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NASB | John 5:24 ¶ "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 5:24 ¶ "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the person who hears My word [the one who heeds My message], and believes and trusts in Him who sent Me, has (possesses now) eternal life [that is, eternal life actually begins--the believer is transformed], and does not come into judgment and condemnation, but has passed [over] from death into life. |
Subject: Inability to believe |
Bible Note: The author of the epistle to the Hebrews began with these words, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son (Heb. 1:1-2).” Throughout the centuries of the Old Testament, God communicated to His people through the prophets. He did so in a variety of ways, which included dreams, visions, writing on clay tablets, angelic visitation, and direct oral communication. Whatever the method and whoever the messenger, the end product was the inspired, or “God-breathed,” Word of God. In these last days (the New Testament age) God has spoken through His Son. That is, Jesus communicated the message of His Father both through the way He lived as well as through what He taught. The contrast is between the law, which came through Moses and the prophets, and grace, which came by Christ and His disciples. Yes, God is a God of holiness, justice, and truth. But He is also a God of love, grace, and mercy. The point is that God communicated to mankind the messages of both the Old Testament (covenant of law) and the New Testament (covenant of grace). Both were equally from God and both were good. The dif-ference is that the law told men what God required, but did not provide men with the enablement to obey the law— the law was “weak through the flesh” (Rom. 8:3). The law was a comprehensive whole made up of civil, moral, and ceremonial require-ments. To break it at one point was to break it in its totality. Since man cannot measure up to the law’s lofty demands, it brings him face to face with his sin. In marked contrast to the law, grace is God’s unmerited favor. Through Christ, God provides for man what he could not provide for himself. Jesus came to pay a debt He didn’t owe because man owed a debt he couldn’t pay. Whether it was the Old Testament of law or the New Testament of grace, God has spoken. That in itself is an astounding and humbling reality. God was not obligated to speak. He was not our debtor. Man surely did not deserve a word from heaven. After all, we were sinful, disobedient, and at enmity with God. God has spoken with finality through His Son. It is a completed and perfect message. Nothing has to be added and nothing has to be changed. It simply has to be understood and obeyed. Here are four compelling reasons for listening to His message. First, “He is the heir of all things” (Heb. 1:2). The universe and all therein belong to Him. Therefore, listen to Him. Second, He made the world. When God the Father spoke the world into existence ex nihilo (out of nothing), God the Son was present and participated in that creation. “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3). Therefore, listen to Him. Third, “He is the radiance of His (God’s) glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Heb. 1:2). The intrinsic, eternal perfec-tion of the Father is equally the intrinsic eternal perfection of the Son. If men want to know what the invisible God is like, they can see Him in the visible Son. Therefore, listen to Him. Fourth, when Christ had by Himself, as priest and sacrifice, purged our sins, He sat down (Heb. 1:3). The priests of ancient Israel served at the Temple. But the Temple, as cost-ly and beautiful as it was, had no chairs. It had no chairs because the priest never sat down. The priest never sat down because his work was never done. His work was never done because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin (Heb. 10:4). Jesus, by way of contrast, offered a sacrifice that was infinite in worth and eternal in duration. It never has to be offered again. And so He sat down— enthroned on the right hand of the majesty on high (Heb. 1:3). The work of redemption was forever finished. Therefore, listen to Him. God has spoken through His Son. Because He has spoken, there is an answer to our ques-tions. Because He has spoken, there is a solu-tion to our problems. Because He has spoken, there is hope for our end. God has spoken through His Son, who sat down. |