“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

Like so many other times, Jesus begins with “hear”, “He that heareth my word”. More often than not, from the pulpits today we hear, “Believe, believe, believe”; instead of, “hear, hear, hear what God is saying to you right now.” God speaks to our hearts, not our ears. “they that have ears, do not hear”. If we’re listening to the preacher (and trying to figure out how we can make ourselves better with what he says), and not what God is speaking to our hearts, we’re missing the message! Jesus is telling the Jews, “You’re missing the message! Listen!

It is much easier to accept our traditions, doctrines and creeds than to, as I tell myself, “step into God’s world, and see what it’s like.” Talking with Jews; in particular with the religious leaders, Jesus tells them to “believe on him that sent me.” These are God’s “chosen people”: who would have more belief in God already than they? Jesus is telling the Jews to go beyond their traditional conceptions of God, and to “believe” that God is much more than they thought; to believe that God wants each individual to have a personal relationship with Him beyond the everyday religious affairs in which they engaged. They could not see that their traditions were based on a very limited view of an infinite God. The best superlatives we might conjure up to attribute to God do not approach His glory! Or His infiniteness in the least respect. As Paul told the religious crowd (Jews and philosophers, alike) at Mars Hill in Athens, “…they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being;...For we are also his offspring” (sons and daughters). Just as Jesus (and Him, I’m not), I know that God’s world is very different than the one we generally perceive; because in God’s world, there is no “death”, no “condemnation” (because we become what He created us to be); therefore, we can truly live, even in this life.

((( It is beyond difficult to reveal what the true extent of one’s personal relationship with God involves. First, it is frightening to those who are unable to relate to it (terribly few can); which brings doubts, criticisms, and confrontations. Then come questions of ‘sanity’, heresy, and self aggrandizement. Is it not better to languish in the mire of our “systematic theology” than to reveal the unbelievable glory of Him who as Paul said, “I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day”? Thank God! I don’t have to commit it to man! The perceived impracticality makes it doubly difficult to practice; much less getting someone else to recognize its usefulness. Therefore, we become weak, foolish and withdrawn. We live in our own little world, and wake up in a new world every day. We see the striving of men, both spiritually and worldly; and know the effort is unnecessary. We engage in it to hide. In our heart, we know that, “what you are, I once was: what I am, you shall become.” And, that, in itself, is a very small step. )))

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Jesus is telling the Jews, “You’re not listening now, but the time will come when you will ‘hear’. You’re dead in your trespasses and sins, but, if you will ‘hear’, you can have life now. Whether you choose to listen now or not, the time will come when you will ‘hear’ me calling you from the grave. I’ll call the righteous first, unto the resurrection of life; and, all others unto the resurrection of damnation.”

“The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God.” The “now is” is the whole point for those standing in front of Jesus that day. We live in “the hour is coming” which began with Jesus. Listen! Listen to what God is saying, now. Who, in their right mind, would choose a life that ends with this life; or, if you believe in reincarnation, choose a life which would insure that you will return to this misery; when eternal life, without death or rebirth, is available right now? Listen! “Today is the day…” Now is the accepted time…”

“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,…” “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s…So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” We need to know now whether we “live unto the Lord”; and, if we claim to,…get on with the living so the resurrection will hold no surprises.