God's Dividing Line

John 7

I grew up in Alabama. You may or may not be aware that a cultural dividing line cuts Alabama roughly in half. You see about half of the people in Alabama are Alabama and the other half are Auburn. When I would make a new acquaintance playing as a child, it would not take long for the defining question to be asked: "Are you Auburn or Alabama?" It was never, "Are you for Auburn or for Alabama?" It was, "Are you Auburn or Alabama?" Your very identity hung on your answer. I am not sure if the line is just as defining as it was when I was a child and Bear Bryant was rolling his Tide over my Tigers to repeated National Championships, but I am certain it still remains. Humanity has created many dividing lines to define and group people together. Some are kind of silly (Auburn-Alabama). Some are a little more serious (Democrat-Republican), and some are more serious still (Capitalist-Communist). In John 7, God's dividing line, by far the most serious of all, is becoming increasingly clear. As the spiritual war to redeem creation heats up, apparent neutrality (no such thing actually exist) is disappearing, and it is becoming clear who is 'pro' and who is 'anti' Christ.

In verses One through Nine, we see God's dividing line runs right through Jesus' biological family. Initially members of His own house rejected Jesus' identity as God's Messiah. He said this would be the case and that we should expect the same in our homes (Matthew 10:34-37). Initially Jesus' brothers were giving Him grief, but what a different tone we hear from Jesus' brother James once He had crossed God's dividing line (James 1:1). From his new perspective, Jesus is no longer a liar or a lunatic - He is the one and only Lord! Those really are the only options Jesus gave. He said He was the eternal, sinless Son of God incarnate and that He was God's perfect, exclusive way for sinful people to be reconciled to holy God and that every one's destiny depends on Him. If He was not and did not know He was not, He was a deranged megalomaniac. If He was not and knew He was not, He was a liar of epic proportions. If, however, He was who He said was, He was and is the Lord. As C. S. Lewis famously said, "You can shut Him up as a fool. You can spit on Him and kill Him as demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about Him being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

So, people can only straddle the Jesus fence for so long. Ultimately we are all either in or out and which side we are on makes all the difference. As John the Baptizer said He would, Jesus baptizes (immerses) all people in either God's Spirit or God's fire (Matthew 3:10-12). Those baptized by God's Spirit live radically different lives. In verses 37-39, quite possibly during the portion of the Feast of Tabernacles when jars of water were ceremonially poured onto the altar, Jesus announced that every one who thirsts should come to Him for living water. He said springs of spiritually-refreshing water would flow from the hearts of all who received God's Spirit by trusting Him, God's Savior. Not only are those who receive Christ refreshed by God's Spirit. They are, hopefully we are, led by God's Spirit. Throughout this chapter, we see Jesus, the Spirit-filled and Spirit-led Christ, carefully following God's timetable. He tells His brothers they can go wherever whenever, but that He must go where God leads when God leads. The same is true of all true believers. We are God-called and enabled to be Spirit-filled (Ephesians 5:18) and Spirit-led (Galatians 5:25). We are also God-called and enabled to ultimately be with Christ in glory, which is impossible for those choosing to remain on the other side of God's line (verses 32-34).

God has extended His open invitation to all. Every one is invited to cross over in Christ, but this requires us to be truth-seekers who sincerely investigate Jesus' claims to be the Christ. Doing so takes more than the passing 'effort' of those whose hearts were already made up against Jesus in verses 41-52. Honestly, how much would it have taken to discover Jesus was born in Bethlehem if they had really wanted to know? I see this same thing with people who throw out dismissals of the Bible as "full of contradictions." Their hearts are made up, and they grab and repeat unverified claims to justify their rejection. If you have sincere doubts, please prayerfully seek the truth and invest the energy needed to dig beneath the surface. God is there, and He assures us that we will find Him, when we seek Him with all of our hearts (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

God is not only there. God is holy. He is perfectly pure and righteous in and of Himself. Every one else depends on God for holiness, because sadly we are all corrupted and sinful. God separates the people in Christ from sin's penalty, power and presence thus making them holy or set-apart from corruption by and for God. So, the big question is which side of God's dividing line are you on? Are you in Christ or out? Holy or not? Spirit-filled or empty? Spirit-led or lost? Saved or Condemned?