Believe it or Not

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

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

Having considered the Spirit who was given unlimited, and all that meant, we also need to ponder on this last statement about the Father placing everything in the hands of Jesus. This is somewhat like an earthly father bequeathing all his earthly possessions to his one and only son, or giving his son all of his inheritance, much like the parable Jesus taught about the prodigal son. God has given Jesus all there is, the whole of the universe, everything that exists is now in the hands of Jesus. That means we are in the hands of Jesus, our future lies in his hands. He can do whatever he desires with everything and everyone. However, Jesus has already done everything when he went to the cross. Because we believe in Jesus, in what he did on that cross, and that he is now sitting at the place of honor at the right hand of the Father, we have eternal life. It is a good thing that all we have to do is believe in order to have this eternal life. If it depended on anything we do or not do, we would be in serious trouble and would never ever qualify for eternal life. Sure, we need to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. We get that, and there are attitudes and behaviors that need to change so that we are pleasing him, but those are not qualifiers for eternal life. It is by faith we are saved, believing in Jesus, and there is nothing else, which we are grateful for, to say the least. One problem we should be cognizant of is regarding those poor souls who have rejected Jesus.  They have a problem whether they know it or not. They only do not have eternal life, but they are going to experience the wrath of God. If we know one thing for certain is that God is just, from which we get the whole idea of justice. It is really simple, believe and live, refuse to believe and die. Perhaps the more correct way to phrase that is, believe and have life, refuse to believe and do not have life. There are all sorts of ideas or theological positions regarding what happens to those who remain under the wrath of God. We do know from the parable of Lazarus and the rich man there are two destinations that are separated by a great chasm. Lazarus, who represents the believer goes to the bosom of Abraham, actually, Jesus said that he died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died, but he was buried in hell or hades where he was in torment. It is interesting that Jesus did not say Lazarus was buried. However, this parable of Jesus demonstrates the justice of God. It is up to each person to decide if they are like Lazarus or the rich man. God gives us the freedom to choose our own destination, but once we choose and if that choice remains intact at the moment of our death, our fate is sealed, justice will prevail. Now as to the final destinations of both, there still is some concern, as those who go to heaven will evidentially end up in the new city of Jerusalem on the new earth under the new heaven, while those in hades will be cast into the burning lake of sulfur along with hades itself. Nevertheless, it still comes down to believe in him or not. Believe the Bible or not. Believe God or not. It is sort of like Ripples believe it or not, but the facts are right there, the proof is right before our eyes, so we believe.