Response to Romans Road

Response from friend:

This will be something new for me, and I am looking forward to learning more!

After I have followed you these days for various lessons, I am much quiet in my heart now, I believe the existence of God, understand the relationship between us, know much of the God's mighty power,...although I could not so far ask Him to reveal all these in front of me.

The only thing that confused me too much now is the contradiction between the spiritual world and the reality, and I need to learn more about this, when accessing the website you provided to me the other day for a small learning once a week.

Sometimes, I have confused myself with understanding of natural science and feeling of the spiritual world. Like the fire Mike faced recently, I know Mike is a great religious guy, but he still has to suffer the fire accident and has to live in his aunt's house. Something like fire, car accident, frauds, sickness, earthquake etc. etc. you face in reality, will never leave you alone and stop to hurt you , even if you pray, you trust and you believe that the God will come and help you!

....this is the reason why I was thinking the other day that I may give up my current job and walk away from my daily chaos, then to go to some quiet place or church or religious academy to focus or concentrate on learning, thinking of the God, praying God, etc.

Do you have any place or people who can help to find me a place to start my religious belief, without thinking of making money making a life or supporting a family at all?

Response back to friend:

[Name], I was somewhat surprised and a bit concerned by your email. Please promise me you will not make any quick decisions about your job until a better understanding of what I have been writing about is obtained. I will continue to pray about your stress at work and also for your understanding of spiritual reality. I would like to focus on the area of concern in your email about bad things happening to people who become Christians that causes them to suffer. This is a common question asked by people who have experienced comfort in life because of their relative wealth. They feel that when making a commitment to God that he should protect them from harm and provide a comfortable life for them. I will try to bring this into focus for you and show that this is not what the Bible teaches.

Begin with Jesus Christ who was sent to earth by God the Father to live a perfect life for the purpose of dying on the cross in payment of our sin so that we could experience forgiveness and receive eternal life. Jesus suffered and died to purchase our salvation. Just as sinful men caused Jesus to suffer and die they probably will cause his followers to experience the same. In many countries throughout the world Christians are dying for their faith. By the blood of Jesus we gained our salvation and in many ways it is by our blood that the church is growing. Here in America where we do not suffer for our faith the church is dying and not having a positive influence on our culture. In countries where Christians are suffering you also find amazing growth in Christianity. Through persecution and suffering in the house church movement in China, Christianity is rapidly expanding.

Another aspect of suffering comes from the effects of sin on our environment and on us as people. God told us in the beginning not to eat the fruit from the tree of good and evil. If we did we would experience evil and the many effects of dying. Out of this curse of sin comes all kinds of natural disasters, famines, sickness, accidents, fires like Mike experienced, trials in our lives, etc. In regard to our suffering the apostle Paul says, “For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18 NET). God uses trials and suffering we experience to conform us into the image of his Son.

Since I have started the series on the Romans Road I need to continue with it, but I think a series on suffering and its importance in the life of a Christian should be the following series.

The Romans Road

[Name], I would like to share another short series of lessons to provide you with some more spiritual insight. This series of lesson is referred to by many as The Romans Road. It is made up with a series of Bible verses, from the book of Romans, which lays out the plan of salvation. There are essentially five parts to the Romans Road that we will define with five questions to be answered in future lessons.

First, who needs salvation? We need to understand that mankind is desperately sick and unless help is provided the outcome is going to be fatal. Where did this sickness come from and does it affect everyone?

Second, why do we need salvation? Our sickness is so bad that without help from God we will not survive.

Third, how does God provide this needed salvation? Does God have a strict procedure he follows when providing salvation?

Four, how do we receive this needed salvation? Is there something we have to do to be ready to receive salvation?

Five, once we receive salvation what can we expect the results to be? What changes take place when we receive salvation and does God expect anything from us in return?

I am looking forward to these lessons because I think we will learn much from them.

A Gift not Works

[Name], just a few more comments on your emails to me. It seems to me that you think what I am writing about is a choice between material satisfaction and spiritual satisfaction or certain activities you might engage in. It really is not about what you do but what you allow God to do. At the fork in the road at the point when you really realize and understand, then some amazing things happen and they all happen at the same instant. God the Father causes you to be “born again to a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3), Jesus Christ gives you eternal life (John 17:2), and “the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16). When this happens one becomes a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17) who is spiritually alive causing old things to pass away and new things to come. This new creature has the mind of Christ to think with and the resources of God to draw upon from within. God becomes your source of strength, understanding, and wisdom that empowers your life. 

[Name], I am talking about life that is connected to God through his Spirit who provides for you needs. This is not about choosing to think or act in a certain way. This is about overcoming darkness and death through Jesus Christ and allowing him to replace it with light and life. I am suggesting that you sincerely ask God to give you an understanding in this.

My Response

[My Friend], there is a place up ahead where we can sit and rest for a while and talk about what we have covered so far.

First, we looked at the person known as Jesus Christ. We considered how unique he was as a man as he walked among us. We considered, as the Bible declares, that he was the Son of God who came and lived in a body of flesh as a man. He was fully God and fully man. We considered his creative powers, several of his miracles, and the seven claims he made about himself. As the author of life he claimed to be the only source of spiritual life. He declared his ability to overcome death, to satisfy God’s judgment against our guilt of sin, and provide us with eternal life.

Second, we considered that all men are physically born spiritually dead and unless they are born spiritually they will enter eternal destruction at physical death. This spiritual life is not simply a decision to live according to some spiritual rules, but requires one to humbly bow in submission to the authority of God and accept from Jesus Christ the gift of eternal life and be born again. This is not simply a decision of the mind to walk according to some external spiritual rules. It is something that God causes to happen deep within our heart. It is a compelling desire to make the decision for Jesus Christ even if in doing so it means sure physical death as it does for so many in various parts of the world today.

Third, I asked you to begin to talk with God as a measure of your spiritual relationship. If God is at work in your heart there will be a growing desire, even against your physical will, to want to ask God to help you understand spiritual things. The proud will resist and push on in their own strength until one day they are broken. That may take place in many different ways. You are beginning to sense that unless something changes you may be facing something that will break you. If a person is willing to be humble, even if it means asking God to help, then that person begins to connect with God and with spiritual life. The point of spiritual birth raises one up as a new man, a spiritual being, who possesses strengths, abilities, and wisdom to deal with the problems that are burdening the proud person in an attempt to crush him.

““God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God . . . Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:6 – 7 ESV). Humility is the key, but we would rather remain proud. What do you think?

More on your email later.

Evaluation

The following email I received from my friend, after sending him the lesson on “True Believers”, will mean much more to those who have been following my blog entries on this. My friend wrote:

As you know that I have committed myself too much in the past years, it is very hard for me to choose and suddenly stay away from my normal life, in the pursuit of spiritual satisfaction.  

I have tried to ask the Lord to reveal what I learnt from you these days is real and true, but I have not got it yet.

But what I need to do next?

I have been wondering what need to do, what I need to change now, as I have been trying to look after a company, to look after the people, leading them and training them, showing them the right way to a better life.

I am a little puzzled with myself. What is my spiritual life like, as we talked about the spiritual life frequently?

I may need to leave my real life job and routine a while every year, to stay with some kind of religious people or mentors to lead me to the right direction, to choose the narrow gate as discussed. I am confusing myself now!

The approach I am taking with my friend is definitely not the approach I would have taken eleven years ago when I first went to China. Then I would have pressured him into a decision to accept Christ. I did this with two other Chinese and after several weeks they both prayed to receive Christ, but as I spent time with them I didn't see any change in their lives. Several years later my path crossed with one of them and as we had lunch together we talked about that supposed day of conversion. I was informed that they both prayed to remove any further pressure from me.

Sometime later a westerner visited my Chinese Bible study and tried to lead one of my unsaved Chinese students to Christ and in the process completely drove that student away from Christianity. From my own experience and this one I realized that we in the west are trained to get a decision not to understand that conversion occurs when God the Father is ready and causes one to be born again (1 Peter 1:3), not when we get one to pray. This understanding has caused me, especially in a foreign pagan culture, to simply talk about who Jesus is and lay the ground work for spiritual life. My students in coffee shop conversations have thanked me for doing this because it gave them an opportunity to ask questions and have conversation without fearing pressure from me. This is what I am doing with my friend. I am trying to show him the uniqueness of Jesus and at the same time determine if God is at work forming any spiritual insight in him.

How do you evaluate my friend spiritual understanding and awareness based on his email? I am working on a response for tomorrow, but I need more time for prayer.

Spiritual Awareness

I received an email back from my friend in China after he read the lesson titled, “What Happens at the Fork.” I asked my friend, as I have asked others along the way, to speak to God and ask him to show my friend in some way that God existed and that these lessons contain truth. He wrote and said, “What are you suggesting me to do now, please? How can I do it?” The great difficulty at this point is to understand that salvation is not a choice, as my friend thinks, between “material satisfaction and spiritual satisfaction”, but is totally related to the surrender of one’s will. It is difficult for many of us to understand and accept the fact that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Let’s keep this thought in mind and work on a lesson for my friend.

What follows is the lesson I will send to my friend.

[Name], in answer to your email from the lesson “What Happens at the Fork” I want to quote what Jesus said to a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Jesus said, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above’” (John 3:5 – 7 NET). Paul tells us that we are “not [to] be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NET). We renew our mind by putting truth from the word of God into it. Jesus is truth, he is the Word of God so as we put truth in our minds we develop the “mind of Christ” in us (1 Corinthians 2:16). This “mind of Christ” cannot exist in a body only of flesh. It requires spiritual life. Being born of the Spirit means we are a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). Being born again creates a spiritual creature with the mind of Christ which can mature as we feed it with truth from the Word of God. It is with this mind that we can understand spiritual things contained in the Bible that lead to making wise decisions while on earth and preparations for eternal life with God.

[Name], what I am asking you to do is to begin a conversation with God, called prayer, asking him to give you understanding about the things I wrote about above. Are you able to begin to humble yourself before him, explaining to him that you don’t understand spiritual things and that you want him to begin to give you spiritual insight. This is not about a decision between material satisfaction and spiritual satisfaction, it is about a willingness to see a need you have and seek help from God. That need is about spiritual awareness and asking God to reveal it to you. In previous lessons I have been trying to construct a case for the uniqueness of Christ and why we can trust him to take us through death into eternal life.

The Fork in the pathway is where spiritual life happens. It is not where we simply make a decision in the physical realm. It is where we become overwhelmed with the need to accept the gift of eternal life from Jesus Christ. That is what I am asking you to have conversation with God about.

True Believers

[Name], in a previous email to me you mentioned trying to decide between material satisfaction and spiritual satisfaction. Neither of these are the correct choice. The real choice is about authority. The choice is between self and God. In the beginning God gave Adam a choice. Do not eat the fruit and live or if you choose your will and eat the fruit then you will die. We know what choice Adam made because death is occurring all around us all the time.

We have a similar choice to make today at the fork in the pathway. Will we choose God and submit to his authority and live or will we choose to live the way we want according to our will and experience eternal death? The fork in the road is about surrender and submission and there we find life and freedom plus so much more it will take many lessons to elaborate. From over 60 years of walking with the Lord I can testify that God has our best interest at heart. He has taken me through some very difficult times preparing me for some opportunities I never dreamed I would experience. Teaching Bible in China was way beyond anything I could imagine. And who would believe I would live with a Chinese family over a four year period. God sure gave meaning and value to my life and to think I will be able to enjoy him and his kindness forever. I believe that is worth dying for as many in the world are now doing.

What Happens at the Fork

I received an email back from my friend after sending him the lesson “The Fork in the Road” sharing how he was feeling. He wrote, “Yes, I am with you and I am wandering over the fork, not sure about which way I need to choose to go ahead! Whether material satisfaction or spiritual satisfaction, very confusing now! I need your assistance to show me, to lead me as my mentor.”

I felt a heavy burden to pray this morning for my friend and then after breakfast I checked my emails and found his reply. More prayer was needed before I could write this lesson. What was on the Lord’s heart? What words did he have for me that my friend needed to hear that would be used by the Holy Spirit to edge him further toward spiritual birth? Would you like to join me in this process of writing these lessons with your prayers?

What follows is the lesson I will send to my friend.

[Name], thank you for sharing your heart with me. Many people struggle at this point. It is like a pregnant woman who has just started birth pangs. For some woman the baby comes quickly, but for others it can be long and hard labor. So it is making a decision for Jesus Christ because it involves a birth. In a previous lesson we saw in John 17:2 that God the Father gives as a gift to his Son those who will believe. To those the Son receives, he will give eternal life to. There are at least three things that happen simultaneously at this point. Eternal life is given, the person believes in his heart, and the Father causes the person to be born spiritually resulting in a new creation being formed within you. The fork in the pathway is not a decision of just the mind, it is a decision that compels you from deep within where that new creature is about to be born. Many people make a decision during the emotion of the moment, but it is only a false decision because the Father didn’t cause the birth to happen and after a while the person realizes that nothing really changed. Your struggle may intensify before you know its time, but you will know.

I am going to ask you to do something that I have asked others in your condition to do. Some were willing with positive results, but others found it to be an impossible request and eventually they requested no further conversation about spiritual matters. When a person reaches the point where you are I ask them to ask the Lord to reveal to them, in some way, that this is real. I find that if a person can’t humble themselves to ask God a question then they will not be ready and will be unwilling to ask forgiveness for their sin and to surrender to his authority over their lives. This is not just about information. This is about a person. Based on information you can choose a religion, but you will still be dead in your sin. It is not just information about God in the person of Jesus Christ. It is coming to the point of knowing him as a person that is not only your best friend but also Lord of your life.

Many people make a decision and believe they are truly a Christian, but they are not. Jesus makes this clear in Matthew 7:21 - 23. Unfortunately these people end up going through the wide gate that leads to destruction. The only ones that can go through the narrow gate are the ones in which spiritual birth produced the eternal creature which lives within.

Approaching the Pathway Fork

Every person born on earth enters the main pathway some distance before they come to the fork. As one travels along the path each person’s future is determined by what is learned and experienced along the way. During this travel time most people are absorbed with themselves and their relationship to the world around them. They press forward, living one day at a time, passing through the wide gate with little interest in the narrow gate. For others something seems to stir deep within them along the way, like a mother who becomes pregnant. At first she doesn’t know she is but there is a growing sense that inside her something is different. It seems that everyone who eventually believes has this experience that continues to grow and requires more and more consideration. It appears like a person becomes spiritually pregnant along the way and is given the opportunity to taste of the heavenly gift of life God has for them. If these people continue on to the fork in the pathway something powerfully happens to cause some to turn down the narrow path even if it means almost certain physical death or some other great cost. Maybe it is possible for some to have tasted the heavenly gift and turn down the wide path to destruction. Once passage through the wide gate occurs there is no turning back because the path, like the narrow path, is one way. It is either on to destruction apart from God or on to life with God.

This was my experience. This interest and struggle inside over spiritual things continued to the point where I realized the sinful person I was in the sight of God and desired to accept the gift of life. That was truly a transforming experience for me and changed my whole direction of life, preparing me to invest time in Bible teaching both here and in Asia. Once I passed through the narrow gate life took on a very different meaning and how I dealt with problems in life. Where do you think you are on the pathway of life I have described? Why do you think that?

The Fork in the Road

[Name], imagine that you and many others are walking down the pathway of life and you come to a fork in the path. The path to the left has a wide gate with many attractions seen up ahead, but the path to the right has a narrow gate with a sign posted saying, “This Way to Life”. Which way should you go? Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13 – 14 ESV).

Imagine that at each pathway at the fork there is a sign describing the kind of wisdom you will encounter as you travel down that particular path. At the wide path the sign says, “Wisdom of the World” and in small print is a warning that states, “You may experience bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart. You may experience earthly, nonspiritual and demonic thoughts. You may experience disorder and evil practice along the way” (From James 3:14 – 16). At the narrow path the sign says, “Wisdom from God” and in small print it says, “The wisdom you will experience along this path is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (From James 3:17). [Name], how do you think going down each of these pathways might relate to what you are struggling with in your life?

 [Name], you are currently traveling along the path leading up to the fork in the road. Because of my love for you as a friend, I desire to do all that I can to help you make the right decision at the fork. I believe the advice you are seeking from me will be found along the narrow pathway. It is also the pathway that leads to eternal life.

We will consider this further in our next lesson.

I Am the True Vine

The seventh and last I AM Jesus claimed for himself is “I AM the true vine” (John 15:1). As we read on in John 15, Jesus tells us more by saying, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” (John 15:5 – 6 ESV). This is indeed a heavy statement with several things we need to look at.

Jesus shares this claim using an example of agriculture. He was probably walking by a vineyard with his disciples and uses the grapevine to illustrate that he is the source of life that sustains our life and allows us to produce fruit. Jesus points to the vine, the source of life for the attached branches. He draws the analogy of him being the vine and we who believe as the attached branches. If the branch is not attached to the vine it will not have life in it and will be gathered up and thrown into the fire to be burned. Jesus is saying that if we do not abide in him to draw life from him then we are dead and will be thrown, like a dead branch, into the burning fire of hell for ever.

Jesus also makes it clear that if we do not abide in him and draw life from him we will be unable to produce fruit. Examples of this fruit is found in Galatians 5 and is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Galatians 5:22 – 23 ESV). This kind of fruit is possible even when a believer is being persecuted. This life from Jesus provides a person with the ability to love the one that is torturing you, to experience joy in the midst of trials, and to show kindness when being mistreated.

What an awesome person Jesus is and the provision he has for those who come to him in belief is amazing. We have learned much about Jesus from these seven I AM claims but there is much more to learn.

A Good Question

[Name], your question of how these lessons relate to you and your current life is a good one and comes at a very good time in our study. However, I am afraid your question does not have a simple answer. I will attempt to answer it, but initially it may not be what you are looking for. There are two realms or two dimensions associated with your question and how it can be answered. There is wisdom from the world and there is wisdom from God. There is the realm of flesh and there is the realm of the spirit. There is the realm of darkness and the realm of light. There is the realm of death and the realm of life. In the first dimension we have world, flesh, darkness, and death. In the second dimension we have God, spirit, light, and life. Having lived and walked with God for over 60 years I know that an attempt to help you with the difficulties you are facing in life from the first dimension would not accomplish very much. I know the answer you need to satisfy the turmoil you have inside must come from the second dimension.

The lessons I have written so far is an attempt to provide you with some background needed to understand how to enter that spiritual dimension which has the power to satisfy. I have one more lesson prepared on the “I AM series” I was doing. I will send that tomorrow and then I will take some time and focus on your question and will indicate how the lessons provided fit in.

I Am the Life

In this lesson we will look at the third part of the sixth I AM in which Jesus claims to be the source of Life. In John 17 we find Jesus praying, saying, “^1b Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, ² since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him” (John 17:1b – 2 ESV). In verse two we find three gifts that are given. First, the Father has given authority over all flesh to the Son. Second, the Father selects people (1 Peter 1:1 – 2)* and gives them to his Son. Third, the Son gives eternal life to those given to him by the Father. If the Son can give eternal life to those people given to him by the Father then he is the source of eternal life. Since Jesus is the Son of God his claim then would be true.

At this point in our study this lesson is difficult and what I am going to say now will become clearer in later lessons. When a person comes to Jesus Christ in belief several things happen in the same instant of time. The Father causes the person to be born again, Jesus gives eternal life to the person, and the person accepts the gift of eternal life through faith. We will learn later that at this time our enslavement to sin is broken and we are seen as righteous in the sight of God. As a person learns about salvation and experiences it through daily living he or she comes to understand what an amazing thing God has provided for those who believe.

Jesus is the way, the only way, to the Father. As creator Jesus is the source of truth. Since Jesus has always existed as the Son of God and spoke life into the universe, he is the only source of life.

We have one more I AM to look at and we will do that is the next lesson.

* “To those who reside as aliens . . .  who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit” (NASB).

I Am the Truth

In this lesson we will look at the second part of the sixth I AM in which Jesus claims to be the source of truth. Consider first that “by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities” (Colossians 1:16 ESV). Considering all the scientific research being done and the discoveries that are being made, we have evidence of a highly intelligent design. The source of all scientific truth that has been found and that is yet to be found is in him. Jesus is defined as the Word who spoke everything into existence. Through chosen people influence by the Spirit of God the Bible was written and has remained relevant over the centuries and after a lifetime of study its depths have never been reached by anyone. As the source of this amazingly vast and complex universe with internal information packed in such small places like the DNA code, Jesus can clearly claim to be the Truth.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 NET). A study of the life of Jesus reveals that his life demonstrated the above verse. He is the source and he came to live it out before us to show us that he is the way to the truth and what he has to say is true.

We will consider his claim of being the Life next time.

I Am the Way

The sixth I AM Jesus claimed for himself is “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). This I AM has three distinct parts we will look at in three separate lessons. In this lesson we will consider his claim that he is “the way” not “a way.” In Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 we read, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way that leads to death” (NET). There appears to be just two ways we need to consider. First, there is the way with Jesus and second, there is a way that people apart from Jesus think is the right way. Paul speaks of these two ways in his letter to the Ephesians.

Paul tells us, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8 – 9 NET). The two ways are either as a gift given by God or it is an attempt to accomplish enough good works. As humans we are taught by the world system that reward comes from hard work and/or great accomplishments. We thus think if we work hard enough and do enough good work then God will reward us with entrance into his heaven. The problem is we are spiritually dead and we need spiritual life and Jesus has that and is willing to give it to those who come to him. The way is not by what we can accomplish, but through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Our pride drives us to work to prove ourselves, but all that is needed is for us to humble ourselves before Jesus and accept his gift of life.

We will consider his claim of being the Truth next time.

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

The fifth I AM Jesus claimed for himself is, “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25). Jesus made this claim when he was talking to Martha about Lazarus, who had just recently died. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world” (John 11:25 – 27 ESV).

Jesus is making two very strong claims. First, he is claiming to have the power to raise a person from the dead. Several times he demonstrated this while alive on earth. After his death on the cross he had the power to rise from the dead three days later proving that he has the power to raise us, who believe in him, from the dead at the end of our time on earth. Secondly, Jesus is claiming to be the source of eternal life. When we come to Jesus we are spiritually dead, but by believing he is the Son of God who died on the cross in our place, he will give to us the gift of eternal spiritual life. When we die physically, we still have eternal life and will simply wake up in the next life. This Jesus who has the power to calm a mighty storm and a churning sea is also able to give to those who believe and come to him, spiritual life.

He asked Martha if she believed what he was telling her. That is a question each one of us must answer. If we ignore the question or say no then we are left in our sin and remain spiritually dead. Now is the time to come to grips with what Jesus is saying because no one knows how much longer we have to live.

I Am the Good Shepherd

The fourth I AM that Jesus claimed of himself is “I am the good shepherd.” This is also found in John 10: “¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:11, 14 – 15 ESV).

In Mark 10:17 - 18 the rich young ruler called Jesus a “good teacher” but Jesus stopped him and asked him “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God.” Applying this definition to “good shepherd” implies Jesus saying that he is God the shepherd, the one who will guide, protect and nurture his flock. He is the one who will lay down his life for his sheep. Jesus lived to die in our place and then by the power of God he rose from the dead so that we “who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 1:1 – 2) can be given eternal life by the Son (John 17:2). Those chosen and given eternal life are his flock that Jesus shepherds. They are his and he knows them and they know him, just as the Father knows Jesus and Jesus knows the Father.

In John 17 we find Jesus praying not for the world but for those whom the Father has given to him. While we are in the world he will guard us and will not lose one of us. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil because Jesus our shepherd is with us (Psalm 23:4). Even if we face physical death, as many in the world do for their faith, he will deliver us safely to the realm of eternal life.

I Am the Door

The third I AM that Jesus claimed of himself is “I am the door.” This is found in John 10: “⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:7 – 9 ESV). Considering the ancient culture of the time we understand believers to be sheep that are cared for by Jesus our Shepherd. The door is the entrance to the area where the sheep are kept when not out to pasture.

Sheep are most helpless with little instinct and are incapable of finding their way home if they get separated from the flock. Sheep are dependent on the shepherd to protect and lead them. This is seen in the 23^rd Psalm where we read, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters” (Psalm 23:1 – 2 ESV). In the next lesson we will focus on the meaning of shepherd, but here we are considering Jesus as the door.

At night when the sheep are brought into a protected area the shepherd would lay down across the doorway to keep the sheep in and predators out. The world is full of predators whose intent is to destroy us. This is very clear when we look at the treatment of believers in many parts of the world. Physically, believers may suffer and die for their faith, but spiritually, Jesus is making the promise that as the door nothing can separate us from him and harm us. We are secure with him.

I Am the Light of the World

The second I AM that Jesus claimed of himself is “I am the Light of the world.” This is found in John 8:12: “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’” (ESV). This verse has three parts that we will look at. The first is the claim that he is “the light of the world”. This does not refer to physical light. It refers to spiritual light that overcomes spiritual darkness caused by death due to sin. It is the light produced by spiritual life he gives to those who believe in him and walk with him in obedience.

The second is “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness.” What is this darkness? I believe we can obtain a good idea from the following verses: “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:19 – 21 ESV). Darkness is associated with evil works or evil things. Darkness is also used to describe the domain of those who do not have eternal life. Paul tells us that “He [God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13 – 14 ESV).

The third is “the light of life”. As long as a flame has fuel and oxygen it will burn brightly, but as the fuel is consumed the flame burns lower and gives off less light. Jesus is implying that he is the source of life that produces light. As long as we abide in Jesus we draw life from him and that life produces light within our souls. Coming to Jesus we are transferred from the domain of darkness and death to the kingdom of light and life. What a difference there is when Jesus turns the lights on in our soul.

I Am the Bread of Life

In the book of John, Jesus uses the phrase “I AM” in seven declarations about himself. Each I AM is linked to a metaphor which describes an aspect of his saving relationship toward the world. In this lesson we will look at the first. "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst'” (John 6:35 ESV).

Remember, in a previous lesson when Jesus multiplied a very small quantity of bread and fish to feed a great multitude. He is now expanding this into the spiritual realm by referring to himself as the bread of life. Jesus is claiming to be spiritual bread that brings eternal life to whoever comes to him. To benefit from this spiritual bread one must “come” to him and “believe” in him. To come to him implies turning away from something and moving toward him. Turning away may mean giving up some things and it also may involve a cost. There are many examples of people losing jobs, homes, families, and even their lives when coming by faith to embrace Jesus. Living out ones faith is some parts of the world can be very costly and dangerous.

“Hunger” and “thirst” is a reference to righteousness. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6 ESV). Before turning and going to the bread of life we were slaves of sin because we were born with a sin nature, but once spiritual life begins to form within us it produces a hunger and a thirst for living in righteousness. As the bread of life, Jesus makes us righteous in the sight of God. Righteousness is not something we can earn to satisfy God, but is given to us by Jesus when we come to him in belief.

The phrase “I AM” is a reference to the name of God used in the book of Exodus. By using it Jesus is making a claim to deity.

Miracles of Jesus

In the four Gospels we find 37 recorded miracles. A list of those miracles and where they are found can be seen using this link. Jesus performed these miracles to demonstrate his divine nature and to open the hearts of people to the message of salvation that he was preparing the way for. Besides these miracles the closing verse of John’s Gospel reveals that he did much more: “There are many other things that Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25 NET).

We have much more to look at also. See you at the next lesson.

Lazarus Raised from the Dead

John 11:1 – 44 describes the event related to the death of Lazarus, who was the brother of Martha and Mary. Lazarus had become ill and died before Jesus arrived to possibly heal him. When Jesus finally did arrived he first had conversation with Martha. Martha said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21 ESV). But Jesus had a plan and talked to Martha about the resurrection, explaining that after a believer dies he will be raised to life again. Jesus then explains that he has the power to do that by telling her: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25 – 26 ESV). Jesus is making it clear that he has the power to give eternal life to believers and for those who do believe he will raise them us to everlasting life after their physical death.

Jesus then had conversation with Mary and after that they all went to the tomb where they had laid Lazarus. The tomb was a cave with a stone placed against the entrance. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Raising Lazarus from the dead and connecting it to the resurrection at the end of life planted the thought in the minds of people that he has the power to raise believers from the dead after their time on earth. In a future lesson we will see that Jesus himself will rise from the dead after dying on the cross. His resurrection provides evidence that we will also be raised from the dead.

Hungry People

In this lesson we will consider what happens when at the end of a day Jesus and the disciples have over 5000 hungry people before them. The disciples want Jesus to send them away to get something to eat, but instead Jesus asked about the available food among the people. Only five loaves of bread and two fish were found. Here is the report of what happened next: ¹⁸ And he [Jesus] said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Here is a very small picture of the creative power of Jesus, but it an example of his ability to expand elements of his original creation by providing additional food from spoken words to more than satisfy the multitude of people. In the next lesson we will look at another miracle.

The Storm

The Son of God spoke everything into existence and then entered into his universe by coming to earth through a virgin birth. While on earth he demonstrated who he was in some interesting ways. One of those ways was by performing miracles. One of those was the calming of the storm:  ²³ And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.²⁴ And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:23 – 27 ESV).

What person living on earth or who has ever lived, except Jesus, was or is able to stand in the face of a storm and speak words and have it become completely still? The one who designed and put into place the ability to have storms would also have the ability to speak words and have them stop immediately. Consider the power to stop the storm and to calm the rough sea. At first the men were afraid because of the storm, but Mark records that they “became very much afraid” (Mark 4:41) because of one who has just demonstrated such great power. The men are now faced with trying to figure out who Jesus really is. They said to one another, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

If we are honest this is a question we all need to consider. Is this a true historical event? If not then the Bible is of little value and neither would life have any lasting value. We need to start thinking about what gives purpose to life to make it worth living. We will look at this in future lessons.

Jesus and Creation

Paul tells us more about Jesus, the Son of God, and his relation to creation. “¹⁶ For by him [the Son of God who we know as Jesus in the flesh] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16 – 17 ESV).

It is important that we understand what Paul is writing in those two verses. It is very difficult, maybe impossible apart from faith, to comprehend that the person Jesus has always existed as the Son of God and that by him everything that exist was spoken into existence. He spoke and galaxies of planets appeared and move in relationship to each other according to his intelligent design. This intelligent design is seen throughout creation. Consider the DNA code of animals and humans. Scientist are still learning from this very precise and complex code that defines the one in whose life it exists. In addition to creation Jesus, the Son of God, maintains control over the operation of his creation.

As the person of Jesus, he entered into his creation, as we saw in an earlier lesson, and will demonstrate his authority over it. We will begin to look at this in the next lesson.

Birth Requirements

“³⁰ So the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God! ³¹ Listen: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.’“ (Luke 1:30 – 31 NET). In the beginning God said, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Disobedience [sin] results in death. Spiritual death occurred at the first disobedience with physical death occurring sometime later in life. Unless spiritual life is somehow restored, physical death ends in a conscience state of eternal death, an existence apart from God. If, however, spiritual life could be restored then physical death would simple usher the person into an eternal existence with God. But how is spiritual life obtained?

Throughout the Old Testament of the Bible, God reveals how a life would have to be sacrificed to overcome death due to sin. This concept was introduced with animal sacrifices leading up to the need of a perfect man who would die in our place. Prophecies throughout the Old Testament point to a virgin birth with a human mother and God as the father. This would result in a child that was truly God but also truly man, except he would be spiritually alive. This child is known as Jesus, who lived a perfect life and then died on the cross as the perfect sacrifice to cover the penalty of our sin. The death of Jesus as the perfect sacrifice met the requirements of God’s law providing justice. This opened the way for God to show mercy to us as sinners and opened a way for us to seek forgiveness and thus be able to receive spiritual life through God’s grace.

This lesson provides a basic outline of the plan God had for making it possible for us to receive eternal life. Future lessons will expand upon this.

Disobedience

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:15 – 17 ESV). As we read ahead a few verses we learn that Adam and Eve did not obey God and ate of the fruit. Immediately they died spiritually, but God chose to delay physical death until later thus allowing time to reproduce and maintain a growing population of humans on the earth. God’s plan was for man to choose to walk with him in love enjoying life, but mankind now would walk alone, apart from God with hearts that were darkened because of the broken relationship with God. Without provision from God and with the knowledge of good and evil came a growing understanding of the violence, sickness, and suffering that was to follow. If God were to leave mankind in this condition they would continue to reproduce and die until some horrible disaster ended their time on earth.

To again have a personal relationship with God individuals would have to somehow obtain spiritual life again. Eating the forbidden fruit caused God to remove spiritual life from mankind. As a result only God can restore it through a plan he has that we will develop in future lessons.

The Word of Life

“¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ² the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us” (1 John 1:1 – 2 ESV).

In the last lesson we saw that the beginning is reference to the time of creation. We also saw that God’s Son was there and was involved with creation. We also made reference to the Son of God taking on flesh and becoming the person we know as Jesus Christ. In this lesson we will look at “that which was from the beginning” that the disciples lived with, the person of Jesus. Over a three year period they had conversation with him, watch how he lived his life, and frequently touched him in their daily life with him. They understood him to be the eternal “word of life” that was manifested in the flesh before them. Living with him they came to understand his eternal nature and learned that he was the only source of eternal life.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). Because of the Father’s great love for all of us, he asked his Son to enter into his creation as a man to teach us about eternal life and provide a way for us to obtain it as a free gift. This we will consider in future lessons.

In The Beginning

¹ “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1 – 3, 14 ESV). There are a number of interesting words we will look at in these verses. The first is “beginning”, the second is “Word”, the third is “him”, and the fourth one we will look at is “flesh”.

When was the “beginning” when the Word was with God? To answer that question we will go to the first verse found in the Bible. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 ESV). The beginning was the time when God created the heavens and the earth and if we look further in the Bible we find it includes all that exists.

At the time of creation the “Word” was with God, but the “Word” was also God. The “Word” is also described as “him” which describes a person. The Word is a person who is also God. The Word is also described as becoming “flesh”. We thus have God the Father, God the Son who is the Word. A little over 2000 years ago God the Son took on the flesh of a man and became the person we know as Jesus. Jesus as the Word is described as existing before creation and “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

Jesus of the New Testament has always existed as God’s Son, who created all that exists with God the Father. The Son of God took on a body of flesh, as Jesus, and lived a perfect life among us and then died on the cross. We will consider this further in our next lesson.

Introduction

[Name of friend], I would like to begin to send you a short thought from the Bible as often as I can work it into my schedule. I will keep it short and will include a verse from the Bible in each thought. I will write down the verse and then say something about it allowing you to think about it and respond to it if you have time and want to share a thought about it or have a question. I want to help you grow in your understanding of the Christian faith.

Today I want to begin by looking at two words: religion and relationship. Religion is a collection of external rules a group of people believe in and embrace. Each such collection of people and rules and beliefs is the basis of a religion. As a result there are many different Christian religions. Most of these people believe they will go to heaven when they die. A relationship is a connection between people. It exists at different levels. Since the true God is a person and not a thing we can then have a relationship with God.

Religion and relationship can be seen as two gates that open to the next life. “¹³ Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13 – 14 ESV). Religion is the wide gate and by obeying the rules one believes they can work their way into heaven, but that is the way to destruction. A personal relationship with God through the person of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is the narrow gate and leads to eternal life.

It is very important for us to understand who Jesus Christ is and how we can have a personal relationship with him. We will begin this conversation next time.

Introduction To Blog

Near the end of 2014 I received a phone call from a wonderful Chinese friend I met eight years ago in China. His phone call informed me of a difficult time he was experiencing and wanted some advice. We talked for some time and agreed to talk again in a few days. That next call provided an opportunity for me to share my faith with him and to an agreement that I would write to him on a regular basis to help him understand the Christian faith. I have been doing that with positive feedback from him.

During my devotions this morning I felt led to post what I am writing to him in a blog and connect that blog to Facebook. As I share my faith in my writings to him I will be praying that others will read what I write and maybe experience a benefit.