Knowing God Personally
To have eternal life, we must not only
believe that the Lord Jesus Christ came
from God but we must personally
receive Him as the One who became
the incarnate Son of God.
Here's Dr. Gene Getz:
You see it's easy to say I believe.
There are a lot of people who say they.
But they really don't believe
all there is to believe about Jesus Christ
and who He was.
And that's why the Principle states that
we must receive Him, which is a synonym really
for really believing in the heart.
We must receive Him as the one who
became the incarnate Son of God.
Now let me try to illustrate the difference.
You see, earlier the apostles confessed
that Jesus Christ had come from God.
Here's their very words--the apostles' confession.
John 16:30:
Now that we know that you know
everything and don't need anyone to question you.
By this we believe that you came from God.
And Jesus really affirmed the fact that
they at least believed that.
Whether or not they believed everything is questionable.
That God wanted them to believe.
Because they're in process.
And here's how He affirmed it in
John 17, verses 7 and 8, in the prayer.
Now they know that everything you
have given is from you, because I have
given them the words you gave me.
They have received them and have
known for certain that I came from you.
They have believed that you sent me.
That is, they received the words.
Did they really receive Him?
Well I can't read their hearts.
But I do know that there is a difference.
And throughout the Gospel of John,
we see this Illustrated.
For example, going back to John chapter 9.
Remember the blind man?
The blind man--Jesus healed him.
He's blind from his birth.
Told him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam and he did.
He came back seeing. Jesus wasn't there
but his neighbors were.
And they said: What happened?
And he simply said, get this:
The man called Jesus did this.
Well they rushed him off to the Pharisees.
And eventually the Pharisees, of course, denied it.
And they wouldn't even believe that he's
born blind until they called in the parents.
And then with their backs against the wall said:
What do you think about Him?
And he said: I think He's a prophet.
Now that's different than a man.
This is a man who's a prophet.
You see the growth.
And then later, they challenged him again.
Because they were denying the fact that
Jesus came from God.
That even worked these miracles.
Or they were attributing it to Satan.
And this man is listening.
This man who was blind from his birth,
uneducated, who had this experience said:
Wait a minute. If this man were not from God,
He wouldn't be able to do anything.
Now that's different.
You can say Jesus was a man but the
moment you say He was a prophet,
you're taking another step.
And then if you say: He's from God,
that's something else.
You see, I could ask a lot of people today:
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is a man?
They'd say: Of course. History verifies that.
Do you think He was a prophet?
They'd probably say: Yeah, He probably was a prophet
by their own definition.
If I asked them: Do you think He was from God?
Even Muslim who know the Quran
would say: Of course He came from God.
Most people who have any religious bent at all
would say: He came from God, yeah.
We all came from God.
But He was a special guy who came from God.
But if you ask them if He was God, is God--
you'd get a different answer.
And that's what this blind man came to
when Jesus found him after they threw
him out of the synagogue.
He said: I believe, Lord.
See,Jesus said: Do you believe?
He said: Who is He?
He said: You're speaking to Him.
And he said--the blind man said: I believe, Lord.
And here is the real evidence of heart belief:
he worshiped Him. You see up to this point,
the apostles didn't even pray to Jesus.
They didn't pray in His name. Because in
some respects they were struggling still with the
concept that He and the Father were one.
And when Jesus said: I'm going to go back
to the Father. They said: What's He talking about?
See they're developing in their faith and
in their understanding of who
Jesus Christ really is.
Remember the disciples that followed Jesus
after He fed them--the 5,000
beside women and children.
And a number of them came around the
sea the next morning.
Jesus had disappeared and of course
walked out on the sea. Stilled the storm.
And ended up on the other side.
And they basically came to Him.
And Jesus said to them:
You're coming to me because of
the fact I fed you.
And He said: Unless you eat My flesh
and drink My blood, you have no part in Me.
And of course they didn't stay around to
even understand what it means to
receive Jesus as the Son of God
into your very being by faith.
He was not talking about physical flesh and blood.
He was talking about receiving Him.
Who He is, the very God in the flesh.
And when he said that, what do we read?
From that moment many of his
disciples turned back and
no longer accompanied him.
Obviously they were not true disciples.
And so what we see in the Gospel of John
is what it means to truly believe
who Jesus Christ really is.
And let me just summarize who He is.
"Jesus was not just a good man, a great teacher
and prophet, or even a Son of God.
He was the Son of God who was
one with the Father.
He became the God-man in order to
live among us and died for our sins.
He rose from the grave as our living
Lord Jesus Christ so that we might also
never die spiritually but live eternally."
That's who Jesus Christ is.
And when we believe and receive,
this is what God wants us to believe.
That's what John is telling us in this Gospel.
Now this raises an interesting question
for Reflection and Response:
Since these are profound adult concepts,
how can we simplify these truths for
children who want to receive the
Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior?
And that's a real challenge because
these are deep theological truths.
But I believe that we can communicate with children.
And in their own simple understanding, God meets
them where they are in their understanding.
For example, here's just a simple
prayer that you might share with children.
Jesus is God's Son.
He never did anything bad, not in His
whole life, He never did anything bad.
They can understand that very early in life.
The prayer continues as I prepared it here.
He died on the cross for all the bad
things we have ever done. But He is alive.
And when we believe He died
for the bad things we do,
and receive Him as our personal Savior,
we will go to heaven when we die
and we will be with Him.
That's a simple prayer.
Do you believe that Jesus died for the
bad things that you have done?
Will you receive Him as your personal Savior?
If you do, then you will go to heaven
and be with Him.
I believe that we can simplify these truths.
And let's never forget what Jesus said
when the people brought children to Him.
And the apostles tried to shoo them away.
Push them away. That Jesus is too busy.
He said: Don't shove them away.
Don't push them away.
And then He made that incredible
statement to them:
Let the children come to Me,
for of such is the kingdom of heaven.