John 5:24 KJV
[24] Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
God indeed works in mysterious ways. There was a man at the pool of Bethesda for 38 years, unable to help himself into the water to get healing. He had an encounter with the Great Physician, and everything that had gone wrong for 38 years was corrected at the word of Jesus. Of course, like all things the Word of God does, there will be opposition from all walks of life. The crowd would have wondered who this man was that could heal such bad cases; the Pharisees, scribes and Jews of Jesus' day were angry that a man was carrying his bed, which was deemed to be work on a Sabbath day. The man himself who was healed was warned to stop sinning, or a worse ailment would happen to him. Jesus had a message for all the classes of people who were present at the time, just as He also has a message for all of us in the times that we are now. Am I listening? Are you?
All of us will be given the opportunity to have access to the Word of God. As laid out in the Bible, the end will not happen until the gospel of Christ is preached to all the world. Every person would have the opportunity to decide on a response to the word of God, so that there will be no excuse for whatever decision is made. Even the earth, as it is presently sustained, makes a clear case for the power and wisdom of God to be made known to all men. That is what is laid out so clearly in Romans 1:20: 'For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse'. The Word of God is the dynamo that births and sustains the life of God in me, and it is not a wonder that the verse above reiterates this truth. A man cannot truly receive the word of God and remain the same.
I note that both hearing the Word and believing in God are tied together. Just hearing is not enough; even the devil quoted the bible to Jesus during his temptation in the wilderness. Believing that there is one God is great, but also not enough, as demons also believe and tremble. I must take the Word of God as the ultimate truth and compass for my life, and believe in the person and power of God. The substance of the Word of God, the conviction in my heart about His person and the daily nurturing of my relationship with God through prayer, study, fellowship and others, become irresistible forces that can stand against the wiles of the devil. Only the One who has overcome the devil can provide help for man to also overcome. Do not rely on anything this world provides. The earthly can never be greater than the eternal. By the right response to the Word, eternal life is sealed and earthly impact is sorted. God's time of favour is here.
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