"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6:37-40
Did you know that you are a gift to Jesus? I am going to say that again, YOU ARE A GIFT TO JESUS! How do I know that? Because Jesus Himself says this about you in John chapter 6. The implications of this truth are the kind of things that can elicit huge assurance, great confidence, deep inner peace, a true sense of the Father's love for you, and strong durable faith.
Jesus makes five powerful assertions of this in John 6:37–40. It is very important that you see them for yourself and not take my word for it. They are too precious to base on any man’s opinion, especially mine! They are your life, your hope,and your security in this life and the next.
1. God chose you and gave you to Jesus.
Verse 37: “All that the Father gives me will come to me.”
Verse 39: “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me.”
This is one stupendous and important verse! Jesus gave the great invitation in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.". Yet after saying that he said to those who were in his presence, "you have seen me and yet do not believe". So, there were many who neither saw Jesus for who He is as the life giving bread from heaven nor tasted, trusted, savored, and treasured Him for all He is worth.
Not so with you my dear reader! Here in verses 37, 39 Jesus speaks about those who have come to Him, believe Him, respond to Him, receive Him, embrace Him, treasure Him, are satisfied in Him, and place their trust in Him-and how that they are motivated to do these things. God does not wait for his chosen ones to come to Jesus. If he did, they never would. He gives them as a gift to Jesus. He chooses them for His own and he gives them to his Son.
Do you argue with the Father about who you are? Let Him define you. You are chosen by God. You are given to Jesus. You are a gift to Him.
The deepest theological question that I can think of, the one for which I have no adequate answer, is to the question, "Why me?" Andre Crouch wrote, "I don't know why Jesus loved me. I don't know why He cared. I don't know why, He sacrificed his life. But I'm glad, I'm so glad He did."
2. Because God gave you to Jesus, you came to Jesus.
Verse 37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me.”
It is not the other way around. Jesus does not say that because you came to Jesus and believed on Jesus, God therefore gives you to the Son. No. Those whom the Father gives to the Son, come to the Son. He secures their coming. He works their coming. He guarantees their coming. When you came to Christ, God brought you. When you believed, it was God opening your eyes. When Jesus was understandable to you, you did not make Jesus look all-satisfying to your heart. God did. And when he did, you came, freely, with all your resistance overcome.
3. Since you have been given to to Jesus and came to Jesus, you are omnipotently and eternally kept by Jesus.
Verse 37: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
Jesus does not say, all that come to me the Father gives me. We come, we decide, then God does something. The giving and the coming are the Father’s sovereign work; so therefore, the keeping is the Son’s sovereign work. Do not overlook this final part of Jesus promise. You will be kept. Verse 39: “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me.” Jesus will lose no one who comes to him. No one. If the Father gives us, and therefore we come to the Son, the Son will never lose us, or reject us. The life we have in the Son is, as verse 40 says, “eternal life.” Not temporary life. It cannot be lost. We are as secure as the Father and the Son are God. you are eternally safe in the Son.
4. Jesus will raise us from the dead on the last day.
Verse 39, “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”
Verse 40, “Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
The father has not only given your soul to Jesus as a gift, but your body as well. Jesus knows that death looks to everyone like a defeat, a loss. It looks as though at least our bodies are lost. We may think he loses nothing of all that has given him (as verse 39 says), but it looks like he at least loses the body. And to that, Jesus says two times, to make it crystal clear,. “I will raise it up on the last day.” Not even your body will be lost.
5. Finally, the unshakable foundation for the Father giving you to Jesus, your coming to Jesus, His keeping you forever, and His raising up your body is that it all is the will of God.
Nothing is more sure in this world than the sovereign will of God. Nothing. you may not be sure of yourself, of others, of life, of the church, of your pastor, but you can be absolutely sure of Him. And even if you are not sure, it still does not change the surety of who He is and His precious will for you.
Verse 38 gives the ground of why Jesus will not cast out any whom the Father gives him: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” It is God’s sovereign will that none of his own be lost.
Verse 39 says it again: “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” Jesus will not fail to keep us and raise us, because it is the sovereign will of God.
Verse 40 says it again: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” It is God’s sovereign will that those whom he gives to Jesus, so that they come to Jesus, have no mere temporary blessing, but eternal life. And that they rise from the dead, lest even our body be lost. This is God’s sovereign will.
I am so thankful that God was determined to not only make salvation possible and then just step back and cross His fingers, hoping somebody would hunger and eat of Jesus as the bread of life. No, God the Father, from all eternity, determined to make salvation certain for those whom He had determined to give to His Son.
“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” (Isaiah 46:9-10) The reason for this revelation, whether in Isaiah or in the Gospel of John, is to comfort you, assure you, bring rest to your weary souls, make you humble, fearless,courageous, and loving in the absolute safety and security of Jesus and His promise today.
Now perhaps you ask: How can I know that I am a gift to Jesus and if I am among the chosen ones? How can I know that I have been given to Jesus, and that he will keep me and raise me? The answer is very simple: “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:37-40). If you have come to Jesus like this (hungry, thirsty, trusting, treasuring, and believing), then you can know that you have been given to Jesus; and if you have been given by the Father to the Son, you will be kept, and if you are kept, you will be raised on the last day.
Oh may you rest in comfort and assurance today in the simple but precious declaration and promise of Jesus: YOU ARE LOVED. YOU ARE A GIFT TO JESUS. YOU ARE CHOSEN. YOU WILL BE KEPT.
AMEN!
Pastor Bill
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