OUT OF THIS WORLD

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

This made the Jews ask, “Will He kill himself? Is that why He says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

But He continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am He, you will indeed die in your sins.”

John 8:21-24

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We’re all going to die. All of us.

I know this is not something we all want to be thinking about, especially at the start of a new year, but maybe we should because the truth that we’re all going to die leads to a very important question:

And then what?

We’re all going to die and then…

Maybe this is why people don’t want to think about death. Because they are really sure of what comes next.

As we look at the life and ministry of Jesus, we see He wasn’t afraid to discuss His coming death. He didn’t swell upon it to where it dominated His teaching but He never shied away from the subject either. And if it was okay for Jesus, why isn’t it okay for us?

Looking at today’s scripture passage and our continuing look at the Gospel of John, Chapter 8, we find Jesus carrying on His discussion with a group of Pharisees who decided to challenge the validity of His assertions, particularly after He labeled Himself the “Light of the world” who would bring the “light of life” to whoever would become His disciple and follow Him.

Jesus had come to bring light to a people perishing in the darkness, a people who were standing in the crosshairs of God’s judgment without hope because of their sinfulness. They were living in the world and were of the world, the very domain of Satan himself who John said this about in his first letter:

“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” 1 John 5:19

Jesus was not of the world. His Father, God, sent Him from heaven to earth out of love to bring salvation to all mankind, just as He had promised through the prophets. And when Jesus had accomplished what His Father had sent Him to do, to serve as the unblemished Lamb who would be slain as a sacrifice to take away the sins of all people (John 1:29), His Father took Him out of this world and into glory to sit at His right hand.

In other words, the ascension of Jesus was a true out of this world experience and He paved the way for others to follow. All they had to do is place their belief in Him as Savior.

Jesus was not of this world and through Him, we can be as well, although we are temporarily living in the world. Our future becomes known when we accept that Jesus alone can save us from death and the grave, and bring us into glory to live alongside Him with God. It’s a beautiful truth as sure as the fact that we’re all going to die.

Unfortunately, the Pharisees were too busy opposing Jesus to understand what He was telling them. They couldn’t come to where He was going because they were rejecting Him, even though He was clearly conveying who He was and why He was there. He was from above while they were from below and below was where they were destined to stay without accepting Jesus as their Savior, something they were unwilling to do. In fact, they were more set on killing Jesus than allowing Him to save them.

Did I mention that we’re all going to die?

So what’s it going to be for you in the new year?

If you’re already in and of Jesus, having accepted His invitation for salvation, then rejoice and be glad. You have a hope and victory today and every day after that no one can take away. No one. Yes, you will die but only to live, not just in the short term as we live now but rather forever. Not facing possible illness or injury or hardship or heartbreak or sin, but rather living in the light and love of your God and your Savior eternally.

Conversely, if you are a modern day Pharisee and want to live in the world and be of the world, basking in the pleasure of your sin and wickedness, then I pray you will change your mind this year before it’s too late and you die in your sins. Don’t believe the lies that death is just the end of things and you’ll just go into the ground. Everyone is going to live forever, either in eternal glory or in eternal torment. Heaven or hell.

Don’t miss the chance to enter heaven because it’s going to be an out of this world experience, one Jesus wants you to be a part of it. All you have to do is believe in Him (John 3:16).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com