Eyes for more than trouble
As we observe all that it is going on in the world today, these words of Jesus seem more relevant than ever, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). If you are not a follower of Jesus it would be completely understandable to be incredulous about Jesus’ words of assurance in a world so deeply troubled. However, illogical as it may seem, we need to see the reality of Jesus words.
When I say see, I mean in the spiritual sense, because Jesus words anticipate the creation of a spiritual people that can both see trouble with their natural eyes and see eternal hope with their spiritual eyes. This type of seeing brings, as best I can describe it, a light on the inside that brings illumination and peaceful reassurance. I believe this is what Paul meant when he prayed for the church in Ephesus, and I believe all Christians, that they may be given, “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation…that the eyes of [their] heart[s] may be enlightened” (Eph 1:17-19).
This gift of spiritual seeing is not experienced as a one-time event, but rather, it is a constant gift of grace from God. It is received by us when we desire to see, and when we surrender and devote ourselves to the Lord.
But, so quickly, in a world full of trouble, we can become spiritually blind again, enticed and deceived by the world’s perceptions, thoughts and attitudes. When this happens the words of Jesus make no sense to us. Think of some of the things Jesus says:
Do good, bless and pray for those who hate, curse and mistreat you (Luke 6:27-28).
Why would I pray for those who mistreat me?
It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).
Why would I put others before myself?
Do not Judge or condemn others (Luke 6:37).
How could I possibly not judge others?
Be joyful because you’re blessed when you’re insulted, falsely accused or persecuted (Matt 5:11-12).
How is persecution and false accusation a blessing?
All the injunctions of Jesus call us to a deeper life with him, a life full of spiritual seeing, wisdom and revelation. The words of Jesus only make sense to us when we have spiritual eyes to see. This is because Jesus words are not spoken to our identity formed by the world, but rather they are words spoken to our identity that is formed in God: our true-identity.
This is the journey of our Christian life: the life-long journey of the transformation of our identity, from one shaped by the world to one shaped and discovered in God. Our identity in God is shaped through our spiritual seeing. The following words of Scripture speaks to our identity in God in a troubled world. It provokes us to see spiritually:
“The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. To him be dominion forever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:10-11, CSB)
You might recognise these verses as a doxology*; often read in church as a benediction, a blessing over God’s people. As appropriate as this maybe, these verses also reveal a spiritual perspective on life that brings enormous encouragement in the midst of a world where trouble can be a constant oppressive force, not far from any of us and often seeking to penetrate into our personal life. We need more than Christian platitudes, we need…
“The God of all grace…”
God’s grace, his goodwill, divine favour, empowering presence and blessing towards humanity is multifaceted. In the context of the diversity of the gifts God gives to empower his church, Peter refers to the “varied grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).
When we think of God’s grace, we often think singularly; often, his gracious gift of forgiveness to us. But grace is much more than forgiveness. The goodwill of God is manifested in a multitude of ways towards his people. God is the God of all grace, who provides the exact kind of grace we need for whatever situation we find ourselves in.
“…who called you to his eternal glory in Christ…”
These words draw our eyes away from our present circumstances and upward to our eternal future. God has called us! Where? Into the telos (the fulfillment, the destination) of our purpose - to share in the experience of God’s glory for eternity. Empowerment in a troubled world is the spiritual eyes to see more than what we see in the natural before us. We have been ‘called’ towards an eternal future. And this future of ours is secured by becoming part of God’s people, the people of the Messiah-King Jesus. As Paul declared, we are now each individually part of Christ’s body (1 Cor 12:27).
The world’s perspective induces in us fear, anxiety, worry and despair, however the stability of our current earthly life is fortified by the guarantee of our life into the eternal future, as those who now live in Christ, (John 10:28, 1 John 4:9-10). To live life with a resilient hope, free from cynicism and despair, we must first focus our vision upwards, to our eternal future! With our future guaranteed, whatever difficult or challenging circumstances we face today, they are not comparable with what we see as our eternal future (Rom 8:18).
However, God’s grace, his loving kindness is not only our future hope, but it also manifests in our lives today. The God of all grace…
“will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you”
Note the personal care God gives to us; he “will himself…”.
These are the four things we need from God in a troubled world: to restore us from our brokenness; establish us as a child in his family; strengthen us to obey what he tells us to do; and provide us ongoing support as we journey through a life lived for Jesus.
These are four variances of God’s grace towards us. They are specific empowerments from God for our personal lives. They seem to follow one after the other but are also cyclical. As we progress in our journey with God, we will return again and again to restoration, and the need to be reestablished and strengthened for the new tasks he has for us. Moreover, we will need his support for the new challenges we will face this year and the next. All this is within the context of living in the troubled broken world that is often hostile to the devoted followers of Jesus.
“…after you have suffered a little while.”
If you don’t have a theology of suffering, you need to get one!
Some Christians don’t like to talk about suffering, but Jesus and the writers of the New Testament did! They plainly warned and testified that it is a part of the Christian journey (John 15:20, Acts 14:22, 2 Cor 4:9-10, 2 Tim 3:12).
Holding together both the truth of a good God and an evil world is not hard to do if you understand the story of the Bible. This broken and troubled world is a result of humanity’s desire to go it alone and be our own god (Gen 3:5-7). The good news of Jesus is that God is in the process of healing and restoring this troubled world including broken humanity (Acts 3:21, Rom 8:20-25).
He is starting with people, each of us, one by one.
In this troubled world we will suffer. This suffering will bring pain and brokenness that needs the healing restoration that ultimately only comes from God because it’s not just a natural problem but also a spiritual one. It is God who is the one that has power and authority to heal us and the world. This is “dominion”!
“To him be dominion forever. Amen”
We do not have to fear that trouble will ever overwhelm us, as God’s rule and authority will last forever. As I mediate it on this simple truth, my rational mind has no explanation. My spiritual eyes are opened and my response is - “Amen” “Praise God!” “Let his name be forever praised!” Peace is restored to my soul.
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” - Jesus
*a short praise to God
A vision of life through death
“Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (John 12:24, CSB)
These are the words of Jesus telling a short parable to his disciples explaining the spiritual significance of his forthcoming death. The grain of wheat is the life of Jesus. From Jesus’ self-sacrificial death will come new life for many people - “much fruit”. However, if Jesus doesn’t die, the seed remains alone “only a single seed” (NIV version).
For the apostle John, and us, looking back, the parable is clear – Jesus’ death was required, then his resurrection, which henceforth brought life to all those who put our trust in Jesus.
We take these words seriously - this is the Gospel! But do we take as seriously what Jesus says next? Because Jesus immediately draws a parallel between his self-sacrificial death and how we should live our own life:
“The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25, CSB)
Jesus presents his life as a prototype for us. In verse 25 Jesus extends the parable’s life-giving principle from verse 24 and applies it to his disciples; “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself”. In other words, both for Jesus and us, dying-to-self proceeds life. We won’t experience life without first dying.
Jesus then makes it explicit; “the one who loves his life will lose it”. No one wants to hear this!
Self-sacrifice is one thing, but, surely, I am meant to love my life, have a vison for my life, pursue my dreams?
This is an example of the Semitic tradition of contrasting absolutes - love/hate, lose/keep (Matt 10:39, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24, Rom 9:13). What does Jesus mean by this? He means, you won’t find spiritual life while you’re envisioning living the same way ‘this world’ does. The world’s vision of a fulfilling life is a self-centred pursuit. It is the pursuit of my vision, my dreams, my destiny, my fulfilment, my self-actualisation and all with me at the centre. For the more ambitious and self-driven amongst us, we are also the hero in our dream. We are the one who inspires and is admired by others.
In contrast, Jesus’ version of a life well lived is the selfless pursuit of dedication to God.
Ironically, to the world, embracing Jesus’ version of the true life makes you appear a loser. Likewise, resisting the temptation of showing yourself as a success is living proof, to the thinking of this world, you are indeed a failure. The world evaluated Jesus as a loser and a failure hanging on the cross, however, we know what happened: Jesus rose from the dead! Thus, it is only through death that we can experience life. We know this, we believe this, we preach and teach this, but why don’t we live like this? Why do we as Christians still take the measurements of a successful life from the world rather than from Jesus?
As Paul identifies, human perception is polluted by the world. Therefore, our minds require constant renewal so that we can be transformed to live a life that is pleasing to God (Rom 12:2).
“The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
These words of Jesus need to be chewed over again and again and internalised in us until they are not just words we say we believe or words we preach to others, but words we live. This is a life-long project.
In God’s kingdom, the more we die the more we live. We need to repeat this to ourself daily.
The seed of our real-life in God is germinated by us dying; we die to our self-centred dreams and we come alive to God’s dreams for us. In essence, Jesus is saying, the pursuit of your self-centred dreams will kill you, whereas the pursuit of God’s dream for you guarantees true-life, eternal life. The dreams we create for ourselves are often created to fortify ourselves from the insecure thoughts and doubts of our own self-worth. Our identity is largely still a construct of this world. When we allow these self-centred dreams to die, we also die to the self-doubt that created them. We also continue to die to our worldly identity. We begin to rely on God for our sense of security and value and our identity is reshaped into the image of God. Jesus’ self-sacrifice brings life to many; our self-sacrifice brings life to ourselves.
The path of pursing God’s dreams for our life is the path of selflessness. The path that Jesus walked to the cross is the same path that we are to walk as his disciples. However unlike Jesus, our self-sacrifice is not (usually) an earthly death, but it is the sacrifice of our self-centred life for the sake of an eternal life with God.
“If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” (John 12:26, CSB)
Is your dream to serve others or to be served by others?
Is your dream to impress others or be devoted to God?
Is your dream to be honoured by people or by God?
And as we envision our life as a Christian, we should also clearly see our proximity to Jesus: “Where I am, there my servant also will be”.
When you envision your life, do you see yourself where Jesus is or somewhere else?
A desire to be valued and honoured is something we all carry within us because we were created in God’s image and designed to share in God’s glory (John 17:22, Rom 8:18-21, Rom 8:30). However, the wonderful promise that Jesus gives those who follow him in self-sacrificial service to others, like he demonstrated, is to be honoured by our heavenly Father.
God has given us an imagination to see, to visualise, to dream. Allow the vison of your life to be transformed by the dying of the seed of the dreams of self for the germination of a new life living the dreams of God.
Does knowing the truth truly set us free?
The often quoted saying, “The truth shall set you free,” has become a cultural cliché, used by both Christians and non-Christians alike. For many years as a Christian I suffered in silence, with secrets. I thought I understood what freedom meant, but if I was brave enough to tell you the truth, I would admit I had little experience of freedom, even after over 20 years as a Christian. I lived with chronic anxiety, almost perpetual frustration and shame and struggled with resentment and self-doubt and experienced very little peace. I lived in bondage. I believed in Jesus, and I was attempting to live my life the way I thought he wanted me too; however, the lived experience of freedom alluded me. Apparently knowing the truth hadn’t set me free. Like me, I suspect many people, if pushed to thoughtfully evaluate their lives, would dismiss “the truth shall set you free”, as contrary to their lived experiences. But why? It’s not because of a lack of desire or for a lack of trying! It’s because knowing the truth doesn’t set us free. The words of Jesus in John 8 are frequently misquoted, stripped from their original context and emptied of their power. The actual words of Jesus, on the other hand, offer deeper and more profound insight, and when looked at closely and taken seriously, offer the true pathway to freedom we all desire. Here is what Jesus said:
As he was saying these things, many believed in him. Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:30–32, CSB)
In this passage, Jesus addresses Jews who had begun to believe in him after hearing about his relationship with the Father. Yet, Jesus challenges their belief by raising the bar, offering both a test to their new faith and an extraordinary promise: discipleship— the path to true freedom. It is not mere knowledge of the truth, nor even the act of believing in Jesus, that provides freedom. Freedom comes through holding firmly to Jesus’ teachings and allowing his word to inwardly transform us. This is discipleship as Jesus defines it. Discipleship that brings freedom requires one to “continue in his word” or “hold to his teaching” (NIV). Those who live by Jesus’ teachings—immersing themselves in his truth—experience the liberation he promises.
We must repeatedly remind ourselves of this profound distinction – knowing the truth is not the same as living the truth. Believing in Jesus is not the same as living for Jesus. Both the demonstration and stated purpose of Jesus ministry (Acts 10:38, Luke 4:18-19) affirms God’s desire for people to experience a lived freedom. A continuing trust in Jesus as the Messiah secures our eternal life, and a continuing living out his teaching, secures an ever-increasing lived experience of freedom this side of eternity. Don’t let the cultural cliché of mere knowledge, attempt to dilute the meaning of Jesus’ promise. Knowledge of something is not the same as the experience of something.
This theme of freedom through abiding in Jesus resurfaces again in John 15, where Jesus uses the metaphor of the vine and branches to illustrate the life-giving connection between himself and his disciples. Mere knowledge of biblical truth or belief in Jesus isn’t enough to bring freedom to our lived experience; it is living out the teaching of Jesus continuously that brings freedom.
“Remain in me, and I in you…I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me…If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. (John 15:4–7, CSB)
What does it mean to live a life that bears fruit through ‘remaining in Jesus’? Reflecting on Jesus' words in John 8:30-32, it seems evident that such a life is marked by the experience of inner freedom. Asking whether fruit for Jesus' kingdom is being produced through one's life is essentially asking whether one is living in greater inner freedom. As a Christian are you experiencing less anxiety, less anger, less worry, less frustration? Are you experiencing less jealously? (For Christians admitting to being jealous is like admitting to viewing porn!) Are you experiencing more joy, peace and satisfaction? Are you growing in trustworthiness and personal integrity? All these are experiences of inner freedom and are the fruit that Jesus is referring to. How hollow is our service for God if we never experience inner freedom! This fruitfulness of inner freedom comes from remaining in and continuing in Jesus words. This perspective stands in contrast to a worldly mindset, which often equates fruitfulness with productivity or output, often without reference to personal character or Christian virtues.
Freedom cannot be understood as a concept, only as an experience. A few verses later in John chapter 8 Jesus says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36, ESV). How do we know freedom? We once experienced bondage but now we have experienced liberation from that bondage. Once, despite my belief, my experience of the Christian life was bondage in silence. When I took seriously Jesus words, holding onto and continuing in them, freedom became not just a promise but a lived reality This is discipleship to Jesus. The pursuit of knowledge is good, but only as it leads us to the experience of freedom as a disciple of Jesus.
“If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Is there space for God’s glory and power?
“To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”
You may heard the reading of these words at the end of a prayer or in a benediction* at the end of a church service. This verse from the Bible, 1 Peter 4:11 and others like it (Rom. 16:27; Phil. 4:20; 1 Tim. 6:16; 2 Tim. 4:18; Heb. 13:21; 1 Pet. 5:11; 2 Pet. 3:18; Jude 25) are what’s commonly known as a doxology**, or short phrase praising God. Have you ever considered the practical application of these words in your life? Let me share some thoughts on this. But first here is the context of these words:
The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:7–11, CSB)
To live with increasing peace and joy from God we need to internalise these words, truly believe them and live them out: Jesus is the one at the centre – he has the power and he gets all the glory. As humans in a broken world our tendency is often to make our life all about us. What do I want? Am I getting my way? What about me? We give our opinions and provide our worldly wisdom. When we want something, we try to make things happen in our own strength. If we find a measure of success in life, we start to think it’s because of our own power. However, the result is Jesus doesn’t get the glory we do. When everything rises and falls on us, what a precarious place we are in. When the winds of change begin to blow, our success can quickly become our failure.
In contrast however, our life was meant to have Jesus at the center. It’s not what I want but rather what Jesus wants.
Therefore, “If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything.”
When Jesus is at the centre of our life rather than us at the centre, our life is in the service of others. God has given us gifts and abilities not to benefit ourselves, but to benefit others:
“Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.”
A self-centered life is ultimately a shallow and empty life doomed to meaninglessness and despair. The self-centred life often becomes full of bitterness and anger, focused inwardly, resentful for what has been kept from us. God’s life for us however, is one of grace, mercy and love directed towards others.
“Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
When we love others we put them before ourselves. Love is not self-centred. Peter says here “Above all, maintain constant love for one another”. More than anything else – remain loving. Wow! God’s promise to us is that if we remain constant in love for others this will remedy a lot of our other mistakes. We all need cover for our other mistakes! Maintaining our love for others also keeps our heart soft. We need a soft heart because this is where we have access to God. Our heart is the place where the Spirit resides within us and it is the place of our communion with God. A soft heart is ready to hear God speak and ready to rely on God’s strength and power. A soft heart is our place of our prayer. Jesus will return one day and it vitally important we are attentive and in communion with him when he comes (Matt 25:1-13).
“The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer”.
*Benediction is a prayer of blessing
** Doxology - The Greek word “doxa’ means ‘glory’
The Deeper Water
These verses reveal a promise from Jesus:
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified. - John 7:37–39, CSB
This, as verse 39 reveals, is Jesus’ promise of the giving of the Holy Spirit to his disciples after he ascends to heaven (Luke 24:49-51, Acts 1:4-8, 2:4,38). I’d like to make a couple of comments regarding these verses that can help us take Jesus words seriously and practically as I believe he intended them to be.
Firstly, if we look closely at the text, we see that this promise is much than just the initial ‘receiving’ of the Holy Spirit by his disciples. In verse 37 Jesus makes this invitation, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink”. It seems Jesus is anticipating not just our initial reception of the Spirit, but also a time when we will become spiritually thirsty again. How often do you need a drink of water? The same applies to spiritual thirst. Our thirst is not quenched from just being aware of our thirst. It is our decision to drink followed by our action to drink that quenches our thirst. The promise Jesus gives in these verses is our ongoing access to the Holy Spirit in a way that will quench our spiritual thirst. However, we need to make the decision to drink. The idiom, ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink’, is literally true as regards to Jesus’ promise. Do you feel spiritually dehydrated? You may have received the gift of the Spirit, but are you returning to Jesus to keep drinking at the streams of living water?
Secondly, as I noted in the previous blog, this promise is for “The one who believes in me…”. The promise of ongoing access to the spiritual steams living water is for disciples that both ‘come to Jesus’ and ‘believe in’ him. Put simply, this about our action to come to Jesus in faith knowing who he is. Jesus is the Christ, the “Messiah” (Acts 5:42), the now enthroned King (Heb 1:3-13). When we come to Jesus we come recognising and acknowledging him as King that has authority over all creation. Jesus the enthroned King is the one through whom we have access to the Spirit. Indeed, the Holy Spirit testifies and glorifies Jesus (John 15:26, 16:14). Therefore, when we come to drink from the streams of living water we do so as disciple-subjects of King Jesus, who acknowledge we are living for him and not ourselves (Rom 14:8).
Thirdly, Jesus says, “as the Scripture has said, (those who believe) will have streams of living water flow from deep within”. The Scripture Jesus is referring to could be one of several (Ex 17:6, Psm 105:51, Psm 78:15-16, Isa 21:3, 48:21, Zech 14:8). The point of these scriptures is this: the Spirit is given to sustain us in an ongoing way, in the same way fresh water and manna sustained the Israelites in the desert. And these life-giving waters of the Spirit “flow deep within” us. Accessing the deep waters of the Spirit doesn’t come from merely cognitively believing the doctrines of Christian faith, but by drawing from the sustaining waters of the Spirit who resides deep within us. However, the deep waters of the Spirit are not accessed through our head but our heart. My experience is that my head if often a hindrance to accessing my heart and therefore a hindrance to accessing the deep waters of the Spirit. Here is an example: Have you ever struggled to forgive an offence? Jesus tells us to love and do good to our enemies, bless those who curse us and pray for those who mistreat us (Luke 6:27-28). Jesus words make no rational sense to our worldly logic and understanding. Jesus words are also a rebellion against our wounded emotions that want to take revenge when we are offended. But consider the amount of peace you experience when you hold onto offences and seek to do others harm. Accessing the deep life-giving waters of the Spirit is not through our rational thinking or logic, or through acting on our wounded emotions. Rather, peace comes from the obedience of our heart to Jesus words. Jesus says, those who are ‘pure in heart’ are the ones that will ‘see God’ (Matt 5:8).
These words of Jesus in John 7 speak about the deeper life to which all Christians are called to live. I will finish with the words of A.B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance:
“Beloved, this is God’s message to us today—‘Go deeper!’ Perhaps you have exhausted all the store of truth and experience that you have so far found. Give up trying to spread to wider fields, and sink to deeper depths, and you will find new and undiscovered riches, and the depths will lead you to the heights, and the death to the life of the risen Christ and the fulness of His ascension power…Shall we meet the light? Shall we accept the love? Shall we go deeper?” - A. B. Simpson
It’s all about the heart
Being ‘on mission’ means being actively aware, responsive and discerning to those around you who are searching for God. However, people rarely say they are searching for God. It’s more likely will describe it as a lack of satisfaction in life, a desire for deeper meaning or something more to life. Pay attention to these clues.
How can we be on mission? What do we do? The most important thing is this: become more aware of those around you! Do you discern someone searching? What is the condition of their heart – soft, hard, fragile, proud? Some people’s hearts are not searching to know God and, therefore, they are not ready to hear what you have to say. In this case, you are wasting your words if you overtly start sharing your faith in Jesus. Pushing your words onto people who aren’t open is likely to harden their hearts further and lead to unnecessary hostility directed towards you (Matt 7:6). Indeed, when Jesus sends his disciples out on mission, he tells them when they or their words are not welcome, “shake the dust off your feet” and leave (Matt 10:14, Luke 10:11). In my experience, this is good advice, both regarding bringing the message of the Gospel to non-Christians and also the message of discipleship to Christians. Regardless of how ‘receivable’ you attempt to make yourself, some people have closed hearts towards you and your message. If this is the situation, move on and find those who have an open heart towards you and your message.
Here is an important key: have a sincere care for other people. If you see other people as objects to be converted the objects will discern your lack of sincerity. If you genuinely convinced that Jesus is good news, you genuinely care for others and are aware and responsive to those around you, God will lead you to others who are open and searching. In Acts 16:14 (CSB), it says of Lydia, “The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.” Do you discern an open heart? The challenge is our level of awareness to notice someone’s open heart. Usually, because of our personal judgments or not recognising the language of an open heart. Listen closely to what others say. Are they searching for deeper meaning in life? Are they interested in what you have to say? Pray that the Lord will open their heart more. Pray the Lord will give you the right words to help them make the connection between their desire for more meaning and their need for a spiritual connection with God. Once people start to see it’s God they are really searching for, you can start to be specific—Jesus is God. Jesus is the one who became a man to bring moral order and rule to this broken and disordered world and rescue humanity from its bondage. Share your own journey of desiring more from life, your discovery of faith in Jesus, or your story of how God has changed you. There is no right or wrong way to be on mission. If you desire to be a witness to Jesus’ life and bring the Good News of Jesus Kingdom to others (Matt 28:19-20, Acts 1:8) the Holy Spirit will lead you and help you do it.
Next: The deeper life in the Spirit.
The one who believes…
I am currently reading through the Gospel of John and thinking about the Christian & Missionary’s two distinctives - Mission and The Deeper Life. In the following refection on John 7:37-39 I will relate these verses to both.
In the following verses Jesus gives us a conditional promise: “The one who believes in me…”
“On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” - John 7:37–39 (CSB)
So what does mean to believe in Jesus? Believe what in particular? Well the context makes it clear - believe that Jesus is the Messiah (see John 7:41-42). The Messiah was the person promised in the Old Testament that would come and rescue God’s people and set up God’s rule, I.e. the Messiah would become the King. However, the expectation of the Jews was that the Messiah would come and set up a ‘worldly’ rule and overthrow the existing (illegitimate and oppressive) ruler. In the 1st century this was the Roman Empire. However when Jesus came as Messiah, it became clear he was not setting up a earthly rulership (at least not yet). The ministry of Jesus revealed his rulership would at first be to overthrow the existing ‘spiritual’ rule. Why? God needed to deal with humanity’s root problem first - the spiritual problem. So the first task for Jesus was to confront and overcome the evil spiritual forces overpowering humanity (Matt 8:29, Col 2:15, 1 John 3:8, Acts 8:7). Therefore when Jesus says “The one who believes in me…” it is not believing Jesus was a historical figure, or even a prophet, and also not merely believing Jesus was a saviour, but importantly also believing Jesus has come as the ruler-King. The Messiah-King who has arrived into the world to set up his Kingdom of rulership. This is divinely revealed to Peter in response to Jesus asking him who he believes he is, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” - Matt 16:16. Christ means Messiah, the one who has come to rule not just to save.
What is our response to the spiritual reality that Jesus is now ‘the King’? The world doesn’t seem to be taking any notice! Yep that’s right, the world is happy to rule itself. A distinctive of Jesus’ kingship is that he doesn’t enforce his rulership on us, but rather it is to be voluntarily received. In other words, Jesus rulership (his Kingdom) is revealed in our life when we allow Jesus to rule over us. Jesus rulership, his Kingdom, is present and revealed when we obey him and seek to do his will. In contrast, when we disobey Jesus, God’s kingdom is not present or revealed in our lives. It’s important to note, the Scriptures make clear Jesus voluntary rulership wont last forever, but it will last until he returns (too much to talk about this here!).
Therefore, “believing” in Jesus in the verse above is not really about what we think about Jesus, but rather about what we do with Jesus. You could reword the verse like this: Those who bow their knee in allegiance to King Jesus and are loyal to him…”the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him”. Believing in Jesus is to recognise who he is and respond accordingly. Therefore the Gospel of Jesus and his Kingdom is about humanity voluntarily coming under the rulership of Jesus. The mission of the church is not to merely convince people God exists or that Jesus was a historical person, or even believe that he forgives people (he does if they repent), but most importantly, the mission is to declare Jesus is now King and to pray for people to recognise and receive his rulership and to become loyal subjects in his Kingdom.
Next: How to be Christian on mission for Jesus.