The Will

Moving forward, we see from John 1:10 that not only did Jesus have a part in the creation of the world from heaven’s throne, He also came into the world as a man.

Though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. Or you could say they refused to recognize him. Though they had been presented with the truth, given the evidence, and presented with eye-witnesses, they still chose not to receive Him.

Every life is given through the hand and heart of God. But, not everyone will recognize their true Creator or submit to His will for their life.

You see, God is not a man that He would force Himself on any person. The Bible tells us that He is gentle and kind, yet He is also just. God will not force His ways upon us. He diligently seeks to woo us unto Himself. He allows us to make that decision of faith and acceptance of His truth for ourselves.

This does not change the truth. It only leaves the decision to believe up to each individual. God’s desire is that all would repent and turn away from their sinful ways, but He always gives us the freedom of choice.

And although the entire Old Testament pointed to the coming of the Savior, the majority of the people refused to believe and so they rejected Him and His testimony and the testimony of so many others.

God promises us through His Word that every individual will have the opportunity to make this choice. And each individual will also be accountable to God for that choice.

To choose to believe is to choose everlasting life with Christ. To choose not to believe in Him is to choose to reject Him and face eternity without Him, in hell.

It is that plain and that simple.

You might be thinking, Terri, that is pretty harsh. And you might ask me how I can say something like that. I didn’t; He did. It’s right here in His Word; read it and find out for yourself. Or choose to dispute the truth and reject it, but one day you will find out that what I said was the truth because it is the Gospel Truth.

On this Word I stand.

Verse 12 tells us, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God–” God’s children are not born by natural descent but rather by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit through the confession of sin and the reception of His forgiveness through Christ.

Therefore you cannot become a Christian by being born into a Christian family, or by being born physically into a certain denomination, or even by the Christian works you think you are doing. It cannot be willed by one individual to another.

Salvation is a gift from God that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

In Ephesians 2:8 we learn that, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift God–”

And once we become new creations in Christ Jesus we are called, through the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19, to go and make disciples of all nations. We are to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything He has taught us.

And then He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the ages.

Everyone was created to receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, but not everyone will receive it.

So let me ask you, have you by faith receive God’s gracious gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ?

Maybe this is the first time you have heard this truth of the gospel before, and that’s ok.

But now that you have heard it, what are you going to do with it? Will you receive it on the basis of His truth for your life and become a part of the family of God and then live it out? Or will you too reject it, like the majority?

Maybe you are thinking to yourself, I need more evidence. No, you actually don’t; you have more than enough evidence. The decision falls back on you. The question is, what will you do with it?

For those of you who already know Jesus in this way, what are you doing to make sure others know Him too? We are to play an active role in sharing the gospel with others.

Nowhere in His holy scriptures are we told to sit and withhold the truth of God that sheds light to those who are living in the darkness of sin! In fact, we are told to hold out His light (Matthew 5:14) so that others may benefit from it also.

You never know how your living in the light of God’s truth, not only privately but also publicly, might make a difference in the life of someone else for eternity.

Terri Hamman

Faith & Fitness Coach