In the movie, OVERCOMER, a hospital-bound blind man whose diabetes was about to claim his life asked a basketball coach without a team, "Who are you?" He said he was a coach, history teacher, husband and father, and finally, a Christian; however, what a blind man could see that the coach missed was how losing his team destroyed him.
Whatever we live for is what defines us. The person who is defined by Jesus finds the only right reason for which to live. Why is living for Jesus right and best? Jesus said it this way, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves." (John 6:53)
A man is more than the body that houses his soul. God made man from the dust of the ground and breathed into him the breath of life, and he became a living soul. Made in the image of God, man is intellectual by which he can be creative and conceptual. Furthermore, he has been given the ability to make a moral judgment through his conscience. He is emotional by which means he feels and can be tender and sensitive.
Why did Jesus say it was necessary to eat His flesh and drink His blood? We partake of Christ when we believe in Him. Man must stop trusting in himself and come to understand that Jesus is the source of eternal life. Every man is spiritually dead apart from the life and presence of God dwelling within him. When God comes to live within a man, He makes His presence known.
THOSE WHO STAY AND THOSE WHO LEAVE
These words of Jesus were too hard for people to hear. "As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore." (John 6:66) Because they left Him, Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" He felt the hurt of rejection and the loss of their eternal souls, and He turned to His closest disciples with a most probing question.
Peter replied to Jesus with the answer that indicated his heart's direction and the depth of his faith. "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life." Peter knew in whom he believed and declared it openly. "We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God." (John 6:68, 69) Men say that seeing is believing, but in God's kingdom, believing is seeing.
The man who comes to know Jesus receives a knowledge that extends far beyond the reaches a human knowledge because the infinite and all-knowing God imparts it.
Jesus touched my life in 1967; it was then that I received eternal life and entered the door to knowledge far beyond my ability to learn. God has taught me by many means, but there has always been one constant - His abiding presence.
THOSE WHO PROFESS AND THOSE WHO POSSESS
Many people call themselves Christians but think hard on Jesus's own words on this reality. "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8:31, 32) Slaves are not free, and neither are they sons. Only sons are members of God's kingdom. There is a distinct difference between a slave and a son, and the difference is sin. "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." (Verse 34)
The son agonizes to enter the kingdom of God. In this life, sin remains; it crouches at the door, it desires to conquer the soul of the son, but the son agonizes to victory over it. A son is victorious because of his ultimate confidence in God's Son and His intimate knowledge of Him. Only a son is free; all pretenders are slaves, and they will die in their sins.
Be careful to understand the distinct difference between the worldly and the heavenly minded. Worldliness is a great sin, and it seduces many. The child of God becomes aware of worldliness and stands watch over his soul so as not to become entrapped by its alluring snares.
"You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. "Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." (John 8:23, 24) Belief in Jesus means a separation from the world from which every sinner was once a part. If there is no lasting separation and the fight to maintain it, there is no salvation.
Salvation means separation from the world, the flesh, and the devil. In other words, from their sins. "And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21) His people are saved from their sins, not just the penalty of their sins but the sins themselves.
THERE IS GREAT VALUE IN KNOWING JESUS
What difference does it make to know about Jesus or to know Him? All the difference in eternity!!!
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