PUSHING THE RESET BUTTON

PUSHING THE RESET BUTTON

                Whenever you find yourself getting bogged down in your relationship with the Lord it is high time to go back to the book of John. We can wrangle over the theologies of Paul and subjects like justification, sanctification and glorification. We can compare the types and shadows of the Old Covenant with the living realities of the New Covenant and we can seek diligently to understand God’s prophetic outlines in the light of current events; but then we remember that after all is said and done, it is all about an intimate friendship with Jesus.

                We find ourselves in danger of falling in love with our theology and our eschatology to the exclusion of the very One who loves us more than we can imagine.  We then remember that doctrine apart from Christ is dead and can’t save us at all.

                Paul in Phil. 3:1-11 talks about abandoning all of his religious pursuits in favor of gaining Christ. He let go of all of the religious stuff and grasped hold of the Person of Christ.

                This is what the book of John does for us. John provides a reset button for us so that we can fall in love with Jesus all over again. Over and over again in the story we find both John and Jesus affirming that He is none other than God. He is the Word of God through whom everything in this universe was created. He is the One who became flesh and dwelt among us... He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one who baptizes us in the Holy Spirit. It is in Him that we are born again and filled with His Holy Spirit.

                It is in John that we discover that it was the love of the Father that sent us His Son. He came into the world not to judge us but to save us. The claims that Jesus makes concerning Himself and His relationship to the Father on a day to day basis are so outrageous that He is either a blasphemous raving lunatic or He is exactly who He claims to be.

                In the book of John then we are confronted with one of two choices. He is either a blasphemous raving lunatic, or He is indeed the Son of God sent into the world to save us. But as we admit that He is the Son of God, a warm flow of His Holy Spirit comes in and we suddenly understand that this conviction is much more than an intellectual agreement. Jesus has invaded our lives. He has come in to dwell in us and we have become temples of the Holy Spirit. In this way we have suddenly become more intimate with Him than even with our spouse. He has become our new life.

                Then Jesus begins to assure us that this relationship is permanent and eternal. He says: “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me that of all that He has given Me, I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:37-40.

                In the book of John we find out that not only Jesus loves us, but His Father also loves us with infinite love and it completely squashes any idea that the God of the Old Testament is a mean and vengeful, while Jesus came to protect us from His wrath. It was God who so loved the world that He gave His only Son.

                This reminds us of Romans 8 where Paul asks who can separate us from the love of God. Nothing can separate us from His love. And Jesus says to them: “You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me…” John 5:39. And here again He reminds us that our relationship with Him is much more intimate than intellectual knowledge.

                Men can study the Bible with a critical eye, picking apart every nuance of every word, and still never come to know the One who loves them so deeply         . There are, in fact, many Biblical scholars who don’t really know Him at all for they have become too wise in their own estimation to come to Him  with the faith of a child… nor do they deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Him. Instead they watch Him from a distance… like a Pharisee and not like a bride to be.

                In the book of John, Jesus introduces us to Pentecost. He creates anticipation for the outpouring of His Holy Spirit saying: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water….” John 7:38.                                     

                Jesus Himself throws down the gauntlet in John 8 saying: “…unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins. Then in verse 28 He says: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and I do nothing on MY own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.”

                Then in verses 56-58 Jesus told them that Abraham rejoiced to see His day and the Pharisees said, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? And in answer to their question Jesus gave a most wonderful and bold statement perhaps in all of Scripture. He said. “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM.” John 8:58.

                When Jesus says” Truly, truly,” it means He is being emphatic. He is making a profound declaration. This is to be a foundational truth upon which we may stand. Jesus is the “I AM” of the Old Testament.  He is the One to whom all scripture points. So we need to go through the New Testament and look at all of the times when Jesus started out with “truly, truly, or verily, verily I say unto you.” Jesus is making foundational statements upon which He wants us as believers to stand.

                He said the same thing in telling us that we must be born again. These things are foundational to our relationship with Him and we can take them to the bank so to speak. We Must be Born Again!

                So you see, in the book of John, we discover that our intimate relationship with Jesus is much deeper than an emotional feeling. Our intimacy with Him is based upon the bedrock of who He is. We can put our absolute trust in Him. He will never leave us or forsake us. He loves us with an everlasting love and that love will never change. The same One who created the universe now abides in our hearts through His Holy Spirit. We are not alone. He is with us. He is in us. He is our new life.

                                He is the vine and we are the branches. Life flows through Him and into us. It is in this connection that we bear  the fruit of the Spirit  and it is this fruit that fulfills the whole law, for as Paul says in Romans 8:4 “The Law is fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” So it is in our intimate connection with Christ that the Law is fulfilled. We will bear His fruit.

                In John 17, we read the intercessory prayer of Jesus for His followers and for us as He says: “And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them that they may be one just as We are one; I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that thou didst send Me and didst love them even as Thou didst love Me.” John 17:22, 23.

                In Christ we are intimate with both the Father and the Son and in turn, we as the Body of Christ become intimate with each other. We all become brothers and sisters in Christ. If we truly love Jesus Christ then that love will extend to each other as well and the world will know that we are Christians by our love.

                And so in the book of John the Holy Spirit pushes our reset button and we get our perspective back and we return to the heart of the matter. And as much as I love Bible prophecy, it is meaningless without an intimate relationship with Jesus. We can bat around our doctrines and argue over varying issues, but they too are meaningless apart from a born again, Spirit filled love relationship with the One who died to save us.

                So here at the foot of the cross, I lay down my life anew. I lay down all of my baggage on this side of the cross because where I am going I cannot take it with me. I die daily… and passing through the portal of the cross I am born again into the kingdom of God… dead to the world and alive by the resurrection power of His Holy Spirit, I leave everything behind as Jesus becomes my new life.