October 16, 2013
John 5:39
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
The most well-known scripture in the Bible is perhaps John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
If “…God so loved the world that He gave…” Jesus Christ to the world, to what extent is He revealed to the people of this world? And if – as Jesus said in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.” – does God give a clear invitation to everyone to come to Him through faith in Jesus? There are three ways God has revealed His Son to everyone in the world:
• By specific revelation through the scriptures.
• Through general revelation by means of creation.
• By sending out His followers to be witnesses unto Him.
And all of these methods are energized by the ministry of the Holy Spirit drawing people to the Savior.
Consider our scripture for this blog, John 5:39:
You search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life; and
these are they which testify of Me.
The Jews generally believed in eternal existence after physical death. The Pharisees especially believed the righteous would be resurrected to eternal happiness. And so they held tenaciously to the scriptures which, in Jesus’ day, consisted of our Old Testament. They searched the scriptures, studying, memorizing and commenting on all God had revealed. But they missed the greatest revelation – the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ. The website – thefundidriveby.blogspot.com – lists 315 Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. These include:
• Exodus 12:5 – a lamb without blemish, whose blood saves from death – fulfilled in I Peter 1:19.
• Exodus 12:46 – none of the lamb’s bones broken – fulfilled in John 19:31-36.
• I Chronicles 7:12, 13 – He will reign on David’s throne forever – fulfilled in Luke 1:32, 33.
• Psalm 16:9-11 – He would rise from the dead – fulfilled in John 20:9.
• Psalm 22:1-31 – many prophecies concerning Jesus’ crucifixion – fulfilled in the gospel accounts and other scriptures.
• Isaiah 7:14 – born of a virgin – fulfilled in Luke 1:35 .
• Isaiah 52:13-53:12 – many prophecies concerning the crucifixion and Jesus’ substitutionary death – fulfilled in many New Testament scriptures.
Two highly trained and respected mathmaticians – Peter W. Stoner and Robert C. Newman –
…took only eight of the more than 300 prophecies fulfilled by Christ and
determined the odds of one person fulfilling just those eight. The results
were astounding! They calculated the odds at 1 in 10 to the 17th power or
1 in 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000. Dr. Stoner calculated that many silver
dollars would cover the entire state of Texas, two feet deep!
The point is the Bible shouts out the message that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord! As Jesus testified in John 5:39, “…the scriptures…are they which testify of Me.”
The question for thinking people – especially in this western world – is not primarily “What about the heathen who has never heard of Jesus?” It is “What will I do with Jesus Christ?” To end up in hell, eternally lost, a person would have to trip over the open Bible available just about everywhere in this part of the world, abundant numbers of churches with open doors, radio and TV preachers, gospel music and many other avenues of the proclamation of Jesus Christ!
He has been clearly revealed! What have you done with Him? What will you do with Jesus Christ?