ESOCS Devotional 1 May 2024 – The Way to Eternal Life
MEMORY VERSE: “And this is the way to eternal life – to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.” John 17:3 NLT
TEXT: JOHN 17: 1-8
Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.
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The focal point of God’s overall plan for the restoration of fallen man is the person of Jesus Christ. Streaming from His pre-incarnate state to His earthly life and ministry, it was now time to accomplish the eternal redemptive plan of God through Christ (John 17:1; Ephesians 3:11).
However, Jesus, who was also human did not want to leave any stone unturned, nor would He give room to the devil to strike or rock the boat. He prayed earnestly to the Father to ensure all things were fulfilled as planned.
In full confidence, He declared to the Father that He had brought glory to His name on earth through strict obedience to assigned tasks. He then demanded that the Father should bring Him into the glory, which was His from the foundation of the world. Recall that Jesus is the only one who has the authority to give salvation to sinful man, who had been declared righteous through the cross of Christ (2 Timothy 2:10-11; 1 John 5:11). He is also the one who will condemn the unrighteous in the end (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
As part of Christ’s assigned tasks of bringing salvation to the righteous, He manifested the name of God to the apostles and all disciples. This same thing He is doing in the Church today through the agency of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13). It is then the responsibility of every true believer to ensure he understands and follows the footsteps of the Master. These should reflect in our character, lifestyle and ministry, as children of God.
It follows, therefore, that life eternal means to know God as the Alpha and Omega, and to know Jesus Christ whom He sent to us. We should also share this testimony with others in order to win more souls into the kingdom. This is the only way we can boldly stand before the Father, as Christ did in our text today. This is the only way we can seal our kingdom candidature; and be adjudged wise in God’s sight (Proverbs 11:30; Daniel 12:3).
- If one of the major determinants of inheriting eternal life is soul-winning, how credible are you before the Lord?
- Lord Jesus, please continually point me to the way of eternal life.
Further Reading: Job 23:1-12; Proverbs 4:10-18; John 6:1-12
ESOCS Devotional 1 May 2024
