Wednesday in the Word from Florida...John 8.39-47...another photo of Maine

Good Wednesday morning from Florida and I just got my hour walk in because that is the only time you can walk in Florida during the summer.  The mountain of boxes is getting smaller and another purging garage sale is in the near future.

I will be flying to Machias, Maine over Father's Day weekend.  The picture above is another photograph of town during the fall.  The church is located on the right lower corner with a bell tower.  I covet your prayers for this trip and the opportunity to see if this is where I will start my interim ministry.

Today's Wednesday in the Word covers John chapter 8 and verses 39 through 47 which read,

v.39-41 - They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."  Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.  But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.  You are doing the deeds of your father."  They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father:  God."

Genetically Abraham was their father.  He was the Jews ancestral father, the patriarch of the Jewish nation.  Jesus is not so concerned about their physical heritage as He was about their spiritual heritage.  What did Abraham do?  Abraham heard the voice of God to go, he believed and went.  He obeyed what God said.  God is the truth and he listened and started traveling north from the land of Ur to the Promise Land of which he did not know where it was.

Jesus is telling the Jews that they are not of Abraham because they are not listening and responding to the truth.  Instead of accepting the Messiah given by God they want to kill Him.  Their spiritual father is not Abraham but the devil himself because they are plotting to do the deeds of Satan.  So the Jews fire back what was probably common knowledge about Jesus birth.  He was conceived before the wedding night and not by His physical father Joseph.  Joseph could have divorced Mary, quietly by his choice, but he didn't and raised Jesus as a son even though it seemed Jesus was an illegitimate child, conceived previous to the acceptable appointed time. 

Jesus has been saying that His father is God and now the Jews think they have the upper hand to say, "No He isn't.  We don't know who Your physical father is but our one spiritual Father is God."

v.42-44 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.  Why do you not understand what I am saying?  It is because you cannot hear My word.  You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, 

for he is a liar and the father of lies."

Jesus fires back, "No He is not!"  Many times Jesus has explained that He has been sent by God to them.  Something is missing for them to understand this concept and it is the faith given by God to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They have not been born again or born anew by God to respond in repentance, confession, submission, and obedience.  Jesus asks a rhetorical question and then answers it immediately.  

Jesus then goes back to who is our father if God is not our father and the answer is "the devil."  Satan was a murderer from the very beginning.  He murdered Adam and Eve's spiritual lives in the Garden of Eden.  He told a lie, the first lie and therefore dubbed by Jesus as "the father of lies."  He will continue to tell lies and amass a following of sons and daughters who will do the same.  Ephesians chapter 5 and verses 1 and 2 say,

Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children,

and walk in love, as Christ also loved us

and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

To be an imitator of God is to walk in love and Satan did just the opposite and so are these Jews who are plotting to kill Jesus rather than love Him.  They are following after their father Satan and not their "so-called" Father God.

v.45-47 - "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.  Which one of you convicts Me of sin?  If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?  He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God."

Jesus asks another rhetorical question and quickly gives the same answer.  They are not able to hear because they are not of God.  God, being God, is the One who is primary in theirs and our salvation.  God created us.  God created the salvation plan.  God sent one and only Son, Jesus Christ, as the Messiah of the plan.  God provided the sacrifice needed to saved us from His wrath.  God gave us His words recorded in the Bible.  God provides a heaven for those who respond to all that He has already done.  

These words from Jesus must have infuriated the Jews.  "Who is this man to say we are not 'of God'?"  In the next section of this chapter they will fire back again at Jesus.  What is the purpose of telling them that they are not "of God"?  When are eyes are opened and our hearts are softened by God to realize that we are not "of God," it triggers a different response.  We find ourselves figuratively and maybe physically on our knees with repentance and remorse of our sin.  We call out in confession of our sin and also a confession to Jesus as the only Savior against the wrath of God.  Let me close with a condensed version of "The 12 signs of a Repentant Heart" from a recent Todd Friel "Wretched" broadcast.

1. Name sin as sin and not spin.
2. Confession before caught.
3. Confess immediately - come clean.
4. A willingness and eagerness to make amends.
5. No defense of self.
6. No pressure for forgiveness from the other.
7. A willingness to confess no matter what.
8. We grieve but not bristle.
9. We seek help.
10. We don't resent accountability.
11. We seek God's comfort.
12. We are humble and teachable.

I will include the YouTube video episode below.  

It is about 29 minutes long.  Let us pray.

"Heavenly Father, may we see clearly when we are following the other father.  May we be so thankful for Your provision and take seriously our repentance before You.  Amen."

Adam