The Ultimate Will of God!

‘Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”’ – John 6:35-40 NIV

Aren’t we afraid that we will be sent to hell, instead of heaven, at the last day? Old Testament is quite full of stories that are about angry and judgemental God, who wishes to destroy people if they do not obey His commands. Thinking that God is judgemental God may grip our minds when we are trying to live God-centred lives. I do this, sometimes. In this moment, we may abandon our Christian lives and go according to our own pleasures, or we may elevate our deeds above our faith in Jesus Christ. These do not mean that living God-centred life is wrong but we must be careful, not to put our deeds above our faith. We should read and memorise James 2:14-26, so that we would remember that faith is above deeds. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

In my point of view, Old Testament illustrates how important the faith is throughout stories. Nevertheless, God is the Judge of all living (James 4:12) but with compassionate and gracious heart (Psalm 103:8). I cannot understand that God can be a loving Father who also is the righteous judge. I just think God is an amazing God. However, I think I need to continue reading Old Testament to fully comprehend about God. Because of His gracious and merciful heart, God sent His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to be crucified on the cross for our sins (Colossians 2:13-15). In addition to this, God has given us eternal life in Him, in order to give us complete freedom (Hebrews 2:14-15). During Lazarus was in the tomb for four days, Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) Furthermore, we do not have to worry about the judgement day that would happen at the last day if we are being obedient to God through faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, we do not have to be concerned about status of our spiritual lives as long as we believe in Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul proclaims that receiving the Holy Spirit from God is a seal from God that we have eternal life and eternal redemption is waiting for us (Ephesians 1:13-14).

It seems like I have to conclude the series tomorrow, instead of today. I anticipate to talk about hope and joy. Nonetheless, meditate on John 10:1-30 and Ephesians 1:3-14. Ask yourself questions today: “Am I being an obedient sheep of Jesus Christ? How can I be more obedient to Him?”