The love of Jesus amazes me. Do you realize He knew in advance who would not believe, and who would betray Him, yet none of that stopped Him.
We already know that He loved us first (1 John 4:19). But when He was discussing eternal life with His disciples and how He’s the bread and “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53), they were honest and said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (John 6:61). And I have to agree with them. There are parts of the scriptures that are very hard to understand.
But Jesus went on to say, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (John 6:61-64)
And this is where I see our choice. Do we choose to believe or not?
It’s easier to believe the scriptures that talk about God’s love for humanity. But when we’re given a harder topic, what do we choose? Believe or not believe? For me, and I hope for you, the choice is simple. I may not understand it all, but I can choose to believe it all. And amazingly, that simple choice opens up so much more revelation.
John went on to say, “For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.” (Verse 64) I think He still knows. I was an adult before I gave my heart to Jesus, so for a couple of decades I didn’t believe. But I think God knew in advance that there was a day when I would. And once I made that choice (both for salvation, and then afterward for the sake of growth and hope), God has proven Himself to me over and over and over.
I have written in the front of all my Bibles, “The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it.” I don’t have written: “The Bible says it. I understand it all.” In other words, I still don’t understand it all; I’ve just chosen to believe it all. And guess what? From that choice, God has been able to prove Himself to me.
Consider the end of Mark’s letter. He said, “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And the disciples went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.” (Mark 16:19-20) The disciples believed what Jesus had told them so they preached it. And that’s when God could validate what they believed and preached! So what’s different with you and I? –nothing!
When we CHOOSE to believe, God can PROVE His Word to us. So I like to say it this way: How can God prove what you’ve already chosen not to believe? I see people do this all the time. They want the proof first. But heaven, eternal life, and spiritual revelation doesn’t come that way. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
Blessed. Blessed with what? PROOF. Proof that God is and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). This is faith, and faith is a choice.
I challenge you to BELIEVE today. If you can believe He loves you, then don’t stop there. KEEP BELIEVING ALL OF IT.
This article was written by Daphne Delay who is an author, speaker, and podcaster with a passion to help this generation discover who they are in Christ. She is the author of Facing the Mirror, Facing the Enemy, and Facing God. Daphne also blogs nuggets of spiritual growth and encouragement regularly at daphnedelay.com
