Gleanings for March 31
ETERNAL LIFE
John 17: 3 & 4: “And this
is eternal life, that they may know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
“I have glorified You on the earth, I have finished the work which You gave given Me to do.”
I believe it is safe to say that anyone reading Grandma’s Gleanings is aware that the day we remember Jesus rising from the dead is not always on the same date each year. There will be reference to that day in some of the Gleanings the next few days. Being reminded of the death and resurrection of our Lord is always appropriate.
The verses recorded above have real significance because they are a part of one of the last recorded prayers Jesus brought to His Father before going to the Cross. It is sometimes called His “High Priestly Prayer” because as the prayer continues, we find He is interceding for the disciples and for us.
Verse 20: “I do not pray for these (just the disciples) alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.” That verse makes it very clear that Jesus included the generations that were yet to be born—of which—we are a part.
Another
thing I find very interesting is that as He prays to the Father, He tells Him “I have FINISHED the work which You have
given Me to do.” We know He still was
very soon, going to be on the way to what probably was the hardest “work” He
was called to do—which meant going through the torment of being beaten and
ridiculed before actually giving up His very last breath—and it was all for you and for me!
This says to me that Jesus was continuing to “speak” the things He knew were going to happen. All through the Old Testament the word would come to the prophets in such a way. Psalm 22 tells of the suffering Jesus would be going through.
In the Book of Genesis we find reference to the REDEEMER who would be victorious over the enemy, Satan:
Genesis 3: 15 NKJV: “And I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you
shall bruise His heal.” God was speaking
to the devil at that time. The “Seed”
given reference to there is JESUS. All
the devil could do was “bruise HIS heal” because JESUS was victorious over
death and the grave. HALLELUJAH!
Strong’s Concordance says this about
“bruising the head”: “Just as the “head”
of a company refers to its chief person, “head” is used here to show
headship. In Genesis 3:15, the promise is that the Seed of the woman would
someday crush the Serpent’s head, that woman in particular would play a part in
undoing the effects of the Fall. In its
most specific sense the Lord Jesus has trampled Satan at the Cross. In its wider sense, the human race will
eventually completely triumph over the Evil One.” Romans
“And the God of peace will CRUSH Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. AMEN.” Now that is GOOD NEWS!!!
THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!