The Secure Hope of Father’s Sovereign Throne

I am presently on a journey through Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer of John 17. This section is the present quarry yielding untold treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. (John 17:6-8) 

One of the things standing out to me is the weaving together of relationships so that the believer is just as significant in the picture as the Father and the Son. In no way do I mean that we are as glorious, or wonderful, or good, or holy, or righteous as the Triune. However, by God’s choice, we are as essential to the picture as the Father and the Son. Which means, “Monte, MEANS SOMETHING to them!” 

Somehow, in considering the relationship of the Father, the Son, and the children of God, I was reminded of John’s description of God in Revelation: “and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.”^[1] 

As I meditated on the wonder of this, the fact that God deliberately left out all the details people would love to paint into this scene puts the spotlight on what things mean more than what they look like. I love thinking of this as Heaven’s Picture Book. Each scene is a picture to marvel at and enjoy, something easy for persecuted and harassed believers to remember when overwhelmed by the world’s hatred of our Savior. 

Today this overwhelms me: “a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.”[2] That tells me everything about what to expect of evil governments, evil movements, anti-Christs, beasts, false prophets, one world governments, humanity united to oppose God: because a throne stands in heaven, with one seated on the throne, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”[3] And no one can stop Jesus from building his church, even when his living stones include me![4] 

So, when I read further that John: 

“heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 

‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ 

And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped”,[5] 

I know that I am in the picture as one of those creatures. In my own small experience, I am saying with them that I confess my faith in the one who sits on the throne, and I confess my faith in the Lamb, and because they are sovereign over all, blessing, and honor, and glory, and might, are theirs forever and ever, and so I bow before them in joyful confession and worship them with a thankful and awestruck heart. 

© 2021 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

 

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[1] Revelation 4:2-3

[2] Revelation 4:2

[3] Romans 8:37

[4] Matthew 16:18; I Peter 2:4-5

[5] Revelation 5:13-14

The Guarantee of Life

How can someone know for certain that when they die, they will be with the Creator, our Lord Jesus Christ?

 

Death is all around us. Even during all the lying about lockdowns, people are getting sick with the Wuhan Virus and dying, they are becoming hopeless and taking their own lives, they are mistreating themselves and dying before their time, and all while all the other reasons for dying are still doing their devastating work.

 

For me, I am very aware that I am closer to my finish line than ever, and that I could be run over by a deadly life-experience even before that doomsday. The realization that the human mortality rate is 100% leaves a horribly crushing weight of hopelessness that anyone will ever avoid the cursed experience of death.

 

Which means that my life-experience must prove to me with an absolute guarantee that what comes after physical death is life.

 

I take no comfort from those who claim that existence ends at death so we have nothing to worry about. I am not the least bit encouraged by people who claim that we will keep reincarnating until we get it right. None of that adds up.

 

I do not want to take my chances on some “good works” strategy that if I just make sure I have one more good works than bad works the holy and magnificent God who created us will be happy with us! How could that ever be possible?!

 

And, I most certainly do not want to place my faith in the evolutionary religion demanding that everything came from nothing, that nothing could explode into the building blocks of a universe, that non-living things could magically morphe into living things, and we will just turn back to nothing when we die!

 

Nope! There is something inside me far too alive to believe that unscientific nonsense!

 

Here is God’s simple declaration of how to have assurance that death is followed by genuine and eternal life with our Creator:

 

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

 

Picture a person named Someone hearing the good news about Jesus Christ. They hear that he is the Word of God who became flesh and made his dwelling among us. He went everywhere doing good to people, healing their diseases, and driving out their demons. What an amazing guy!

 

But then Someone is led to the scene of history where this sinless man laid down his life in the most humbling expression of love possible. On one side, he willingly suffered the horrible death of crucifixion, demonstrating how far he would go to take their place. On the other side, while in the agonies of crucifixion, he was bearing on himself the full outpouring of the wrath of God against their sins.

 

This begins to stir a wonder in Someone’s soul as they acknowledge that no one has ever expressed love to them like that. They know what it is like to suffer at the hands of others, often unjustly, but not what someone would suffer for them to the extent of bearing the full justice of God against their own sins!

 

And then they hear this wonderful news that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead in complete victory over sin, death, hell, and the grave! They suddenly find in themselves this tugging awareness that they want to know this person. They want to know what it is like to be in friendship with this Savior who not only suffered death in the most horrible ways both physically and spiritually, but also had the power of God raise him from the dead.

 

Which captivates Someone’s heart and mind with the wonder that they could know the only living Savior. They could personally know this Jesus of Nazareth as Jesus the Christ, Jesus the King of kings and Lord of lords.

 

However, as Someone begins taking steps towards the Savior King, they suddenly feel this overwhelming awareness of how utterly sinful they are in contrast to the purity and holiness of Jesus’ love and righteousness. They become crushingly aware that there is no good thing in them by which they could justify the right to be his servant, let alone his friend, or, unthinkably, his Brother!

 

And in that devastating awareness of the hopelessness of their sin, they hear Jesus’ words from the cross: “It is FINISHED!!!!!!!” And in those words, they realize that this was exactly why Jesus died, to fully deal with their sin. He dealt with the crime of it, the offensiveness of it, the guilt, shame and fear of it, the hopelessness of it, the crushing weight of its taunting promise to take them down, and the justice that demands their death in payment. His death in body, soul and spirit, paid it all!

 

And while they struggle to believe that this was for them, they hear the words of God telling them that “Christ Jesus came into the world to SAVE sinners!” They hear the “good news of great joy” that there is “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!” They understand that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,” and their hearts blossom under the light of such love.

 

And then Someone hears the words of Jesus himself calling out to them, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest for your souls!” In that instant, they know in their heart that Jesus wants them. Jesus died for them. Jesus lives for them. Jesus has already saved them.

 

With their minds all changed-up about their sin so that they now hate what they once loved, and their hearts convinced that Jesus’ victory over sin and death is their own victory over sin and death, they receive for themselves the gift of eternal life by putting their faith in this Savior. They confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is indeed the Lord who came to save them, and they believe in their heart that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead in a masterful stroke of divine genius to give them a Savior who died and yet lives.

 

When Someone receives this gift of eternal life, they enter the realities of God the Father, of the Son of God as Firstborn Brother, and the Holy Spirit of God crying out in them and with them, “Abba! Father!” They know that something inside them is now more alive than before, and that the life they may very well lose in death has already been overcome with the greater life that will never end.

 

So, when God’s Book assures them, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” they realize that the faith they have now, that wasn’t there before, is the everlasting Guarantee that they have eternal life. Their name has been engraved onto the hands of the Savior. Their sins have been blotted out of God’s Book of judgment and their names already written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

 

Someone takes to heart what an Older Brother told them a long time earlier: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” They now have a temporal life that is worth living because of the God who has made a home with them, and they have an eternal life waiting for them on the other side of death that is a gain instead of a loss.

 

No matter what storms of life come, or what threats of death arise, Someone who has put their faith in Jesus Christ has the guarantee of eternal life because of the certainty of what Jesus has already done. And even when life-circumstances feel the most crushing, to simply see that the one thing they keep clinging to is faith in Jesus Christ assures them that they are more than conquerors in their Savior already, and that they will enter into the fullness of Jesus’ joy on the day that death takes them home.

 

As you read this good news, God’s invites you to be the Someone who experiences this mind-change about your sin, believes in Jesus Christ for salvation, enters the kingdom of God forever, and begins walking in the newness of life. I became a Someone in God’s story a long time ago. Anyone reading this can become a Someone to God today.

 

© 2021 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

 

John Bible Study ~ John 1:29-34 ~ John the Baptist Introduces the Lamb of God

Our next look at John’s record of the good news leads us to the place where Jesus is introduced to the world. What is said in that introduction tells us about who Jesus is and what he came to do. The announcement is just as fresh in God’s Book as it was for the people who first heard it. The opportunity to respond in obedient faith is also just as much ours as it was theirs. 

John Bible Study ~ John 1:29-34 ~ John the Baptist Introduces the Lamb of God[1] 

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1 ~ ESV) 

We have seen that John the Baptist came as a forerunner of the Christ, preparing people’s hearts for Jesus to arrive on the scene. The gospel message now shows John the Baptist in direct relationship to Jesus, telling us who Jesus is and what he is about. In this study we will consider how these things apply to us today. 

Part 1: “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

Our reaction to someone’s visit may be dependent on who the person is who is telling us about that person’s visit, or who the person is who is visiting. If the person visiting isn’t important enough to us, we won’t care even if our most reliable friend keeps nagging us that it is taking place. On the other hand, if we consider the person to have celebrity status, or have attached to them as someone of great importance to us in music, sports, religion or cinema, it may not matter in the least who first tells us they think the person is in town, we will want to check it out. In this Scripture we have two persons of great significance to God’s kingdom, John the Baptist and Jesus, telling us of the most important visit that has ever happened on earth. The invitation is to respond accordingly. 

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1) 

1.     What is the connection between what John the Baptist “saw”, and his exclamation of, “Behold…!”? 

 

2.    How much do you know about why John would announce Jesus as “the Lamb of God”? 

 

3.    What does John state as Jesus’ purpose in coming? 

 

4.    How would you describe your experience of Jesus’ work? 

 

Part 2: A Life That Reveals Jesus 

Not only do we need to consider who Jesus is in himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, we must also understand his identity in relation to everyone else. In part 2 of this study, we consider what John the Baptist had to say about Jesus’ status in relation to himself. The same would be true of us, and a necessary ingredient in building our faith in Jesus Christ. 

30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” (John 1) 

1.     What does John’s reminder of something he previously said tell us about the person he is now pointing out to everyone? 

 

2.    What does John admit was his starting place with Jesus that put him in the same position as all the rest of us? 

 

3.    What is the connection between what John said he came to do and what he was presently doing by pointing everyone to Jesus? 

 

4.    How does your experience of knowing Jesus Christ compare with the way John describes him? 

 

Part 3: The Divine Testimony 

One of the principles from God’s Book is that everything must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. When John the Baptist claimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he was not the only witness in the picture. Our third look at this section reveals that God himself establishes his activity with the required number of witnesses. The rest of this gospel account will give us many more, with each one calling us to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ with all our hearts. 

32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1)

 

1.     What did John see happen that identified Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? 

 

2.    How did John know how to interpret what he witnessed? 

 

3.    What effect did it have on John that he both heard the testimony of God and saw what happened to Jesus? 

 

4.    What does this do to affirm the validity of John’s witness to you? 

 

Conclusion: Hearing, Seeing, Joining 

After listening to John appealing to you that Jesus is indeed the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world: 

1.     What do you hear God speaking to you about? 

 

2.    What do you see God doing in you through this part of his word? 

 

3.    How are you going to join God in his work? 

 

 

© 2021 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

 

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[1] Here is a link to a .doc version of this Bible study to download for prayer journaling: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4xbenyttlancl6o/0006%20-%20John%201_29-34%20-%20John%20the%20Baptist%20Introduces%20the%20Lamb%20of%20God.docx?dl=0

 

Here is a link to a .pdf version of this Bible study to print: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6c6dlasmnk7jriv/0006%20-%20John%201_29-34%20-%20John%20the%20Baptist%20Introduces%20the%20Lamb%20of%20God.pdf?dl=0

John Bible Study ~ John 1:19-28 ~ Who is John the Baptist?

 With all the technology available to us today that allows photos and videos to be edited into fictional scenes that no one can trust, it stands out how careful God was to establish everything by many eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and return to heaven. It was, and it still is, the insurmountable gathering of witnesses who make clear who Jesus truly was, what he did for us, and what he will do for all those who believe in him. This study gives us one of God’s undisputable witnesses and his testimony about the Christ. There will be many more.

John Bible Study ~ John 1:19-28 ~ Who is John the Baptist?[1]

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (John 1 ~ ESV) 

The scene set for us is after John the Baptist had been doing his work long enough that word got back to the Jewish ruling council (called the Sanhedrin) that there was a man out in the wilderness calling everyone to repentance. He was telling Jewish people that the kingdom of God was near (as though the Jews were not already in that kingdom), that repentance was required to enter the kingdom, and even speaking as though the religious elite were just as much in need of repentance as everyone else. He was baptizing people who responded to his message in repentance and faith, and this activity was having an effect on the people that made their ruling council feel they had to figure out what was going on. 

Part 1: John the Baptist Questioned 

John the Baptist was having enough influence on people that the religious leaders wanted to know who he thought he was. This was of particular significance because they were waiting for the Christ (or Messiah) to come and needed to know if John claimed to be him. This section rules out who John was not, something that is very important in understanding who John was and why we should still listen to him today. 

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”  (John 1) 

1.     The central question here is, “Who are you?” What are some issues that come into play when considering someone’s identity? 

2.    The “Who are you” question is followed by a checklist of figures the Jewish people expected would show up at some time. If John the Baptist claimed to be any of those figures, it would mean that all the prophecies about that person applied to him. What is John making clear about himself in his responses? 

 

3.    What does John’s experience tell us about what anyone should expect if they fulfill their calling to be who they are as a child of God? 

 

4.    At this point in the unfolding scenes of Jesus coming into the world, which of the characters best represents how you see yourself in relation to the Savior? 

 

Part 2: John the Baptist’s Answer 

We have considered how ruling out the wrong ideas of John the Baptist had to be done first, so now we look at what he said was the true story of his identity and work, and how that applies to us to this day. 

23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”  (John 1) 

1.     What does it mean that John is now making a claim about himself that goes back to a prophecy that someone would one day come and call people to “Make straight the way of the Lord”? 

 

2.    What does John’s claim tell us we need to believe about Jesus? 

 

3.    What does John’s claim tell us we need to believe about ourselves? 

 

4.    What would we need to do to “Make straight the way of the Lord” in our own lives today? 

 

Part 3: John the Baptist and Jesus 

Because John the Baptist’s work was to prepare the way for Jesus, he now turns the spotlight to the Savior and his glory. This is where the spotlight will remain for the rest of this gospel record. 

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. (John 1) 

1.     The messengers of the religious elite could not understand why John would be baptizing when he wasn’t one of the three figures the prophets had spoken about. How does John’s answer show that he was making a straight way for the Lord as the prophets had spoken about him? 

2.    Why is it so important for us to understand the ministry of John the Baptist if he was not the Christ? 

 

3.    What does John the Baptist want us to believe about the Christ in relation to ourselves? 

 

4.    How much impact is John’s testimony having on you? 

Conclusion: Hearing, Seeing, Joining 

After looking at John’s insistence about who he was not, and his clarification about who he was in relation to the Christ: 

1.     What do you hear God speaking to you about? 

 

2.    What do you see God doing in you through this part of his word? 

 

3.    How are you going to join God in his work? 

 

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[1] Here is a link to a .doc version of this Bible study to download for prayer journaling: https://www.dropbox.com/s/roh2q4h35r4fp1n/0005%20-%20John%201_19-28%20-%20Who%20is%20John%20the%20Baptist.docx?dl=0

Here is a link to a .pdf version of this Bible study to print: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cx78jfk7ckvpkg5/0005%20-%20John%201_19-28%20-%20Who%20is%20John%20the%20Baptist.pdf?dl=0

© 2021 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)