Today’s Reading: John 11:21-36
John 11:26 — Everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?
God promises that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Jesus always makes everything personal. Jesus makes statements like “I am the light of the world,” or “I am the bread of life.” He declares, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” and then states that nobody comes to God the Father except by Him.
Jesus makes things all about Him. His statements would sound like the words of an egomaniac if they were spoken by anyone else, but Jesus was telling the truth. “Are you lost in darkness and despair? I am the light. Are you hungry for something that this world cannot provide? I am the bread. Are you confused, wandering aimlessly, and tired of living a lie? I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus makes Himself the answer to every problem, the provision for every need.
In John 11:25, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live.” Jesus again makes the issues of life and death personal and center on Him. “Do you want to live? Do you want eternal life? Believe in Me. I am life. I am the source of life. Believe in Me. Come to Me. Receiving Me is receiving life. Knowing Me is experiencing eternal life. Not later, but now!”
Human history is broken into two parts: the time before Jesus came into the world to save us, and the time after He came into the world to save us. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are the center point of all human history. Jesus is the issue. Knowing Jesus is a matter of life and death. Why? Jesus said it: “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
If you know Jesus personally, then you have eternal life. But if you say no to Jesus, you have no eternal life. Jesus said it plainly and simply: “Everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.” And then He added these crucial words for all of us: “Do you believe this?” If you do believe, hallelujah! If you do not believe, why not? Don’t you need life? Don’t you want to know the truth? Don’t you want to know the way to heaven?
Jesus. Only Jesus. He is life.
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