Friday: Further Thought – Epilogue: Knowing Jesus and His Word
Daily Lesson for Friday 27th of December 2024
God’s perspective is vastly different from that of humans.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
God shares His perspective with us through His Word, the Bible, under the power of the Holy Spirit. It is our choice whether we wish to walk in darkness or accept the light coming from Jesus Christ as revealed in the Word.
Integral to this choice is our own personal surrender to Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Redeemer of humanity. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God the Father has revealed to us—in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—the depth of His love. And we know about Jesus because His life, death, and resurrection have been recorded in the Word of God.
“The angels of God are ever passing from earth to heaven, and from heaven to earth. The miracles of Christ for the afflicted and suffering were wrought by the power of God through the ministration of the angels. And it is through Christ, by the ministration of His heavenly messengers, that every blessing comes from God to us. In taking upon Himself humanity, our Saviour unites His interests with those of the fallen sons and daughters of Adam, while through His divinity He grasps the throne of God. And thus Christ is the medium of communication of men with God, and of God with men.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 143.
Discussion Questions
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Two features of John's Gospels stand out for me.
Of all the stories in the book of John, which one speaks the loudest to you about the love and character of God is the story of the woman of the well. Jesus was interested in her salvation {as much as he was interested in mine}
For me: Come and See, the woman at the well Phillip to Nathaniel. We fish all night and caught nothing… If you say so, Peter to Jesus. I am The Way Truth and Life. Thomas in his doubting. And many more.
“How should someone go about the search for truth?” Here are a couple of things I believe The Lord used to help me when I was without hope and without God in the world.
1. I was filtering reality through my own mind and way of thinking. It seems obvious but when I realized reality would continue just fine when I was no longer in existence it helped me to understand that I was only subjectively interpreting reality through my own mind and that it objectively existed apart from me. This helped me to question all of my subjective interpretation of everything I thought and experienced.
2. I questioned what was important in life. I reasoned that if there was anything I could gain in life, be it riches, power, fame, education, or anything else the world can offer, it would be meaningless without relationships. I decided relationships was the most important thing.
3. I believe The Lord then led me to question what was it about relationships that made them valuable and could come up with only one answer. Love.
4. I then asked myself if I could have a relationship with anyone in the world, who would it be? It was during this time that The Lord showed me Who He was and that He wanted to have a relationship. Who better to have a relationship with than The Creator of the universe Who is love personified and reality Himself.
It is a long story but from there God led me to the Bible as His word and to my need of Jesus Christ to save me from sinful self. I thank God for having mercy on a dead dog and for giving me hope in a relationship with Him!
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. “ 1 John 4:10.
The encounter with Pilate stood out for me.Pilate not wanting to crucify Jesus and at the same time not wanting to disappoint his people ,maybe because of his political rank therefore the fear of being thrown out of his seat.Also not waiting to listen to what truth Jesus was talking about..
The Gospel according to John provides my favorite account of the life of Jesus and the Truth He came to share with all who seek righteousness. In an unjust world filled with anguish, people long for assurance that a supreme Truth exists. I believe that deep within every heart is a desire to find that Truth.
It is our privilege and responsibility to assist others in discovering it. John boldly testified that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. As followers of Christ, we must embody this Truth so that others can see His Way reflected in our lives. Having received the Father’s Grace and Mercy, it is now our calling to share them with everyone we encounter.
The Holy Spirit serves as our Comforter, guiding us on a lifelong journey to trust and abide in Jesus Christ. Through the power of divine, heavenly Agape Love, we are transformed. Let us live as evidence of God’s boundless Love for all mankind - John 3:16.
The one story that sticks out the most for me (although there are several prominent ones) is the raising of Lazarus from the dead. This was the crowning act of His ministry. It blew the philosophy of the Sadducees out of the water. It should have convinced anyone who was not blindly committed to His demise, that He was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God.
And yet His enemies plotted to kill Lazarus as well as Him. Were they so blind that they didn't realize that Jesus could raise him from the dead again?
But such is the deceitfulness of sin.