Lance Mountain

I Am The Gate [John 10:7-10]

Jesus is talking to the Pharisees here. They would say that if you followed their rules you would be saved. They didn't like what Jesus was teaching or who Jesus claimed to be. It was to them that Jesus said "I am the gate".

We have gates for the purpose of getting somewhere. They allow people to get from one place to another. Jesus said He is THE gate and that we need Him to get to salvation. As humans, we stand in great need because we have rebelled against God. People know in their hearts that God is in control, no matter how they try to discredit Him or deny Him. Everybody knows there's a God and everybody knows what God expects of them, though we make excuses and try to rationalise our wrong. Our conscience tells us that we are not ready for God. If we're not ready to meet God, what lies ahead for us?

We all know there's got to be justice in the world. We know there's fairness because it's built into us by God. If there is no God, fairness and justice don't exist and every man can do anything they think is right in their own eyes. God will let us get what we want in the end. If we don't want God, He will eventually leave us and we will be away from God for eternity.

But God wants us to be His. He gives us every opportunity to turn from our rebellion and trust in Jesus who paid the penalty we couldn't pay. Jesus is the way to God - the only gate to God and we must enter through Him.

It means leaving our own selfish way of life behind, trusting in Jesus Christ and following His plan for our life. What will life be like then? Life will be good - the best life. Jesus came that we might have life to the full. God who created all the best things in this world, and the world to come, will guide our every step and bring us through every situation in life with satisfaction and joy.

Life without Jesus is a handful of dust. Everything else besides Jesus will come to nothing. Possessions, money and the pleasures of this world will tempt us to follow them whole-heartedly, but they are like thieves. Jesus, because of His life, death and resurrection, is the only way to have life to the full on earth and then life eternal after death, which is far better.

It's a promise.

I Am The Light of the World [John 8:12]

It's hard to find your way around in darkness. Light is one of the most important things that we need to get by in life.

Jesus said that He was the light of the world. What did He mean? 

This world isn't all there is. There is another reality co-existing with this one. A spiritual reality that is even more important than our physical realm. God is the light source of this spiritual realm.

If the sun died we would all die. So if we don't have God's light shining on us, we will be spiritually dead. We have all turned our backs on God and gone our own way. This is sin. Sin is doing things our own way not God's. Because of sin, God has withdrawn his light from us. We can very easily think that what we see and touch is all there is. But because of the darkness we are in, we don't see the truth of the spiritual realm.

God loves us and sees us fumbling in the darkness and Has compassion on us. He sent His son to die, physically and spiritually, and be separated from God to take the punishment due to our sin. Jesus was in darkness and experienced the absolute total darkness of Gods judgement. Jesus took the darkness that we deserve so that we can experience light.

He rose from the dead and shines His light upon us, bringing us back to God. God shines His light into our hearts so that we are no longer in the darkness. It's like He turns on a light within us and we can suddenly see the truth that this world isn't all there is but there is a spiritual life and we can live with Him.

If you do ask Jesus to shine His light on you, you may first experience guilt for the life you've lived until now, and you'll be driven to God to ask for His forgiveness. If God causes you to feel true guilt for sin, He will bring you to Him for forgiveness and He will not fail you.