THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES, PART III.

John 15:3 Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you.

How can Jesus declare these men are clean, does he not know that within this same week they all will abandon him? Even deny that they are associated with him?

And yet Jesus declares them to be clean. Clean because of their acceptance of his claim that he is the Christ, the promised Messiah.

They heard his voice, they believed his words and are declared clean by their Teacher.

Jesus declares that they are clean, branches of the Vine that are bearing fruit, the fruit of righteousness.

How did that come about?

Through the words of life that Jesus had “poured” into them for almost three years.

This truth is confirmed in John 5:24, Most assuredly I tell you, he that hears my word and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but has passed from death into life.

It is a work that God himself accomplishes in us as well through the Lord Jesus Christ and that through the gift of faith works mightily in us who believe and are yielded to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Again, in I John 1:9 we are assured that it is God (and not us) who cleanses us from all unrighteousness on an ongoing basis.

Children of God may humbly consider themselves clean, holy and without blemish, because they have been washed with the water of the Word, (Jesus Christ), Eph. 5:26.

They have been (past tense) made whole and at the same time are being made whole, a work in progress.

Col. 2:10, “You are complete in him, (Jesus) …. And through the Holy Spirit’s working in us we grow to greater maturity in our Christian walk.

It is immaterial what our eyes observe around us at Sunday mornings or at any other time in our fellow Christians.

We observe the outside, but our Father observes the inside of his children and he is delighted, Zephania 3:17.

For he sees a people that he personally has called out of darkness into his marvelous light, I Peter 2:9.

He sees a people that he has gathered from many nations, denominations and even some abominations, and he has brought them home to himself.

A people that he cleaned up from all their filthiness and idols, Ez. 36:24, 25.

He put a new heart and a new spirit in each one of them and removed the stoney heart out of them, this new heart is meek and plyable.

Our Father sees a people in which he planted his own spirit, the Holy Spirit, who will transform them so that they will delight to walk in ways ordained by him.

A people who know that they have been redeemed, who know that their Father rejoices over them with great joy.

A people who take delight in doing their Father’s will.

(Free translation of Ezekiel 36 : 24 – 28.)

Our Father delights, he is joyful to see a people who are clean through the words that he has spoken to them, living branches that are bearing the fruit of faith.

Living branches that are bearing the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of the Spirit in abundance, Gal. 5:22, 23.

Fruit that is the manifestation of the Life that is in the Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Thomas, Aug./2010. Simon VanderKooy.

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES, PART II.

John 15 : 2.

Every branch in me that bears no fruit, he takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it , so that it may bear more fruit.

On the face of it this verse seems to be telling us that believers better see to it that they produce fruit or out the door they go.

And yet this conclusion, even though common among many Christians, is not compatible with many other truths of Scripture.

Last month we also saw that the Life in the Vine bears fruit in the branches.

For the right answer we need to compare Scripture with Scripture.

When we study this subject we find that Jesus died for all, his death was sufficient atonement for all, just the same not all are saved.

I John 2:2 …….And he (Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Hebr.2:9 ……That he (Jesus) should taste death for every man.

Or John 1:29 ……Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.

May we then conclude that since Jesus tasted death for everyone, that therefore all will be saved?

No, not quite. There is a condition. The condition is believing that Jesus came into the world to face death for sinners and their sins.

The application of the sacrifice of Jesus to our personal condition.

John 3:18 He that believes on him (Jesus), is not condemned, but he that believes not, is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

So, we could reconstruct John 15:2 this way: every branch that does not respond to the offer of Life that the Vine provides is taken away by the vinedresser due to his own choice.

Before we get the urge to pat ourselves on the back for making the right choice, let us remember John 3:19 ……..And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather that light…….

If it had been up to us, we certainly would not have made the right choice.

It is not without cause that Jesus says: “No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me, draw him,(yank him by the arm, so to speak) in John 6:44.

The truth of John 15:2 is also illustrated in Luke 19:11-27.

This parable is not about making money in the market place, it is about the new Life in Christ that is available to everyone. The question is, what do we do with that new Life that is freely given to us?

That new Life is manifested in the believer in the form of a life of love, love to our Father and love to our neighbors.

The more of this love we give away, the more we receive in return.

Conversely, the man that buried his pound (new Life) in the ground, from him was taken away even that which was given to him in the first place, Luke 19:26.

Here is a picture of a branch that does not bear fruit, it is taken away.

The choice is ours, willingness to bear fruit or not.

A willingness to yield ourselves to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to do those things which are pleasing to the Father.

All this so that our life will be a demonstration of the Life of the Vine that is in us.

This willingness to yield to the Holy Spirit also makes that the life of a “branch” is anything but passive.

To the contrary, it is an active live, lived in service to our Father who gave us the real life. Life that does not end, ever.

As well it is a life of service to our fellow man in a multitude of aspects.

A life that has been touched and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit no longer seeks its own advantage or benefit, but that of others.

It completely changes the answer to the “why” of things.

Why do I work my job? Why am I a Christian? Why do I attend church? Why do I begin a conversation with a person who seems lonesome? Why am I here in the first place?

It is a life that no longer seeks fulfillment in order to be happy.

It is a life that finds joy in contentment.

John 15:2 goes on to say that the vinedresser prunes the branches that do bear fruit, in order that the quantity and the quality of the fruit might increase.

The story was told to me of a father who went with his school age son to a country fair.

While there, they observed a lumberjack with a chainsaw carving away at a stump of a tree. Now and then the man carefully observed a piece of paper on a small table, which turned out to be a picture of an Indian in full ceremonial dress.

The boy observed the artisan for a while, then he turned to his father. He said: Dad, you know what he is doing? Yes, was the reply, he is carving an Indian out of that stump.

That’s right, said the boy, he is carving away everything that does not look like an Indian.

And that is the objective of the divine Vinedresser, cutting away everything in us and about us that does not look like the image of Jesus.

When we give our Father permission to do this pruning in us, he will set about to carefully, lovingly remove those things in us that are not pleasing to him.

John the Baptist defined the purpose of this pruning process when he said: “He (Jesus) must increase and I must decrease”.

Pruning is usually painful, because it often involves those things that we, God’s children trust in for our wellbeing, our self-support systems that we all have developed to cope with life as it comes to us. It may be our job or profession, our bank account, our ability to control our circumstances, our knack for controlling those around us, our reputation, a whole series of perceived rights that we believe are ours, the list goes on.

It is what the Bible calls fulfilling the lust of the flesh, Gal.5:16.

Flesh is always self-serving, it seeks its own welfare, often at the expense of others.

Flesh always claims to know best, it is opposed to the Holy Spirit and is anti-Christ.

Flesh is not of faith, therefore it is always sin.

Pruning, however painful it might be, is always for our good.

The Psalmist knew that all too well when he said: It was good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn your statutes, Ps. 119:71.

Hebr. 12:11 is very specific about pruning: “Now no chastening (pruning) for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who are exercised thereby”.

When adverse circumstances come our way, what ever their source, our Father will use them in the pruning process.

When we can approach life in that way, we can also agree with Rom.8: 28 - 30 …..And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

For whom he foreknew, he also pre-destined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover, whom he pre-destined, those he also called, whom he called, those he also justified, and whom he justified, those he also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

To be continued……..

St.Thomas, Dec./’08. Simon VanderKooy.

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES, PART I.

The gospel of John, chapter 15:1, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser, (vs. 5) …… and you are the branches”.

These few words are loaded with meaning.

Jesus compares himself and his followers to a grapevine and its branches.

That means first of all that I, as a branch, am indelibly connected to the Vine, Jesus Christ.

That also means that I, the branch have no life in myself apart from the Vine.

Apart from the Vine I am dead, without life whatsoever.

This fact is confirmed in many places. In Acts 17:28 we read this: ……..For in him we live and move and have our being.

I Cor.1:30 says this: …….For of Him (our Father) are you in Christ Jesus………

Because of God’s mercies I am in Christ Jesus, only on that basis may I consider myself a partaker of the life that he is, John 14:6.

Branches of grapevines do not go around looking for vines to attach themselves to, likewise the initiative to be a Christian did not originate with me, but with the Vine.

In this chapter, verse16 Jesus says …..you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you….

It is the life in a grapevine that produces branches in springtime with the express purpose to produce fruit.

Fruit that contains the seeds to produce new vines that will show the same life and virtues of the original vine.

The branches do not produce the fruit, the life in the vine produces the fruit, all that is asked of the branches is to bear that fruit.

All this would make us ask two questions, one, this all seems to be very passive, what role do I play in following Jesus?

And the second question, what is “fruit”?

The first question we will address when we discuss verse 2 of this chapter.

Most Christians have been taught at one time or another that God expects us to “produce” fruit in our Christian life and usually a variety of reasons are given to back up that claim.

That “fruit” would be a catch-all term for all kinds of good works and Christian practises and disciplines, especially worship and witnessing.

May I submit to you that the fruit that this passage speaks of, are not things that we do.

Fruit is the manifestation of the LIFE that is in the vine.

And the manifestation of that LIFE is outlined as the fruit of the Spirit, Gal.5:22, 23.

That life that is in the vine first produces the branches.

Then, when the branches become mature, the life of the vine produces the fruit in the branches. ( I John 2: 12 – 14).

(For the process of becoming mature in Christ he gave the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, Eph. 4:11. This is also the message of Matt.28 : 19, leading believers to maturity in Christ.)

The same way that grapes, even juicy, ripe grapes do not perform any tasks for the vine whatsoever, they just hang there and are a manifestation of the quality of the vine.

These juicy, ripe grapes are not a manifestation of the quality of the branches, they are a manifestation of the quality of the vine.

I am the vine , you are the branches……..

The fruit then that is produced by the vine is the manifestation of the life of the vine that first produces the branches and then produces the fruit in the branches.

It is the life in the vine that produces fruit in the branches. The branches are nothing but a channel for the life of the vine to flow to the fruit of the vine.

Verse 16 of this chapter says that Jesus has ordained or appointed believers to bear fruit and that this fruit would remain, it would be of value eternally.

This kind of fruit is not what we do for God or others, it is the constant recognition and awareness what we are in Christ Jesus, children of God who are loved and accepted by Him, just the way we are.

Likewise, the fruit (note fruit, singular), of the Spirit of Gal. 5:22 is not the things we do, but what we have in Christ Jesus.

And what we do is but the outflow of what we are, reflecting in our daily life the life of Jesus by which we live and move and have our being, Acts 17 :28.

Love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, etc. are not actions on our part, these virtues reflect the character of Jesus who is the vine.

It is he, his life that is reflected in the virtues of Gal.5:22 and 23.

This fruit (of the Spirit) is the expression of the Life of the Spirit in us.

And the expression of that life will lead to deeds, good works.

But now these good works are no longer works we do for God, they are now works done by God through us.

Remember, branches cannot do anything by themselves, branches are fruit bearers, not fruit producers.

I am the true vine, my Father, he is the vinedresser and you are the branches.

It is the desire of the Vinedresser that the branches live in submission to the Vine, so that the fruit produced in the branches will be highly desirable to any one who passes by.

To be continued…….

St. Thomas, Dec./’08. Simon VanderKooy.

If believers would only believe ......

IF BELIEVERS WOULD ONLY BELIEVE …..

Believe ….. that God is not only near us, but in us and more importantly, that we are in

Jesus, who is in the Father, a mysterious, but inseparable union.

Believe ….. that our temporal and eternal security rest on our union with Jesus by his

grace only. And that good works, however noble, do not enter this picture.

Believe ….. that ALL our sins are ALREADY forgiven.

Believe ….. that the blood of Jesus WAS shed for a complete remission of ALL our sins.

Believe ….. that New Testament believers are asked to CONFESS their sins and that

our Father has promised to do the cleansing.

Believe …. that Jesus is our Savior and our very life and not just an example for us to

follow.

Believe ….. that being in Christ, we are the very offspring of God, we are no longer

sinners, but children, saints of God.

Believe …... that our Father rejoices in his children at all times.

Believe ….. that righteousness is a gift we receive by grace, and not something we

achieve by righteous living.

Believe ….. our Father when he says that he will remember our sins no more.

Believe ….. that when Jesus died, we being in him, we really and truly died as well.

Believe ….. that when Jesus rose from the grave, that we, having been immersed in his

death and burial, that we now also fully participate in his resurrection.

Believe ….. that we, having been reconciled by Jesus’ death, now continue to be saved

by his life and not by doing righteous deeds.

Believe ….. That eternal life is not a promise for future realization, but a present reality

for every believer.

Believe ….. that when God says that he will never leave us or abandon us, he also

really means what he says.

Believe ….. that the Holy Spirit is not the One who empowers believers, but that he IS

the power, working mightily IN the believers.

Believe ….. that we, God’s children, have BEEN delivered from ALL the tyranny of the

devil.

Believe ….. and understand that our Father has ordained that his children would fail at

living the Chr. life, so that we, his dear children would come to see the utter

futility of living this life FOR him, and instead cast ourselves on Father’s

mercy and allow him to live this life through us.

Believe ….. that we will only find peace, God’s peace, when we surrender our feeble

efforts at self-sanctification, self-improvement by asking Father to do in

us, what we are completely unable to do ourselves.

Believe ….. that a loving Father would be grieved when his children choose death

rather than life, when they gratify the flesh.

Believe ….. and understand that God never redeemed his people with an eye to what

those redeemed people might do for him, but with an eye to what he might

do IN them.

Believe ….. that Jesus stands at the door of believer’s hearts and stands there asking to

be let inside, Rev. 3 : 20.

Believe ….. that God’s grace is so complete and all-encompassing and our in-ability so

absolute, that there is nothing in his Kingdom that we might earn, even by

our greatest efforts.

Believe ….. that our Father IS our provision for all things spiritual, for all things

emotional and for all things physical.

Believe ….. that our natural birth was not by our choosing and that the same holds true

for our spiritual or second birth. We are also unable to undo either birth.

Believe ….. there is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor or blessings.

Believe ….. that we can do nothing to make God love us more and that we can do

nothing to make him love us less.

Believe ….. that God’s blessings are not a sign of his favor, they are a sign of his mercy.

May believing these truths gleaned from the Scriptures help us to find the reality of rest, peace, God’s grace and mercy and all the fruit of the Spirit.

St. Thomas, May/’10. Simon VanderKooy.

Was He there .....?

WAS HE THERE …… ?

There is a hymn that speaks of the crucifixion of Jesus that says “Where you there” …… (when they crucified my Lord)?

This time I would like to contemplate the question “Was he there ….. ?

Was he there when ….. ?

Was he there when my friends forsook me in what I know was God’s calling for me?

Was he there when I lost my job shortly after buying a house?

Was he there when my hopes and dreams for financial independence evaporated when the value of the stock market evaporated.

Was he there when I was dismissed as a Sunday school teacher?

Was he there when I failed him time after time .

Was he there when my efforts to live for him just got nowhere at all? Wasn’t he supposed to help me?

Was he there when my prayers seem to go nowhere, no matter how I tried to get through to God?

Was he there when our child was so ill, we feared we would loose him?

The list goes on, those of us who have experienced life for any time at all, know the question and we have no difficulty in adding our own challenges as well.

Often, when we are in these valleys of despair he doesn’t seem to be anywhere’s near.

We would then like to have shouted at him: Where are you now that I need you?

David the Psalmist knew about this, in Psalm 69 he says, Save me O God, for the waters are come unto my soul, I am sinking deeper into the mire, the floods overflow me.

The answer to all these questions is a profound YES, he WAS there.

Our God is a compassionate Father who is there with us in our suffering, even when we do not sense his presence at all.

Compassion means to “suffer with”, he not only sees our pain, he feels it as well.

He is not a God who stands on a windswept beach waiting for the storm to cast the ship that is our life on that shore so that he might receive and comfort us.

He is in the ship with us and he will see to it that we land safely, always.

Isaiah 41: 10 and 13 : Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. For I, the Lord your God will hold your right hand, saying to you: Fear not, I will help you.

Miles Stanford in his book “Steps to spiritual growth” comments that the believer who is going through struggle and failure is the Christian who is being carefully and lovingly handled by his Lord in a very personal way.

He is being taken through the experience of self-revelation and into death (of self); the only basis upon which to know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, Phil.3:10.

He was there when Abraham took Hagar to be his wife in order to produce offspring.

He was there when Jacob had to flee for his life after betraying his father and his brother.

He was there when Joseph found himself at the bottom of a dry well, surrounded by brothers who wished to be rid of him.

He was there when Moses had to flee from Egypt to preserve his life.

He was there when Joshua failed to consult the Lord and 36 good men lost their life in a failed battle.

He was there when king Saul sought to kill David, who at one point knew that his death might be imminent. He said there is but one step between me and death.

He was there in the fiery oven with the three friends of Daniel.

He was there …….

He will be there for you and me, always. Whether we do good or fail (again), he will be there.

He will be there, carefully and lovingly handling you in a very personal way …..

He is there …… . Is he there? Is he there for me, when I need him?

Often his presence is suppressed by our pre-occupation. Pre-occupation with the circumstances we find ourselves involved in.

The problems that we face overwhelm us and all we can see is the problem(s) and how could God allow this to happen. How could a loving God be in all this??

Often his presence is suppressed by heresies we have been taught or traditions that are falsehoods.

Many Christians believe that God is present only inside church buildings.

Others believe that God will only look after those people who look after him (faithfully serving him and who tithe at least 10% of their income).

He is there ….. , regardless whether we sense it or not.

None of us deserve his presence, but he is there, always, just the same.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, Hebr. 11:1.

When he seems far away, all we have left is faith, faith, the evidence of things not seen.

It is to teach us that he is there, whether we sense it or not. He promised, he will do it, that is what we need to learn to remember and live by.

The prophet Elijah experienced a great spiritual victory on Mount Carmel in I Kings 18.

Then the queen threatened his life and Elijah fled all the way to the Sinai desert.

In many days he did not hear from God and it depressed him greatly and he wished to die, just get it over with. Victory for God, so what? The queen was still in power.

But God, who was there all the time, had different plans for him. Plans that he could not have thought of in his wildest dreams, I Kings 19:15 and 16.

Our Father’s purpose for us is that we would believe his continuous presence, regardless of our feelings. For that to become a reality for you and me it is necessary that there are times when our feelings are put on hold and all we have is God’s promise.

His presence is our peace, for now and for all eternity.

To close a quote from Habakkuk 3:17-19.

Even though the fig tree has no buds, the vines bear no harvest, the olive crop fails, the orchards yield no food, the fold is bereft of its flock, and there are no cattle in the stalls.

Even so shall I exult in the Lord and rejoice in the God who saves me. The Lord God is my strength; he makes me as sure-footed as a hind and sets my feet on high places.

St. Thomas, April 2010. Simon VanderKooy.

Were You There? by John Woodward

March, 2010

One of the hymns that depicts Christ's passion and resurrection is the traditional song,Were You There? The hymn's author is unknown, but the words are based on the New Testament narratives of Matthew 27:31-56; 28;1-15 and parallels. The first stanza asks:

"Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 
Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. 
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?"

This African American spiritual was written prior to 1865. Those who were oppressed by slavery would sing together for encouragement. Believers would reflect on Christ's sufferings and the consolation of the gospel.

Imagine the heart-felt singing of this hymn before the civil war. The All Music Guide recalls, "The song opens in the traditional 'lining out' style of American country congregations in which the preacher or choir leader sings the first line and the choir or congregation responds. Thus, the (usually) solo voice sings 'Were you there when they crucified my Lord?'... Then the chorus responds in full harmony echoing the same words..."

The memory of Calvary's events follow in each stanza:


(2) Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?


(3) Were you there when they pierced Him in the side?


(4) Were you there when the sun refused to shine?


(5) Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?


(6) Were you there when they rolled the stone away?


(7) Did you know He is risen from the dead? (repeat)


Oh! Sometimes I want to shout, 'Glory, Glory, Glory!.'

These lines pose the rhetorical question, Were you there? The assumed answer was "no," but the song takes the singer back by envisioning those redemptive events by faith.

I still remember a Bible teaching workshop years ago when the speaker quoted this hymn. Then he made this startling announcement: "You were there!"

"What was that? How could I have been there some 2000 years ago?"

Before we answer that, consider another mystery: Everyone was in Adam at the dawn of history! Although our personal life began in the recent past, we were all in Adam positionally and spiritually.

Study Romans 5:12: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." The historical narrative of Genesis 3:1-24 is crucial to understanding the bad news of the Fall of mankind. Adam was constituted by God to represent all of the human race (which came from his loins).

Romans 5:15-19 brings this pivotal doctrine out repeatedly: "... by the one man's offense [Adam's] many died... For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation ... by the one man's offense death reigned through the one... through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation... by one man's disobedience many were made sinners..." Since God had placed the world under Man's dominion, the breaking of this original covenant brought a divine curse on the earth as well.

The Fall also explains why all are born spiritually separated from God and in need of re-birth: "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1).

How blessed I was to learn of the heavenly contrast: Adam was "a type of Him who was to come"--Jesus! (Rom 5:14b). "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22). Therefore, Christ is the positional and spiritual head of all the redeemed!

As a born again believer, the Bible teaches that you were there at the Cross positionally and spiritually (just as you were in Adam prior to salvation). As the apostle Paul declared, "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death... For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him...." (Rom. 6:4-6). "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above... For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Col. 3:1-3). "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, andmade us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-7). Amen!

When you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior by faith, you become identified with Him in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. This is the open secret of victorious living! Reckon this "gospel for the believer" to be true of you personally!

As God brings this New Covenant revelation from your head to your heart, you'll be able to reinterpret that old spiritual. The lines will still take you back to Christ's suffering and resurrection, but you can now take it a step further.

"Where you there when they crucified my Lord?" Your answer can be ... "Yes. Yes, I was there in Him! Hallelujah!"

….YOUR DESIRE SHALL BE FOR YOUR HUSBAND…. II.

January, 2010

Last month we meditated on the Scripture of Gen.3:16 where part of the woman’s curse reads that her desire shall be for her husband.
And we surmised that what she was looking for in her husband was the Life of God, the Life of the Spirit, that eternal Life that was lost by the disobedience of taking and eating of the forbidden fruit.
We saw also that the Life she desired, what she was looking for in her husband, was no longer present in him. Sin had done its devastating work of death in him as well.

In this meditation we hope to explore the truth that even though sin caused man to be separated from the Life of God, that the Lord God who cannot be but merciful and gracious and faithful had already made provision for the redemption of sinners.

The covenant of grace which went into effect immediately provided for a future Mediator who would bruise the serpent’s head, Gen.3:15.
There will come a day, God promised when I shall be your God and you shall be my people, a people whom I will jealously guard from all evil, Jer. 31:33.
I will forgive your iniquity and I will remember your sins no more.
The Lord God promises that he will cleanse his people from all their filthiness and idols.
He promised: And I will put my Spirit within you and he will cause you to keep my commandments, Ez.36:27.

And prophesy continued even up to shortly before the Messiah’s birth: “….., to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. To give Light unto them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death……”, Luke 1:79.
The Gospel of John, chapter 1:4 tells us: In him (the Word, Jesus) was Life, and the Life was the light of men. (5) And the Light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. (9) He (Jesus ) is the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world; (10) He was in the world, the world was made by Him and the world knew (recognized) Him not. (11) He came to His own (people) and His own received Him not.
(12)But as many as received Him, gave He the privilege to become the sons (children) of God, to as many who believe on His name.
Life, eternal Life had returned to the world, just as God had promised on the fateful day long ago when Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise, Praise the Lord!
Life, the desire of the nations, the desire of so many prophets and visionaries for so many centuries had become a reality in visible, touchable form.
Light, Life, Grace and Truth had returned to this sin-darkened world in the person of God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

But what do Scriptures tell us?
That the world did not and still does not recognize him.
Even his own people the Jews, rejected him as an imposter.
Their leaders concluded that even though he did many miracles, he could not be the Messiah, because the Messiah would not transgress the law by healing people on the Sabbath.

And what about us? Would we be different? From the Scriptures we know that we would not act differently in similar circumstances.
In John 1:5 we learn that Light ( the Lord Jesus) shined in the darkness (you and me) and the darkness comprehended not the significance of that light.
In John 3: 19 we see that Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light ……
If it was a matter of human salesmanship, the whole offer of salvation would be a lost effort. You cannot sell anything for which people see no need.
In Eph. 2:4 we read that God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead (in sin), has raised us up together with Jesus, calling us out of darkness, into his marvelous light.
He opened our spiritual eyes to allow us to see Jesus and accept him as our personal Savior, Lord and Life.
In John 14:6 he says : “I am the (only) way to the Father, I am the Truth and I am the Life of God”. I am come so that you may again enjoy that Life that is with the Father and that you may enjoy that Life in abundance.

And again, God allows us to choose, now that he has revealed himself to us, will we choose to live this new, heavenly life in dependence upon Jesus, who is our Life, or will we choose to continue to live out of our own resources?
Trusting our own understanding in deciding what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong? The choice is ours, for each one of us.
Prov. 3:5 tells us to trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
Abundant Life, Life in everyday dependence on God’s limitless resources is available to every believer who chooses to say : yes Lord, not my will, but yours only.
This Life is available only in Jesus Christ and is not to be found anywhere or in anyone else, not in spouses, or reputation, or achievements, or possessions, only in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ.

“ ….. Your desire shall be for your husband …..”. To Eve it was part of the curse, she would look to her husband for something he could not give her.
Our blessing consists in that we may look to Jesus for Life, he has it in abundance,
It is all there just for the asking.
That Life is not just a promise for the future, it is a present reality, eternal Life begins for every one at the moment of repentance and submission to Jesus who is eternal Life.
Who also delights in fulfilling our desire for that Life that is in him to the utmost.
In him we have complete love, acceptance, value, security, in him we have hope, in him we have a future.


St.Thomas, Jan.’10 Simon VanderKooy.