God always have a message for His children in order to keep them focused as they journey through this spiritual wilderness known as earth,to a glorious spiritual home known as heaven where the Father lives.Though heaven is our glorious home,yet our instincts cannot lead us there.And because we cannot get there on our own,and God Himself knowing that we can't,even though He wants us to get there,had to provide a way.This way is His Son Jesus Christ whom He sent to die for our sins thus breaking the barrier between us and God.He said,"I am the way,and the truth,and the life.The only way to the Father is through me." -John 14:6 [NCV].Hence the Way has now been provided,all we need to do is to believe in Him that if we should follow this Way,we would certainly get home.
Now imagine yourself being lost,and your father showed you the way home,won't you believe Him and follow the way? Of course you would because you have the assurance that your father would be the last person to mean you any harm.It's the same with God our Father in heaven.He knew that we are lost and has now shown us the Way home,but believing and following this Way is our greatest problem.
In our world today,it is a fact that you can get to any destination through different directions.Many places are now well connected to different routes which can be plyed to access such places.But in the case of heaven,this is not the case.There is only one way,and this way has it's rules for those who chose to ply it.It doesn't matter whether you like the rules or not,but to get to where the way leads to,you must follow the one and only acceptable rule. You should also know that you are not the one to make the rules or decide how it should be,but the One who provided the Way alone can make the rules and also decide how it should be.
When Jesus was still on earth,He made it clear as earlier quoted from the Scripture above that there is no other way to the Father except through Him.Therefore,if anybody wants to get home to be with God in heaven,all he has is Jesus.And to follow this only Way,he must abide by it's rules and not the rules of someone else.
However,Christianity is suffering today because many have replaced the original rules with theirs.They want the rules to suit their way of life and many of their followers foolishly believed them.Replacing the original rules,is an act of deception by anyone who does it.Now,hence the original rules has been replaced with another by those who had no right to do so,what do you expect? The result is a Christianity full of crisis.Many now claim to be Christians base on the new rules of man that's why you hear the number of Christians now counting in millions and even billions.But are they all Christians? Genuine Christians are those who stick to,and obey the rules of the original Way [that is Jesus] which God the Father has provided.But those who chose to follow the wrong rules made by man because it suits them,are surely going the wrong way even though they think they are heading the right way.
Moveover,an issue of this nature was adressed by Jesus in a single chapter in the Bible.In this chapter,He splitted His followers in three so that the genuine ones would be seen.He splitted them this way: The followers,the chosen,and the replacement.Now,lets take a look at them individually.
The Followers
This category has the largest entry.If you read the four gospels,you'll hear of many crowds following Jesus.Actually He had many followers,who followed Him day and night.In fact,He even had to feed them at some points because they had been with Him all day without going to look for something to eat.Just imagine,this people prefer to stay hungry than to stop following Jesus.Sometimes,He had to hide Himself from them by going to a solitary place to be alone for a while in order to commune with His Father [God].
Moreso,is it wrong to follow Jesus? Of course not.But what are your reasons for following Him? If following Jesus is the only condition necessary for one to enter the Kingdom of God,I'm sure that those crowd following Him would been more than qualify to make it there.However,these were their reasons for following Him:"A huge crowd kept following Him wherever He went,because they saw His miraculous signs as he healed the sick." -John 6:2.Here we have it. The crowd were impressed by the miracles He perfomed.And because they enjoy watching,they kept following so they could see more.
Many Christians today are just like these crowds.They are after miraculous signs not actually because they want to serve God.Where miraculous signs are performed,that's were they want to be.Therefore,if you are that Christian who is following Jesus moving from church to church because you love and enjoy seeing miracles being performed,then you absolutely fall into this category.
However,that's not all,the Bible also said,"I tell you the truth,you want to be with me because I fed you,not because you understood the miraculous signs.." -John 6:26.All right,you can see another reason why they were following Jesus.They enjoyed the blessings He gave them and kept following so they could get more.To them,it's all about the blessings.Therefore,if you are that Christian who is following Jesus because you need blessings or earthly prosperities thus kept going after places or churches where the prosperity prayer works fine,or keep jumping and saying the loudest amen when prayers of blessings are been conducted,then you absolutely fit into this category.
Yet again,that's not all.The Bible also said,"Many of His disciples said,"This is very hard to understand.How can anyone accept it?" -John 6:60.The crowd enjoy listening to Jesus' parables but are not interested in what they mean.But when Jesus threw the plain message at them,their mood suddenly changed.That wasn't their reasons for following,so they started complaining.
Therefore,,if you are that Christian who is following Jesus because you love listening to sweet teachings that makes you happy,but hates hearing the truth by going after churches that teaches what you like,then you fit very well into this category.
Remember that this people were zealous followers of Jesus Christ by even prefering to go hungry just to follow Him.But they were all following Him for the very wrong reasons.How does this all end? The Bible says,"At this point many of His disciples turned away and deserted Him." -John 6:66.At this point,the whole thousands of followers suddenly disappeared witn each going his own way.That is how it is for those who follow Jesus for the wrong reasons.You may still be bearing the Christian name,but if you are following Jesus for the wrong reasons,it means you have actually turned away from Him spiritually and are now gping your own way.Many Christians fall into this category.
The Chosen
Among those who were following Jesus,there were those He chosed for Himself.They ordinary did not chose to follow Him.In John 15:16,He said."You didn't choose me.I chose you." Though they were also among the followers of Jesus,but the difference is that He chose them to follow Him unlike the others who were just following on their own.Out of the thousands that were following,those He chosed for Himself were only twelve,"I chose the twelve of you." -John 6:70.Unless you are chosen,you'll only be a follower without Jesus recognizing you.And because the twelve were chosen,this was there response when Jesus asked them whether they will also turn away,too at a point where thousand others had already turned away."Lord,to whom will we go? You have the words that give eternal life.We believe,and we know you are the Holy One of God." -John 6:68-69.This is the difference.The teaching that turned thousands away could not change the position of the twelve about Jesus.Do you know why? Of course it's because they were chosen.Being chosen,makes you very special.It means you belong to God because He personally chosed you.Ephesians 4:30 said,"Remember,He has identified you as His own."
Moreso,those who are chosen can withstand the storm that can cause great havoc to others. This is possible because the special grace of God is upon them.If you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior,it's not because you actually wanted to,but because God has chosen you for Himself already.This is exactly what Jesus mean when He said,"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me brings them to me." -John 6:44.And if it is the Father who brought us to Jesus,it means He has chosen us already that was why we accepted Jesus otherwise,we would have rejected Him just as many had done and are still doing today.
Furthermore,God chosed us by His grace not because we actually did anything good to earn it for ourselves."God saved you by His grace when you believed.And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God." -Ephesians 2:8.Therefore,Jesus chose the twelve by grace,and it is this grace at work in them that made it possible for them to remain with Jesus even though they watched thousand others turned their backs on Him.
Moreover,those who are chosen by God will always love the truth and abide by it no matter how bitter it tastes.They are the very ones who have the spirit of God in them,and are living for Jesus [2 Corinthians 5:15].They are also the ones who could follow the Way to heaven as provided by God without compromising the original rules of the Way.[That is being obedient to Jesus]
Remember,those who replaced the teachings of Jesus with their own by either misinterpreting it,adding,or reducing anything from it,are not plying the Way to heaven,but the way to destruction.Jesus is the way,and only those who are chosen can follow Him in obedience.
The Replacement
And now to the final category which gives and takes away the hopes of many Christians.But before I go any further,I'll like to point out again that all those who have believed and accepted Jesus into their lives as their Lord and Savior,do so because they were chosen.
In this category,there is hope for the ordinary follower,in case anyone from the chosen category happpens to fall away.You may say but how is that possible if the ones who were chosen were suppose to be following the right way.Remember that those who were chosen,were chosen by grace.but that does not mean they can't sin or fall away from the faith.Being chosen only gives them a special privilege of being identified by the Lord as His own,but they can choose to walk away if the wish to.
The Bible said in John 6:70,"I chose the twelve of you,but one is a devil." Out of the twelve He chose,one was a devil so that there will be room for replacement.God wants the ordinary follower or those who refused to follow,to know that there is still hope for them. With that statement,Jesus was actually refering to Judas Iscariot who later betrayed Him.After the fall of Judas,he was replaced with Matthias in Acts 1:26.
Moreso,Matthias was just a normal follower of Jesus Christ before. But now,he is a replacement for someone who was once chosen.This means that any Christian saved by the special grace of God,who later fall away,will surely be replaced unless God showed him mercy.Therefore to those who were chosen by God,I urge you to stay true to the truth and continue in the true and standard teachings of Christ so that you won't fall away thus be replaced with someone who once rejected God,turning down His offer of salvation time and time again.And if you were to be replaced,you may not be able to recover again and that will mark your destruction.Take note of this: there is room for replacement of careless Christians-those who were chosen but fail to take advantage of the grace given to them to do what God wants them to do.
Therefore,to avoid being replaced,you must not follow those who chose to follow their own way by twisting the true teachings of Christ in order to suit their carnal desires.Be obedient to the true teachings of Christ asking God for more grace to stand firm in obedience.
These are the three categories of Christians as addressed in John 6:1-71.I don't know where you belong,but this message has a word for everyone.Choose the true Way and be obedient to the rules of the Way.Only then,you'll be able to reach the glorious heavenly home where you truely belong,and where you would spend your eternity with the Lord forever!