God is Not a Genie
John 13 and 14 puts us at the Last Supper and Jesus is having a conversation. What would you say to your loved ones if it were last conversation with them and you knew it? What would you tell your children, your spouse if you knew you were leaving them tomorrow?
“Love one another, just as I have loved you....”vs34 perfect. Jesus said that. He also said this: “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” Vs14:6. We know that one but gloss over it. We do that to keep the peace. But let’s be honest and look at it for a second. The only way to get to God - is through Jesus. You can’t get there by being good. You can’t get there by doing nice things or by being inclusive or by allowing others to do as they wish. It’s through Christ alone. Knowing that, if you love someone, can you be so tolerant as to let them go to hell? Would you let them die of a disease if you had the medicine in your hand?
Vs 14:15 “If you love me you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another, a helper to be with you forever.” God doesn’t give you the Holy Spirit as soon as you believe in Him. You have to love him and follow Him first. He isn’t a genie waiting in a bottle. Jesus makes this clear in verse 21 and 23 “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them loves me....If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Do you see that? And do you see how as a society of Christians we get it backward all the time? 1) we repent 2) we love Jesus 3) we follow Jesus 4) Jesus and God make their home with us
5) they give us a helper.
We don’t get to call on them to live in us and then pick and chose our Christianity and what parts we will follow. We don’t get to say we are Christ followers and then live with each other out of wedlock and love our jobs and things and copy Bible verses and never actually open our Bible or join a community of Christians - it doesn’t work like that. That, my friends, is false religion.
And if you think that is too hard please let me leave you with this, Judas has left to give Jesus over to die for 30 pieces of silver. Satan has entered him and Jesus knows what is coming. At any point He could call on the armies of heaven and call all this off. But he doesn’t. And he tells those with him this: vs 14:30 “...for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” Obedient into death - out of love for you and I.
