Raised On The Last Day

“Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will 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. 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 will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”  John 6:28-40 NASB

Perhaps it isn’t sins so much as sufferings that cause some of us to question the perseverance of the heart of Christ. As pain piles up, as numbness takes over, as the months go by, at some point with the help of the enemy's lies we conclude that we are alone. 

But we are not! What a message the Bible repeatedly teaches us! Jesus Christ is with us then, now and tomorrow. He does not say  that those who follow Him will live out pain-free lives - Holy Spirit teaches that those who come to Jesus are never cast out of God’s kingdom. That goes for anyone! 

Choose now, come to Jesus, chase Him, seek Him, sit with Him, ask the Lord to take you in. He will.  

He says, “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

Just as we can hardly fathom the divine ferocity God has for those still outside of Christ, it is equally true that we can hardly fathom the divine love already resting now on those who walk with Christ. 

The guilt and shame of those in Christ is forever outstripped by His abounding grace. Amazing grace! The gift of His breath in our lungs is not an impersonal thing. God’s grace comes to us no more and no less than Jesus Christ comes to us. In the Gospel we are not given a thing; we are given a person.  Whoa. 

Not only are holiness and sinfulness mutually exclusive, but Christ, being perfectly holy, knows and feels the horror and weight of sin more deeply than any of us could fathom,—just as the purer a man’s heart, the more horrified he is at the thought of his neighbours being robbed or abused While the more corrupt one’s heart is, the less one is affected by the evils all around. Carry this train of thought a little further. Just as the closer we walk with Holy Spirit, the more horrified we are at the world’s evil, so we are also naturally drawn out to help and relieve and protect and comfort, others, whereas a corrupt heart sits still, indifferent to pain and suffering. 

Without abiding in Jesus we can do nothing,  Humbled by His selfless love, surrendered to the will of God, it is imperative that we spend daily time in His presence and live out the ongoing conversation of prayer with Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is to stride alongside Jesus, where He will flood us with light, His light, that will pour over the world we are passing through.