Archives for January 2018

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

John 6:56

 

How do you define the Christian life? My definition is as follows: the essence and totality of the Christian life is to abide in Jesus and for Him to abide in us. What does that mean? It means that we’re in Him and He’s in us. Nothing more and nothing less!

As mentioned before, Jesus used eating and drinking as a metaphor for believing. Those necessities indicate dependence. Why do you think God decided to have faith as the only condition for salvation? I believe the answer is simple: faith doesn’t look to itself. It isn’t man-centered. Rather, it looks to Jesus for everything and finds satisfaction in Him alone.

He said: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). We’re invited to come, eat, and drink, experiencing deep satisfaction. When we eat His flesh and drink His blood—believe in who He is and what He has accomplished and obtained—we abide in Him and He abides in us.

That reality is seen throughout the New Testament. Salvation is defined as being in Christ. For example: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). John wrote: “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (1 John 5:11). Being “in his Son” is both a work of God and a life of faith.

In Corinthians we see that it’s God’s work: “And because of him [the Father] you are in Christ Jesus . . .” (1 Cor. 1:30). In Romans we read how we were grafted into Christ (see Rom. 11:17). This work of God is evidenced by our faith.

Ultimately, our abiding in Jesus and Him abiding in us are one and the same. Jesus gave the perfect illustration: “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” (John 15:5).

While it’s the Father who has united us to Jesus, we have an essential part in order to abide in Him. We are to daily live in the reality of His perfect righteousness (His flesh) and all-sufficient sacrifice (His blood). As we do so, we abide in Him and will experience His life within us. Indeed, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

 

Jan Blonk
The Devotional Writer
www.amazon.com/author/janblonk

 

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For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

John 6:55

 

Whenever we read true, it indicates that everything else is false. They’re opposites. God has created us with a void that only He can fill. Before Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, they were truly satisfied and fulfilled, having daily fellowship with their Creator.

The serpent’s bait was to instill the thought that the grass was greener on the other side. Little did Eve know that it was a disastrous deception. Since then, man has been trying to find fulfillment with “that which does not satisfy” (Isa. 55:2).

While most of man’s pursuits do satisfy for a moment, they’re short lived. Many times they leave a greater emptiness. Man is always pursuing fulfillment, but never truly finding it. He’s like a hamster on his never ending wheel.

Furthermore, when life has ended, those who’ve never turned back to God will have an everlasting longing without any hope of fulfillment: “And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame’” (Luke 16:24).

It’s in light of man’s inner void and pending condemnation that Jesus offers Himself as true food and drink. He alone can satisfy our hearts! Everything else is false and fails to lastingly fulfill us. That’s why the Bible calls sin—anything we pursue in place of God—deceitful desires (Eph. 4:22). We believe it will bring satisfaction and fulfillment, but only leaves us dissatisfied and empty.

When Jesus mentioned His flesh and blood, He referred to His life and death. He lived a righteous life and poured it out in a sacrificial death. His righteousness and blood is our salvation, which God freely gave for our everlasting enjoyment and eternal satisfaction.

Jesus stated that we should continually eat His flesh and drink His blood. That means we should continually come to Him and live in the reality of what He has accomplished and obtained. He is to be our very life. As a result, we’ll be the eternal beneficiaries of His righteousness and blood, justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying us. That is what it means to be a Christian, daily living on Him.

 

Jan Blonk
The Devotional Writer
www.amazon.com/author/janblonk

 

P.S. Here’s one of the easiest fundraisers for your church, ministry, Christian school, college, university, or non-profit. Anyone can do so … go to www.thecauseofchrist.com to find out!

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6:54

 

Last time we highlighted our natural life and utter need for Jesus’ flesh and blood, giving us new life. Today, we’ll consider the whoever and define eternal life.

There are many whoever statements throughout the Bible, indicating that God’s salvation is freely offered to anyone who wants to receive it. For example, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isa. 55:1). God’s unconditional plea is to everyone.

When Jesus walked this earth, He also proclaimed such an invitation: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). Jesus invited everyone to come to Him and find true rest.

The Bible closes with a similar, universal invitation: “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Rev. 22:17). In the King James Version we read: “And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” There’s a universal offer to eternally experience the satisfying fullness of God.

We are to simply come and receive by faith. When we do so, we have eternal life, which is diametrically opposed to our natural life. The definition of this new life—our new self—is as follows: “Created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). Peter described it as becoming “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Pet. 1:4). This partaking is a gradual process.

The essence of eternal life is growing in the knowledge of God, which is ad infinitum: “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Jesus offered Himself freely for such bliss to whosoever will. His blood is all-sufficient to secure out eternal life.

 

Jan Blonk
The Devotional Writer
www.amazon.com/author/janblonk

 

P.S. Here’s one of the easiest fundraisers for your church, ministry, Christian school, college, university, or non-profit. Anyone can do so … go to www.thecauseofchrist.com to find out!

At one point, before we were saved, we only had “natural” life. Jesus’ sacrificial death obtained our “spiritual” life.

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

John 6:53

 

The basic necessities of life are water and food. We can live without other things, but not without those. Jesus used that in relation to our spiritual life. Unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we have no life within us.

In the next four devotionals we’ll look at the passage in John 6:53-56. We’ll see what it means to have “no life in you” (v. 53), to have eternal life (v. 54), to eat His flesh and drink His blood (v. 55), and to abide in Him (v. 56).

There’s natural and spiritual life. Everyone has natural life at birth. That doesn’t end—we’re never annihilated. We continue to exist, even when we lay down our physical body. There’s also spiritual life, which is a life in relation to God. We can only have that when we’re born again—born from above.

Jesus stated that as follows: “That which is born of the flesh [through our parents] is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit [through God] is spirit.” He then continued, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:6-7).

Paul defined our natural life as hostile to God: “For the mind that is set on the flesh [the fleshly mind, referring to our natural life] is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh [having only natural life] cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7-8).

In Ephesians we read: “They [those who only have natural life] are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God [spiritual life] because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (Eph. 4:18).

It’s no surprise then that those who only have natural life reject God and His truth. There’s an innate enmity toward Him. That’s defined as spiritual deadness. That’s why Jesus’ sacrificial death—giving His flesh and blood—is vital in order to have spiritual life.

Speaking to believers, Paul wrote: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph. 2:1-3). It is only through Jesus’ flesh and blood that we can have spiritual life.

But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.

John 19:34

 

Many times we consider Jesus’ blood only in relation to our forgiveness. His blood obtained much more than that, though. He inaugurated the New Covenant, which means God also works in us “that which is pleasing in his sight” (Heb. 13:20-21). Additionally, when He died, water flowed from His body. What does that signify?

In Ezekiel we read: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you” (Ezek. 36:25). That promise was realized when Jesus cried out, “It is finished.”

In addition to the deliverance from our sins, we also need to be purified from our inward corruptions. It’s one thing to forgive someone’s debt; it’s quite another thing to change his way of life. Through the death of His Son, God not only dealt with the consequences of our sins—guilt and condemnation—but also with the cause of them.

We see this double grace in Titus: “Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). The water refers to our purification.

The Bible also associates water with the Holy Spirit: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:38-39).

We see a similar association in Isaiah: “Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field . . .” (Isa. 32:15). From being dry and barren, we are watered from on high and become alive and fruitful.

The water that came from Jesus’ body refers to our purification. It’s through the Holy Spirit that God washes and renews us: “The washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Through Jesus’ atoning death, the Father gave us the fullness of the Holy Spirit, purifying and transforming us into the image of His Son.