Articles
What Will Jesus Do With Me?
As we consider this question today, we can come to a very quick and simple conclusion. There are only two possible choices. He will either receive me into His Kingdom of Heav-en or He will reject me into eternal punish-ment of Hell. John 5:24-30, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and be-lieves in Him who sent Me has everlasting life and shall not come into Judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly I say to you the hour is coming, and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God: and those that hear will live. As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, be-cause He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming I which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge: and My judgment is righteous because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Fa-ther who sent Me”.
We must realize that what we do with Jesus will determine what He does with us. Many think that God would not destroy anyone because He is a God of love!!!! We see throughout the history of the Bible God’s love being manifested toward His people but we also see that when they disobeyed He punished them. It is no different today. Jesus said in Matt. 7:21 “Not everyone who says “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day. “Lord, Lord” have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!”
Over the last several weeks we have been studying lessons on the authority of Christ. We have come to realize that His authority is in our everyday physical life, as well as our spiritual life. What choices have we made regarding Christ today? We see Pilate in Matthew the 27th chapter asking, “What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate tries to wash his hands of Christ. Pilate's wife tried to talk him out of having anything to do with Christ. The people kept yelling “Crucify Him.” Throughout the scriptures, we see people making choices that would change their lives for the better or maybe for the worse. (Naaman, rich young ruler, Joseph, Abraham, Lot, Moses.) These are just a few who made a decision that changed their lives a lot. We are no different than those of old. We make decisions in re-garding our service to God, based on what our families want, or jobs, or vacations. Jesus said that we are to love HIM more than family. If we love other things more than Christ, He said we are not worthy of Him.
WHAT SHALL I DO WITH JESUS? Jesus became the author of eternal salvation. Heb. 5:8-9 “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedi-ence by the things which He suffered, And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who OBEY him.” Jesus gave the command in Matt.28:19-20 to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. He teaches that He has all authority. He tells us to obey all that He commands. Not just part of it and not when we want to. We are to obey all the time. In the command that He gave the apostles, they were told to baptize those who believed. Have you been baptized for the remission of your sins? (Acts 2:38, Rom. 6:3-5, Acts 22:16). In John 14:1-6, Jesus tells us that He has gone to prepare a mansion for us. “Let not your hearts be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, “I am the way the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Fa-ther except through Me.”
If you know that you are not a Christian, or have not been living as a Christian should, Why do you wait to obey God? Don’t be like Felix, waiting for a convenient season. A song we sing, ‘Why Do You Wait?’, asks the question, “What do you hope to gain by a further delay?”. Judgment day is coming. Jesus said in Matt. 6:33 “Seek first the king-dom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Is Jesus going to find us prepared, watching and waiting as the five virgins were in Matt. 25: 1-13? Keep in mind what Solomon said in Eccl. 12:13-14, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.” Jesus also reminds us in Matt. 12:36, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may say speak evil, they will give account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified and by words you will be condemned.”
Now is the time to prepare my friend to make your calling sure. John wrote in 2 John 9, “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.”
