"After this, many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him." John 6:66
As we journey this season of Advent to the manger and celebrate the birth of Jesus, one thing we often see is that a lot of people come to celebrate the day in worship. Typically, there are two times of the year when quite a few people who claim to be Christian will attend worship: Christmas and Easter. Two big days, to be sure, and when you think of it, these are two days where we celebrate big things that God has done, the first in sending His Son into the world, and the second, when the Son wins the victory of death and the grave.
Yes, we love to hear those kind of themes. We love to hear that God loves us, which is probably why John 3:16 is the most well-known Bible verse. And it is an undeniable fact. God does love this world, and especially His human creation. Yes, it is significant that God's Son was born in the manger in Bethlehem. Yes, it is extremely significant that God's Son rose from the dead.
Yet, God would also have us know that there is much more to Him than those three things we've hit on so far. In fact, I would actually encourage you to read through the whole chapter of John 6 to get an idea of why the verse quoted above came about. Jesus taught some hard things. He taught things that don't make sense to human ears. And in this, He very much shows us His nature as God.
There is much that God chooses not to explain to us. If you ever read through the book of Job, one thing should stand out in the end: God doesn't explain why the things that happened to Job happened. When Jesus encounters the man born blind later in John's account of the Gospel, Jesus says that the man was born blind to demonstrate God's glory (think for a moment about being born with a significant handicap, so that Jesus could demonstrate who He is by your healing. For many of us, we wouldn't really want that, right?). Throughout the Scriptures, God says that His people are going to suffer, and many even die, for being His people.
That kind of thing doesn't exactly serve to draw people closer to God, at least on the surface. In fact, it would seem to be the kind of thing that, if you focused exclusively on it, would repel people. Shoot, even bringing it up will repel a lot of people, who don't want to think that God might use hard times, trials, and even suffering and death to advance His message of Good News. Is it that God wants them repelled? No, but He also knows that His will and design isn't going to be universally adored, sadly.
Does God repel people? Well, yes, if you think that some people are always going to be repelled by the truth, and by having high standards. Yet, that is the God who reveals Himself to us, but who holds Himself to that high standard, as He redeemed us through the Son's life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Thanks be to God for that!
As we journey this season of Advent to the manger and celebrate the birth of Jesus, one thing we often see is that a lot of people come to celebrate the day in worship. Typically, there are two times of the year when quite a few people who claim to be Christian will attend worship: Christmas and Easter. Two big days, to be sure, and when you think of it, these are two days where we celebrate big things that God has done, the first in sending His Son into the world, and the second, when the Son wins the victory of death and the grave.
Yes, we love to hear those kind of themes. We love to hear that God loves us, which is probably why John 3:16 is the most well-known Bible verse. And it is an undeniable fact. God does love this world, and especially His human creation. Yes, it is significant that God's Son was born in the manger in Bethlehem. Yes, it is extremely significant that God's Son rose from the dead.
Yet, God would also have us know that there is much more to Him than those three things we've hit on so far. In fact, I would actually encourage you to read through the whole chapter of John 6 to get an idea of why the verse quoted above came about. Jesus taught some hard things. He taught things that don't make sense to human ears. And in this, He very much shows us His nature as God.
There is much that God chooses not to explain to us. If you ever read through the book of Job, one thing should stand out in the end: God doesn't explain why the things that happened to Job happened. When Jesus encounters the man born blind later in John's account of the Gospel, Jesus says that the man was born blind to demonstrate God's glory (think for a moment about being born with a significant handicap, so that Jesus could demonstrate who He is by your healing. For many of us, we wouldn't really want that, right?). Throughout the Scriptures, God says that His people are going to suffer, and many even die, for being His people.
That kind of thing doesn't exactly serve to draw people closer to God, at least on the surface. In fact, it would seem to be the kind of thing that, if you focused exclusively on it, would repel people. Shoot, even bringing it up will repel a lot of people, who don't want to think that God might use hard times, trials, and even suffering and death to advance His message of Good News. Is it that God wants them repelled? No, but He also knows that His will and design isn't going to be universally adored, sadly.
Does God repel people? Well, yes, if you think that some people are always going to be repelled by the truth, and by having high standards. Yet, that is the God who reveals Himself to us, but who holds Himself to that high standard, as He redeemed us through the Son's life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Thanks be to God for that!
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