Archive for the ‘Easter’ Category
Christianity Stands or Falls On The Resurrection Of Jesus!
Have you ever given thought to the importance of the resurrection of Jesus from the grave?
If Christ were not raised from the dead, then His dying on the cross would be meaningless. He would just be another Jew put to death by Roman soldiers at the insistence of the Jewish religious leaders for His claim of being the Son of God.
The virgin birth of Jesus to Mary would not have occurred and Joseph would have been His real father and not God.
Christianity would be a false religion, meaningless and accomplishing nothing.
Paul the apostle put it best; of how important is the resurrection of Jesus, when he wrote to the Corinthian church the following information. Taken from 1 Corinthian 15 – various versus. (KJV)
1Co 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
1Co 15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ:
1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead,
Having read these verses, you now see how important is the resurrection of Jesus. It cannot be said any better then what we read in verse 17 above in that. “if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins.”
Without the resurrection of Jesus from the grave Christianity becomes a false religion, no different from any other religion, but thanks be to God that Jesus has been raised from the dead.
This allows us to confess that Jesus is Lord and we can say that we believe that God has raised Him from the dead to show the salvation, the forgiveness of sins, has been given to us by the grace of God.
Truly, Christianity does stand or fall on the resurrection Of Jesus!
The Cross Is Not The Focal Point
Many people will look upon the cross with wonder and ponder its meaning. Very few people, however, will look to the cross as to what happened upon it and why.
Isaiah the Prophet said this about the future:
Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth
Then, many years later, Jesus said this about Himself:
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Joh 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Joh 10:13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Joh 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, andone shepherd.
Joh 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Joh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Later on Jesus said this:
Joh 10:24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
Joh 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
Joh 10:26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any manpluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck themout of my Father’s hand.
The cross, itself, is not the focal point of all of this. What is the focal point is what Jesus did upon the cross, to die in our place for our sins, and to secure forgiveness for all of His sheep, and to save us from facing the wrath of God that is to come on Judgement Day.
Jesus laid down His life of His own accord so that all whom God gave to Him will receive forgiveness for sins, be given eternal life, and to insure that we shall never perish nor be taken from the love of the Father.
It is for us to look unto Jesus and be saved. For all who call upon the name of Jesus, confess that He is Lord,and believe that, after His death and burial, He was raised from the dead, will be saved, called and justified.
Many will see the cross and not see Jesus, but all who are of the sheepfold of Jesus will not only see Him but will also follow Him when He calls them to come with Him.
How about you? Do you just see the cross or do you see Jesus and hear Him calling you to come with Him? For Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
The importance Of The Resurrection Of Jesus
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?
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.
For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
1 Corinthians 15: 22 – 19
But now, Christ is risen and has been seen by, not only the Apostles, but by as many as 500 followers as well.
He is risen … Jesus is risen in deed…
Jesus Came To Reveal The Sin In Us
After reading the title you might say, “Did not Jesus come to seek and save they who are lost?” Why, then, do you say that He came to reveal the sin in us?
Good Question and here is the short answer. If we do not know that we are lost there would be no reason for us wanting to be saved. Think of this. Go and read again the Sermon on the Mount, and ask yourself if you have kept all those sayings that Jesus gave us. I am sure you would say, “No.” Why? Because we all have a sin nature and we want to do only according to our nature. We want to do things “our” way.
You see, none of us can say that we are without sin. In fact that is just what Jesus came to teach us. In His teachings and in the activities and miracles that He did He would mention sin.
In the story about the man who was lying on a mat by the pool of Bethesda Jesus healed him and later when He encountered the man again, we read this:
John_5:14 (KJV) Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
What about the woman caught in the very act of adultery, “the very act” they said? All these righteousmen said that in their law a person doing this was to be stoned. What was Jesus going to do about this? Well, let us see what Jesus said and what was their response:
John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
John 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last:
You see, these perfect, these righteous men saw in themselves their own sin and realized that they, too, were sinful people.
However, Jesus did not stop there. He now turned to the women and said this:
John 8:10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
John 8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Even to the woman whom He just kept from being stoned He revealed to her the sin that was in her life.These are just a few examples of Jesus revealing sin us.
Here are a few more verses that Jesus said about sin:
John_8:34 (KJV) Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sinis the servant of sin.
John_9:41 (KJV) Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.
John_15:22 (KJV) If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
Jesus knew that man thought of himself to be a good person, a righteous person, one who will go to Heaven because of their basic (sometimes) obedience to God. Just as I thought of myself – when I die God will weigh all of my good deeds against all of my bad deeds, the good will outweigh the bad, and for that reason God will welcome me into heaven. I sure am glad I found out how wrong I was, when Jesus revealed my own sin to me.
Did you, or do you now, believe the same thing? Remember what the Apostle John said:
I John_1:8 (KJV) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
The problem is that we “all” have sin in us, and unless we see our sinfulness in all of its ugliness and filth, and how we need to be saved from facing the wrath of God because of our sinfulness, we will never want to be saved. We are a sinful people and for that reason, we need to be saved from our own sinfulness, and its consequences.
Yes, Jesus came to seek and save the lost, but until man sees that he is lost he will never see the need to be saved. We need to see our sinfulness and confess it so. Only then, once our sin is revealed to us and we see it for what it is will we cry out to be saved.
For woe is us that we are such a sinful people. We need to have our sin taken away in order to be saved, and only Jesus can do that. As John the Baptist said:
John_1:29 (KJV) The next day John sees Jesus coming unto him, and says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Has your sinfulness been revealed to you? Do you now see that you are lost and need to be saved? Jesus has sought you, He has revealed your sinfulness to you and He has done so in order to save you; because He loves you.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The Resurrection Of Jesus Affirms Christianity
The resurrection of Jesus is the most important event in world history. Had this not occurred Christianity would just be a false religion, just like all of the other religions. While I could describe this event, and why it is important to mankind, in my own words, I do believe that by letting the Bible tell it, in God’s own Words, would be a far better thing to do. Therefore, here is what God says as found in 1 Corinthians chapter 15…
1Co 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1Co 15:13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
1Co 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
1Co 15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
1Co 15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead…..
Yea, indeed, is Jesus risen from the dead and is alive today in Heaven, and He lives in the hearts of those who are His disciples. And, because Jesus is risen, man can be forgiven for his sins and be guaranteed to spend eternity in Heaven. Only they who repent and believe in Him, and who submit to His will and obey His commands, will know the love and forgiveness of God.
Yea, Christ is risen…
He is risen indeed…
The Risen Christ Affirms Christianity
Do you know that if Jesus has not been raised from the dead that Christianity is a false religion?
Read the following verses from 1 Corinthians 15 and think about them…
14 if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain.
17 and if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you are still in your in you sins!
You can see by these versus that Christianity depends on the fact that Jesus has been raised, bodily, from death and burial. So that we can read these versus, with certainty, also from 1 Corinthians.
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,
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead…
Christianity is real. Salvation and forgiveness is offered because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and all who believes in and receives Jesus as Lord and Savior will be forgiven, and will be saved from facing the wrath of God on judgement day.
Christ is risen … He is risen indeed!
What If Jesus Is Not Risen?
I do not know of any religion that does not acknowledge Jesus in some way or another. He might be called a good man, a great teacher or even a prophet. And, as far as I know, none of them will admit that Jesus has risen bodily from the grave. They cannot do so because, if they did, they would then be calling their own religion false. Only Christians believe that Jesus has risen from the grave and only they believe that He is God.
However, what if all of these religions are correct? What if Christians are wrong? What if Jesus is not risen from the grave?
The Apostle Paul explains what this would mean in his letter to the Corinthians. In chapter 15 verses 12 through 19 we read this:
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. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
Yes, we would be seen as all other religions, as just one of many faiths – all false. For which one would be true? Jesus would be seen as one who was a liar in that he said, “no one comes to the Father except through me(Jesus)”. If Jesus is not the way then what is the way?
That is something about which we do not have to worry for as Paul goes on to say, “20 But now Christ is risen from the dead… ”
The tomb in which Jesus was placed after His resurrection is empty. The reason being that Jesus has risen from the grave and He is alive for evermore. With this truth we have this hope from Hebrews 6: 19, 20:
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever…
With the resurrection of Jesus from the dead we have this hope that we too can have eternal life. Life that is found only in Jesus. If Jesus is not risen then we have no hope, but the Word of God is very clear that Christ Jesus has risen from the dead, Christianity is the one true religion, nay even more so, it is the one true relationship that God has made between man and Himself confirmed through the resurrection of Christ.
The question of “what if Jesus is not risen?” is one about which we do not have to worry. For Christ is risen and has become first fruits of eternal life that we, who are followers of Jesus, can have the same hope of one day being able to attain eternal life through the resurrection of our own bodies. There is no question about the resurrection of Jesus. There are too many proofs of His resurrection and in His resurrection He has become not only the Giver of life but also the One who assures eternal life for those of us who belong to Him.
Because of this we, too, can say along with the Apostle Peter as he says in 1st Peter 1: 3, 4:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you(us),
For Christ Is Risen! ….. He Is Risen Indeed!
What Defines A Christian?
If you were to ask the average Christian, “what is it about you that says you are a Christian?” most would probably talk about how they go to Church, attend Sunday School, give to missions, etc., but does this really define them as being a Christian?
I used to be that kind of Christian and I was OK with talking about how I did all of these Christianly activities. It was rare that I would talk about my relationship with Jesus or about my faith in what He did for me, and when I did it was a quick, almost embarrassingly, mention of Him. You know why I never said more about Him, if at all? Because I really had ” no ” relationship with Jesus. You see it never dawned on me that being a Christian was all about Jesus and not about me being a Christian.
It took awhile for it to become clear that being a Christian is not about my good works but about my relationship with Jesus. I even began to wonder about whether or not I even had a relationship with Jesus. You know what I discovered? I never really did have a relationship with Jesus; at least not a close one. Maybe you don’t either.
You see for someone to define me as being a Christian should not come from what I say that I do, but about what, or whom it is, that is the reason for me being a Christian in the first place. It is all about the Person upon which I base my faith and why.
My relationship with Jesus, and my faith in Him, should come through by what I say about Him and not what I say about me. The closer I get to Jesus, the stronger my faith in Him becomes and the more I am willing to talk about Him, and my life should be a living witness to His work in my life. In fact, my life should be that just by listening to what I say about Him, and the things that I do in His name, should give evidence to anyone who meets me that it would be easy for them to believe that I am a Christian.
In short, my faith in Jesus and the relationship that I have with Him should be such that it would openly define me as a Christian without me saying that I am. The closer one gets to Jesus the more they are willing to talk about Him.
In Luke 9:29 we read the following quote by Jesus:
For whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his glory, and in the glory of the Father, and of the holy Angels.
How about you? Do people define you as being a Christian just by hearing about your relationship with Jesus, and the faith that you have in Him? Or, like me, you need to see that maybe you don’t even have a relationship with Jesus at all. Think of this – the strength of your faith in Him will determine how close of a relationship you have with Him. The closer your relationship the stronger your faith. So here is a quick and easy way of determining how close of a relationship you have with Jesus.
Think of the faith that you now have in Him, can the actions of your faith, in your relationship with Jesus, define you as being a Christian or are you just a Christian in name only?
It may be that you have no relationship with Jesus. If that is the answer then maybe you are not a Christian at all. It is better to find that out now and not later, after death, when it will be too late.
If you will just confess that Jesus is Lord of your life, and believe that God raised Him from the dead, is defining proof that you have been saved and are on the way of establishing a relationship with Jesus. If, however, you balk at that thought, if you feel embarrassed at the thought of publicly proclaiming that Jesus is your Lord, also is defining proof that you have no relationship with Jesus, and it may be that you are not saved at all.
Only God can show this to you and only God can open your heart to receive the truth. May this Easter season be one of raising you to new life in Jesus, just as He was raised from the dead to give life to all who have life in Him, and in experiencing the kind of loving relationship, resulting in strong faith, that only God can provide.
May your relationship with Jesus be such that others who will see you will say, “You are a Christian aren’t you.”
Sunday Is Coming!
This Homily was first given by me during a Lenten Service in February of 1983. It is based on 1 Corinthians 15: 12 – 29
(This inspirational sermon has been updated for this post)
The Risen Christ, Our Hope
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. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. (NKJV)
Several months ago, we celebrated the birth of Jesus. It was a joyous occasion, and we spent a great deal of time, energy and, of course, money in preparing for it. But, what if Jesus were dead and still in the grave? What then?
A few months later it is Friday, a day that Christians call “Good Friday”. To the Apostles, however, and the other followers of Jesus, this day was anything but good. In fact it started out rather badly and went down hill from there. It could very well have been the reason that Christmas never happened.
First, one of His own disciples betrayed Him. Then, as He was taken prisoner, the rest of them deserted Him and fled into the darkness of the night, fearful for their own lives. And one of His closest friends – Peter – would deny Him three times, and Jesus heard him.
In the hours that followed, Jesus was humiliated, degraded, and badly beaten. He was mocked, whipped and spat upon. He had a crown of thorns fiercely forced upon his head and his beard was pulled out by hand.
After the soldiers had fun with Him, Jesus was tried, convicted and sentenced to death; to die in horrible torture, having been nailed to a wooden cross and left to die. Finally, before that day was over, Jesus was placed in a tomb that wasn’t even His.
On that day the Apostles saw all of their hopes and dreams washed away by the death of their closest friend. Yes, that day was a Friday, but for them it wasn’t good. For it was a day of total defeat for their cause of believing that Jesus was the Messiah. They had nothing to look forward to, and they hid in fear that they, too, would be arrested and taken away.
However, there was one thing that they didn’t know and if they had known this day would not have been a day of defeat, but a day of beginnings and a day of anticipation. Yes, it was Friday, but Sunday was coming! And as Psalm 118: 24 says, “This is the day which the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
For, although Jesus died on the cross for sins, He was raised from the dead for our justification. As it says in Scripture, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” You see, it is His resurrection that gives His birth meaning, and it is His resurrection that makes Friday good.
Our faith in forgiveness for our sins and the promise of eternal life in Heaven is based on the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead, and is still alive today.
Because of this truth, this factual turn of events, everything that Jesus said and did before His death is just as important as what happened after, and we should know them, study them and believe them.
This is a time when we should make a self-examination of our own faith and find out how it compares to God’s Holy Word, and where a change is needed in our faith, or in our way of living, we should accept the challenge to make that change, and do so with God’s help; with the Holy Spirit working in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Our prayer today should be that each and every one of us will make such an examination and that our faith in Jesus will not only be increased but be strengthened as well. And with this faith we can proclaim along with the Apostle Peter, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in Heaven for you.
Yes, today is Friday… But Sunday Is Coming!
The Work Of Christ On The Cross & The Resurrection
Was He Successful?
Before you answer make sure you have all the information that you need to make an informed decision. The reason I make that recommendation is that much of what the average Christian sitting in the Pew believes is only what they have been told, and they know very little of what the Bible actually says. You may be one of them.
Here’s a test. In Matthew 1:21 we read, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
The key words in this verse is “His people”. Who you believe these people are will determine whether your answer is correct. Now, either Jesus was successful and effective in His work, the reason for which He came, or He was a big failure; in which case He was not who He said He was. If He is a failure then He is a fraud and the biggest purveyor of lies that ever lived.
Let’s look at another verse. In 1st Corinthians 1:18 we read, “For 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.”
The message here is about those who are saved by the power of God because of the work that was done on the cross. Specifically, it talks about those who “are being saved”. In other words, the work that Jesus did upon the cross was only for those who will be saved.
Here’s another example. In Colossians 2:14 we read, “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
In this verse the key word is “us”. In short, sins were nailed to the cross. Redemption was made for those that, here, are called “us”. Now who are the “us”? In Colossians 1:2 we see this, “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:”
The “us” of Colossians 2:14 are the “saints and faithful brethren” of Colossians 1:2. Again, we see specific people were mentioned, those who had been saved, and only they had their sins nailed to the cross and it was for them that redemption was made.
If we are to believe the Bible then we must believe that the work of Christ on the cross was for a specific people and in this He was successful. Now, what about the resurrection?
In Colossians 2:11 – 13 we read, “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,”.
In addition, in Romans 4:23 – 25 we read, “Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses (cross), and was raised because of our justification. (resurrection)”.
Again, in these verses we see that specific people are in mind in the work that Christ did on the cross and in His resurrection. In fact, God makes it clear that they who are being saved were in a condition of being “dead in your trespasses” and that it was because of what Christ did you were made alive, having forgiven you all your trespasses”.
In other words, before you were born again, if you are a Christian, God had already forgiven you of your sins because of what Christ did for you. In addition, you are also included in the resurrection assuring you of everlasting life, again because of what Jesus did for you in His being raised from the dead.
Before we finish let’s look at just three more verses. They are all found in the Gospel of John and they are all in chapter six. The first verse we will look at is found in verse 44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” A similar statement is found in verse 65, “And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
I bet you thought that anyone could choose to come to Jesus anytime they wanted too, didn’t you? Well, here Jesus tells not just once, but twice, that “NO ONE” can come unless the Father draws him. Now let’s look at the last of these three verses.
Again, staying in John 6 but this time in verse 37 we read, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”
Did you notice what it said? It said that “ALL” that Father gives Me will come to Jesus.
Now I am sure you have never been taught nor even told that these verses exists and that they were said by Jesus. In these three verses Jesus is telling us that unless you are drawn by the Father to come to Him you will never, of your own free-will, ever choose to come to Him, but if you are drawn by the Father, then you will have been given the ability to come to Jesus and you will come to Him of your own free-will.
When you take these three verses that were said by Jesus, and combine them with the other verses that we have looked at, we can only come to one conclusion. We have to believe that Jesus was successful in His work upon the cross and in the resurrection, and that both were done for specific people.
The people of Matthew 1:21 for which He came to save are those whom He chooses to save and to assure them of life eternal with His resurrection from the dead. In one last verse, John 5:21 we read, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”
Yes, Christ was successful in His work upon the cross and in His resurrection from the dead. Every person for whom Christ died upon the cross, to give them forgiveness of sins in His redemptive work, and to provide everlasting life through His resurrection from the dead, will be saved and will be given life eternal.
This brings us back to Matthew 1:21, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
After looking at the verses that we have, now who do you think are the “people” who Jesus came to save from their sins? Knowing that not everyone will be saved and only those for whom He came to save will be saved, you will have to conclude that these people are those for whom Christ died upon the cross and to apply to the same life everlasting with His resurrection from the dead.
His people – His sheep – the Elect of God.
Anything else will make Jesus into a failure and a liar. I don’t think you want to be the one to accuse of Him of that. Do You?
Riff's Christian Journal 