Weekly Teaching 24 (RATWG Feb 1&2, Spirit 2 Day 1).

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or go to this link: https://neighborhood.social/blog/644 Day 1: The Authority of the Son By Rick Rene of Blessed2Teach Ministries (https://blessed2teach.com) Prayer Guide Day #1 Because I hear God’s word and believe in Jesus, I have eternal life, and I celebrate passing from death to life! John 5:24: Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life. Father, I declare myself saved from judgment and death and claim eternal life because of my faith and belief in the risen Christ! In the name of Jesus. Amen. Context The context of John 5:24, which discusses passing from death to life, encompasses verses 19-29, which is often summarized as “The Authority of the Son.” In red letter Bibles, this is all in red because Jesus is teaching about himself. He teaches about Jesus’s nature, his role in salvation, and how he will be used to judge both the living and the dead. He starts out making sure everyone knows that while he submitted himself to come to earth as a man, he could do nothing on his own but “only what he sees the Father doing,” and Jesus did what the Father was doing. Jesus actually could see what the Father was doing, and he declared that those would see even greater works and marvel, even the authority to raise the dead, which he later would do with Lazarus and others. He had his inner circle of disciples keep quiet about him raising the little girl from the dead, so this statement had to shock most of those listening. What is even more shocking is he later teaches that we, as the Body of Christ, will do these greater works as well: John 14:12: Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014%3A12&version=ESV He then states that the Father has given Jesus the authority for judgment so that people would honor the Son just like the Father. Not honoring Jesus is like not honoring the Father. This is when he states this popular verse where he starts out saying, “Truly, truly…” to emphasize this truth. The truth is that those who hear Jesus’s words and believe in the Father who sent him will have eternal life; judgment will not come on them, but instead, they will pass from death to life! What a promise! But Jesus does not stop there. He says, “Truly, truly…” again and discusses that even the dead will hear his voice and live again because, just like the Father, he has “life in himself.” Wow! This is a clear teaching of the Trinity and of Jesus’s separation but equality with the Father. Jesus is teaching that he and the Father were NEVER created. No, God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is eternal and has always existed! Later, Jesus would reemphasize that he is the “bread of life” and the key to eternal life for us: John 6:57: As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%206%3A57&version=ESV Jesus ends this message by telling his listeners not to marvel that even the dead will be raised to be judged, and some “to the resurrection of life” and some “to the resurrection of judgment.” So let us feed on Jesus and understand that he is the resurrection and the life, and nobody comes to the Father except through him! John 5:19-29: Read the full context of God’s word here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%205%3A19-29&version=ESV Devotional In these 11 verses, Jesus teaches some deep truths and shows he wants us to understand them as he uses the term “Truly, Truly…” three separate times. He starts out describing how he can do nothing without the Father but does what he sees the Father doing: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. Jesus likely saw constant open visions from the Father while he was on earth. Then, Jesus moves to the subject of greater works and how people will even see people being raised from the dead: And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. Jesus demonstrated this later on several occasions, including the resurrection of Lazarus: John 11:43-44: When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?