Believes

Lesson #45

Today our lesson will cover the next word in our collection of eight words, the word believes. We are looking at the section made up of John 3:16 – 18, which contain the famous verse “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). What do we need to understand about believes? Before we consider that please listen to the audio bite 28:26 to 37:55.

Whoever believes implies a separation of people into two groups; those who believe and those who do not. Those who believe in Jesus will not be condemned and will have eternal life. Those who don’t believe are already condemned and will perish.

To believe is to embrace something as true, but how do you determine if it is true? You consider its source. In our case it is Jesus who later claims to be the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). In our last lesson we determined that Jesus was the eternal word. To trust the truth in this case is to trust him to be whom he says he is and to do what he says.

In lesson #43 we noticed that “God gave” was equivalent to “God sent.” From John 1:11 – 12, we find that receive is equivalent to believe: “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (ESV). To believe in Jesus means we receive him and embrace him and what he says.

If believe means we receive then what are we receiving? There are many verses we could look at to answer this, but let us look at just one. In John 6:35, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty” (NET). Food and drink are necessary for physical life and from this verse we see that Jesus is necessary for spiritual life. To receive him is to come to the source of life to receive what is needed for life.

Prayer

Father, what treasure there is in the Word. It is indeed the source of life. As I come and feast upon him my soul is satisfied and I find such joy and peace. Lord, draw me more deeply into yourself that I would be prepared to enjoy eternity to its fullest.