Fruit to Eternal Life - Part 1

.... In our previous posting we described the eternal perspective of Christ, in which He constantly envisioned the Day of Judgment in His teachings. This is a very great key to understanding the way Jesus thinks; yet this perspective, in itself, lacks a crucial, living element when applied by man. For the Day of Judgment is not simply based on criteria (whether good or bad,) as we might prepare ourselves for a test. But rather, it features an interpersonal element that wholly depends on Jesus Himself, and the relationship we have formed with Him:

.... "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

(John 6:27)

.... Grasping the application of this point will take some time and meditation so let’s start by reminding ourselves of our context, from an earlier posting on true representation. We know that Jesus always spoke from the abundance of His heart so that His words represented Him truly. Therefore, His words were more than simple instructions; in every way, they were manifestations of His own character from deeply within Himself.

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.... As we walk with the Lord and take His words to heart, those words become seeds for developing His character within us (Luke 8:11 / Matthew 13:38). He nurtures them with trials that will come to us, in which those insights will become suddenly pertinent. The 'seeds' will begin to sprout. As we walk through these trials with Him, with the lessons of His character in view, we cannot help but become better acquainted with Him, for we will see and begin to appreciate His underlying character in each of the applications He brings to us. Each experience illuminates another area of His heart and mind, and will win us over from within. The trials themselves will engrain these lesson, to actually transform us (Luke 22:28 / John 15:27). Soon, our own heart and mind will more like His in a way that directly owes itself to Him, as a manifestation of His life in ours.

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.... In this way, Jesus becomes our fruit to eternal life, for God the Father has set His seal on Him (John 6:27). This allows us to stand before God in a living sense, in comparison to Him, for the purpose of glorifying Him, with Jesus Himself as the focal point of the comparison. And the closer our lives match His, the more favorable that comparison will be:

.... "that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’"

(1 Corinthians 1:31)

.... In other words, those things in our lives that proceeded from Jesus, as a manifestation of His life in us, point back to Him as our source. This leaves us with nothing, in ourselves, of which to boast, since Jesus alone must be rightly credited (Luke 17:10). And since that is the entire purpose of the Judgment Day, it complements God’s intention perfectly.

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.... Therefore, Jesus will be glorified in our lives as we are conformed to His image; and as He is glorified in us, we will be rewarded along with Him:

.... "that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth-- in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory."

(Ephesians 1:10-12)

.... We will develop this perspective further in part 2, which is our next lesson.

To proceed to the next lesson, click here

Daily Bible Reading:

Now that you’ve finished reading the four gospels, Jesus would have shown you how His sufferings and glory fulfilled the Old Testament’s prophecy (Luke 24:27, 44-45). To offer something as similar as possible, a special break-out module has been prepared: The Sufferings and the Glory. For today, please click on the link and read the Introduction and the Prologue in this module. .