Reclaimed People Series

Resurrection Sunday

Reclaimed People

A Study of John 5-6

Jesus was Passionate

Seven Times Jesus said “I AM”

John 6 contains the first of seven great I AM statements recorded by John, statements that are found nowhere else in the Gospels.

God revealed Himself to Moses by the name I AM (Jehovah) (Ex. 3:14). God is the self-existent One who “is, and... was, and... is to come” (Rev. 1:8). When Jesus used the name I AM, He was definitely claiming to be God.

I am the bread of life - John 6:35

I am the light of the World – John 8:12

I am the gate – John 10:7

I am the good shepherd – John 10:11

I am the Resurrection and the Life – John 11:25

I am the way, the truth and the life – John 14:6

I am the vine, you are the branches – John 15:1

He knew exactly who he was and what he was here for!

Jesus Came to Claim to What Belongs to God

These are among the most profound words He ever spoke, and we cannot hope to plumb their depths completely. He explained that salvation involves both divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

John 6:37–40 contains Jesus’ explanation of the process of personal salvation.

Jesus lays claim to your life

It’s a Matter of Ownership

37 The Father gives me my people…

You were created and formed by the Father God of all there is or ever has been. He imagined who you could be. He designed your nature. He engineered your capabilities. He planned your potential. God fashioned you and every other person on this round ball we call the planet earth. And He did so without one reject or error.

There are no mistakes. Honestly? There are times I struggle with that concept. Sometimes the struggle is with me. Sometimes that struggle is about you! More often I struggle with the idea of “no errors” when I think about our daughter, Susan, who is struggling against terrible issues of mental health and developmental disabilities. Or, I think about some of the battles I’ve fought and lost with my own nature. Honestly? You have probably shared those struggles, too.

Here is the critical factor: There is a difference between being broken, hurt, or damaged and being rejected as useless and worthless.

Even though you may be hurt and damaged. You may even have a few wires crossed – like our daughter, Susan – but you have value to God because He created you and he owns you by right of the creator. Jesus teaches us here that it was the Father – Creator God who gave the deed to your life to Him. Your Life belongs to Jesus – not you and certainly not anyone else.

It’s a Matter of Affinity

37 “…Every one of them will come to me, and I will always accept them...”

We are made in the image of God. We are like Him. Not the angels. Not those dark angels called demons. Not the animals that roam the earth or the creatures that fills the oceans. Human kind, humanity, man, woman – we are different from all the rest of creation – because we possess (not own – just possess) that spirit force called a soul that is like God.

It is this likeness that draws Him to us. It is that affinity that draws us to Him. It is as normal and natural as the migration of Canadian geese or the attraction of an insect to a bug zapper.

There is a deep hunger in our soul for God and amazingly enough an even deeper hunger in God’s soul for you.

It’s a Matter of Passion

38 “…I came down from heaven to do what God wants me to do, not what I want to do. 39 Here is what the One who sent me wants me to do: I must not lose even one whom God gave me, but I must raise them all on the last day...”

It’s one thing to have a duty that you attend to. We see people every day that put the time in on the clock but it is obvious that their heart really isn’t in the work. It’s an entirely different thing when you are doing something out of passion. When the fire burns in your bones you carry out the necessary tasks with intensity and single-minded devotion. If problems arise you solve them; when mistakes are made you fix them; when impossible obstacles are met you crush them with your purpose.

Make no mistake God has a single-minded devotion to a simple proposition: He wants you in his heavenly mansions! He is so devoted and passionate about this that he has send his son – Flesh inhabited by God – Jesus with one purpose and task… Bring my children home!