Come and see Jesus?
Dear Saints:
We continue our in-depth study of John 1. Today we meet Philip and Nathanael, two apostles of Christ.
Jesus personally invited Philip to follow him unlike some of the other disciples. The point is that Jesus himself is personally calling us to himself. But it does not stop there.
When we get called and meet Jesus, the next supernatural thing is to call our friends and family to come and meet Jesus. When they do come, they will never be the same.
Philip goes and called Nathanael (Bartholomew same person). Jesus surprises Nathanael telling him his true self- a man of integrity. Before that, Nathanael’s bias would have robbed him the life-time joy of meeting God as he later confessed.
Some of us are still being stopped by our biases and prejudices of people groups and nations. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” We are still asking. Can anything good come out the worst ghettos of our cities or countries? We say things like, “those Whites, those Blacks, those Latinos, those Germans, those Ibos, those Hausas, those Jews, those men and those women”, and etc. We continue to look down on people made in God’s image and that is not right. Racism or tribalism is still evil and we must fight it in ourselves and in the society.
Bottom-line, we must call the next person to meet Jesus. We saw Andrew call Peter. You can’t keep Jesus to yourself. You have to check to verify if you have truly met Jesus if you are not willing to invite others to meet the true Jesus.
Paul instructs: “5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5). "Not if you are still in the faith." Are you and I in the faith first of all? Not if we are going to church but in the faith of Christ because that is the only faith that saves.
It’s a gift we receive and accept. Many have believed but have not received or accepted Jesus Christ as the only God who saves from the judgement and punishment of sin (see John 1:12). They have their own plans for salvation based on good works to escape God's judgment. Good works will never work to cleanse our sins and every unrighteousness (Of course we should do good works but not for salvation). Only the death of Jesus as sacrifice on our behalf can cleanse us from all sins of the past, present and future. This is the greatest NEWS - THE GOSPEL.
You may say am already a Christian. No argument; let’s just examine ourselves. It is an instruction and Jesus said by their fruits we shall know them. It's not late even right now to accept that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, raised from the dead, ascended to heaven and coming back again to take us home with Him forever. You are now a child of God and a new supernatural person because the Spirit of God now lives in you. Congratulations and tell someone of your new you in Christ.
Back to Nathaniel, Jesus said to him and to us you haven’t seen nothing yet. Once you meet Jesus, don’t stop. You will see who Jesus is and why he came and ultimately worship Him “ 49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter[o] you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” John 1:49-51. Jesus is the only ladder to climb on from earth to heaven.
We owe it to all people to introduce them to Jesus. Listen to apostle Paul:
"27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect[g] in their relationship to Christ." Colossians 1: 27-28
Lord, help us to tell all people and invite all to meet Jesus. Amen. "Go and Make Disciples." Be a disciple and make disciples.
We continue our in-depth study of John 1. Today we meet Philip and Nathanael, two apostles of Christ.
Jesus personally invited Philip to follow him unlike some of the other disciples. The point is that Jesus himself is personally calling us to himself. But it does not stop there.
When we get called and meet Jesus, the next supernatural thing is to call our friends and family to come and meet Jesus. When they do come, they will never be the same.
Philip goes and called Nathanael (Bartholomew same person). Jesus surprises Nathanael telling him his true self- a man of integrity. Before that, Nathanael’s bias would have robbed him the life-time joy of meeting God as he later confessed.
Some of us are still being stopped by our biases and prejudices of people groups and nations. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” We are still asking. Can anything good come out the worst ghettos of our cities or countries? We say things like, “those Whites, those Blacks, those Latinos, those Germans, those Ibos, those Hausas, those Jews, those men and those women”, and etc. We continue to look down on people made in God’s image and that is not right. Racism or tribalism is still evil and we must fight it in ourselves and in the society.
Bottom-line, we must call the next person to meet Jesus. We saw Andrew call Peter. You can’t keep Jesus to yourself. You have to check to verify if you have truly met Jesus if you are not willing to invite others to meet the true Jesus.
Paul instructs: “5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5). "Not if you are still in the faith." Are you and I in the faith first of all? Not if we are going to church but in the faith of Christ because that is the only faith that saves.
It’s a gift we receive and accept. Many have believed but have not received or accepted Jesus Christ as the only God who saves from the judgement and punishment of sin (see John 1:12). They have their own plans for salvation based on good works to escape God's judgment. Good works will never work to cleanse our sins and every unrighteousness (Of course we should do good works but not for salvation). Only the death of Jesus as sacrifice on our behalf can cleanse us from all sins of the past, present and future. This is the greatest NEWS - THE GOSPEL.
You may say am already a Christian. No argument; let’s just examine ourselves. It is an instruction and Jesus said by their fruits we shall know them. It's not late even right now to accept that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, raised from the dead, ascended to heaven and coming back again to take us home with Him forever. You are now a child of God and a new supernatural person because the Spirit of God now lives in you. Congratulations and tell someone of your new you in Christ.
Back to Nathaniel, Jesus said to him and to us you haven’t seen nothing yet. Once you meet Jesus, don’t stop. You will see who Jesus is and why he came and ultimately worship Him “ 49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter[o] you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” John 1:49-51. Jesus is the only ladder to climb on from earth to heaven.
We owe it to all people to introduce them to Jesus. Listen to apostle Paul:
"27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect[g] in their relationship to Christ." Colossians 1: 27-28
Lord, help us to tell all people and invite all to meet Jesus. Amen. "Go and Make Disciples." Be a disciple and make disciples.
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