John 3:31-36

John 3:31-36 “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

As we grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord, the Spirit's voice resonates and resounds from us. U

nder the unction of the Holy Spirit,

New Testament writers, including John, gave us many wonderful passages confirming that w

hoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Sitting around this breakfast table, we rest in the assurance that because of the cross and the resurrection we are secure in God's family

: WE ARE IN CHRIST AND HE IS IN US. As saints of God, joint heirs with Christ, we stand perfect in the eyes of God without spot or blemish. Yet many of us fail to believe this consistently, thinking we can prove our worth or that we lose our right standing when we make mistakes. If you struggle with your position of grace this morning, go back to the scriptures, seeking the truth of John's proclamations and the good news that Jesus came with the fulness of God in him. He said,

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9)

When we accept Jesus, we meet the image of the Godhead, the maker of the trillions of stars in the universe, the Alpha and Omega to all that exists. Intimacy with God reveals his heart to us and in us as we love as He loves, abhorring evil and seeking goodness and mercy. We visit or help the orphans, the shut-ins, the widows, the broken and poor in spirit. Our hearts break with God's over mankind's violent nature: the fighting, abuse, selfishness, and despair. We mourn as He mourns over broken covenants and promises between husbands and wives, parents and children, friends with friends. We embrace his everlasting love for all, even for our accusers or enemies. We are not merely Christian in name but in Spirit as well.

Today's passage also says when we reject Jesus as God's Son of the Promise, we will not know God nor see life. No matter how good our hearts appear outwardly or how perfect our actions seem to us, outside of Christ, we will experience the wrath of God. Born in sin from Adam's seed, our hearts deceive us and our old nature reveals its selfish and sometimes evil thoughts and actions. No matter how many "good" deeds we perform, our image is not of God, but of self, the self that turns away from Jesus and says, "I can do this myself, my way." This Adamic nature may even try to do right, but remains diametrically opposed to serving God alone as part of his family, reluctant to know and to serve him as ABBA FATHER, Lord of all.

Jesus prayed for the Father's will on Earth as it is in heaven. The spirit of sinful mankind rules this world, producing violence, calamity, sickness, destruction, abuse, neglect, selfishness, pain, hatred, and the like. The environment of the old man Adam surrounds us and inundates us with wrong thoughts and behaviors. In this dark milieu, we sometimes fail to hear the Spirit and others see us acting according to our former life outside of Christ. God wants us to identify with his Son Jesus that we might reflect his light and love. Paul said we should no longer conform to this world, no longer allow sin to have power and control over us. As new creatures in Christ, we step onto a new stage, with a new role. We use Christ's script, love as He loved, care as He cared, give as He gave, speak as He spoke. And when we lose track of our lines, our place in the play, we get up quickly and function as his ambassadors, perfect because we are new creatures IN CHRIST.

We are alive because Christ is alive in us, and because God gives his Spirit to all without limits. We have power and authority to do God's will, to speak his life-giving message, and to proclaim the year of the Lord to those in darkness. In Christ, we live resurrection life now and forevermore. When as humans, we fall short or fail, we rise again in faith believing that the salvation work of Christ and the power of the Spirit remains with us, and forgiveness and help remain our inheritance. Jesus said,

He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 11:15)

When we were born again and raised incorruptible, God gives us spiritual ears to hear and eyes to see. As we step out in faith, his voice guides us and opens our eyes to the needs around us. He speaks to us in our inward thoughts and outwardly through the Word and other believers. Listen carefully for his words, and you will see your place in his family and embrace the truth that He will never leave you. God loves you with an everlasting love, and He will make the crooked places straight and the rough places smooth as you WALK IN HIM. Praise the living God, creator of all that is, and lover of his dear children. Love, Dad (Cliff)