"But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John 20:31
We Believe! With a statement like this we must ask; what is it that we believe? In 2004, the Boston Red Sox and their fans made this statement, "WE BELIEVE!" As a Red Sox fan we believed that Boston could beat the Yankees, down 3 games in a best of 7 series. While others were saying it couldn't be done, Boston fans believed! And it just so happened that Boston won the next 8 games, and brought the World Series Title back to Boston for the first time in 86 years. When it comes down to statements about believing in something, all are trivial including the 2004 Red Sox, except for one. When your "WE BELIEVE" statement has something to do with Jesus Christ, there is nothing trivial about this statement.
So I will ask again, what is it exactly that you believe about Jesus Christ? Have you ever taken some time to actually think about that question? I challenge you to do it, crack open that Bible of yours and have a look. What is it exactly that you believe about Jesus.
Does it matter what "WE BELIEVE?" Have a quick look at the the verse I placed at the top of this page. Do you see it? You see John makes a very clear statement here, in essence, if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God then you will be given life in His name. So question must be asked, what happens if we do not believe, or we are on the fence when it comes to Jesus? I see this as a black and white statement, either you believe and you receive life, or you do not believe in which case you do not receive life in His name.
I would like to share with you a very bold statement. I have more respect for an individual who does not believe in Jesus Christ, than i do for the individual who is on the fence (lukewarm) in their beliefs. Believing in Jesus is black and white, its not a little of this and little of that. Its not, Jesus was a prophet, a good man, but I just don't think he was the Son of God. "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." Revelation 3:15,16 Notice what is said, "I wish that you were cold or hot." Take the time to find out for yourself what you believe and put everything you have into it, know exactly why you believe...so that when the day comes and you are asked, "What do you believe," you will be firm in your answer!
The above statement is exactly why it is of dire importance that we know what WE BELIEVE. Now, what is it that we believe about this Jesus? Is your typical response, Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose three days later, which gives me eternal life? Is that all that you believe? Notice John says, "But these are written," which tells me that everything preceding Chapter 20, verse 31 was written so that I might understand who He was, what He did and through these things believe firmly that he is the Son of God and that he holds my life in His hands.
In the book of John, Jesus makes 7 "I AM" statements about himself. These statements allow us to look back in time to Moses and the burning bush. We can see that Jesus is God and he spoke to Moses through the burning bush. Jesus is God, you see the Trinity is the were our faith comes into play. To understand the Trinity, requires faith, our minds cannot comprehend God. So as we rely on our faith, we can see the same Jesus we see in the New Testament working in the Old Testament. Knowing this we can look at these 7 "I AM" statements and begin to see who Jesus is, this helps us to understand what WE BELIEVE.
Have a look at these 7 passages and we will dig deeper into this topic next week.
1. John 6:25-54 (v.35)
2. John 8:12-30 (v.12)
3. John 10:1-21 (v.7)
4. John 10:11,14
5. John 11:1-44 (v.25)
6. John 14:1-14 (v.6)
7. John 15:1-17 (vv.1, 5)
