“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5
A second reason why God allows suffering and pain is TO DISPLAY HIS PROMISE (John 9:4-5). Jesus continued His response to His disciples’ question about whose sin caused the man to be born blind, his parents or his own. “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4). The words, “I must,” reveal the sense of urgency Jesus possesses to do His Father’s work while it is “day” – the time to do God’s work. When Jesus says, “the night is coming when no one can work,” He is acknowledging that the opportunity to work ends as night arrives. For Christ, this would refer to His death, but for believers it can refer to physical death or the sudden removal of the Church at any time (cf. I Thess. 4:13-18). In either case, the opportunity to do God’s “works” is limited by time. Since Jesus’ ascension (Acts 1:9-11), God continues Jesus’ works through His body, the Church (John 14:12; 20:21; Acts 1:1ff; cf. Ephes. 1:22-23; 3:10).
Then Jesus says, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5).“As long as” Jesus is “in the world” He will manifest Himself as “the light of the world” by exposing sin and providing hope for healing and eternal life. As the Light of the world, Jesus would bring light to the one who had been in darkness from birth, both physically and spiritually.
God allows pain and suffering to display His promise of hope and eternal life through Jesus Christ. The world is full of examples of people with learning disabilities, broken relationships, illness, the fear of rejection, guilt, and shame that Jesus has turned into an opportunity to display His promise of hope and eternal life (John 1:4-5). Christ uses the limitations or afflictions of people to bring them to faith in Him.
One such person was a nineteen-year-old college student who aspired to be a professional football player. But after a knee injury during the fourth football game of his first year of college, he lost all hope of playing professional football. As he sank into a depression, he kept asking himself, “What is my purpose in life if I cannot play football? Why am I here?” A few months later, a professional football player named Archie Griffin came to his school to share a message of hope through Jesus Christ at an evening assembly. As this student listened to Archie talk about his personal relationship with Christ, God removed his spiritual blindness with the light of the gospel so that he believed in Jesus for everlasting life that evening. That student was yours truly. God used my football injury to prepare me to hear and believe Jesus’ promise of hope and everlasting life (John 3:16).
While serving the Lord in the Philippines for nearly six years, God enabled me to teach at a nearby provincial jail. One of the inmates who came to our weekly chapel service had a master’s degree in engineering. Since coming to faith in Christ, he is thankful for his incarceration because God used it to reveal the light of Jesus Christ to him. He told me he did not think he would have come to faith in Jesus if he had not been arrested. Even though he has more education than most Filipinos, his education could not give him spiritual sight. Only Jesus could do that and give him eternal life. Thank God for his arrest which provided the opportunity for him to learn this life-changing truth behind bars.
God uses pain and suffering to display His hope and promise of everlasting life to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. During this season of pandemic, social unrest, and political and economic hardship, God may be nudging you to draw near to Him. Are you overwhelmed with your circumstances and/or your pain? Come to Jesus Christ for everlasting relief.
Prayer: Precious Lord Jesus, I am so glad You approached the man born blind even though he was considered unclean by the religious community. No doubt that blind man heard many insensitive comments about the reason for his blindness. But You, Lord, showed Him compassion and gently restored his sight physically and spiritually. You truly are the Light of the world who brought hope to a man who had been in spiritual and physical darkness since birth. As the Light of the world You continue to expose sin and offer hope and everlasting life through Your promises today. Thank You for seeking me out when I was spiritually blind and without hope. Thank You for the pain that began my search for something more. Thank You for extending Your grace and forgiveness to me when I was still Your enemy. And thank You for the precious gift of everlasting life I received the moment I believed in You. My Lord and my God, please shine the light of Your love and grace into the hearts of people that are shrouded in darkness so they may experience Your everlasting hope and life. In Your name I pray. Amen.
In recent days I have spoken with people whom I greatly respect as mentors and dedicated followers of Christ who mentioned to me that they are anticipating another Great Spiritual Awakening in America and around the world. The impetus? The mistreatment of children.
One of the darkest expressions of human depravity today is found in human trafficking. According to the definition of the United Nations, human trafficking means, “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons for the purpose of exploitation.”1 Victims of human trafficking are exploited through different types of human slavery such as sex work, forced labor, or organ removal and selling.
According to The International Labour Organization, there are approximately 40.3 million victims of human trafficking globally.2 The Fox News Investigative Unit also confirms this, saying, “Every year more than 40 million people are forced into the world of human trafficking across the globe and it’s someone’s son or daughter that is trapped in this modern-day slavery.” 3 Of these millions of victims, 25 percent are children, 75 percent are female, and 81 percent are trapped in some form of forced labor. 4
The 24.9 million people exploited for forced labor includes those caught in one of the most common forms of trafficking: sex trafficking. 5 Women and girls are overwhelmingly affected by exploitation of this sort, making up 99 percent of victims in the commercial sex industry. 6 Sex trafficking alone generates an estimated $99 million per year. 7
While human trafficking affects victims of all ages, children are especially vulnerable. About one out of seven endangered runaways reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2017 were likely child sex trafficking victims. 8 Of the 15.4 million forced into marriage worldwide, 37 percent are children. 9
Human trafficking is also a serious problem in the USA.According to the Fox News Investigative Unit, America is among one of the worst nations for human trafficking along with Mexico and the Philippines. 10 Geoff Rogers, co-founder of the United States Institute Against Human Trafficking (USIAHT), said in an interview with Fox News, “We have a major issue here in the United States. The United States is the No. 1 consumer of sex worldwide. So we are driving the demand as a society…We do have men traveling the globe to go to places like Thailand and other places in East Asia to purchase sex with kids. But, in fact, the demand is so great that the supply has needed to be filled here in the United States.” Rogers also said that 50% to 60 % of these kids are coming out of the foster care industry in America. 11
According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, over 300,000 of America’s young population is considered at risk for sexual exploitation. It’s also estimated that 199,000 incidents occur within the U.S. each year. 12
According to DeliverFund’s website, in the USA, every 2.5 hours a child is taken by traffickers; every trafficked child is purchased for sex 5.4 times a day; 7 years is the average lifespan of a child victim once taken. 13
One teenage sex trafficking survivor known as “C” says, “Five men came in and it went from a Friday night to a Sunday morning — constantly. There was no sleep or break or anything it was just constantly being attacked by these men, and they kept giving me drugs and giving me liquor. And they just kept me hopped up.” 14
Sex trafficking is also connected to politicians in the USA as the more recent Jeffrey Epstein case has shown. 15 I wonder how many political candidates will address the pandemic of child trafficking along with the COVID pandemic as the November Presidential elections draw near?!!! This is not likely if they are also connected to this shameful industry.
The global pandemic of COVID-19 is causing an increase in isolation and human vulnerabilities that traffickers are eager to exploit. 16 “With many people stuck at home, stressed, or bored, pornography use has increased – Pornhub’s traffic shot up nearly 20 percent in late March. Sites like OnlyFans, a subscription-based social media platform used heavily by sex workers, have increasingly drawn unemployed people desperate for cash. OnlyFans saw a 75 percent increase in signups in March and April. Glamour magazine reported that up to 10,000 creators were joining OnlyFans daily during the month of May.” 17
Pornography has become an entryway for purchasing people for sex.18 Amanda Eckhardt, the executive director of Restore NYC, a faith-based nonprofit that works with immigrant survivors of sex trafficking, says, “It’s important for the church to know that beyond the shutdown and pandemic, there will likely be a whole new cohort of people who will increase beyond traditional pornography viewing to purchasing sex, which will intersect with the trafficking of women and girls.”19
I do not want to leave out the fact that childsexual abuse is also a problem in churches. Countless children have been sexually exploited by Catholic priests, nuns, and members of religious orders around the world. 20 Even among evangelical churches, there are young people being exploited sexually by their church leaders. 21 Regardless of culture or religion, the sexual exploitation of children is a very dark reality.
Let’s not forget the horrific treatment of unborn children worldwide. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 73 million abortions took place each year around the world between 2015 and 2019. 22 Since the legalization of abortion on demand in the USA, over 50 million unborn children have been torn apart in their mother’s womb through abortion procedures. 23
WHAT IS GOD’S RESPONSE TO THE MISTREATMENT OF CHILDREN?
Young children are very valuable to Jesus. They have a special place of love and respect from Him. Jesus said, “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10). Little children are very valuable to God as demonstrated by how close their guardian angels stand to the throne of God. Christ said, “It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matthew 18:14). God the Father does not want any little child to perish forever in hell.
We also see Jesus’ concern for little children in Matthew 19:13-15:“Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.” Jesus rebukes those who forbid little children from coming to Him. He says not to forbid little children from coming to Him because “the kingdom of heaven” is occupied by those who possess childlike faith in Jesus.
One of Jesus’ strongest statements against the mistreatment of children is seen in Matthew 18. “5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. 6 But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:5-6). To welcome children and serve them is to welcome and serve Jesus (18:5). So if you want fellowship with Jesus, you must treat children and those who are childlike with tender love and care. Otherwise, Jesus warns of the great danger of causing them to stumble. He says it would be better to drown in the depth of the sea with a heavy stone hung around your neck than to cause a child to get tripped up (18:6). I can think of nothing worse that exploiting children sexually! Those who do so without getting right with God, must face the wrath of Jesus Christ!
In the Old Testament when God’s people sacrificed their children to pagan gods, the Lord’s wrath was kindled against them. “36 They served their idols, which became a snare to them. 37 They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, 38 and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. 39 Thus they were defiled by their own works, and playedthe harlot by their own deeds. 40 Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people, so that He abhorred His own inheritance.” (Psalm 103:36-40; cf. Deuteronomy 18:10; 2 Kings 16:3; 17:17). What we are seeing in the world today with children being sacrificed on the altars of sexual exploitation and abortion is equally abhorrent to the Lord and invites His wrath.
The God of the Bible is holy and cannot be around our sin (Psalm 5:4; 66:18; Isaiah 59:2;Romans 3:23; 6:23). He hates sin (Psalm 45:7; Proverbs 6:16; Zechariah 8:17), but He does not hate sinners. God loves sinners and wants to save them from sin’s penalty (eternal death) and give them everlasting life. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). Christ died for us “while we were still sinners,” not saints. The idea that we must clean ourselves up and stop sinning before we come to Christ is not found in the Bible!
Jesus loved and died for all sinners including the pedophile, the child molester, sex traffickers, the abortionist, and the parents or grandparents who sell their children’s bodies to make money. No exceptions!!! God’s grace is greater and stronger than our sin through the blood of Jesus Christ! “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” (Romans 5:20). If Jesus’ blood can wash away the sin of all nations from all time in all of history (Hebrews 9:14; Revelation 1:5; 5:9; 12:11), certainly His blood can wash away the sin and shame of those who are caught up in human trafficking the moment they believe in Him for His gift of forgiveness and everlasting life (John 3:16; Acts 10:43; 16:31)!
WHAT IS OUR RESPONSE?
My prayer is that God will use the darkness of human trafficking to awaken the world for its need for the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ! All of us have sinned against God with our words, our thoughts, and our actions (Romans 3:23). All of us deserve to be separated from God forever because of our sins (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:15). In the sight of a holy God, the people who spend more time in a church or a mosque or a temple are no better than those who spend more time in human trafficking. We all have sinned against God.
How will we respond to the mistreatment of children worldwide? Will we try to justify our participation in these very dark practices by saying “everyone is doing it” or “no one has to know as long as I can keep it a secret”? Are we so desperate for money that we are willing to sacrifice the innocence of our children or grandchildren on the altar of human trafficking?
We may think that this does not apply to us because we do not participate in such atrocities. But are we any better than those who practice such evil as we turn the other way and pretend that such wickedness does not exist or perhaps we assume someone else will fix it? The Bible says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10). Sins of omission are just as evil in God’s sight as sins of commission.
The Bible says, “Deliver the poor and needy; free them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:4). Are we delivering “the poor and needy” children of this world from human trafficking when we turn the other way and pretend this does not involve us? When the Bible says, “8 Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die. 9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy” in Proverbs 31:8-9, are we obeying the Lord when we remain silent concerning the millions of children who are speechless and needy in the human trafficking industry? Oh may the Lord have mercy on all of us!!!
Human trafficking is one of the darkest expressions of our human sinfulness. Children are being robbed of their innocence through this very dark industry. Whether you are a victim of human trafficking or a consumer, you are probably silenced by your shame.
If you do not have Jesus Christ in your life, God invites you right now to come into the light of His love so He can set you free from your shame. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus did not say, “Come to a church or a mosque or a temple.” No. He said, “Come to Me.” Jesus is the One who can deliver us from the burden of our sin and shame.
Nor does Jesus say, “Come to Me and I will give you stress and shame.” Human trafficking will give you unbearable stress and shame whether you are a victim or a consumer. But not Jesus. He says, “Come to Me and I will give you rest.” You may be suffering in silence feeling horrible about what has been done to you as a victim of sex trafficking. Or, you may be coming apart on the inside with shame because you purchased children for sex. Please know that Jesus invites you to come to Him just as you are to receive the spiritual “rest” of His cleansing forgiveness and everlasting life. The “rest” Jesus offers here refers to a state of mind that exists when a non-Christian realizes he or she does not have to earn or work for their salvation. This refers to the positional rest of eternal life that is based on trusting in Christ’s accomplishment on the cross (John 3:14-16). Jesus finished the work of paying our sin debt in full when He died in our place on the cross and rose from the dead (John 19:30; I Corinthians 15:3-6). Jesus is alive today and He knows how deeply you are hurt or ashamed. He loves you infinitely and invites you to come to Him for rest.
If you have never understood and believed this before, and now you do, you can tell Jesus this through prayer.
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I come to you deeply burdened by my sin and my shame. I have sunk deeply into darkness. Before today, I thought no one could ever love me or want a relationship with me. But I am realizing that You showed me how much You love me by dying in my place on a cross for all of my sins. Thank You, Jesus, for taking all my punishment when You died and rose from the dead. I am now trusting You, Jesus, alone to forgive all my sins and cleanse me of all my shame. Thank You for the forgiveness and complete cleansing I now have. Please help me to see myself as You do now – as a dearly loved child of God who will never be alone again. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
If you are a believer in Jesuswho is a survivor of sex trafficking, please know that Christ loves you infinitely for who you are. What was done to you was terribly wrong, but that does not mean you are wrong. Jesus wants to walk with you through your pain and shame so you can be free from the past. Since you were deeply injured through relationships, you will need to experience healing in the context of relationships with people who will love and care for you regardless of your past. Please see the “NEED HELP?” section for contact information of those who can help you.
If you are a believer in Jesus who enabled human trafficking or purchased children for sex, you also need to know that Jesus loves you very much and He wants to shine His love in the dark places of your soul. Yes, what you did was wrong, but you are not wrong in the sight of Jesus! You are still God’s beloved child who may have unresolved trauma that has led you to medicate your pain and shame with these dark practices. Jesus wants to heal you in the context of loving relationships. Please see the “NEED HELP?” section for contact information of those who can help you.
May all of us pray for the God of all grace to bring to light the darkness of human trafficking in the world so children and consumers will be rescued from the chains of shame through the grace and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ! Only Jesus can replace the enemy’s darkness with His marvelous light and hope!
NEED HELP?
If you are being trafficked or suspect that someone you know is being trafficked contact:
– The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST(843-5678) or CYBERTIPLINE.ORG.
– National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1 (888) 373-7888
If you are a survivor of sex trafficking or a consumer thereof and would like healing, please contact one of the following Christian Counseling services:
– NewLife Ministries at www.newlife.com or call 800-NEW-LIFE (639-5433)
– Agape International Missions at www.agapewebsite.org
“Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.’” John 9:3
When I was working as a security officer at a high school while church planting, I got to know my fellow officers quite well. One such officer was approaching sixty years of age and told me he once believed as I did about Jesus Christ and the Bible. But now he said he no longer believed in God. When I asked him why he stopped believing, he told me because he could not reconcile how a God of love could allow so much pain and suffering in the world. He believed that if God truly existed, He would not allow pain and suffering especially among people who seemed to be innocent.
Why does God allow pain and suffering in the world? That is, how can a God of love allow such things in His world as war, sickness, abortion, rape, disease, and other types of suffering and death, especially among those who are apparently innocent? For example, why does He allow dedicated Christians to be slaughtered by radical Muslims in the Middle East and in Africa? Why does He allow babies to be born with deformities? Or why does He allow unborn babies to be torn apart in the womb through abortion procedures? Why does He permit a madman to shoot and kill many people gathered outside at a concert? Why are thousands of innocent people killed each year from earthquakes and typhoons? Unbelievers claim, “Either He is not a God of love and is indifferent to human suffering, or else He is not a God of power and is therefore helpless to do anything about it.”
This is a difficult question for Christians to answer. Certainly, atheism or agnosticism are not the answers to this dilemma. However, in John 9, we will discover that Jesus was asked a similar question. After claiming to be the Light of the world and the eternal I AM in John 8, Jesus encountered a man who was blind from birth. “Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.” (John 9:1). The words “as Jesus passed by” do not tell us the exact time frame or location for this miracle. It may have taken place as Christ left the temple (8:59) or somewhere else. This man’s blindness was congenital and was not expected to be healed. He had lived in darkness all his life. No doubt he experienced helplessness and hopelessness as a blind person.
From birth, however, all people are spiritually blind, hopeless, and helpless without God. All non-Christians lack the ability to see Jesus spiritually. The apostle Paul writes, “3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they do not believe in Christ. God must remove the veil from non-Christians so they can believe in Jesus. No amount of education or information is going to remove the spiritual blindness of the lost. God must be the One to give them spiritual sight.
Christ focuses on the blind man. His disciples probably would have gladly passed by the blind man, but Jesus would not. I imagine at this juncture, the disciples had no idea why Jesus focused on this man when there were thousands of beggars in the temple area.
“And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ” (John 9:2). The disciples ask a theological question, not a compassionate question. “Why does this man deserve blindness?” they ask. It was insensitive of the disciples to ask this question within earshot of the blind man. The Jews, like many people today, believed that all suffering was caused by specific sins. So, either this man sinned in his mother’s womb (Genesis 25:22; Ezekiel 18:4) or his parents sinned (Exodus 20:5; 34:7). Examples of children suffering for their parents’ sin today include babies born to a drug-addicted or alcoholic mother, or to a mother with AIDS. They can suffer from physical and mental impairment. Children whose parents are verbally, physically, or sexually abusive suffer deeply. The disciples wanted to look backward to find out “Why?”
Isn’t that what we want to do? We usually want to figure out the cause of our pain before we decide how to respond. Jesus redirects the disciples’ attention and ours. He points forward instead of backward. “Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.’ ” (John 9:3). Jesus says this man’s blindness is not due to his sin or his parents’ sin. Instead, Jesus answers a different question. He does not address the backward-looking questions of “Why?” He points to hope for the future. A human tragedy, like blindness, can be used to display the power of God at work. This man was born blind to demonstrate the power of Jesus. Why does God allow pain and suffering?
The first reason is TO DEMONSTRATE CHRIST’S POWER (John 9:1-3). Sometimes the work of God is manifest through a dramatic miracle, as with the man born blind. Sometimes it is not. Suffering always offers an opportunity for us to display God’s work. A sick person is not unspiritual, rather he is a vehicle through which Jesus can demonstrate His power. God’s work is a miracle to man, but normal work for God. It is unbiblical to assume that all suffering is the result of a specific sin. It is also wrong to conclude that all suffering is allowed by God so He can heal the person. This is the reason for this man’s suffering, but we cannot conclude this is the reason for all suffering. Notice that the disciples focus on the man’s blindness as an act of God’s displeasure, but Jesus sees the man’s blindness as an opportunity to display the power of God at work.
How do we respond to someone with an emotional or physical handicap? Are we condemning by asking, “Who sinned?” Or are we compassionate by asking, “How is God going to show His power at work in this situation?” The first question focuses on the problem. The second question focuses on the solution. Regardless of the cause of this blind man’s affliction, he was a picture of all people who are born spiritually blind and in need of a Savior.
In summary, God allows suffering and pain to demonstrate Christ’s power. He may not perform a dramatic miracle as with the man born blind. But He may transform our attitude or heal a broken relationship. He may lift the burden of guilt and legalism off our shoulders so we can serve Him freely without shame. Whatever the form of our pain and suffering may be, God wants to show us His loving power if we will let Him.
Prayer: Father God, many people are asking, “If You are a God of love, why are You allowing so much pain and suffering in the world today?” Your answer is clear. It is because You want to demonstrate the power of Jesus in the midst of peoples’ suffering. It may not be an instant fix as it was with the healing of the man born blind. It may involve a process of gradual healing and transformation whereby You walk with people through their pain. The suffering that we experience may be Your way of bringing us to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like the man born blind, all people are born spiritually blind and unable to see Jesus as the Savior of the world. They need You, Lord, to perform spiritual cataract surgery on their eyes so they can see Christ for Who He truly is – the Eternal I AM Who can wash away their sins and give them everlasting life the moment they believe in Him. They do not have to clean up their lives any more than the blind man had to clean up his. They simply must believe in Jesus, and He will do the rest. Thank You my Lord and my God, for the simplicity of the gospel. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
“Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’ ” John 8:58
So far we have learned that to overcome opposition to the truth about Jesus we must…
– Analyze Christ’s opponent’s accusations with God’s Word (John 8:48-49)
– Aim for God the Father’s approval (John 8:50)
– Ask those who oppose Christ to believe in His promise of eternal life (John 8:51-53)
– Appeal to our relationship with God A (John 8:54-55)
The fifth and final way we can overcome opposition to the truth about Jesus is to… AMPLIFY JESUS’ CLAIMS (John 56-59). Earlier Jesus’ unbelieving audience said to Him, “Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?’” (John 8:53). Jesus will now reveal to them how much greater He is than Abraham and all the prophets. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56).
Their father Abraham had a preview of Jesus’ “day.” On more than one occasion, Abraham encountered the preincarnate Jesus Christ (Genesis 15:1-21; 17:1-22; 18:1-33). When Abraham offered up his beloved son, Isaac (Genesis 22:1-18), he received an object lesson of Christ’s coming death and resurrection. Hebrews 11:17-19 informs us, “17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.” Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, because he believed God could raise him from the dead. Hence, the physical ancestor of Jesus’ critics, Abraham, looked forward by faith to Jesus’ death and resurrection when he offered up Isaac. He rejoiced in anticipation of Jesus fulfilling the promise to him in Genesis 12:3,“And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Jesus is claiming to have fulfilled what Abraham looked forward to.
Christ’s critics’ overlook the fact that Jesus is God and say, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” (John 8:57). “A man not yet fifty years old could not have been seen by Abraham.” This does not mean Jesus was close to fifty years of age. Luke tells us that Jesus was thirty years old when He began His ministry (Luke 3:23) and it only lasted about three and one-half years. The main point of Christ’s critics’ is that it was unthinkable to suggest that Abraham could have seen Christ’s “day”since over two thousand years separated these two men.
Christ responds to their skepticism with one of His most profound claims to be God. “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58). The verb, “was” (genesthai),is in the aorist tense and means “entrance into existence.” The verb translated, “I AM” (eimi), is in the present tense and means, “continuous existence.” Jesus is saying, “Before Abraham came in to being, I eternally was, am, and will ever be.” Jesus could have said, “Before Abraham was, I was.” That would simply have been a claim of preexistence. But Jesus did not say that. What He said was very clear. Jesus was not only claiming to have existed before Abraham two thousand years ago, but He was also claiming to be the eternal “I AM.”
When Moses asked God his name so that he could tell the Israelites who had sent him to them, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” (Exodus 3:14). Thus, Jesus identified himself as the God who had spoken to Moses. Jesus is the One who redeemed Moses and Israel out of Egypt! “I AM” is an emphatic form of speech and could not be normally employed in ordinary conversation. Jesus was claiming to be the Self-existent God. That is an amazing assertion. But it simply confirms what John has already said, “The Word [Jesus Christ – 1:14, 17] was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1).
Many attempts have been made to describe eternity. One such attempt states “imagine a steel ball the size of the earth. The amount of time it would take an ant to walk around the earth so many times to wear a groove through to the point of cutting the ball in half” is only a fraction of eternity. Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 1:8). Jesus is without beginning and without end because He is the eternal “I AM.” To be in a personal relationship with an eternal God, we must receive His eternal life. We do this by believing in Him. Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15). If we want to live forever with God the Son, Jesus Christ, we must receive His forever life by believing in Him alone (not our prayers, religion, or good life), for His free gift of everlasting life and a future home in heaven.
The Jews’ response to Christ’s claim is telling: “Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” (John 8:59). To the Jews this was blasphemy, meaning they understood Jesus to claim to be God. Thus, they prepared to stone Christ in accordance with Leviticus 24:16. Ironically the Jews were not willing to stone an adulteress (John 8:9), but now they were willing to stone their Messiah-God (John 8:59)!
In May of 2015, when I was in northern Mindanao of the Philippines, we did some house-to-house evangelism in a neighborhood close to my host family’s church. Two of the women we shared with were Jehovah Witnesses. When they tried to persuade us that Jesus never claimed to be God, I pointed them to John 8:59, and asked them, “Why did the Jews want to stone Jesus?” They paused and just stared at me. When they would not answer my question, I answered it for them. “They took up stones to throw at Jesus because they understood His claim to be God. That is what blasphemy means. If the Jews could understand that Jesus claimed to be God, why can’t you?” Again, they were silent. I then said to them, “You are not able to understand and accept Jesus’ claim because you do not have God the Holy Spirit to give you that understanding. Jesus loves you and wants to give you everlasting life. He simply asks you to believe in Him for His free gift and He will save you forever from your sins and come to live inside you through His Spirit.”
When the Jews took up stones to throw at Jesus we are told, “but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” (John 8:59b). The word “hid” is in the passive voice and means “was hidden.” Christ was protected by His Father. It was not the Father’s time yet for His Son to die. The Light of the world now “went out of the temple” leaving His countrymen behind to go to people in general, represented by the man born blind (John 9).
I am reminded of the Civil War General “Stonewall” Jackson who received his nickname at the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861, by Confederate General Bernard Bee. Inspired by Jackson’s courage in the face of the enemy, Bee called out to his men to inspire them: “Look, men! There is Jackson standing like a stone wall!” Regarding his faith in God, Jackson said it mattered not if he were exposing himself to danger in battle or cowering in bed, when God’s chosen time came for him to die, he would die and not until then. His courage was based upon this belief in God’s timing for him to die. Until that time came, no one could kill him. It was this bravery that compelled his men to follow their leader into battle.
Likewise, until God says it is time for a Christian to go home to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven, no one can take his or her life. Knowing this, can give believers great courage when faced with opposition to the truth about Jesus – the Eternal I AM.
Lord William Russell knew this truth about the Lord Jesus Christ very well. When on the scaffold about to be beheaded, he took his watch from his pocket and gave it to Dr. Burnett, who was attending him, and said, “My timepiece may be of service to you. I have no further occasion for it. My thoughts are fixed on eternity.”Knowing the Eternal, I AM – Jesus Christ – prepares us for eternity.
Are you ready to face death? Do you have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1)? If not, you can receive the forever life of Jesus Christ, the Eternal I AM, right now by believing His promise, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). If you now understand and believe His promise, you can tell Him this through prayer.
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I now understand that You are the Eternal I AM Who was, is, and will ever be. You are so much greater than Abraham and all the prophets from Adam to John the Baptist. I now realize that I have sinned against You with my thoughts, words, and actions. I cannot save myself to enter Your heaven. I believe You died for all my sins on a cross and rose from the dead. You are alive today! Lord Jesus, I am now believing or trusting in You alone (not my religion, my good life, or my prayers) to forgive all my sins and give me Your eternal life that never ends and can never be lost. Thank You, Jesus, for the complete forgiveness and never ending life I now have. Thank You for the future home I will have in Your heaven. Please give me the courage to share this wonderful news with all who will listen. In Your name. Amen.
“Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.” John 8:55
A fourth way we can overcome opposition to the truth about Jesus is to APPEAL TO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD (John 8:54-55). Jesus explains “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.” (John 8:54). Christ was not trying to glorify Himself when He claimed to be able to deliver from death those who keep His words (John 8:51) because self-testimony alone is not valid. Although Jesus does not seek to glorify Himself, that does not mean He is without glory. His Father “honors” or glorifies Him. Ironically, Jesus’ opponents, who claimed to know God, did not perceive that this is how God was working in their midst. Their relationship with God was formal, but Jesus’ relationship with God was personal.
Jesus says, “Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.” (John 8:55). In reality, they did not know God the Father, but Jesus had an intimate relationship with the Father. Christ is saying, “You have not come to know God by your personal experience or observation (ginosko), but I know (oida) Him inherently and intuitively.” For Jesus to deny knowing God would reduce Him to being a liar like they were liars. If Jesus’ audience would keep Jesus’ word by believing in Him for everlasting life, they would come to know God the Father.
When Jesus says, “But I do know Him and keep His word,” we learn that Christ’s knowledge of the Father results from keeping His Word. Likewise, as believers in Jesus learn to obey Christ’s Word, they will come to know Him in a deeper, more personal way. Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21). As we demonstrate our trustworthiness to Jesus by obeying His Word, He will manifest or reveal more of Himself to us. Friendship with Christ requires obedience to Him. “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15:14). The closer we grow to Christ, the more boldness we will have when facing opposition to the truth about Him. We see this in Acts 4 when the apostles boldly preached Jesus to their persecutors who were their educational superiors.
As Peter and John boldly spoke of Jesus before this educated crowd, their listeners could discern that these men had spent time with the Savior. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13). These two, lowly fisherman were not intimidated by all the intellectual knowledge and training of these men. They were more impressed with Jesus and they wanted this group to know Him in a personal way. This elite religious group acknowledges the boldness of Peter and John while noting their lack of education.
Often a person’s boldness for Christ shrinks as his education increases. He or she becomes “too sophisticated” to be excited for Christ!! It is better to possess boldness and lack learning, than to possess learning and lack boldness. And it is one thing to be bold with our social equals, but it is an entirely different thing to be bold – as Peter and John were – with our social and educational superiors. True boldness knows no respect of persons.
Boldness does not arise from having a theological degree or a vast knowledge of the Bible. The key to boldness is spending time with Jesus Christ. Peter and John had been in a discipleship relationship with Jesus for over three years. His heart became theirs. So, the closer we get to the heart of Christ, the closer we get to the people for whom He died.
Jesus’ heart bleeds for the lost. Luke 19:10 explains: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The heart of our Lord is a seeking heart. Aren’t you thankful for that? We would still be lost in our sins if Jesus did not seek us out. Look at God’s heart in I Timothy 2:3-4:“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” God created hell for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), not for people. God desires that all people go to heaven regardless of their background, education, culture or color of skin, and He wants to use you and I to introduce them to the Savior who can get them there.
Are we willing to go to the people who need Jesus even if they do not know they need Him and are hostile to the truth? I believe the more we know Jesus’ heart for the lost, the more we will love those for whom He died. And the more we love them, the more motivated we will be to introduce them to the Savior.
Prayer: Lord God, I can relate to Jesus’ audience approaching Him formally instead of personally. Before I became a Christian, this was the way I approached You through my religion. But the moment You rescued me from my own sin and gave me everlasting life, You began a new work with me that was internal, not external; it was relational, not religious; it was personal, not formal. I can still engage in the formalities of religion. But that only leaves me empty and without direction. But the closer I grow to You, Lord Jesus, the more Your heart for unbelievers becomes my heart as well. When I face opposition from people whether they be unbelieving or believing, help me to see them through Your eyes as broken and wounded sinners who need You more than anything or anyone else. Only You can understand and meet their deepest needs. Please use me to point them to You so You can show Yourself to them in ways that will enrich their lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” John 8:51
So far we have learned that to overcome opposition to the truth about Jesus we must analyze Christ’s opponent’s accusations with God’s Word (John 8:48-49) and aim for God the Father’s approval (John 8:50). Today we discover that we are to ASK THEM TO BELIEVE IN CHRIST’S PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE (John 8:51-53). Christ says to His unbelieving audience, “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” (John 8:51). This does not mean that a person must completely obey all of God’s Word to earn eternal life because that would contradict what Jesus has already taught in the gospel of John about how to receive eternal life (cf. John 3:15-18; 4:10-14; 5:24; 6:35-40, 47; 7:37-38; 8:45-46). Nor is Jesus saying believers will never experience physical death. In the context, the word “keeps” (tēréō) means to pay careful attention to what Jesus says about receiving eternal life.
For example, in John 6:47, Jesus said, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life.” In John 11:26, Jesus promised, “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” The apostle John also writes in I John 2:23,“And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ.” Christ promises that those who keep His word by believing in Him for everlasting life shall never see eternal death. When a believer in Jesus dies physically, he or she (their spirit) is immediately taken into the presence of the Lord.
“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Christians can be confident that the moment they die (“be absent from the body”) their spirit will go to “be present with the Lord” while their body sleeps in the grave (cf. I Thessalonians 4:13-17). I can be assured, that “for to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” (Philippians 1:21-23). Physical death for the believer in Jesus is not the end. It is actually a new beginning for Christians as they transition into eternity in the presence of our Lord where there will be no more sin or death for them (cf. I Corinthians 15:51-57; I John 3:2-3).
Non-Christians cannot understand the things of God because they do not have the Spirit of God (cf. I Corinthians 2:11b-14). Thus, the best place to start with unbelieving opponents to the truth about Jesus, is to share the gospel with them so they can be saved and receive the Holy Spirit who can enable them to understand and believe the truth about Jesus (cf. John 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:13-14; I John 2:20, 27).
Jesus’ unbelieving audience mistakenly think He is claiming that those who keep His word will never die physically. They respond to this invitation with more unbelief toward Jesus. “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.” (John 8:52). They think their previous accusation against Jesus has just been confirmed (cf. John 8:48). “Only a demon-possessed man would claim to have more power than Abraham and the prophets who all died, yet in the face of these facts Jesus claims that the one who keeps His word ‘shall never taste death’ or experience physical death?If these righteous ones to whom God gave great privileges were not delivered from physical death, such deliverance was impossible.“
They continue, “Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?” (John 8:53). Their question expects a negative answer and means, “Surely, Jesus, You are not greater than our founding father, Abraham, or the prophets, who are dead. If keeping Your words prevents physical death, then You are claiming to be greater than those who died.” Ironically, Jesus was greater than Abraham and the prophets as we shall see in the next few verses.
Before I became a Christian at the age of nineteen, the claims of Jesus did not make much sense to me because I did not have God the Holy Spirit inside me to help me understand the meaning of Scripture and how it applies to my life. But the moment I believed in Jesus for His gift of everlasting life, the Bible came alive for me. As I read the Bible each day, certain truths would jump off the pages of my Bible and burn in my heart. Jesus’ gift of everlasting life was my new norm and reality.
One of the most important ways we can overcome opposition to the truth about Jesus is to invite unbelievers to believe Christ’s promise of everlasting life to all who believe in Him so they can receive the best Teacher in the universe – God the Holy Spirit (cf. John 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:13-14; I John 2:20, 27). He can remove Satan’s blinders (2 Corinthians 4:4) so they can see and embrace the truth about Jesus Christ – that He is much greater than Abraham and the prophets as we shall learn in the next few verses.
Prayer: Lord God, thank You so much for showing me that I do not need to be afraid to share the truth about Jesus with those who are hostile to the truth. For I am guaranteed never to taste eternal death the moment I believe in Him Who is greater than Abraham and the prophets! Thank You Holy Spirit for removing the blinders from my heart and my mind so I could see Jesus for Who He truly is! He is the promised Messiah-God! He is the Alpha and the Omega! The Beginning and the End! He is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace! Please give me the wisdom and boldness to point people to Jesus Who alone can rescue them from sin and death the moment they believe in Him. I love You, my Lord and my God. Though I long to be in Your presence in heaven, I also know You are not finished with me yet on earth. Please use me to introduce millions to Your Son. In His everlasting name I pray. Amen.
“And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.” John 8:50
From Jesus’ interaction with His opponents in John 8:48-59, we are learning how to overcome opposition to the truth about Jesus in our own lives. The second way we can do this is to AIM FOR THE FATHER’S APPROVAL(John 8:50). Jesus said, “And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.” (John 8:50). Jesus denies seeking glory for Himself and asserts that there is One who seeks His glory and judges His opponents. Jesus is not concerned about people giving Him the glory that He deserves because His Father in heaven is looking after that. The Father seeks to glorify His Son and judges those who reject Him. The Jews were continually “seeking” Jesus in their mistaken zeal for God’s glory, but their seeking actually resulted in Jesus’ death. Ironically, Christ’s death would turn out to be His ultimate glory (cf. John 12:23, 28; 17:1-5).
Christ was not concerned about pleasing people because His ultimate concern was the approval of His Father in heaven who “judges.” Even though Jesus lived a perfect life, He could not please everyone. So, it is foolish of us to try to do something that even God could not do!
If we are to overcome opposition to the truth about Jesus, we must make it our aim to live for God’s approval and not peoples’. When people reject the truth about Jesus, we do not have to take it personally as though they are rejecting us. But even if they do reject us, we can rejoice because they are rejecting the truth about Jesus. Sometimes we may fear rejection because we are seeking the approval of others. But when we seek God’s approval, His Holy Spirit will enable us to overcome the fear of rejection (cf. Acts 4:29-31).
For example, I think back about my mission trip to an island in the southern Philippines in October 2015 with my pastor friend. On one morning after preaching the gospel at an elementary school, I asked one of the teachers if there were any other schools nearby. He hesitated and then said, “Yes there is another school about a 40-minute hike from here but you don’t want to go there.” “Really?” I said, “Why is that?” He said, “Because it is all Muslim and it is not safe for Christians to go there.” For the next two hours, several Christians tried to persuade us not to go to this school, but I kept asking them if they had gone there and they had not. So, I said, “Who will go if we do not go to them?” They had no answer. At this juncture, we had a choice to make – do we seek to please these believers who do not want us to go or do we seek to please our Father in heaven who desires that all people be saved (I Timothy 2:3-4)?
Eventually my translator and a local Christian tribal leader made the 40-minute hike with me through the mountainous jungle toward the all-Muslim village. With each step, I anticipated what the Lord would do when we got there. What are You going to do when we arrive at this village, Lord? How are You going to protect us? How will these people respond? When we arrived at the Muslim village we were warmly welcomed by the teachers and Muslim principal. One of the teachers said they expected us. “Why?” I asked. She told me it was because she saw pictures of us on Facebook when we were on a nearby island at a school. God used Facebook to prepare this village for our arrival. As we shared the gospel with the students and teachers, they were very attentive to the message.All one-hundred twenty students and teachers indicated that they believed in Jesus alone for His gift of salvation at the end of the gospel presentation.
Afterward we had a concert, with individual students praising our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. I got goose bumps listening to these newly saved children fill the jungle with songs of praise to their Savior! As these children sang, I thought to myself, “This is why we are in the Philippines. If we don’t go to these unreached villagers, who will go?” Had we sought to please people we would not have gone to that village. But because our aim was to seek the approval of our Father in heaven, we went to the village that God had already prepared to hear and believe the gospel.
How many times do we forfeit God’s blessings because we are trying to please someone else besides the Lord? How many people have not heard the good news of Jesus Christ because Christians listened to their peers instead of listening to the Lord? Yes, there is wisdom in listening to counselors, but if that counsel does not reflect God’s leading, we are in big trouble!
To be balanced, I do want to acknowledge that we could have have been killed going to that village, but God in His grace, permitted us to see a wonderful harvest. Even when we seek God’s approval, He does not guarantee there will be no suffering or death.
For example, in anticipation of the world’s hatred, Jesus warned His disciples that they would experience the same hostility from the world that He had experienced. “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” (John 15:18). The phrase, “If the world hates you…” is a first class condition in the Greek language and means that the world does actually hate the disciples. Jesus did not promise a painless, effortless experience as a disciple. He says, “If the world hates you (and it does), then it should come as no surprise to you because it hated Me first.” From His birth when king Herod sought to kill Him, to His death on the cross, Jesus experienced opposition from the world. Therefore, a person cannot be intimately related to Christ without being hated by His enemies. The main issue here is not whether we will experience rejection and persecution as Christ followers, but how will we respond to it?
The world does not hate disciples of Christ because they are better; it hates disciples because they are servants of Christ whom the world has rejected. The world loves its own as long as you commend and follow its ways (John 15:19a), but when a believer decides to turn their back on the world to follow Jesus, the world will hate him or her.
In summary, will we seek God’s approval when the fury of the world is directed at us or will we seek the world’s approval and miss out on the many blessings God wants to bestow upon His disciples both now and in eternity? If you are like me, you may be quick to say you want God’s approval. But for us to live that way consistently, we must daily surrender everything to Him. “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24). Submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ daily no matter what the cost, will reap eternal rewards.
Prayer: Precious Lord and Savior, I am tested every day regarding my loyalties. It is so easy for me to want the approval of people instead of Yours. But even then, it is impossible to please everyone. You know this much better than I do. Please forgive me for being so fickle. I want to live for the audience of One. I long to hear You say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” For that to happen, I need Your grace – lots of grace to change me from the inside out. So often I want to be in control because I think that is when I will feel safe. But the truth is I am most safe when I seek Your approval and yield to Your control. Thank You my Lord and my God. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
“Jesus answered, ‘I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.’ ” John 8:49
In John chapters 7 and 8, the Lord Jesus has encountered substantial opposition from unbelievers, including His brothers, Jewish pilgrims, Jerusalemites, religious leaders and others. In John 8:31-37, Jesus taught how He could free His audience from bondage to sin. But much of His audience were children of the devil because they sought to kill Christ and refused to believe in Him (John 8:38-47). From Jesus’ interaction with His opponents in John 8:48-59, we will learn how to overcome opposition to the truth about Jesus in our own lives.
How Can I Overcome Opposition to the Truth About Jesus? First, we want to ANALYZE THEIR ACCUSATIONS WITH GOD’S WORD (John 48-49). “Then the Jews answered and said to Him, ‘Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?’ ” (John 8:48). Since the Jews had no answer to Christ’s arguments, they resort to name calling. Their question, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” expects an affirmative answer in the Greek language.
Samaritans were despised by the Jews because they were a mixed race. When Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, many Jews were exported and many foreigners were imported. Jews who stayed and Gentiles who came, intermarried. The offspring were half-breeds called “Samaritans.”Samaritans were lax in Judaism and did not observe all their traditions. Perhaps the Jews were responding to Jesus’ denial that they were children of Abraham (cf. John 8:42-47), and were saying, “You are no better than Samaritans.” After Jesus tells them that their father is the devil (John 8:44), they say that Jesus is demon-possessed.
Jesus responds, “Jesus answered, ‘I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.’ ” (John 8:49). Were Jesus’ claims like those of a demon-possessed person? Of course not. Rather than seeking His own self-exaltation like a demon, Jesus sought to honor and exalt His Father. By seeking to dishonor Jesus, these opponents of Christ were dishonoring God the Father (cf. John 5:23).
When people make accusations against Christ, it is important to analyze those charges with God’s Word. In this case, Jesus was far removed from having a demon as He aims to give honor where it is due while His Jewish audience did not. They sought to honor their father, the devil, who embraces lies and despises the truth.
Throughout the world, there are many religious groups that deny that Jesus is God. This assertion ignores the many verses in the Bible that point to the deity of Christ (cf. Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 8:13-14; Mark 14:61b-64; John 1:1, 14, 17; 5:17-18, 23-24; 8:59; 9:35-37; 10:30; 11:25-27; 12:44-45; 14:7-9; 20:28; Acts 16:31-34; Romans 1:3-4; 9:5; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-17; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:1-3, 8-12; I John 5:20; et. al).
The Bible makes it clear that those who deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah-God, are liars and they are antichrist. “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” (I John 2:22-23). Antichrists deny God the Father and God the Son. Their goal is to oppose and replace Jesus Christ with gods of their own making. They want to deceive and derail Christians from pursuing Christ. But when Christians submit to the Lord and stand upon His truth, the devil and his followers will flee (I John 2:19; cf. James 4:8).
Prayer: Lord God, we are living at a time where there is so much deception in the world. People are being dominated by emotions instead of truth. The ruler of this world, the devil, is using anything and everything to mislead people away from the truth about Jesus Christ. Please renew my mind with Your truth so I may honor You with my response to those who oppose the truth about Jesus Christ. I want to know Your Word so well that I will be able to identify lies in an instant because they are contrary to what I know to be true. I need Your Holy Spirit to empower me to give an answer to those who seek to replace Jesus as the true God with false gods of their own making. Please grant me boldness and clarity to lovingly share Your Word in season and out of season with all people, regardless of their country, culture, or color. Thank You for the hope I have in Jesus Who has already defeated the father of lies through His death and resurrection. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
“Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?” John 8:46
The third reason why we are hindered from overcoming our addictions is because of our STUBBORN UNBELIEF (John 8: 45-47). Like their father, the devil, these unbelieving Jews lived in a world of lies and falsehood. Jesus said to them, “But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.” (John 8:45). These men would rather believe a lie, rather than the truth that Jesus spoke. They had believed the devil’s lies so long that when Jesus tells them the truth, they did not believe Him because His teaching did not line up with their belief system. Here lies the battle: truth versus lies. The only way you can begin to overcome your addictions is to start believing the truth – about Christ, yourself, and your bondage to sin.
Jesus asks them, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46a).“If you can find anything that I have done wrong, anything in all my thirty-three years on earth; if there is one of you who can stand up and say, ‘You cheated me, you stole from me, you lied to me, you deceived me, you lived for your own self, you took away what belonged to another,’ that would utterly demolish My claim to have come from God.” He pauses for an answer, but no one says anything. Their silence implied that Jesus was sinless.
So Christ asks, “And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?” (John 8:46b).“If you can find no sin in Me, then I must be speaking the truth, so why do you refuse to believe in Me? A sinless Man should be believed!” Jesus has stripped away the veil that has hidden their hearts from themselves. He has revealed them, not as good and decent men who were free before God, but as slaves, bound with habits they could not break, slaves to sin, desperately needing the work of a Redeemer. Yet they stubbornly refuse to believe in Christ.
So He states the case plainly. “He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” (John 8:47). They rejected Christ’s message because they have no relationship with God.
This reminds me of some of the victims of hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest hurricanes to ever hit the United States back in August of 2005. When rescuers came to their flooded homes, they shot at them instead of trusting them to save them from drowning. They refused their help. Are we any different? We can be so entrapped by sin, unable to break those sinful habits, yet when Christ offers us His help to overcome them, we shoot at Him as if we would rather die in our sin than be saved by someone else.
This brings us back to what Jesus said in John 8:31b-32: “31b If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” That is the only way out. To all victims of Satan’s lies Jesus offers the priceless gift of freedom. Only Jesus Christ can deliver us from bondage to sin. We do not have the power in ourselves to overcome sin. Only Christ can free us from sin’s control. Will we think, believe and act on the truth or will we think, believe, and act on a lie? The choice is ours. Choosing the truth will lead to freedom from bondage to sin and an abundant life. Choosing a lie will lead to more bondage and destruction.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we come to You as prisoners of our own making. All of us are slaves to sin. It may be anger, lust, worry, alcohol, drugs, self-abuse, gossip, pornography, cell phones, or work. You know our addictions and only You can set us free. Empower us to know, believe, and act on Your truth so that we may be all that You intended us to be for Your glory. In Your name I pray. Amen.
“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.’ ” John 8:42
We will look at a second reason why we are hindered from overcoming our addictions. It is because of SATANIC LIES(John 8:37-44). We observed last time thatJesus’ audience was comprised of believers (“many believed in Him… those Jews who believed Him” – John 8:30b-31a) and unbelievers (“you do not believe Me… why do you not believe Me?” – John 8:44-45). While Jesus spoke to the believers about abiding in His Word to be set free from bondage to sin (John 8:31-32), the unbelievers listened in and were offended that Jesus spoke of being set free from bondage since they were descendants of Abraham (John 8:33).
Jesus then said to these unbelievers, “ ‘37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.’ 39 They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You do the deeds of your father.’ Then they said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.’ ” (John 8:37-41). Jesus acknowledged that these people were physical descendants of Abraham, but they were not spiritual descendants. These unbelieving Jews had no room in their hearts for Jesus’ word because they have a different father than Jesus’ Father in heaven (John 8:37-38). When they said Abraham was their father, Jesus said if that were true, they would “do the works of Abraham” (John 8:39). But instead of behaving like Abraham who embraced the truth (cf. Genesis 15:4-6; 18:1-22), they sought to kill Jesus because He told them “the truth” which He “heard from God” the Father (John 8:40). When Christ accused them of doing “the deeds” of their father (John 8:41a; cf. 8:44), He was implying that they had a different spiritual father than God or Abraham.
Then these unbelievers made reference to what they thought was Jesus’ illegitimate birth, “We were not born of fornication” (John 8:41b). While claiming that God was their “Father” (John 8:41c), they were also taking a jab at Jesus by saying His mother was pregnant before she was married (cf. Matthew 1:18). I find that many Muslims have this same view of Jesus’ birth that they use to justify their rejection of Christ.
What these unbelieving Jews and many Muslims today do not understand is that God is Jesus’ Father. “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.’ ” (John 8:42). Jesus refuted their accusation that He was born illegitimately because His birth was supernatural (“I proceeded forth and came from God”), not immoral! Moreover, Jesus also denied that God was their Father. The phrase “If God were your Father…” is a second class condition in the Greek language which means it is contrary to fact. It would be translated, “If God were your Father [and He is not], you would love Me…” Christ’s point is if they were God’s true children they would love Him instead of trying to kill Him, and they would acknowledge that God “sent” Him.
Christ then says, “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.” (John 8:43). Even though Jesus’ message is clear and true about His identity and origin, these unbelieving Jews could “not understand” Him. They were “not able to listen” to Jesus’ message because they had hardened their hearts toward Christ (cf. John 5:40; 7:17). Why? Jesus explains: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44). When Jesus spoke, these men wanted to kill Him because their father, the devil, has been a murderer and a liar from the beginning. These men were enslaved to sin because they were in denial about their relationship to Satan. The devil had lied to these leaders about the identity of Jesus and these leaders believed his lies which kept them from believing in Christ. This is at the heart of all who reject Jesus Christ. They have been deceived by the father of lies – Satan himself (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4; 11:3-4).
Addictions are much more than some chemical dependency or deep psychological need. Underneath the addiction there is an invisible kingdom that governs and controls human behavior. Jesus lived continuously in this awareness that the invisible control center of the earth was where the great issues of life were settled. He points out that there is a hateful dictator (the devil) working behind the scenes; a murderer who wants to destroy human beings, and his process is to deceive them, to lie to them, to make them think and believe a lie. That is what happened to these men and it can happen to you and to me. We can believe Satan’s lies that appeal to our pride and ego so that we are no longer capable of understanding and recognizing truth when we hear it from God.
Look with me now at three lies Satan uses to keep us in bondage to sin. Turn to Genesis 3. The first people God ever made were perfect and they lived in a perfect environment, the garden of Eden. Genesis 3:1-7:
The first lie:“Has God indeed said…?” (Genesis 3:1). Satan attacks God’s Word as untrustworthy. Satan keeps us in bondage to sin by telling us God’s Word cannot be trusted. When God’s Word says to forgive others (Ephesians 4:32), Satan says, “Don’t let them off the hook. Make them pay.” But unforgiveness hurts you more than anyone else. When God’s Word says “he who believes in the Son has everlasting life” (John 3:36a), Satan says, “Jesus is not God’s Son. He is merely a prophet or good moral teacher.” If I can’t believe God in Genesis 3:3 how can I believe Him in Revelation 3:3? If I can’t believe God in Genesis, how do I know I can trust Him with my eternal destiny?
The second lie: “You will not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4). Satan attacks the concept of objective truth. God says every sin has a penalty, but Satan says, “That’s not true. It is okay to sin. You will feel better.” Initially you may feel better. But in the end, you will be more miserable and empty than you ever imagined. We live in a world that no longer believes in objective truth. Nothing is certain anymore. You believe what you want to believe and I’ll believe what I want to believe. People are more concerned about feelings than they are truth. That is why fake news is so common today.
The third lie: “You will be like God.” (Genesis 3:5). Satan confuses our concept of God and our designed role.Satan told Eve that the only reason God did not want her to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden was because God was selfish. “God doesn’t want anyone to become like Him by knowing good and evil. He doesn’t want you to reach your full potential. If you obey God you will be limited and unfulfilled.” But Satan knew no one could be like God. How did he know? Because he tried it himself and got kicked out of heaven (cf. Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:11-19)!
Once Satan got Eve to focus on the one tree she couldn’t eat from rather than the hundreds she could enjoy, she lost sight of God’s goodness and plunged herself, her family, and the rest of the world into sin.
The devil wants us to think that if we sin we will become more like God, knowing good and evil. That somehow sinning makes us more godly, more in control of our lives and therefore more like God. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Sin separates us from God and makes us out of control and headed for destruction.
If we are going to overcome addictions, we must come out of denial and realize that we are no match for “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). We cannot overcome Satan and his lies in our own strength. He is much too strong and wise for us. We need a DELIVERER named Jesus Christ who alone can overcome the power of the devil and his lies. Satan is no match for Christ.
Prayer: Lord God, all of us to some degree have been deceived about ourselves, our world, and the god of this world. We have been tricked into believing lies about You as well. Much of my battle with addictions can be traced to Satan’s kingdom rather than to chemical imbalance or psychological need. My bondage to sin begins with my denial of what is true, including Satan’s existence and deception. The devil uses lies to keep people enslaved to sin and unable to discover the truth of Jesus’ identity. This is at the heart of all who reject Jesus Christ. They have been deceived by the father of lies. Lord, I pray that You will bring a great awakening to this lost world so all may see their need for our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. I now invite the Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth so that any deception that has kept me in bondage to sin can be exposed and replaced with Your truth. Use me, I pray, to advance Your gospel of truth so people may discover the freedom only Jesus can give from bondage to sin and shame. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
