The Blessings of Belief - Your Daily Forward Devotional

The Blessings of Belief

March 14

Read John 12:44-46 (ESV)

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain the darkness.”

Reflect

According to this passage, what blessings does Jesus promise to those who believe in Him?

We should never follow Christ solely because of what’s in it for us. We should worship and obey Him because He is our Lord and our God (John 20:28)! He is the only one worthy of our praise, our allegiance, and our trust. Revelation 4:11 says, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” He is our Creator and we were made to worship Him. So we should!

Even so, in today’s passage, John recorded blessings that Jesus promised to those who believe in Him. First, whoever believes in Jesus, believes in God the Father. It is the Father who sent the Son. Jesus said that whoever sees Him, sees God the Father.

Don’t miss this. Those who were listening to Jesus speak were listening to the Creator of the world speak! His disciples were walking and talking with the God of the universe! God in the flesh. God with skin on. In Colossians 1:15-17, Paul wrote: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

The author of Hebrews echoes that by saying, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” (Hebrews 1:3). No one can see God. He is invisible. He is Spirit. But those who saw Jesus, saw God (John 1:18)! The first blessing of knowing Jesus is knowing God. Belief in Jesus opens our eyes to the knowledge of the God who made us. Incredible!

It’s important to note that many of the Jews who refused to believe in Jesus claimed to know God the Father. But Jesus made it clear that because the Father and the Son are One, it is impossible to truly know the Father if you reject the Son. By rejecting Christ, they were rejecting the God they claimed to worship and serve.

Then Jesus shared another blessing of believing in Him—being transferred from darkness into light. Again in Colossians, Paul wrote: “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son…” (Colossians 1:13). In Acts 26:18, Paul said that God sent him to the Gentiles to turn them “from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.”

You see, there are two domains. One is Satan’s, one is God’s. One is full of darkness, deceit, and death. The other is full of light, truth, and light. When we place our faith in Christ, we are transferred out of Satan’s kingdom into God’s kingdom. We go from slaves to sin to children of God who no longer have to stumble around blindly in the dark but are free to walk in His Light.

Friends, He is the light of the world and whoever follows Him “will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). In Him, our Creator God is revealed to us. “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). If you want to know God, His Son has revealed Him to us. If you want to live in the light, follow Jesus. The blessings of belief are incalculable. But the choice is yours.

Respond

Lord, I believe in You. You have given me the knowledge of God, my Maker. I thank You for transferring me from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of Your beloved Son. Amen.

Reveal: As disciples of Christ, we have the same mission that God gave Paul. We are called to turn people from darkness to light. Who can you tell about Jesus today?

~ Pastor Nat Crawford