Lord Jesus never doubted the work and his authority because His temptation, before the start of His ministry, was also by the devil only. The Son of God became Man to set us free from the clutches of the devil and destroy his works and control over our lives. We derive strength and authority from our Redeemer and in that we face and overcome all the challenges brought before us by these forces of darkness and evil. By surrendering to Lord Jesus as our Lord, on the one hand we are freed from the clutches of evil while being filled with abundant blessings in and Through Him.
Living life abundantly in Christ Jesus – Confirming the work of the devil to come ‘to steal, and to kill, and to destroy’, The Lord then defined His role, to give life to all believers and ‘that they may have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10). It is not about living a life of abundance as many believe. The command to Adam and Eve was not to eat ‘of the tree of knowledge of good and evil’ with the warning that ‘in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’ (Genesis 2:17). This death was absolutely guaranteed and not some ‘may be, may be not’ type of word. But they lived for many years and Adam had a son, Seth, at 130 years of age and after that lived for 800 years (Genesis 5:3-5). This death was separation and breaking of the close relationship with God and His abundant provisions and to strive and struggle to meet the needs.
The Greek word used for life is ‘zoe’ and it implies both physical and spiritual life. All life throughout the universe is derived from and is sustained by God’s self-existent life. Since man is created in God’s image, he has the inherent capability to know this life, the eternal life, from God. Another aspect of this life is that God desires to share this gift of life with all people. The other Greek word used in Scripture is ‘psuche’ which also means life but relates to psyche or the distinct identity of an individual that defines his personality. It is the seat of feelings, desires, affections or hurts and is life of the soul, the heart and mind. The promise of our Lord is about physical, spiritual and also the life of the soul for He has restored the close relationship between man and God by taking on our sins and giving us His righteousness.
At the crucifiction of Lord Jesus, ‘the veil of the Temple (the separation between holy and most holy place) was torn in two from top to bottom’ (Matthew 27:51-52). With that the earth quaked and the rocks were split and ‘the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised’. Earlier only the High Priest could enter into the presence of God in the most holy place after offering sacrifices for his and the people’s sins while carrying the blood of the sacrifices (Hebrews 9:7). Any violation of the rule of holiness would result in the immediate death of the High priest. He entered with a rope tied around him and bells on his robe, the sound of which, due to his continuous movement, would help the priests outside, in the holy place, to act in case of his death and pull him out with the rope. Lord Jesus not only opened the door to all believers but also entitled us to pray to ‘Our Father in heaven’ (Matthew 6:9). Also, we can be in the presence of the LORD God through our prayers at any time of the day or night, without any special preparations.
God as a Father loves His children and desires all to be with Him and is ready to forgive and also forget. His Word is absolutely clear, ‘I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins’ (Isaiah 43:25). So the spiritual aspect of life to a believer was fulfilled then but with this is also connected the second part about the physical and material aspects of life here on earth. He promised not to leave us as orphans, with no one to turn to in case of tribulations and trials (John 14:16-18). In answer to His prayer to God the Father, we are blessed with the indwelling Holy Spirit to be our ‘Helper’ and our source of strength, love and self control, to face the forces of evil and darkness surrounding us.
The next part of this life in and from Lord Jesus is about having this life from Him ‘more abundantly’. The Greek word used for this is ‘perissos’, which is derived from ‘peri’ meaning ‘all round, excess’. This life is beyond expectation and covers all aspects, all-around the being of the individual. The promise of the Lord would thus read, ‘I came in order that they (believers) might continuously have life, even that they may continuously have it all-around’. With this a believer whose sins are forgiven, has access to the loving Father who calls out to His children, saying, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you’ (Matthew 7:7).
Every blessing from above is received in faith in the One who is being asked, that He is capable of giving and also willing to give. While passing through a village in the ‘midst of Samaria and Galilee’, ten lepers cried out to the Lord to have mercy on them. Lord Jesus commanded them to go and show themselves to the priest, where one would go only after being healed. One of them, a Samaritan, noticed his healing on the way and returned to thank the Lord with a loud voice and glorified God (Luke 17:19). He was told by the Lord, ‘go your way. Your faith has made you well’. The Greek word ‘sozo’ is used here to mean ‘properly deliver out of danger into safety and His provisions’. God does this to all believers through forgiveness of sins by rescuing from the penalty of sin and leading into ‘green pastures and still waters’ (Psalm 23:2) of His peace, provisions and protection. This is living abundantly under His hand and protection.
Receiving the gift of abundant life – Prophet Jeremiah was told by the LORD God about his role in this life, ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations’ (Jeremiah 1:5). God does not choose anyone for what he is capable of but for what God can empower him to do under His guidance. Every individual on the earth, in whatever circumstances he is born and placed in, has a God ordained role to play in this earth and it is not only about oneself but about influencing others and being a blessing to them. The same thing is stated by our Redeemer Lord, ‘You did not choose Me, but I have chosen you and appointed you’ (John 15:16). Even when we face various tribulations in this world, most times due to our own faults and sins leading us away from the presence of God, He as a loving Father continues to hold our hand. In every circumstance, God promises, ‘I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you’ (Isaiah 41:13). Such is the assurance of His help! Our God has such wonderful plans for each one of us, is always with us to bless us and does not seek any great gifts from us.
The first Word of command from John the Baptist was ‘Repent’ (Matthew 3:2), where repent means to turn in the totally opposite direction and move in obedience to God and walk and live in His light. And the same word was used by Lord Jesus at the beginning of His ministry, ‘Repent’ (Matthew 4:17). The Hebrew word for repent is ‘shuv’ meaning ‘to turn and go in a different direction’. The Greek word ‘metanoia’ is translated as ‘to change one’s mindset’. Repentance is not only about confessing one’s sins but also effecting a change in the way of thinking about sin. With this one turns towards God, obedience to His Word and away from lies, sinful lusts and obedience to the devil. Lord Jesus told Nicodemus, the Pharisee leader of the Jews, about this change of direction by saying, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ (John 3:3-4). But he was astonished by this teaching, saying, ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ Apostle Paul clarified this further, ‘we were buried with Him (Lord Jesus) through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life’ (Romans 6:4). This newness of life is the life lived abundantly through faith in the finished work of our Redeemer.
Apostle Paul then says, ‘if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). With this new birth, we come into the glory of Lord Jesus, for He has confirmed this to God the Father in His prayer, ‘and the glory which You (Father) have given Me (The Son) I have given them’ (John 17:22). The Scripture reveals the status of Lord Jesus, ‘the first man (Adam) was of the earth, made of dust; the second Adam (Lord Jesus) is the Lord from heaven’ (1 Corinthians 15:47). The glory that every believer is given is the glory of a sinless man, for our sins are forgiven and in this state we are blessed to do the works that the Lord did as Man but even greater works (John 14:12).
Through faith in the Word of the Lord and in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit every believer is equipped to deal with and triumph over forces of darkness. The need is to remain focused on Him and His promises. King David preached to himself through his songs of praise to the Lord calling out, ‘O my soul, you have said to the LORD, ‘You are my LORD, my goodness is nothing apart from You’ (Psalm 18:2;11). In this manner he would keep himself totally surrendered to the Lord in all situations. He could then prayerfully remind the Lord, ‘You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore’. He could thus remain connected to the Lord, the source of all the blessings in his life.
Even when he sinned with Bathsheba, he could cry out to God, ‘I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done this evil in Your sight’ (Psalm 51:3-4). His sin was with Bathsheba, against Uria, her husband and her son, who died but he confessed to his Creator, his Lord and Master who had always been with him. With this attitude one is always on the guard not to do anything that will displease such a loving God, who in turn fills us with the abundance that He has promised. It is then that the Word of God becomes a lamp to our feet to light up our paths while we are surrounded by darkness all around (Psalm 119:105). Then His power opens closed doors, creating new opportunities, while equipping us to exploit those for His glory.
God created everything that was needed for man for his life of comfort and joy in the Garden of Eden and put man as ruler of all that was there (Genesis 2:8). When all efforts through His prophets also failed to turn mankind from their sinful ways, His Son put on humanity to set us free from the clutches of sin and the devil and to reveal Himself to us. Every believer is restored back into the same state of joy in the Lord and in His provisions. Sometimes we do not see all that in our lives, for God never gives us something that we may not be able to handle without turning away from Him. Various trials that we face in life are all training exercises to prepare us for bigger roles in future.
Joshua son of Nun was chosen to be assistant of Moses and was trained through observation and following him in all his ways. After forty years, he was destined to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land but he was afraid of handling this great responsibility. He was told by God Himself, by Moses and by the people to ‘be strong and courageous’. He was commanded by God to read, meditate upon and live as per the Word of God, the Torah, given to Moses by God (Joshua 1:8). This would help him to ‘make you prosperous, and then you will have good success’. At God’s command, the Israelites marched around Jericho for six days, one round, while singing songs of worship and on the seventh day, seven times. In faith they obeyed and the walls of Jericho that were so wide that a chariot could move on that, fell inwards at their shout on the seventh day. Joshua led the Israelites and finally told them to worship the Lord and not the gods of the other nations surrounding them (Joshua 24:15). But he could confidently declare to all, ‘as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD’. His obedience was well rewarded by God, who even permitted change in the normal laws of nature at Joshua’s command. At his word the ‘sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people (the Israelites) had revenge upon their enemies’ (Joshua 10:12-13).
Faith is always a gift from God and cannot be produced by man (1 Corinthians 12:9). It is a persuasion by God coupled with human belief in a surrendered believer to lead into a life of submission. Apostle John in his old age was put in the caldron of boiling oil without suffering in any way. He could declare, ‘he who is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith’ (1 John 5:4). Living life abundantly, like the multiplication of five loaves of bread and two fish, is readily available to every believer. We grab that in faith and the loving God fills us with His blessings.
Apostle Paul lived with faith in the strength and power of his God and could live satisfied in His Divine provision and protection in tribulations, lack and opposition from others. Living abundantly in faith is to change one’s state of lack and pain by reaching out to others in need and similar states. Only our focus must remain on Lord Jesus, our High Priest and Intercessor in heaven, who is the source of all blessings.
