Bible Bit: I WILL Raise Him Up! (John 6:37-40)
The hymn goes like this:
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine
Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of his Spirit, washed in His blood.
It's good and true and beautiful, but I also love when Scripture reminds us that it goes both ways.
John 6:37-40
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Wonderful passage. The heart of God to save sinners is on full display here. But more joy and encouragement can be drawn from these words if we tarry a little.
All that the Father gives me will come to me
Not one of Christ's sheep will be missing in the end. Everyone given will come.
whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
All who come will not be despised by their Savior.
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
The will of the Son is perfectly aligned with the Father's own will - He came from Heaven to execute on the Father's good purpose.
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
The will of the Father is that all those that He gave to the Son would be raised on the last day - not a one missing. The Son is in perfect agreement.
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life,
Simultaneously, the giving mechanism that comes from the will of the Father is "who looks on the Son and believes in Him" - they are those that have eternal life.
and I will raise him up on the last day.
This is the fate of those who believe. Meditate on this, brother or sister who reads:
- ALL who are given come.
- NONE who come will be cast out (rejected by the Son).
- NONE who are given will be lost (to the world, the flesh, or the Devil).
- ALL who are given will be raised.
If you have come by faith, take heart! The Father has graciously left you no escape from His loving will! Jesus Himself will raise you from the dead because He loves His Father and agrees with Him in everything! He will not despise His Father's gift, His Father will not permit any of His gift to the Son to be lost! You are as secure in Christ as the Love between the Father and the Son is eternal and unbreakable. Your assurance is fundamentally not that "Jesus is mine" - though I love that hymn - but rather...
Blessed assurance, you are your Lord's
Oh what a promise, inscribed in His Word
Will of the Father, gift for the Son
Soon you'll be with Him, resurrection!
In Christ,
Various