John 12:23- 28
Jesus Christ The Only Begotten Son of God, was born of a virgin and came into this world for one purpose only, and that was to pay mans sin debt as He died there on the cruel cross of Calvary. Listen as I read today’s text found in
John 12: 23-28 23And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
27Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. 28Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
I read about a man named Richard Bandler who was telling about visiting a psychiatric hospital and dealing with a man who believed that he was Jesus Christ. He didn’t believe it in a spiritual sense, but literally.
Bandler walked into the room to meet this man, and ask him; “Are you Jesus?” “Yes, my son,” came the reply. Then Bandler said, “Wait here. I’ll be back in just a minute.”
The man was a little confused by Mr. Bandler suddenly leaving, but Bandler returned in a few minutes with a measuring tape. He asked the man to hold out his arms, and as he did so Bandler measured the width of his outstretched arms and his height from head to toe. As soon as he was done measuring, he suddenly left again. The man claiming to be Jesus didn’t know what to think.
But it wasn’t long until Bandler came back. He was carrying a hammer, some large spiked nails, and two long boards. He began pounding the nails into the boards to form a cross — exactly the right size for the man who was claiming to be Jesus. “What are you doing?” the man asked, as his voice began to rise. As Bandler was putting the last nail in the cross, then Bandler asked again, “Are you Jesus?”
Once again the man replied, “Yes, my son.” Then Bandler said, “Then you know why I’m here.”
Somehow, the man suddenly remembered who he really was. He began yelling: “I’m not Jesus! I’m not Jesus!” He was not nearly so interested in being Jesus at that point.
And a lot of people like to think they could be Jesus. They are amazed at his ability to heal. They are awestruck at his wisdom. They are attracted by his power. They think they would be like Jesus, until they understand what he did and the sacrifices he made. They would like to live his life, but they would not like to die his death.
But in a very real sense He is asking all of us exactly that.
Jesus invites us to share in his death. Jesus is asking all of us to partake in his death. He don’t want us to literally die on a cross the way He did, or any other kind of physical death.
Listen as Jesus described his death in, John 12:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Farmers know that a seed will not produce fruit if it’s not put under the soil; the seed is therefore no good at all as for as producing fruit, the seed therefore must give it’s life to bare fruit.
If it just lies on the ground and never germinates, it remains a seed and never becomes the plant it was intended to be.
When a seed lies in the ground and comes into contact with moisture, it changes its appearance & form, but as it dies a green shoot of life begins to come from it. It is being transformed. Death has transformed it. It dies to what it was, to become something else — something greater than its former self. Because of the death of that one seed, a plant will live which will produce a great deal of fruit, as well as many more seeds.
Like the seed, Jesus knew that his death would lead to life for many. It would also lead to life for himself.
Think of what would have happened if Jesus had not been willing to die. There would have been no resurrection for him, or us. There would be no salvation from our sins. There would be no Savior to whom we could go for forgiveness. Jesus would have still been on the earth, instead of sitting at the right hand of the Father in glory interceding for us. If he were still here he would have continued to heal and teach, but we would still be in our sin. There would be no grace, only law.
Jesus knew that his death was necessary in order to bring eternal life to those who believed in him. Only by Him dying could they live.
Then Jesus said in verses John 12:25-26 . 25He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
The death we’re to die is a death to self. It is dying to the worldly life we want to live in order to live the life he wants us to live.
Like a seed that’s been planted I must die to what I was, to become something else — something greater than my former self.
I must die to those plans that are not a part of his plan for me. I must die to the desire to control my life. I must die to pride, to demanding my own way, to stubbornness, to selfishness and to sin, if I am ever to be fruitful to God.
what we’ll discover is that when we die to those things, we come alive for the first time. We say with the apostle Paul in Galatians 2:20 20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
An unsaved person may think he or she is living a great life, but in reality there is no real contentment or fulfillment.
In order to live one must die to anything that they’re depending on for meaning, for purpose and happiness other than God.
There is no other way. But if I lose my old life, I will find a real life. If I hold on to my old life, I will lose it.
Jesus invites us to share his life. Buddhism also teaches that there must be a death to self, but the death they speak of ends in nothingness. They call it Nirvana that is a state where there is no suffering, but only because there is no desire or sense of self, there is nothing so they say.
The death Jesus invites us to die results in life. The Bible says in Romans 6:4 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Think of this, when water evaporates, it is not gone; it merely changes form until it returns to the earth one day. When we die to ourselves, we don’t cease to exist or go into a great Nothingness. We are changed. Transformed.
Jesus said, John 11:26 26And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
The Bible truth is, “our old life is dead. Our new life, which is our real life — even though invisible to on lookers
The bible says in Colossians 3:3-10 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 5Mortify [put to death] therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,[illicit sex] uncleanness,[impurity] inordinate affection,[lustful desires], evil concupiscence, [a longing (espec. for what is forbidden) and covetousness, [greediness] which is idolatry: 6For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: 7In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Jesus invites us to share in his resurrection. The death that Jesus died led to his resurrection. The death he asks us to die — this death to sin and self — also leads to resurrection.
We have gone from death to life. It doesn’t end in darkness; it ushers us into the light. We have lost nothing; we have gained everything.
A man once said “A man is no fool to give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
The apostle Paul gave up everything to follow Christ, including most of his friends. But looking back, Paul said in Philippians 3:7-8 7But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Paul said in Romans 6:19 7But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Jesus did not come to give us boredom, he came to give us life. He is the creator of joy. We can’t achieve the Christian life by our own efforts at being good.
That will never do and can never work. This is not something we can accomplish; it is a life that has to come from God. It happens as his Holy Spirit enters our lives and begins his transforming work.
In 2nd cor. 5: 17 we find 17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
There are a lot of people who might say something along the line of, “ well I just don’t believe I could live the Christian life,”
But The Holy Spirit will guide us, as how we’re to live; no one can live it with only depending on his or her self.
Jesus said in John 14:26-28 26But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Sinner friend the only thing you will lose is your sin sickness, and the thing you will gain is wholeness and life.
The good news is that someone has gone before you to the other side. He has lifted his hands in victory. He assures you that you will not only survive, you will have life better than you have ever known it before.
He said in John 14:19. --because I live, ye shall live also.
Jesus did not come to give us a new set of facts or a new set of rules. What he offers is a whole new existence.
You have been dead in trespasses & sins long enough, Paul said in Eph. 2: 1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
