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- Apr 25, 2006
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John 8:39-47
They answered, "Our father is Abraham."
Jesus said, "If you were really Abraham's children, you would do the things Abraham did. I am a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God, but you are trying to kill me. Abraham did nothing like that. So you are doing the things your own father did."
But they said, "We are not like children who never knew who their father was. God is our Father; he is the only Father we have."
Jesus said to them, "If God were really your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and now I am here. I did not come by my own authority; God sent me. You don't understand what I say, because you cannot accept my teaching. You belong to your father the devil, and you want to do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning and was against the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he shows what he is really like, because he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you don't believe me. Can any of you prove that I am guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? The person who belongs to God accepts what God says. But you don't accept what God says, because you don't belong to God."
You probably know the saying "You can't judge a book by its cover". There's a talk making this point using a tin can with a dog meat label, but the contents exchanged for Mars bar pieces in chocolate Angel Delight. A willing volunteer (or otherwise) discovers to their relief that the content is not dog food. Some people look like they are followers of God, do the 'right' things, and use the 'right' language, seen in the 'right' places, and yet they are not.
Jesus was talking to such a group, claiming to live the way of God as revealed in the Old Testament ("Our Father is Abraham"). Yet Jesus says to them "If God were really your father you would love me because I am from God". Jesus makes all the difference! Faith in God isn't all about being seen to do or say the 'right' things, or to be seen hanging out with certain people. It's all about the person of Jesus and our response to him. In John's Gospel 1:12 it says, "To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to be called children of God". Have you come to a personal faith in Jesus? If so you are a child of God. It is really true. "The person who belongs to God accepts what God says".
Thanks Jesus that you make all the difference. Thank you that you died for me, and by your Spirit you live in me, and that I am a child of Father God. Amen.
Written by Stephen Plumb
They answered, "Our father is Abraham."
Jesus said, "If you were really Abraham's children, you would do the things Abraham did. I am a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God, but you are trying to kill me. Abraham did nothing like that. So you are doing the things your own father did."
But they said, "We are not like children who never knew who their father was. God is our Father; he is the only Father we have."
Jesus said to them, "If God were really your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and now I am here. I did not come by my own authority; God sent me. You don't understand what I say, because you cannot accept my teaching. You belong to your father the devil, and you want to do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning and was against the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he shows what he is really like, because he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you don't believe me. Can any of you prove that I am guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? The person who belongs to God accepts what God says. But you don't accept what God says, because you don't belong to God."
You probably know the saying "You can't judge a book by its cover". There's a talk making this point using a tin can with a dog meat label, but the contents exchanged for Mars bar pieces in chocolate Angel Delight. A willing volunteer (or otherwise) discovers to their relief that the content is not dog food. Some people look like they are followers of God, do the 'right' things, and use the 'right' language, seen in the 'right' places, and yet they are not.
Jesus was talking to such a group, claiming to live the way of God as revealed in the Old Testament ("Our Father is Abraham"). Yet Jesus says to them "If God were really your father you would love me because I am from God". Jesus makes all the difference! Faith in God isn't all about being seen to do or say the 'right' things, or to be seen hanging out with certain people. It's all about the person of Jesus and our response to him. In John's Gospel 1:12 it says, "To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to be called children of God". Have you come to a personal faith in Jesus? If so you are a child of God. It is really true. "The person who belongs to God accepts what God says".
Thanks Jesus that you make all the difference. Thank you that you died for me, and by your Spirit you live in me, and that I am a child of Father God. Amen.
Written by Stephen Plumb
