As the Christmas bells fade and the New Year begins, how will you live and flourish in a world that seems to be changing moment by moment?
Two powerful ideas flow from the beginning and end of the Apostle John’s account of Jesus’ life—we are sustained and sent. These two aspects of our new identity can give us hope and confidence every day we live and serve in this crazy world.
Sustained Ones!
John writes in Chapter 1:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14 NIV)
For the rest of the gospel John powerfully illustrates from Jesus’ life how Jesus, the Son of God, will sustain us—delivering the fullness of His grace and truth:
Jesus is: Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, Washer of Feet, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Vine
Jesus provides: New Birth, Living Water, Eternal Life, the Promised Holy Spirit, His prayer for us, payment for our sins, and proof of His Lordship
This quick study of who Jesus is and what He provides encourages me, his adopted child, to live as one sustained by His eternal goodness! There’s nothing I will face that He and I can’t confidently face together.
Sent Ones!
Then, at the end of John’s gospel, we hear Jesus say:
Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you (John 20:21 NIV)
Not only do we benefit in abundance from Jesus’ missionary arrival on planet Earth, but we also are called into partnership with Him, to live in the same way. We are not just recipients of who He is and what He provides, but we are also privileged to go into our world as reflections and partners of Jesus. He came as a servant and emptied Himself for a broken and lost world. We have the privilege of living in the same way.
2016 will be a great year, if we keep these two truths operating in our lives each day—we are sustained and sent by Him.
As you begin 2016, how do you need to be sustained by Jesus as His redeemed child?
To whom specifically will you be sent, to bring the ministry of grace and truth into your corner of a broken world?