I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.- John 16:28

February 25, 2008 Floyd Ray Gage

There are two truths that we need to examine in the words of our Lord in this verse of the gospel of John. The first phrase is that Jesus came from the Father and entered the world. Jesus said in the previous verse that God loves the disciples in a deep and intimate fashion, because they believe He came from the Father.

Why is this important? I believe that in some ways it is more important today than it has ever been before. There are many out there that want to say that Jesus was a good teacher and that He was a good man. They want to say that His teachings are worth examining and following and that He was one of the greatest men that have ever lived. The problem with this is that it doesn’t go far enough in understanding who Jesus is.

Jesus is different from anyone else that has lived on this earth. He was not just a good man. He was not just a great teacher. And He was not just one of the most famous martyrs in the world nor the founder of the most powerful religious movement in the world.

Jesus is far more than any of these and all of these combined. He is the One Who came from God. He is the God-man. He is and was God in the flesh. That is what Jesus is saying in this verse. He came from the Father and entered the world. He was not born into the world. He invaded the world. He came with a purpose. None of the rest of us chose to come into this world. We just came in and we are here whether we like it or not. Jesus didn’t have to come. He chose to come.

He chose to come from the Father and to reside with men so that He would be our sacrifice and so that He could bring man back to God. He is the living bridge forged by the love and grace of God. He is the living light that lights the vast darkness of sin and rebellion that separates man from God. Jesus chose to break into this world for you and for me. He chose to come and then to die so that we could live to God again. Jesus made a choice. He gave up heaven for a time so that we might have heaven for eternity.

Anyone that wants to belittle Jesus into being any less that God in the flesh is not seeing Him for Who He is. If He is any less that this, we are all damned and without hope. Only God could break into His sin-wrecked world and repair the damage that had been done by Satan’s rebellion and man’s folly.

The second part of what Jesus said is that He leaving the world and returning to the Father. This is important for many reasons. First it means that Jesus is still alive. He is in heaven right now and is watching and interceding for us. He is active and He is accomplishing His will. Jesus is not laid in some tomb. His bones are not dust. He alive and He is working in the hearts and lives of His people, His church.

Jesus is still here, but not in the flesh. Jesus has chosen to use His church as His hands and feet. Jesus no longer physically reaches out and touches the broken hearted. That is for us to do. Jesus no longer holds the hands of someone in loss and pain with a flesh and blood hand. He has left that for us to do. Paul told us that we are the body of Christ. Jesus reaches out through you and me to touch a lost and dying world.

Jesus does this, not because He can’t reach out and physically touch others, but He knows it is for our own good and growth to use us. We get to be the living, breathing instruments of Christ in this world. He is in heaven reaching out and loving through you and me. We must be His hands, feet, mouth, and heart in this world. That is how He has chosen to relate to the world. Are we giving Christ the tools He needs to reach others?