way we are given the free gift of salvation and are made right with God. When we are restored to God, we no longer walk in darkness, but in the light of Jesus and with the incomprehensible, undeserved, merciful love and grace of God.
11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
By faith in the Holy Servant of God, we are restored to God and are called to live by Jesus’s example. All throughout scripture we are instructed to follow Jesus, which means to do as He does and live as He lived, learn from His instruction, and live by it. His service to us was service to God. To follow Him is to serve Him, and to serve Him is to serve others. Those who are truly followers of Jesus will live it out in how they serve God by serving others for the glory of God.
26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
We are instructed to pick up our cross and follow Him daily, living by His example. This will include suffering along the way as we follow Him in faith, just as He suffered. As we live by the will of God we will face hardships, life will get inconvenient, situations will be difficult, circumstances will not always be comfortable, and life will downright hurt at times. Jesus tells us this is part of the journey, and there will absolutely be times that in faith we will go through suffering for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as Jesus did.
23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after[a] me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily,[b] and follow me.
When Jesus picked up the cross and carried it to where He would be hung to die on it, He was serving God. He was serving God even still when He spoke up to Heaven “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”, and serves God even still at the right hand of the throne of God in Heaven. Jesus suffered immensely in order to serve God by being the way the world could be reconciled to Himself and we are called to serve God by Christ’s example, following Jesus in all things. He gave His whole life in service to the glory of God, even to the point of immense and incomprehensibly painful death.
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Jesus was given a calling for His time on earth, and likewise, all of us are also given a calling from and for God. We are all called to accept the Holy Servant as our personal Savior to be restored to God, and then serve God and others by sharing this beautiful gospel truth with others. Sharing the gospel with others is the greatest act of service we can do because it plants seeds to draw others into the same saving grace we accepted in the Holy Servant. We should be so grateful for and dedicated to the service of the Lord that we cannot help but draw others to the love and light of the Lord as well.
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Not only is Jesus the Holy Servant, but He is our Teacher. We are called to follow Him. He sets the example for us in all things, which absolutely includes service. All throughout His earthly ministry, He served God by serving others in the ways God sent Him to do. God grants each of us all that we have, and all that we have has been granted to us to be used to serve our Holy God by the example and through faith in the Holy Servant Himself.
24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
Jesus leads by example as a humble servant and teaches us to lead likewise in the relationships He has given us any level of influence within. Service is not for the underdog, it is for those at every level of our world and culture, every status, and every relationship. To serve humbly is to lead by Christ’s example in all things. In doing this we will serve the Kingdom as we serve others for Him and by His example.
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
We not only have His example, but His Word provides clear instructions about serving by His example. In Philippians, we read how to “adopt the same attitude as Christ”. Serving with the right intentions is important. Jesus came to earth with the intention to humble Himself, serve God by serving those who could never serve God on our own, and sacrifice Himself in our place. Because of our sin we cannot be in the presence of God, but because of His ultimate act of service, when we accept His sacrifice made on our behalf, we can come to God and learn from Him.
5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.[a] 7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.
His intention was to serve knowing no one would ever be able to repay His service. Jesus lived the life we could never live so that He could die the death we deserve but He didn’t want us to experience. The weight of every sin to ever exist was upon Him on that cross and died with Him there. Knowing every single sin we would ever commit, He bore it all and died to save us from that weight and bondage. We are instructed to have the humility of Jesus and serve others without ever expecting anything in return. Serve others in the ways God teaches us through His Word, through Jesus’s sacrificial life and death, with love and humility, in order to share the love and kindness of God through our service. Let Christ be seen through your actions and the way you love others.
13 For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity[a] for the flesh, but serve one another through love.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not [a]puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, [b]thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Let the freedom you have found in Christ be used to serve others in love and put Christ on display for the world to see. Draw others to the Lord by your acts of service from a heart set on the Lord. Jesus is the Holy Servant and we are called to imitate Him. How can you be imitating the Holy Servant this week?
I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[b]2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.[d]
Thank military or emergency workers for their service
Bring baked goods to your military recruitment office, local police, or fire department
Offer to help someone with yard work, cooking, or cleaning
Help new parents with housework
Mow your neighbor’s lawn
Tell cashiers and servers that you appreciate them
Keep warm gear, snacks, and drinks in your car for the homeless you pass by on the street
Make nice cards to give to strangers
Smile at the people you pass by and wish them well
Cook for someone in your life who is going through a hard time
Help an elderly friend run errands
Take your pastor to lunch
Ask those around you how you can be praying for them (and then actually pray for them)
Host a meal for people in your life
Help someone research for life choices and health changes
Be an accountability partner
Lead a Bible study group with people who need fellowship
Make time for the people in your life
Invite a friend over for coffee
Be an honest and active listener and confidant
34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
I love that we get to learn more about our Savior through the many ways He describes Himself and His role over creation as well as in our individual lives. This week’s name of Jesus is the True Vine, which is a beautiful name and a beautiful image that can help us all to better understand not only His role in our lives, but our role as His disciples.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He [a]takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you[b] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Jesus teaches us that He is the Vine, God is the Vinedresser, and we are the branches. We are either branches who are attached to the Vine, or we are branches who get withered and thrown into the fire. As the Vinedresser, God is the Keeper of the Vineyard. He prepares the soil by loosening and breaking it up before planting, plants the seed, and fosters the growth, health, and fruit of every branch over its life. He is the overseer and cultivator of the harvest.
Jesus is the Vine which every branch grows from. The Vine is the backbone, strength, and source of all that the branches need to grow strong and bear good fruit. The Vine determines the placement and direction of every branch. The Vine’s roots run deep and it distributes the needed resources to every branch in order for each branch to grow and produce fruit. The Vine strengthens every branch to be able to bear the weight of the fruits that it produces with the Vine’s help, and supports the growth, development, and refinement of every branch throughout it’s life.
We are the branches. Branches either grow in conjunction with the Vine, or they fail to produce fruit and are cut off. Branches that grow within the Vine, taking from its nutrients, relying on the Vine’s strength, growing in the direction the Vine is growing will eventually bear the fruit of that Vine. Branches are pruned when there are unhealthy parts that could infect and wither the whole branch and spread to other branches. Pruning needs to happen to remove unhealthy parts, stimulate healthy growth, and encourage the branch to produce good fruit.
What does it mean to abide in the Vine?
This image of vines and branches is a beautiful one. When we stick to Christ and rely on His strength, growing in the directions He is guiding, and learn to bear His fruits we are abiding in the Vine. To abide in the True Vine is to live our lives for and through Christ, focusing on God’s will for our lives, and learning to live holy lives that bring God glory.
Pruning and producing fruit
An important aspect of abiding in the True Vine is that we will need pruning throughout our lives. We are all touched by the curse of sin, which is why we need a Savior. When we choose to have faith in Jesus Christ, we are grafted into the True Vine and commit to a life attached to and relying on Him. In order for us to truly abide in Christ, though, God needs to prune the sinful and unholy parts of our lives out in order to sanctify us and make us holy.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Pruning is the process of removing things, people, behaviors, seasons, and circumstances from our lives that God knows are not the best things for us. He, as our Creator, knows what is the best for us and needs to prune out what doesn’t help us along in the mission of holy living, being made perfect, and preparing us for our future in Heaven with Him. This can be a painful process and a lot of the time we will struggle to understand, but faith is trusting in God’s plans and purposes even when we don’t understand.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,[a] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do[b] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
As He prunes and cuts out the things in us and in our lives that are hindering us from producing good fruit, at the right time we will begin to produce fruits that line up with the character of God Himself. We are instructed throughout the New Testament to live as Christ, to imitate Him, to become more like Him. As the Vinedresser prunes us we become more like Jesus, the Vine we are abiding in. When we become more like Jesus we naturally start to display His character as evidence of our faith and that we are abiding in Him.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
In order to truly become more like the True Vine we must learn more about Him. We get to do this by reading and studying the Bible and through a personal prayer relationship with Him. Our faith in Jesus brings us into a personal relationship with God the Father through the blood of Jesus. Within this personal relationship, we get to talk to God and tell Him our struggles, hurts, questions, joys, and thanks. We get to confide in God because we are abiding in the Vine.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you[a] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
As we allow the True Vine to shape and form us, He will reveal His truth to us throughout His Word and help us to apply it to our lives. When we live by the Word of God we allow Christ to abide in us, and therefore we also abide in Him. By abiding in His Word we abide in the True Vine. Obedience to Him and His Word is an act and display of love and commitment. If we are truly committed to abiding in Christ, we will obey His commands, live by His Word, and grow in our personal relationship with Him through prayer.
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,[a] to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be[b] in you.
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God [a]is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
He does not leave us to figure out how to follow and obey Him all on our own. In fact, we could never figure it out on our own and He knows it. When Jesus ascended back up to Heaven He made a promise that those who would abide in Him would be given a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to teach us. The Spirit of Truth is God’s own Spirit and abides inside those who have decided to follow Jesus and abide in the Vine.
Abiding in Christ also means we let the Spirit of Truth, God’s very own Spirit that He gives as a helper to those with faith in Jesus, lead our lives. We glorify God by being obedient to His will and instruction, learning to listen to the promptings of His Spirit, and constantly living with a Kingdom mindset. We are called to do all we do for the glory of God, always letting Him lead our choices. If we are going to live for God’s glory we must live the way He instructs us to live that will bring Him glory. We must live prayerfully by His Word so that we are careful to abide in Him, and do the work He has prepared us to do to bring Him glory.
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Followers of Jesus have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us, therefore we are no longer our own. We are not making choices that only impact ourselves, but also affect the dwelling-place of God’s Spirit, and have a Kingdom impact. As branches within the Vine, we get to have an impact on the Kingdom, serve and glorify God in Spirit and Truth, and bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit. By our fruits, whether of the Spirit or of the world, we will be known. If we are known by the fruits of God’s Spirit we can share the Truth of the True Vine with the world.
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body [a]and in your spirit, which are God’s.
All who have faith in Jesus are commanded to abide in the True Vine, to live a life worthy of Jesus Christ and the calling we have received in Him. We are all called to worship Him in how we live our lives, serve Him with our whole selves, grow in our relationships with Him, and display Him more and more throughout our lives.
As we grow and bear His good fruit we will see God’s handprints all over our lives, and we will also be blessed with the opportunity to draw others to the love of God and likewise be joined into the True Vine as well. Let’s grow the Kingdom of God together! How do you grow in your relationship with Jesus and strive to keep close and abide in the True Vine every day?
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
Jesus Christ has many names. Many of His names teach us about His role and character as the Son of God, others as the Son of Man, some as our Savior, and many as the Truth. As we focus on Jesus’s names that teach us of His identity as the Truth, His name as the Light of the World stands out as one often referenced but that holds a deeper significance than this name usually seems to bear.
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Looking at the original Greek, Light here refers to the saving truth that is manifested in Jesus Christ, that is bestowed on people by His love and His works. It is the light by which true spiritual life is acquired by the balance of truth, knowledge, and spiritual purity. The World here from the Greek can be explained as people who inhabit the earth and is accompanied by the presence of evil, sin, and death.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
to invade, of evils coming into existence among men and beginning to exert their power
of sin and death
In context, the Light of the World is the saving truth personified in Jesus Christ that He bestows on sinful people who have knowledge of His love and works, and to whom He has given spiritual life.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
to join one as a disciple, become or be his disciple; side with his party
To acquire this light is an active receieving. It is to make a decision to follow Jesus. To follow Jesus is to become His disciple, and to be a disciple is to be a student of Jesus. When you receieve the knowledge of the gospel that leads to eternal life and salvation, you don’t just have the knowledge but you accept it, believe it, and apply it to your life and self.
6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
When Jesus said “those who follow me” He didn’t just mean wander behind and speculate. Jesus is refering to those who choose to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to learn from Him, live by His example, and become more like Him each step of the way. To follow Jesus is to live life Jesus inside and out.
ignorance of divine things, and its associated wickedness, and the resultant misery
Jesus said that those who follow Him will not walk in darkness. Those who become a disciple of Jesus by faith in Him will not remain in their sin, and they will not remain ignorant of the things of God. In following Jesus, Christians embark on the journey to being made spiritually pure, holy, and more like Christ Himself. Those who are following Jesus no longer remain in their sin, and they strive to learn more about the things of God and how to live like Jesus, and they apply what they learn to their own lives.
46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.
To abide in darkness is to stay in your sin and to fail to learn and grow in your faith, knowledge, and relationship with the Lord. Those who are truly followers of Jesus are called to not remain in the dark.
life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last forever
the light illumined by which one arrives at life
Those who choose not to remain in the dark, in sin and ignorance of the teachings and ways of God, recieved the light of life that leads to spiritual purity, and genuine life. When you come into the light, you learn about God, you become like Christ, you grow in faith, you are made holy and pure, and you will be blessed by God in this life and given eternal life with Him.
26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
When we have the light of life, we are repentant and sanctified by the light that is Jesus Christ, and allow Him to work in us, preparing us. We become dedicated to learning from His Word, growing in relationship with Him through prayer, and living like Him in every area of life.
11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
His light is a lamp to our feet, guiding our steps, instructing our decisions, guarding our minds and words. When Jesus is the light of our life we allow Him to lead the way and let His light shine on the right path to follow.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Those who have actively recieved the knowledge and truth of Jesus, who have determined to follow Jesus by faith in Him and His sacrifice for their own sake, are set free from the bondage to their sin, evil, and darkness and begin to live a life of spiritual purity in preparation for eternal life.
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
I am a wife, mom, writer, crafter, and above all, a Child of God. I love to study the Bible, fellowship with other Christians, and serve God. I am thrilled to invite you to join me in seeking to satisfy our thirsty souls with the Living Water of Christ, which is what Water On Thirsty Land is here to do.
