Daily Devotional: Sunday, 8 January 2017

Daily Devotional: Sunday, 8 January 2017

By Christ alone – The one and only way

 

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. (John 14: 6 NIV)

Additional passage: Hebrews 1: 1-3

  A heavenly father decides to come to Earth, embodied in his Son. This Son, an innocent, sinless man, is the only one capable of bringing a fallen creation back to its creator. He takes all of creation’s guilt and places it on his own shoulders so as to die in its place. In our place. The father accepts this sacrifice and raises his Son back to life. Throughout all history, there is no other rescue mission quite like this one. What a sacrifice! And this father, this God, is now calling everyone to put their faith in Jesus Christ. God has given his Son authority over all. Christ is the one and only way to the father and those who trust in him can experience salvation. This is just a short summary of such an (un)believable story! And it IS true. Christ allows us to be renewed so that we can become the people God originally intended us to be. We have been offered true life again, life with such hope and joy, that it can even overcome death. If we look at the passage around this verse, the Last Supper, we see how clueless Jesus’ disciples were about His purpose here on earth (see John 13-14). Thomas had absolutely no idea what Jesus was planning to do and Peter thought much too much of himself, thinking he would be able to sacrifice his life for his Master. But Jesus replies with patience and encouragement. He builds up their trust in him and explains that the path he must walk is “to prepare a place” for them. “My Father’s house has many rooms“, He says, and “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (see John 14: 2-3). We as Christians are on a pilgrimage towards that heavenly homeland. Often, we fail to see the path before us, which causes us to stop, uncertain, just like these disciples. But we do not have to lose faith. One thing we can be sure of is that we have someone leading us. Thank God we do not have to create our own path! Through Christ we can just follow the road that leads us directly to our father, to our home. Jesus ensures that he will get us there. And so, the focus of our prayer today is the Son of God. Let us celebrate him together as fellow travelers of on the same road!   Prayer Focus  In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature[a] God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:5-11 NIV) Thank you:
  • for your rescue mission. God, you reconciled the world to yourself through Christ (see 2 Cor. 5:19)
  • that Jesus did go on that path to the cross, and that he has already prepared the way for us to heaven
Sorry:
  • for our tendency to put ourselves first
  • for not always being conscious of the fact that Jesus is the one and only way to the father
  • for not loving our fellow Christians, making us unrecognisable as Jesus’ disciples (see John 13:35)
Intercession:
  • for those who are on the false path to finding salvation (religion, esotericism…), that they find Christ
  • that we as Christians never turn away from Christ’s love
  • that we help and appreciate our fellow companions on the path to the Father
 

Writen by: Christoph Grötzinger, Salzburg, General Secretary of the Austrian Evangelical Allianz

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