October 26 - Will You Die in Your Sins...or Believe?

Then He said again to them, "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come." So the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?" And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you from the beginning? I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world." They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. John 8:21-30  

Jesus pretty much lays it on the line for the Jews when they ask Him, “Who are You?” He told them from the beginning that He was sent by the Father, the Heavenly Father, to do what He was told to do and to speak for the Father. By saying that He was the “Son of Man,” He was declaring that He was the Messiah. He plainly told them that unless they believed that He was the Messiah, they would die in their sins. Amazingly many believed in Him because of what He said. Will you die in your sins…or believe? 

We have the same choice today as the Jews did two thousand years ago…believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, or die in our sins. Believe or die. I have already chosen to believe. This choice is not just for Jews, but for everyone around the world, for all mankind. According to the Wycliffe Bible Translation website (http://www.wycliffe.org/About/Statistics.aspx) in 2011 there were about 6,800 languages spoken in the world and of those about 2,000 did not yet have Bibles translated into their language. That is not to say that people in those 2,000 languages have not heard about Jesus, just that they don’t have scripture in their language yet. Someday people in those languages will have to make a choice about Jesus, too, or they will die in their sins. 

Jesus didn’t tell the Jews that they needed to repent, or that He was going to die for their sins. They were looking for a political savior for their nation, not a spiritual savior who would take away their sins and give them eternal life. Jesus was there as the spiritual savior—and He is still the spiritual Savior of the world. People don’t really need a Bible to tell them that—they just need a teacher or preacher, a friend, relative or neighbor to share that good news that Jesus was sharing. If you believe, your sins are forgiven—you won’t die in your sins. You’ll live eternally, with Jesus. Just like Jesus said about the Heavenly Father, “He has not left Me alone…” He won’t leave us alone, if we believe in Him. What a feast—a spiritual feast that is—just to hear that good news. So, will you die in your sins…or believe?   

Dear Jesus, Thank you for being so obedient to the Father that You came down from Heaven to spend time with mankind and share Your good news. If we believe…our sins will be forgiven and we will never die! We will live forever with You.

© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB).