From Above

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FROM ABOVE

John 3:31-36

31 "The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."  

NIV

This is the rest of John the Baptists reply to the argument between his disciple and a certain Jew about ceremonial washing and as a result, they told John about how many more people were going to Jesus instead of John to be baptized. We just explored the first part of his response which includes the famous verse sixteen and that John said he must become lesser while Jesus becomes greater. Now he continues to speak as if he had been given all the truth about the whole message of the gospel. Certainly he has been given a revelation by the Spirit, in fact, we actually believe he is speaking in the Spirit, or from the Spirit. He knows that Jesus is divine, he comes from above. John knows Jesus is of heavenly origin, he is not simply a man, like John. John and as far as that goes all men, which includes us, can only speak as one from the earth. But Jesus, the words Jesus spoke are from heaven, from above. His words are the words of God, he is the Word. This is so important. We know all scripture is God-breathed and as such is important for us to pay attention to, however, the words of Jesus are actually the spoken word of God. What Jesus says, he says as one who is divine, who is one of the three persons of God. Jesus speaks from what he has seen, knows, and is, God. Yet there were people then and now who do not accept his words, his testimony about what he has seen and heard. When we accept his words, accept him as being God, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world, we testify that God is truthful. The reason we can know God is true is because of the Spirit who God gives unlimited. This means God does not put any limits on himself, the Spirit. Sometimes the way it sounds is that God gives something else, the Spirit, but the Spirit is God and God is the Spirit, of course, the Spirit is not the Father or the Son, but is God. Nevertheless, we can have the unlimited power of the Spirit in our lives. All we have to do is accept, just like we accept Jesus. Because we accept Jesus whom the Father has placed everything in his hands, which means Jesus is Lord, we have eternal life. Those who reject him will not see life, but instead the wrath of God. The question which seems to spring from that idea is what does accept and reject mean. It would seem in simple terms, if we acknowledge that Jesus is God, and accept what he did in the cross for the forgiveness of our sin, then we are saved and have eternal life. One would have to completely reject all of the scripture seeing Jesus as just a man, maybe a prophet, but just a man. That is rejecting the whole idea that Jesus is divine and was crucified for our sin, was buried and was resurrected and ascended back into heaven. Because we accept all that on faith, because we have not seen it, but have the testimony of the word, we have eternal life. Although we still fail, still sin, it does not mean by failing, by committing a sin, that we reject Jesus. It simply means we are but mere men, people, imperfect, weak and need a Savior. The difference between us and them is that when we sin, we feel remorse and the need to repent and seek forgiveness from God. They, rejecting Jesus, do no feeling remorse nor seek the forgiveness of God. Why someone would not want life and accept death is beyond our understanding. Nevertheless, we rejoice in our life, our life eternal, because we believe in the one from above.