What must you choose? (1)

Jesus Ministry of True

New American Standard Bible (1995): Paragraph Version Chapter 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.

25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

30 “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me

Jesus has said this perfectly clear, like Father like Son; 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 Father who sent Me. So in the beginning of this passage Jesus say’s (Truly, truly), what is he trying to convince the people what the truth is? If we back up to the verse before Jesus says John 5:22-23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. NASU

 There is a reason why Jesus is clarifying his position to the people who are there that he is talking with and those who are listen today. Because if you can’t handle what I’m telling you then back up one more verse. John 5:22 For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, if you believe in God then you should be honoring the one which the power of judgement has been given. Jesus, like the Father, has the authority to execute judgment and to give life. A life centered on Jesus’ and His Word will judge correctly and do right and will be resurrected to life. A life centered on anything else will judge wrong and do evil and be resurrected to judgment. Our passage teaches two resurrections, a resurrection to life and a resurrection to judgment. The passage also teaches us how to judge correctly, how to know the will of God in a certain situation. We are to learn correct judgment by becoming like the One who will judge everyone on the final day of judgement. We judge correctly only when we take our self out of the equation seek the will of God.

I read about a woman who was terminally ill. She only had 3 months to live. So, she called her pastor. He came over to discuss her final wishes with her. After they had planned the funeral service, she said, "There is just one more thing. I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand." The pastor looked at the woman speechless. The woman said, "That surprises you, doesn’t it?" The pastor said, "Well, I have to admit that it sounds a little weird." The woman explained, "In all my years of attending church socials, banquets, and potlucks, I always remembered that when the main course dishes were being cleared, someone would always lean over and say, "Keep your fork." It was my favorite part of the meal because I knew that something better was coming. Like chocolate cake. Or ice cream. Or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful. So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with the fork in my hand, and I want them to wonder, ’What’s with the fork?’ Then I want you to tell them, "Keep your fork, the best is yet to come." The pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the woman had a good grasp of eternity. She KNEW that something better was coming. The resurrection reminds us that something better is coming.

Jesus is trying to tell 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. NASU

In John 5:24 Jesus is breaking down Eternal Life simple to believe in Christ is to have everlasting life period but there is a comma which is more to come that is being said also you shall not come into judgement comma but has passed from death into life.  And if you didn’t shout you didn’t conceive the process in your mind. Ok it’s going to take a little time.  If someone comes to you and ask you (What must you choose?) Salvation or Judgement. Every time you turn Christ away that the choice you make. Every time you let sin get the best of you, you make that choice.   

I. HEAR & LIVE, 25-26. II. LIFE & DEATH, 27-29. III. TRUE TESTIMONY, 30-32.

Jesus tells us in verse John 5:25; Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. NASU Jesus proclaims a solemn promise and pledge here. For those who put their trust in the Word which Christ speaks a new day, a day of resurrection life, dawns. Apart from Him who is alone the light and life of men, we are spiritually dead. Those who hear the word of Christ and accept Him now have spiritual and eternal life in Him (Isa. 55:3), but a time is coming when the all the physically dead will be caused to hear the voice of the Son of God and will live (Ezekiel 37:4). Jesus’ life-giving power can call a person out of the grave (11:43), everyone from their tombs (5:28-29), or anyone in spiritual death to eternal life Jesus continues His claim for equality with the Father in verse 26. "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; NASU;

God is the source of life. He is the Creator of life and the sustainer of life. Apart from God there is no true life either here or hereafter. Physical life and eternal life are a gift from Him (Job 10:12‘You have granted me life and lovingkindness; And Your care has preserved my spirit. NASU, 33:4 “The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. NASU). The OT proclaims that He breathe life into men (Gen. 2:7). All life receives its origins from God, all except God Himself. God is self-existent. God alone has no beginning, is uncreated, possessing inherently life in Himself. All other life is derived from Him. [The Jews would agree.] Because Jesus is uncreated and eternally co-existent as God, He too is self-existent. This is a startling claim. Jesus claims deity by saying He is not dependent on another for life, not even the Father. Like the Father Jesus possesses inherent life, [the power to create and the power to renew life that has died.] Everything depends on who Jesus really is.

II. LIFE & DEATH, 27-29.

Jesus states the extent of His authority in verse John 5:26-27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.

NASU

Again, the starting claim of what is the prerogative of God alone. The Son of Man, Jesus favorite self-designation, (Dan 7:13; And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, NASU) will execute judgement because He has the experimental understanding of what it means to be human. He shares our nature. Pronouncing judgment is the flip side of giving life. The present function of the Son of Man is giver of life. His future responsibility is judicial concerning what was done with the opportunity of life. This judgment is discriminatory.

John 5:28 Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, NASU

The fact that the spiritually dead come to life as they hear the voice of the Son of God is the guarantee that He will raise the dead on the last day. The Son of Man ushers in the resurrection from the grave. All the dead will rise. No chronological distinction is made here between the resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked. It does not exclude it, but the emphasis is on Christ’s authority to raise the dead. Other passages show that the resurrection to life, "the first resurrection," will occur in stages (the church at the Rapture, and Tribulation saints at the Lord’s second coming at the end of the Tribulation -some say it refers to the resurrection of the soul), and that the resurrection of those who will be condemned will occur at the end of the Millennium (Rev 20:11-15

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

NASU). Whatever your understanding, spiritual resurrection from being dead in your trespasses and sin must precede physical resurrection if you are to be raised to life.

The Bible answers age old questions about the afterlife in verse John 5:29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. NASU

The double resurrection indicates that both the righteous and the wicked will receive bodies, and each body will express the character of the person who is resurrected. Judgment, as always in Scripture, is based on works (Morris, John, 321). This does not mean that salvation is based on good work. We are not saved by our good deeds but those who are truly born again do live a different kind of life. They obey Jesus (14:15), they abide in Him (15:5-7), and they walk in the light (8:12; 1 John 1:7). The evil (phaulos, "foul or flaw, evil"; 3:20) or those who do worthless things rise to the judgment or condemnation (3:17f). There is no altering the fact that the life we live truthfully testifies to the faith we profess. Every dead person will be resurrected someday (Ezekiel 37). Whether good or bad. A few years ago, a TV AD FOR LIFE INSURANCE showed a businessman walking across a busy city street. He leaped for the curb as a car veered toward him. Somewhat ruffled, he said, ’That was close! I didn’t think I was going to make it." Suddenly two men in white suits joined him on the busy street, and one of them said, "You didn’t!" As the three men began walking together, the businessman remarked that at least he had peace of mind because his family was covered by insurance. But the real punchline came at the end of the ad. While the man and his two escorts were riding an escalator up into the clouds, he said with relief, "I’m sure glad we’re going up!" That last line was meant to provide some comic relief, but for the thoughtful person it raises the serious issue of heaven and hell. It reminds us of Jesus’ words here that not all people are "going up." He said that some would experience "the resurrection of life" and others "the resurrection of condemnation." Jesus is the only One who can give eternal life to all who trust in Him. Have you considered God’s offer of salvation? Why not put your trust in Christ today? You will then be able to say with confidence, "I’m sure glad I’m going up!" -MRD II [Christ’s resurrection assures what Christ’s death secures.] [Why we are here is important; where we are going is even most important. I read a story about the famous Chemist Faraday. One of his workmen carelessly dropped a highly prized silver goblet into a vat of acid. The acid ate the goblet atom by atom until it disappeared. The workman was very upset. But Faraday said, "Don’t worry. All will end well." So he poured the right chemicals into the acid. And the silver came to the top. He gathered it together and sent it to a silversmith with the proper designs. In a few days, he got his goblet back again. In even better condition than it was in before. If that great chemist could gather together the atoms of that melted silver goblet. Then how much easier it will be for Almighty God to gather together the scattered atoms of your body.] There is no such thing as reincarnation. You’re not coming back as a cow, or a goat, or even as another person. You’re going to come back as yourself. To stand before Almighty God. And answer to Him for the way you lived your life. Hebrews 9:27 says that "27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, NASU." You’re not going to get recycled over and over again like the Hindu religion teaches. Like the name of the famous soap opera, you’ve got One life to Live. When the day of final separation occurs people will be judged according to the decisions and actions of this life. Those who come to the light will have life and those who loved the darkness more than light (3:19-21) will have eternal separation from God.

III. TRUE TESTIMONY, 30-32.

Jesus gives testimony as to why His judgement is true in verse John 5:29

 "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” NASU

Here Jesus sums up His entire argument. The Son can do nothing apart from the Father (19). His judgment, meaning everything He thinks and does, is the expressed will of the Father. He is the perfect Spokesman for the Father and His effective Executive. Jesus’ will is to do the Father’s will (4:34; 8:29), which shows that He has the same nature. Listening to Jesus is listening to God Himself. Because of who He is, Jesus can do what God does. God through the words of Jesus shines His light into our darkness and shows us what we really are and things as they truly are. He conveys a direct message from an unprejudiced mind. [Note how in verse 30 Jesus no longer speaks of this abstractly but rather speaks in the first person, using the personal "I" numerous times. This is emphatic speech. Jesus does not want His claim obscured.] Why is Jesus’ judgement just or right or correct? His judgment is just because He does not seek His own will but God’s will. Jesus establishes a new ethic for people to follow in their reasoning. We must ask our self, "Is this from me or God?" "Is this my will, is this what I think or want or is this God’s will?" In most judgments we make about people we view them from our perspective instead of from God’s. We judge them according to our way of thinking instead of from God’s.

CONCLUSION / TIME OF RESPONSE Outside my study window a beautiful monarch butterfly rested. It fanned its wings slowly with exquisite grace, That stately monarch was once a repulsive green worm feeding on milkweed leaves. Then it built a coffin for itself and hung from a twig. In time it emerged, transformed into a beautiful creature. That butterfly outside my study window would bear witness of God’s resurrection power. The life cycle of the butterfly occurs in four stages: the egg, the larva, the chrysalis and the adult. It begins with an egg--the seed of the butterfly, which hatches into an ugly worm. But that is not its destiny. The worm must die to give birth to the butterfly. I see in the caterpillar a picture of sinful human beings who need the transformation of a spiritual new birth (John 3:3). The butterfly released from its tomb in the chrysalis illustrates the transformation that will occur when Jesus returns and changes our earthly bodies into glorious bodies fit for life in heaven (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). So, the next time you see a butterfly, remember the change that Christ made in you when you put your faith in Him-then look forward with joy to the day of your transformation will be complete! -M.R. De Haan, M.D.

How To BE SURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF LIFE Admit you are a sinner (Romans 3:23). Believe that Christ died for you (Act 16:31). Ask Jesus to save you (John 1:12; Romans 10:9,13). If God is calling you today. Then trust in Christ without delay; Tomorrow it may be too late. For death’s grim hand could seal your fate.

Jude 24-25 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. NASU