We are the hands and feet of Christ on earth. We can only be them through the power of Holy Spirit. Without Him and His guidance we can do nothing of significance. We may be the only one that, through our actions, shows others the agape love God has for them.
It is a solemn privilege and a great responsibility.
Colossians 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
Jesus came to conquer sin and death in our life. In the cross of salvation He opens our eyes to the mercy and grace of God, who cares for all of His creation, and wants no one to perish without Him. We become His ambassadors.
Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
What a loving, amazing God we serve and we want the world to see Him in us.
Jesus is sovereign. God, once invisible, was made visible to mankind in Jesus. Jesus, as God the Son, took on the sins of the world. We hold fast to the Gospel of grace and fight the good fight.
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Revelation 21:4 (ESV) "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
In today's reading, the Lord gave the Apostle John a divine vision of the future in which he saw the holy city of God, a new Jerusalem, where every tear will be wiped away. As the city emerged from heaven (Revelation 21:2), John heard "a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God'" (Revelation 21:3). These words express God's promise to live in close fellowship with His people forever. Our highest purpose and greatest hope is to embrace Him as our God.
In the midst of what is sorrowful about our stories, we are part of God's story. The God who created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1-2) is the God who will re-create them anew (Revelation 21:5). He also re-creates us anew when we place our faith in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). First5
Galatians 3:27 (NIV) says, “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” We wear Jesus! And those who don’t believe in Jesus note what we do.
People make decisions about Christ by watching us. When we’re kind, they assume Christ is kind. When we’re gracious, they assume Christ is gracious. No wonder Paul says in Colossians 4:5 (NCV), “Be wise in the way you act with people who are not believers, making the most of every opportunity.” Courteous conduct honors Christ.
It also honors his children. When you surrender a parking place to someone, you honor him. When you make an effort to greet everyone in the room, especially the ones others have overlooked, you honor God’s children. Do your best! You can’t control the attitudes of others, but you can manage yours. Max Lucado
John 9:35-41
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” 36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” 38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him. 39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.” 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains. “I Am the Good Shepherd” The New King James Version
The Signs of Jesus in the Gospel of John
A blind man sees; a lame man walks. Everywhere Jesus went, people were amazed at His miraculous powers. John uses Jesus’ miracles as an organizing principle in his Gospel. He calls them all semeia, or “signs,” indicating that each miracle was a concrete demonstration of Jesus’ divinity and messiahship. Their purpose was to engender belief as they did for the disciples (2:11) and the nobleman’s household (4:52). But these same miracles would incite some to anger and violence (11:45–52). John records seven specific “signs.” The first was Jesus’ miracle of turning water into wine in Cana (2:1–11). In 2:11, John specifically mentions that this sign signified Christ’s glory, that is, His deity. With this sign Jesus demonstrated His creative power over nature, and His disciples appropriately placed their faith in Him (2:11). The second sign was Jesus’ healing of the nobleman’s son (4:46–54). Although the son was in Capernaum and Jesus was in Cana, He told the boy’s father, “Your son lives” (4:50). This sign indicated that Jesus was more than a mere mortal; He possessed the power not only to defeat disease, but to transcend space. Jesus did not have to be physically present to heal. Once again, the sign produced belief (4:52). But with the third sign, another reaction to Jesus’ miracles can be seen. A man at the pool of Bethesda had been sick for a long time. When Jesus told him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk” (5:8), immediately he was well. But this healing took place on the Sabbath. Instead of rejoicing with the healed man, the Jewish leaders reprimanded him for carrying his bed on the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders’ traditions and ideas kept them from believing in the clear signs of Jesus. The fourth sign was Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the five thousand (6:1–15). By creating a great quantity of food out of five loaves and two fishes, Jesus was again demonstrating His deity, for only God can create. But the crowd, instead of submitting to Jesus’ teaching and following Him, wanted to make Him their king. They sought out Jesus for the food for their stomachs, and not for the spiritual food that would give them eternal life (6:26, 27). The fifth sign was Jesus’ walking on the water (6:16–21). After the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples took a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee on their way to Capernaum. When they were three or four miles out, they saw Jesus walking on the water toward them. This time, Jesus demonstrated His complete control of nature, from the winds above to the water below. This was another sign of His deity, and another reason for the disciples to place complete trust in Him. Jesus’ sixth sign highlights the different responses to Jesus’ miraculous works. In this account, the Pharisees’ spiritual blindness is clearly contrasted with the vibrant faith of the blind man. After being healed, this man told others about Jesus and correctly concluded that He was from God. The blind man saw clearly what Jesus’ sign meant, and believed (9:38). But the Pharisees refused to believe. They ridiculed the man’s faith and arrogantly questioned Jesus (9:34, 40, 41). The seventh sign was Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead (11:1–44). Lazarus had been buried for four days when Jesus arrived in Bethany. With the simple words “Lazarus, come out,” Jesus restored to life the brother of Mary and Martha. This last sign was the greatest: Jesus at once demonstrated His power over the grave and pointed to His own resurrection. Not even death could limit Him, for He was truly God. These seven signs certainly should have been enough to convince anyone that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Yet the miracles singled out by John were no more than “samples” of the enormous scope of Jesus’ signs and wonders (21:25). For John, all these signs pointed to the two miracles that are the greatest of all: Jesus’ incarnation (1:14) and resurrection (20:1–18). Jesus is God’s only Son become man. Although He died for our sins, He was raised from the dead. Today, He still lives and intercedes for all who believe in Him. The NKJV Study Bible.
The formerly blind man is the only one to respond appropriately to Jesus. His journey from physical blindness to sight also symbolized his transition from spiritual darkness to finding the light of the world. Giving sight to the blind was one of the miraculous signs expected to accompany the coming of the Messiah. If the Pharisees were truly without knowledge of God and His requirements, then they would not be accountable for breaking that law. Faithlife Study Bible
Faith must have a proper object. Jesus, not faith, saves. Faith is only a channel to the worthy object, the Lord Jesus Christ. Note the progression throughout this chapter of the healed man’s understanding of the person of Christ. First, he called Jesus “a Man” then “a prophet” and finally he realized that Jesus is the Son of God.
For judgment I have come into this world: Jesus did not come into the world to execute judgment). Nevertheless, the inevitable result of His coming is judgment, because some refuse to believe (3:18). As the light of the world, Jesus came that the blind might see and those who think they can see will be made blind. The NKJV Study Bible
Romans 2:19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
John 5:22–30 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him…
John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
John 15:24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.
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