October
21, 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"
(John 12:49, 50, NKJV).
"I
know that His command is everlasting life!"
What a command! What a message! What a mission! God sent His
messenger, Jesus, into the world to communicate His purpose
for mankind. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph with
the message that his wife to be was pregnant with a child
conceived "of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth
a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save
His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:20, 21). John
recorded the words of Jesus, "God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life" (John 3:16). Jesus again said, "This
is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You
on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given
Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself,
with the glory which I had with You before the world was"
(John 17:3-5).
It was
Christ's mission to reveal to us the mind and the will of
God, that those who accepted His provision for salvation should
indeed have eternal life. Jesus stood just a few hours away
from His crucifixion."For this
purpose" He said, "I
came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name."
Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I
have both glorified it and will glorify it again"
(John 12:27, 28). "Only through the death of Christ could
Satan's kingdom be overthrown. Only thus could man be redeemed,
and God be glorified. Jesus consented to the agony, He accepted
the sacrifice. The Majesty of heaven consented to suffer as
the Sin Bearer... Christ's whole life, from the manger to
the time when these words were spoken, had glorified God;
and in the coming trial His divine-human sufferings would
indeed glorify His Father's name...
"The
voice of God had been heard at the baptism of Jesus at the
beginning of His ministry, and again at His transfiguration
on the mount. Now at the close of His ministry it was heard
for the third time, by a larger number of persons, and under
peculiar circumstances.. Now God again set His seal to the
mission of His Son.. It was the crowing evidence of His Messiahship,
the signal from the Father that Jesus had spoken the truth,
and was the Son of God" (Desire of Ages, pp., 624, 625).
Jesus
had just about finished His work on earth. He said, "Now
is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world
will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all peoples to Myself" (John 12:31,
32). This would be the defining moment on earth. Satan's hold
on the souls of men would be broken. The defaced image of
God would be restored to humanity. The family of believing
souls would finally inherit the kingdom of God. This is the
result of Christ's death. The love of God is manifested to
the universe. The accusations Satan has brought against God
are refuted. In Jesus Christ, we are reunited with the family
of heaven. In Jesus and in God we have "everlasting
life!" This is God's command! (John 12:50).
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