ESOCS Devotional 18 April 2021
TEXT: JOHN 1:1-18
MEMORY VERSE: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4 KJV
Our text gives a vivid description of who Jesus is, His mission to mankind, and the benefits man will receive if he accepts Him (Jesus). Life is a characteristic that distinguishes physical entities that have biological processes, such as signalling and self-sustaining processes, from those that do not, because they never had such functions and are classified as inanimate.
The life John has in view mainly is the new life, the gift of eternal life, the opposite of spiritual death now and the final condemnation later. John explains that all existence is in Christ and that He has been in existence from the very beginning before creation. All things were created through Jesus. As a matter of fact, Jesus is the spoken word of the Father and through Him all things came into existence.
This statement is made clearer in John 5:24 where Jesus made us to understand that only those who hear and believe Him will have eternal life, and will not come into judgment but have passed from death to life. In other words, apart from believing in Jesus, we are all dead. In other to live forever, and not come into judgment, we need the gift of life and that life is in Jesus.
God has given us eternal life through His Son Jesus. If you have Jesus, you have life and if you reject Him, you reject life (John 5:11–12). Jesus has pointed out that He is the only way and His mission is to give life to us more abundantly (John 10:10, 14); and those He gives eternal life will never perish (John 10:28). Therefore, it is clear that when John says in our memory verse “in him was life,” he means spiritual life that saves from judgment. If He is in you and you are in Him, life is in you, and you are in life. You have life forever. The vital union with Jesus is everything.
New life brings light and makes seeing possible. When death is replaced with life, darkness is replaced with light. Jesus says He is the light of the world and all must follow Him, so that they will not walk in darkness (John 8:12). Without Jesus, the whole world will be in total darkness. But the coming of Jesus has brought light to the world (John 1:5).
To access life in Jesus Christ, we must be united with Him who is our life. The process of uniting with Christ starts from acknowledging your inadequacies and inability to save yourself, and seeing Jesus as the only one who can redeem you from death. The next point is confessing Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and believing in your heart that He died on the cross to set you free. We look steadfastly at Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who laid down His life for us; and we realize that the willingness to receive Him rising in our hearts is a gift of God; and we believe, and in that very believing are born again.
Only in Jesus is there eternal life. Because only through Him can our deadness be replaced with life. Come to Him. Believe in Him. Receive Him and He will be your life – your everlasting joy.
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
CHALLENGES
What is that thing that can hinder you from accessing life in Jesus? Do you believe in Him?
PRAYER POINT
Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and receive your salvation in Him
FURTHER READING: John: 3:3-7; 10:1-18
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ESOCS Devotional 18 April 2021
