I. "AS YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM POWER OVER ALL FLESH."
A. This is not a request, but a statement.
1.
Psa 2:7: "I will declare the decree, You have said unto Me, Thou art My beloved Son, this day have I begotten You, ask of Me and I will give unto You the heathen for Your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your inheritance."
2.
Dan 7:14: "And there was given unto Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed."
3.
Mat 28:18: Jesus declared, "All power is given Me, in heaven and in earth."
4.
Jhn 3:5: "The Father loveth the Son and has given all things into His hand."
5.
Phl 2:9: "Wherefore God has also highly exalted Him and given Him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and those in earth, and those under the earth. Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."
6.
Hbr 2:8: "Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet, for in that He has put all into subjection unto Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But we do not yet see all things put under Him. But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He by the grace of God taste death for every man."
B. What does it mean to me, that God has given Him power over all flesh, and has put all things in subjection unto Him?
1. He has the power to destroy me, or to give me eternal life.
2. As the psalmist said in 31:15, "My times are in Your hand."
3. Daniel said to Belshazzer, "The God in whose hand your very breath is, you have not glorified."
4. I have a free will, I can submit to His authority, or I can rebel against His authority. I only have this right because God has allowed me this right. He could remove this right at any time.
a. If I rebel, it is only to my own hurt, and destruction. How many people have found this tragically to be true.
b. If I submit to His Lordship, He gives to me eternal life.
5. In
Jhn 5:27, we read that God has given Him power to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
6. Though He has the power for the final disposition of each of us to life or damnation, in reality, He has allowed us to choose our own destiny. So it is up to me to submit or rebel. A person will not be able to blame God for sending them to hell. They will be there by their own choice to rebel against the authority of Jesus Christ over their lives.
7. It is my prayer that He exercise His power over my flesh.
a. Many of us can identify with the statement Jesus made concerning Peter. "The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
b. As we wrestle with our flesh, we discover what a formidable foe the flesh can be.
c. Paul says the spirit lusteth against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit, and these two are contrary, so that we do not always do as we desire.
d. O Lord, dwell in me and give me your power over my flesh.
II. "THAT HE SHOULD GIVE ETERNAL LIFE."
A. And this is the record that God has given unto us eternal life, and this life is in the Son, and he that has the Son, has life, He that has not the Son has not life.
1. Here we are told that Jesus has been given the power over all flesh, that He might give eternal life, to as many as the Father has given Him.
2. Jesus has been given the power to give, to those who have been given.
3. But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the Sons of God, even to those who believed on His name.
4. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
B. Jesus has given to me, the marvelous gift of eternal life.
1. The rich young ruler came to Jesus and knelt at His feet asking "Good Master, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?"
2. Jesus answered, "Why do you call me good, there is only one that is good and that is God. If you would enter into life, keep the commandments."
a. Why would Jesus ask the question, "Why do you call me good. There is none good but One and that is God."?
b. Jesus is either suggesting that He is no good, or that He is God.
c. I believe that Jesus is seeking to awaken his consciousness to the fact that what he recognized in Jesus that brought him to the place of coming to Jesus was his unconscious recognition, that Jesus is God, and that Jesus had the secret of eternal life.
3. His desire was to do some good thing, to receive eternal life. If you could earn eternal life, it would no longer be a gift.
4. Paul said, "By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."
5. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand."
III. "THAT HE MIGHT GIVE ETERNAL LIFE TO AS MANY AS YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM."
A. Here we get into that mysterious and glorious truth of Divine election.
1. He gives eternal life to those who the Father has given to Him.
2. In
Act 13:48, we read, "And as many as were ordained unto eternal life, believed."
3. Jesus earlier said, 6:37, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me, and he that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out."
4. Again in 6:39, Jesus said, "And this is the Father's will, who has sent Me, that of all which He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again in the last day."
5. Jesus said that no man could come to Him unless the Father drew them.
6. Again He said that no man could come to him, unless it was given to him of the Father.
7. In 10:29, He said, "My Father which gave them to Me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand."
8. Verses 6,9,11,24.
9.
2Th 2:13, "But we are bound to give thanks always unto God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth."
10.
Eph 1:4: "According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the earth."
B. If I teach or understand this doctrine of election as holding some people out of the Kingdom of God, then my understanding of it is wrong.
1. For the gospel is for whosoever will.
2. Jesus, whoever would come to Him He would in no wise cast out.
3. Jesus said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
4. "And the Spirit and the bride say come, and let him that heareth say come, and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."
5. You need never fear or wonder if the Lord has chosen you as one of His children.
6. All you have to do is to come to Jesus Christ and accept Him as the Lord of your life, and He will in no way cast you out.
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
Abbreviate Books
Use SBL Abbrev.
