New Morning Mercies #304

People make good friends and loved ones, but they make bad messiahs. Life is only ever found in Jesus.

We do tend to put people in the place of God and ask them to do for us what only he can do. We do look to people, who suffer from the same condition of sin, weakness, and failure as we do, as if they were the fourth member of the Trinity. We ask our loved ones to give us identity. We ask them to heal our hurts. We ask them to cause us to be happy. But they cannot give us those things. They simply never, ever will rise to the level of our expectations. In our relationships, we often try to drink from a dry well, and then we wonder why we come up thirsty. No human being can be your personal Savior. The following passage confronts you with this truth and then directs you to where real life in the here and now and for all eternity can be found:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (John 1:1–18)

Here is the bottom line, so powerfully captured by this passage: Jesus is life. As Creator, he gave physical life to our bodies. As eternal God, he is the source of the life of everything that lives. But there is more. As Savior, he is the One who alone gives spiritual life to our dead hearts. The passage says we are not born again by human blood, by human flesh, or by human will, but by God. It is his fullness that we receive; life-giving grace upon life-giving grace. Don’t put the burden of life on the person next to you. It will only crush that person and disappoint you. Besides, you don’t need him or her to give you life, because you’ve already been given life in the person and work of Jesus.

For further study and encouragement: John 20:30–31