John 3:31-36
The one who comes from above is over all. The one who comes from the earth is out of
the earth and speaks out of the earth.
The one who comes out of heaven is above all. He has seen and heard while testifying to this
and nobody receives His testimony. The
one who received His testimony demonstrates in authenticity that God is
truth. For the one whom God sent speaks
the words of God, for He does not give the Spirit out of a measure. The Father loves the Son and He has given all
things into His hand. The one who
believes into the Son has eternal life.
The one who disobeys the Son will not see life but the wrath of God
remains upon him.
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
John makes an interesting claim in these opening verses –
one that is easy to miss through all the flowering speech. John says that Jesus “came from above” and
“came out of heaven.” John and all the
apostles were called out of
heaven, but they did not come
out of heaven. We may have the Spirit of
God within us, but we are fundamentally different from Jesus who literally came
from heaven. This means that Jesus knows
God, not just knows about Him. Jesus has
the full Spirit, not just some measure of the Spirit. Jesus has received all things into His hand,
not just a few things the God wanted Him to influence. Jesus came out of heaven to be the
God-made-man.
Do you believe Jesus came out of heaven? Do you believe Jesus is fully God and had all
things under His authority? How do you
put this into application in your life?
Second Thought:
John reminds us that the one who believes into the Son has
eternal life. We need to remember that
in the Greek, the same word is used for belief, faith, and faithfulness. So what John is saying is that those who
believe and are faithful have eternal life.
John is not simply saying that we can make some quick half-hearted
confession. John is saying that those
who believe and who obey – one might say both hear and respond – have the full
assurance of life eternal. That is a
great promise indeed!
Have you received that promise? Do you have full possession of eternal
life? How do you know? How do you speak about this to others?
Third Thought:
This passage ends on a negative note, but it is an important
one. The wrath of God remains upon those
who disobey the Son. John is not saying
that God will pay back people for refusing to believe in Jesus. Rather, what John is talking about is that
mankind’s default position is one of being under the wrath of God. We are born under the wrath of God. Jesus, God’s Son, is our way out of the wrath
of God. So when people choose to disobey
Christ they are not being judged for that decision; rather, their default
position of sin simply remains upon them.
They do not receive the grace that comes through Jesus Christ;
therefore, they remain in their sinful state.
Also note that the emphasis here is not on belief but on obedience. John does not say those who do not believe; John
says that those who disobey do not escape from God’s wrath.
Do you believe that the default position for mankind is
sin? Do you believe Jesus is the only
way out of that position? How do you
speak about this message?
Passage for Tomorrow: John 4:1-10
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