Jesus Christ is your savior, my savior, and the savior of all mankind!
So what does it mean to obey him?
John 8:31-36 (WEB) says,
31) Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, "If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. 32) You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 33) They answered him, "We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, 'You will be made free'?" 34) Jesus answered them, "Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. 35) A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever. 36) If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."
Jesus has a great promise for his followers. He plans to show us the truth about this life and to set us free! What an awesome promise and hope! This fallen and broken world takes its toll on every person who ever lived causing us to feel burdened and in bondage to pain and trials that we want to shake off, but just cannot. However, there is great hope. Jesus promises freedom. Yet, the freedom of Christ comes with a price... we must obey his teaching. Though the world may offer freedom, true freedom only comes through obedience to Jesus Christ.
Furthermore there is an orderly recipe above. First we must simply obey, even if we do not understand all the reasons for God's commands. We must submit our will to the will of Jesus. We must honestly understand the difference between what we want to do and what God wants us to do... and then choose God's will. Second, through obedience we will come to know the truth. A master's business can only be learned through obediently serving in his workshop. The same is true with God. Third, through knowledge of the truth we will be set free from our bondage because we will know, understand, and trust in God's loving purposes. There is no other way, but to trust and obey.
1 John 5:1-5 (WEB) says,
1) Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Whoever loves the Father also loves the child who is born of him. 2) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. 3) For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous. 4) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith. 5) Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Jesus wants no hypocritical claim of affection for him. If we claim to love God we must also obey his commands. In fact, obeying his commands is the only accepted expression of showing our love for God. God is our loving Heavenly Father and because he is our Father and we are his children we also need to obey him. The world understands love to be giving others license to do whatever they want, to please themselves. This is not love, but instead makes us a danger to ourselves. A good parent would not leave his children unsupervised or without direction. God knows that true love will direct his children to do only what is best for themselves and others. Thankfully the commands of God are not burdensome, but are wholesome and good. In fact as we already learned, God's commands are the pathway to learning more and more about God and enjoying true freedom as his sons and daughters. Through obedience we take our station as the children of the King of the Universe. We receive the honorable position of princes and princesses in his kingdom. We also enjoy fellowship as brothers and sisters with one another!
Obey Jesus in order to know the truth and to find true freedom. I am convinced that obeying Jesus' commands is the recipe to help you see that Jesus does in fact love all mankind. Obey Jesus!
