And even at that...many who started out following Him, decided the path was too steep and demanded too much of them, so they turned and walked away...no longer following Him (John 6:60-66). That is still happening today. (2 Thess. 2:3; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim.4:3-4)
But to those who did ‘receive Him...to them He gave the opportunity, the right or capacity to ‘become...children of God’ (John 1:12). The first important nugget of truth we should glean from that passage is this: We are not all children of God! You might look at John 8:42-44 and 1 John 3:10 for further reference.
Care to guess who the true ‘children of God’ are? If you read that verse I ended on yesterday, you should know already: “Those who are led by His Spirit” (Rom. 8:14). And if you did read yesterday’s message, it focused on what the message of the gospel of Jesus encompasses, and it has to do with a ‘cross’. That might explain why Paul opened his first letter to the Corinthians stating that ‘the message of the cross is foolishness...to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” (1:18)
And this is where many people tend to ‘get off the bus’ and look for alternate means of ‘getting to heaven’; and they don’t have to look long or hard. (2 Cor. 11:3-4; Gal. 1:6-9; Matt. 24:4-5)
But for those who do come to Jesus with all their heart, fully committed and ready to ‘surrender all’ (as we like to sing in our ‘worship services’), Jesus begins to lead us down a similar path that He Himself took, that led to a cross. And in its own paradoxical way, the cross can represent both death...and life at the same time, which is hard for our carnal minds to comprehend. The fact of the matter is, Jesus came to offer us both ‘abundant and eternal life’, and the first step in receiving it involves ‘coming to Him’, which we have to be ‘willing’ to do. (John 5:39-40; 10:10)
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that shortly after we repent and turn, or come to Jesus, we are met with a ‘fork in the road’. We like to think we are now ‘following Him’ (or His Spirit), but one of those forks leads to a ‘wide path’ that promises a whole tableful of benefits that can sound quite appealing. “God has this great plan for your life” and wants you to ‘fulfill your destiny’ and be ‘great in the kingdom’ as you use your ‘gifts’ to expand the church here on earth. Now I’m not flat out saying there is no truth in any of that, but...also remember that most forms of deception have an alluring thread of truth woven through it, which is what makes it so appealing while deceiving at the same time.
Right after Jesus was baptized, he was confronted with a similar fork in the road with all the amenities thrown in... by Satan himself, offering Him all kinds of appealing possibilities (Luke 4:1-13). Yet there was this small order of business that needed to be dealt with first, and it was a ‘testing’ of His heart which involved some ‘denying of self’ ...and surrendering to the will of His Father. Yeah...we too...have a similar path and test to undergo. That’s why Peter exhorts us to have this same mindset in ‘suffering’...so that ‘after we have suffered in the flesh...and ceased from sin...we might then begin to do the will of God’ (1 Pet. 4:1-2).
And that takes us back to Romans 8:13...” if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
I want to break this down into three parts, examining just what are the ‘deeds of the body’, what does it mean to ‘put them to death, including ‘how’ we do that’, and thirdly, ‘why is that so important to do?’, aside from the glaring answer there that we will ‘die’ if we don’t.
Take a look at Colossians 3:5-9. We see once again this command to ‘put to death...[the components of your earthly nature] as he goes on to list some examples. And vs. 6 tells us why this would be good for us to follow through on- “because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon...”. You’ll find a more comprehensive list in Gal. 5:19-21, with the reminder that those who ‘continue to practice these things will NOT inherit the kingdom of God.”
Do you remember what John the Baptist preached in Matt. 3:8-10? “Who warned you to flee from this coming wrath...the ax is already laid to the root of the trees and every tree that does not bear good fruits of repentance will be cut down.” And from the message I shared the other day, who does God ‘use’ to carry out His wrath? It is Satan, and the powers of darkness. Oh...you should also know by now...what did Jesus come to ‘save’ us from? Yep, the ‘wrath of God’ (Rom. 5:9).
If anyone is like me, you may be prone to asking ‘why questions’ first; like...’why do we have to do this? Why is this so important to put this old nature to death?’ So let me share some more insight with you in response to that question. Do you recall Peter’s warning from the other day as to why we need to remain vigilant and sober minded? We have an ‘enemy on the prowl’, much like a ‘roaring lion who goes about seeking to devour’ (1 Pet. 5:8). In other words, he’s hungry. Maybe ‘hangry’ is an appropriate word to use here? Guess what this enemy likes to ‘feed’ on? “flesh”.
I’ve touched on this before, but let’s finish up for today back in Genesis 3, and read what transpired after Adam and Eve ate off the forbidden tree, one in which they were warned that if they did eat off, they would ‘surely die’ (Gen. 2:17). Everything changed that day, and a ‘curse’ came upon the earth, including Adam, Eve, and even the ‘serpent’ who ‘deceived’ them. Gen. 3:14 reveals where God cursed the serpent saying it/he would ‘crawl upon his belly and would eat dust ...all the days of his existence’. And if you scroll down a few more verses, we are reminded what man’s ‘flesh’...is made of – ‘dust’ (19).
Man’s ‘flesh’...is ‘serpent food’, and he knows it; which is why he continues to lure and tempt us to walk according to the 'flesh' nature...and do everything in our power to avoid ‘putting it to death’.
When Jesus taught on the need for us to 'eat of His flesh' (John 6:53-58), He was not suggesting we get involved with 'cannibalism', and because many did not understand what He was talking about here...they ended up walking away (66). Jesus was teaching us of the need to 'take his word to heart', to 'eat of this bread' and He 'is the bread of life'. So the choice is simple...we can either eat...or be 'eaten'. I recommend the first one since we know what the serpent, or 'thief' comes to do...(John 10:10).
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