February
19, 2003
HIS
COMMAND IS EVERLASTING LIFE!
"I
have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent
Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should
speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore,
whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak"
(John 12:49, 50, NKJV).
Jesus
was appealing to the leaders of the Jewish nation. Although
He had done many signs and wonders before them, they did not
believe in Him. "Then Jesus cried out and said,
'He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who
sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come
as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should
not abide in darkness. And
if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge
him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the
world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has
that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge
him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority;
but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should
say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is
everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the
Father has told Me, so I speak' " (John 12:44-50).
In rejecting
the words of Jesus the Jews were rejecting God the Father,
whom they professed to worship. Of this Jesus attempted to
warn them. The same is true today when men refuse the words
of the messengers of heaven. They reject not only the messengers
but also the One who gave them their messages.
The Father's
command is that men should believe in Christ, whom He sent
into the world, "This is My beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" (Matthew
17:5). Only thus can we be saved. "Nor is there salvation
in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12), "And
this is His commandment; that we should believe on the name
of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another" (1 John
3:23).
Many
believe that salvation comes to them if they study and observe
the Bible. Many believe that their church affiliation may
save them. Jesus said, "You search
the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life;
and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing
to come to Me that you may have life" (John 5:39,
40).
Jesus
warned, and promised, that eternal life comes only through
knowing God and the Son whom He sent, "This
is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3).
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