Today’s Podcast
Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 23; You Version Bible app Engaging God’s Story Reading Plan Days 155 through 161
I read an article a few days ago that TLC plans to air a new TV show called Long Lost Family soon. It is similar to others that have aired in the past on other channels. It aims to connect adult adopted children with their biological parents. It is a quest that often ends with pretty emotional meetings when parents, particularly mothers, finally see their grown children after many years of separation.
I have talked with many who have been adopted through the years and the vast majority always refer to their adoptive parents as their mom and dad. They see them as the ones who chose them, provided for them, raised them, gave them their moral values. They recognize their adoptive parents as parents as much as those of us who have not been adopted recognize our parents as mom and dad.
But I’ve also seen in many of those adopted adults a small nagging in their minds wondering just who they are. What is their biological lineage? What were the circumstances that caused a mother to give them up? Most often it was because their biological mother just could not provide a safe, warm, loving home for them at the time. The mother realized that life for their child would end as a struggle for survival in the circumstances into which he or she were born. So they made one of the toughest decisions of their life and gave up their son or daughter doing what they felt in the child’s best interest, not their own.
Adopted children always have unanswered questions. Some of those questions will follow them and never be answered. Programs like Long Lost Family fascinate us as we see the investigative tools and the raw emotion that springs from those meetings. We wonder what it must be like to finally know who we are.
We ask ourselves that question sometimes. Not about our birth heritage, but in a greater sense as part of humanity. Who are we? What is our place in this vast universe? Why are we here? What is our purpose in life and particularly at this time and place?
Jesus never had those questions about himself. He knew. And the day John baptized him, God himself announced to the rest of the world just who Jesus was. From out of the heavens came a voice that boomed like thunder, “This is my son, in him I am well pleased.”
With those words, Jesus’ ministry began. He soon went to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan who tried to play on his humanity and question God’s announcement that Jesus was his son.
“You haven’t eaten in 40 days, you must be hungry. If you’re the Son of God, turn these stones to bread and eat.”
“Scripture says if you’re the Son of God, angels will come to your aid. Jump off this pinnacle and let’s see if they will catch you.”
“Your title is King of kings, so kneel to me and I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the earth if you really are the Son of God.”
But with each twisted half truth Satan sent his way, Jesus answered with scripture. You need God’s word to get you through life, not just bread. Go away. God said don’t test him. He’s not a puppet to play with. Go away. Worship only God. Besides, my kingdom is not of this world. Go away. The temptations were real. Shortcuts to the end of the mission God had in store for his Son. The humanity in Jesus didn’t want the suffering any more than you or I would want the suffering. But he also knew the cross was the only way through to our salvation.
He knew who he was. Through the rest of Jesus’ life, that was the question all who came in contact with him had to answer, though. Who do you think I am? It springs from the most memorized verse in the Bible. John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
It’s the question Nicodemus asked that prompted those words from Jesus. Who are you? Are you the Messiah, God’s Son? The disciples had to answer that question and at one time Jesus asked them pretty bluntly, “Who do you think I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Peter also said others thought he was Elijah come back to life, Others thought him a prophet. Others thought him a demon.
The question must be answered by each individual because the answer to that question is one of life or death. Who do you say he is? Do you believe Jesus is who he said he was or do you think he was just a historical figure that did good things? Was he just a man or the Son of God? Can he forgive sins as he says or a charlatan as many of the Pharisees claimed?
Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God, who died for your sins, who rose again, who sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us? That most memorized verse followed by the next two tells us how important what we believe is to each of us. Do you remember the rest of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus?
Here’s how the rest of those verses in John 3 go: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
That last verse tells me Jesus is not one of many ways to heaven as some might want to believe, but Jesus is the only way. He didn’t come to condemn us. We do that to ourselves. He came to save us. But we have one responsibility in that process. We must believe he is who he says he is. Believing, though, means doing what he says. Living like you mean it. Following him. It’s not just words, it’s action. Remember, he will tell those around him later that even the devil believes in him, but the devil won’t find his way to heaven because he won’t yield his life to God.
The Long Lost Family. Not in God’s kingdom. All it takes is believing Jesus is who he says he is. Following him. You won’t be lost any more. There will be one glorious reunion like you’ve never seen before.
You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.
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