John 6:52-71

John 6:52-59 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Jesus gets more challenging here. He brings up His blood. Now He’s not just describing Himself as the bread from heaven, but the Passover Lamb. Remember it was the Israelites placing the blood of the slain lamb over their door that protected them at the first Passover.

But here’s Jesus talking about drinking His blood. In the law of Moses, God sternly forbade drinking or eating meat with blood remaining in it. The only permissible use for blood in the Old Testament was to make atonement for sin. Because of this law, Orthodox Jews today drain all blood from meat before cooking. But Jesus now said, “Unless you drink of this blood you have no life in you.”

This shocked and deeply offended the people who refused to acknowledge the spiritual meaning of His words. But, remember when John the Baptist saw Him in the crowd and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’

God’s grand story of redemption in the Old and New Testaments and Jesus’ historical death on the cross make the spiritual meaning of these words clear. With the pictures of the Old Testament sacrifices in mind, the New Testament states, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”. Because shed blood points to death, to “drink” Jesus’ blood is to participate personally in His death. It means more than simply knowing He died for sinners. It means trusting that He died for you and for the forgiveness of your specific sins.

Jesus’ blood shed on the cross not only cleanses believers from the guilt of sin, but also delivers us from the power of sin. His very name was given to Him because it means, “He will save his people from their sins.”

To “drink Christ’s blood” is, through faith in His death, to count yourself as having died with Him to your old life. This means you renounce your own rights and all merit, strength and wisdom that come from your own resources. Instead you trust in His sacrifice as the only atonement for your sins acceptable to God and experience deliverance from sin’s power

When we receive Christ “eating His flesh” and “drinking His blood” we share in His nature. We trust His promises, fight our sin in His strength and apply His reactions to human circumstances, to our own lives. Christ gives us His thoughts and feelings, His will, actions and words. Christ is then lived out in every believer.

The way Jesus lived on earth is the way God designed each of us to live – that’s why as believers we are to become more and more like Him – and one day when we stand before Him in Heaven we will be completely transformed.

John 6:60 – 66 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

Jesus’ tremendous statements and personal claims brought His followers to a crisis of decision. We ALL have to make a decision about Christ. Some of His disciples left Him. When they said, “this is a hard teaching,” they didn’t mean difficult to understand. They meant unacceptable, harsh, even offensive.

Jesus was offering them eternal life. But they wanted a Messiah who gave them their earthly desires: miraculous manna, material blessings, political freedom. They didn’t want a suffering Messiah who would die on the cross even though He told them it would save them from their sins.

The Apostle Paul described their mindset when he wrote, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Paul preached that a crucified Savior is “a stumbling block” to the religious Jews and “foolishness” to the intellectual Gentiles.

Jesus answers their grumbling in 4 parts.

First, aware of their heart attitude, He asked, “Does this offend you?”
Second, He mentions His death, “What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?”
His resurrection and ascension prove He is who He said He was.
He started out in Heaven and came to earth and rose again as a man to His authority back in Heaven.
Third, He mentions the Spirit. It is the Spirit that gives us understanding.
And fourth, He mentions unbelievers. “Yet there are some of you who do not believe.”

John 6:67-71  “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

Jesus seems to have intended to separate those who were swept up by the excitement of the miracles from those who truly believed in Him. The fact many who formerly followed Him no longer wanted to be with Him proved they had never truly believed. They were swayed by the crowds and mere passing desire.

It still must have hurt. You can hear it in His words to the 12, “You do not want to leave, too, do you?”

Peter’s glorious reply marks a turning point in Jesus’ ministry and in the lives of the disciples. Speaking for the faithful 11, Peter and the other 10 committed themselves to follow Jesus all the way to the cross. There would be no turning back, even as His earlier popularity declined and persecution began. The Father had drawn them to Christ, and they were God’s gift to His Son for eternity.

People today still refuse to believe if they think what He calls them to do is “too hard.” They don’t want the new way of life – so they turn their backs on Him.

John 5:21-47

John 5:21-30 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

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

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

Immediately, at the time of accepting Christ, Jesus gives us eternal life. We’ve already crossed over from death to life. This life doesn’t end because it comes with Jesus’ promise that we won’t be judged. If we’ve received Christ we are free from God’s condemnation. Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Where Jesus said “those who have done what is good” – that means have chosen Christ. To “do evil” is to reject Christ. Eternity holds no second chances.

John 5: 31-47 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.
33 “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

41 “I do not accept glory from human beings, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

Where Jesus said if he testified about Himself it wasn’t true. That refers to the Law of Moses which required 2 testimonies in a court of law. You couldn’t have just 1 person’s word. So He gave more. “There is another” refers to God the Father. When Jesus was baptized God’s voice said “this is My Son whom I love. With Him I am well pleased” – He repeated these words at the Transfiguration. And God also spoke of His Son in the Old Testament. The entire Old Testament pointed to Jesus as the fulfillment to prophecy.

He also mentioned John the Baptists testimony. And then His own works.

But the religious leaders shut their minds to the truth. “You refuse to come to Me to have life.” Knowledge of Scripture isn’t good enough. You have to apply it. Obey it. Believe it! And you have to love God! To put Him first. To have His opinion of you mean more then other people’s opinion of you.

What John 10:27-29 Tells Us About Being a Christian

Pastor Kurt Gebhards continued his series: Signed, Sealed and Certain today.

John 10:27-29 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

The first thing this tells us is we are His sheep. In other words, we are under His care. We are His and He guides us.

The second thing is: we hear His voice and we immediately act in obedience to what He says.

And third: He knows us! Salvation includes an intimate knowledge and relationship with Christ. John 17:3 says that to know Him is eternal life: Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

We also learn that we are saved forever, protected by Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit!

Jesus says that NO ONE can snatch us from His hand. We will never perish. John 5:24 says, 24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. And Romans 8:1: 1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And God has given believers to Jesus who says “No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” So God is holding us tightly too.

We can look at Ephesians 1:13-14 to see the Holy Spirit’s part: 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

I think we’re pretty secure! Don’t you?

All believers are eternally secure in Christ.

Last Sunday our Pastor shared some great Bible verses to support a believer's eternal security:

We are secure because it is God’s Will and Purpose.

John 6:39-40 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Ephesians 1:4-5 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.

Romans 8:28-30 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

John 1:12-13 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The security of the believer has everything to do with God’s plan. Salvation is His will, His purpose and His plan.

We are also secure because we are God’s gifts to Jesus.

John 17:2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
Revelation 19:6-8 6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”

And because He went through too much to lose us now!

John 17:12 and 18:9 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by[a] that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

And we can trust Him. His last words were “It is finished”!

Stay Alive All Your Life - Part 13

Chapter 16 – Live Forever

John 14: 1-3 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

2 Corinthians 5:1 1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

1 Corinthians 15:53-55 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

These are messages of life and joy. We live forever!

When we die on earth, we immediately meet our loved ones who were also believers and we will know them and will never be separated again. Jesus’ resurrection is proof of this.

John 14:19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

John 11:25-26 25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

You may have heard the example of an unborn baby warm and safe inside its mom: dreading birth. “I know this place – I don’t know what’s out there.” But the day comes when the baby “dies” out of that prenatal world and passes from a known form of life to an unknown and it would seem like death, since it’s the end of that existence as he knows it. But what happens then? He finds himself in the loving arms of someone who’s been waiting for him.

How silly he was to fear.

Death is simply another birth. Jesus Christ has the truth about life and death. He will help us throughout life and then guide us across to Heaven when it’s time.

1 Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."

Read the Bible, pray and fill your life with love and goodness. Trust in God – His promises are true. You can live your life fully ALL your life!

What Happens to Christians When They Die?

1st Thessalonians 4 Part 2

1st Thessalonians 4:9-12 9Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more. 11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Paul gives us a good way to live so that we will be respected by others. Lead a quiet life, mind your own business and work with your hands. Don’t expect people to give you everything.

1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.

These believers knew Jesus had died and been resurrected. They knew He would come back and that He would come back unexpectedly. They wanted to know if the people who had died after they became Christians would miss out on Christ’s return.

Like most 1st century Christians they really thought Christ would come back before they died. But believers were dying.

What Paul tells them is a great comfort to them. And it’s a great comfort to anyone who has a friend or family member die. He says Christians are not without hope like the pagans. The believer has eternal life with God as soon as he believes. Death is kind of taking possession of it.

A commentator wrote “why fear an experience that simply brings us closer to our Lord and Savior?” Paul says that death is gain because death brings him into the presence of Jesus.

Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

In verse 15 Paul again says that what he’s saying is by the Lord’s own word. We do not have to substitute human speculation. We have divine revelation!

It’s never been said that Christ is asleep somewhere. He sits at the right hand of God. He prays for us by name. And He’s preparing a home for us.

We won’t be asleep or in limbo either.

Genesis 49:33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

Matthew 22:31-32 31But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'[a]? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."

This is a clear recognition that those who died in faith are right now living in God’s presence.

John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."

John 8:51 I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

John 11:25-26 25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

Their bodies are asleep in the ground until Christ comes back, but their spirits are immediately with Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:50-55 50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"

Paul makes it clear that the soul of the believer went to be with the Lord. The spirit leaves the body at death. The body goes to sleep and no longer functions. W.E. Vine wrote that the reason the metaphor sleep is used is because sleep is temporary: as is the “death” of the body. When you sleep you don’t cease to exist, nor when you “die.” The body will “wake up” when it is resurrected. Part of the Apostles Creed is “I believe in the resurrection of the body.”

When Christ resurrects our bodies the decay, disease and weakness will be stripped away and we will have Christ-like bodies. (1 John 3:2)

Death is the consequence of sin and Jesus took all our sins and experienced the full penalty as our substitute. (Romans 6:23)

When Paul says “since we believe” and “we also believe” he means: since we believe Jesus rose from the dead we also believe that we will too. The same God that raised Jesus will raise us.

1 Corinthians 6:14 14By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.

2 Corinthians 4:14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.

Romans 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

1st John 5:11-13

1 John 5:11-13 “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

If we believe in Jesus Christ we already have eternal life. It started the moment we believed. We don’t need to wait for it, work for it or worry about it. God has promised us!

My application Bible says, “this is true whether we feel close to God or far away. Eternal life is not based on feelings, but on facts.”