John 12:24, 25 - Living for Christ or Self
John 12:24, 25 (NIV) Very truly I tell you,
unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and
dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it
dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves
their life will lose it, while anyone who hates
their life in this world will keep it for eternal
life.
John 12:24, 25 (NLT) I tell you the truth,
unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and
dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce
many new kernels - a plentiful harvest of new
lives. 25 Those who love their life in this world
will lose it. Those who care nothing for their
life in this world will keep it for eternity.
John 12:24, 25 (CWR) Unless a kernel of
wheat is buried and dies, it produces nothing. It
always will be just one kernel of wheat. But if it
dies, it produces other kernels for a great
harvest. So it is with me. If a person lives only
for himself, hell lose eternal life. But if
he dies to self and lives for others, hell
produce a harvest of good things and receive life
eternal.
INTRODUCTION
We must be so committed to living for Christ
that we "hate" our lives by comparison. This does
not mean that we long to die or that we are
careless or destructive with the life God has given,
but that we are willing to die if doing so will
glorify Christ. We must disown the tyrannical rule
of our own self-centeredness. By laying aside
our striving for advantage, security, and
pleasure, we can serve God lovingly and freely.
Releasing control of our lives and transferring
control to Christ bring eternal life and genuine
joy. [Life Application SB]
COMMENTARY
The husbandman preserves his grain by
casting it away. So in human life. To give is to
live. The life that will be preserved is the life
that is freely given in service to God and man.
Those who for Christ's sake sacrifice their life
in this world will keep it unto life eternal.
The life spent on self is like the grain
that is eaten. It disappears, but there is no
increase. A man may gather all he can for self; he may
live and think and plan for self; but his life
passes away, and he has nothing. The law of
self-serving is the law of self-destruction. DA623, 4
He who lives for self, and devotes his life
to self-serving, will lose his life. He may
gather much, but he imparts little. All such are as
the grain that is eaten. Those who think and
plan for self only, who desire everything to
minister to their ideas and advance their interests,
pursue a course of selfish idolatry. God says of
them, "Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone."
Those who love this temporal life so well that
they will scheme for themselves, and work upon
worldly plans, will find at last that they are
bankrupt; for they are without the eternal riches. But
those who hate this life, who choose death rather
than a life without Christ, win heaven. Those who
devote their lives to God's service, who honor him,
and commit the keeping of their souls to him as
unto a faithful Creator, will bring forth fruit
unto eternal life. The Lord will keep that which
is committed to his trust against that day. He
will honor the man who serves him with the whole
heart. ST 07-01-9
The Believer's Journey to the Cross
We all know that Jesus walked the road to
Calvary, but did you know that believers also journey
to the cross? We've all been positionally
crucified with Christ, but those who hunger for Him
participate in a deeper experience of this reality.
Jesus lovingly takes their hand and leads them to
the cross. Even though this is the last place
anyone wants to go, it's the only way to partake of
God's best for our lives.
The trip to the cross is not one you take
with family and friends. It's a lonely journey
with just you and Jesus. He strips away everyone
and everything you've depended on so that you'll
learn to rely only on Him. While we're at the
cross, He uncovers layer after layer of
self-deception until we begin to see ourselves as He does.
Soon our self-centeredness, inadequacy, and
failures are laid bare.
The cross is a place of brokenness, but
it's necessary because there's no other way we'll
ever bear fruit. If we hang onto our lives and
refuse to take this journey, we'll be like a grain
of wheat that is never planted and never grows.
But those who willingly die to themselves will
produce an abundance of spiritual fruit. The only
way Christ can live His life through us is if
we've allowed ourselves to be crucified.
God doesn't want you to be content with
just your salvation. There's so much more He
desires to give you and accomplish through you. Are
you willing to take the road to the cross with
Him? Yes, it's painful, but the rewards in this
life and in eternity far outweigh any suffering
you will experience. [In Touch Daily Devotional
by Charles Stanley at www.intouch.org]
Some things must die in order to be
productive. Certain seeds will not germinate into a
plant unless they freeze during the winter. Jesus
knew that His death would bring salvation to the
world.
The moment you became a Christian, your
sinful nature died (Ro 6:6), but there remained
sinful aspects of your character that had not gone
to their graves willingly. Before you became a
Christian were you self-centered? You may discover
selfishness lingering in your life when you ought to be
freely sharing what you have in the name of Christ
(Mt 10:8). Did you have a volatile temper? Now
as a believer, you experience moments when
anger wells up within you. Were you driven by
ambition? You may still find yourself with the same
motivation as you strive for recognition and position
in the kingdom of God.
If these sinful attitudes are allowed to
remain alive, they will stifle the fruits of the
Spirit. Your temper may prevent some from coming to
Jesus. Your selfishness will hinder you from being
a blessing to those around you. Your ambition
could cause you to use others to meet your goals.
Your family may be suffering because of some
areas of your life that you have never allowed
Jesus to put to death. It is futile to say, But
thats just the way I am! That is the way you
were. But that person died with Christ; you are a
new creation (2Co 5:17). Allow God to complete
His work in you and see what fruit your life
produces. [Experiencing God Day by Day by Henry and
Richard Blackaby re John 12:24]
Often when our souls are troubled and
problems abound, we tend to pray prayers such as,
"Lord, fix this situation so I won't have to suffer
or have problems! Make everything go smoothly
in my life! Please remove the obstacles I'm
facing today! " But Jesus, in view of his impending
suffering and death, aligned himself with the Father's
purposes. While he prayed in Gethsemane, it was only
natural for him to ask that if it were possible, he
might not need to face the unspeakable torment
that was to come. But his greater priority was
not his own comfort; it was doing his Father's
will and agreeing to what would bring glory to
his name.
With Christ as our example, we who follow
the Lord are to do the same in our difficulties.
We are to align ourselves with God's purposes,
commit to seeing them through whatever the cost to
us, and enter into Christ's prayer - that God
would be glorified in our lives.
LORD, may my highest motivation and
desire be that your name would be glorified in
every trial and situation I go through. Keep my
mind and heart focused on Jesus' example and
committed to what you want to accomplish in my life.
Holy Spirit, please give me grace to live
wholeheartedly for the glory of God's name. [Praying
Through The Bible By Fuller re John 12:26]
ONE LINERS
The grain of wheat must die before it can
reproduce itself. So the individual who would follow
Jesus must die to all purposes in life that are
contrary to the will of God. [Passages Of Life SB]
The man whose priorities are right, who
makes the things of God primary, will keep his
life eternally. [Believers SB]
Death to self-seeking is the disciple's
goal. We seek to kill all selfish goals and
ambitions which dominate life without Christ. We love
Christ rather than selfish ambition. [Disciple SB]
ILLUSTRATION
A woman came back from a Christian
retreat, and a friend asked what it was like. She
answered, "I died!" 'What do you mean?" her friend
responded. "This weekend I discovered that I had spent
my whole life hiding. I had never been honest
with anyone"my family, my friends, myself, or
God. The worst part was, I wasn't even in touch
with my own dishonesty and distortions. This past
weekend all my lies died; my old hiding places
collapsed. I am so glad I went through this death
experience to become the new person that God is
creating. Now I know what it means to be 'born
again.'"
As strange as this sounds to some, this
"death experience" is exactly what happens in the
Third Step. This "surrender step" is death. It is
death to our old wills and lives as we turn them
over to God. An ancient saint said, "God has to
hollow us out before he can fill us up with life
and love." All our old debris of
selfcenteredness, self-pity and self-control has to die.
As the apostle Paul wrote: "We were
therefore buried with Christ through baptism into
death in order that, just as Christ was raised
from the dead ... we too may live a new life"
(Romans 6:4). Now that's a Third Step. For
Christians in recovery, what could be truer and more
hopeful? A. Philip Parham
Christ, I give myself to you. Take me as
I die to my old selfish ways and live in you
and your love. [Life Recovery Devotional SB]
Seed Germination
We have just been out planting seeds in
our garden - big ones such as peas, beans, and
squash, and little ones such as lettuce, basil, and
radish. After preparing the soil, we made the thin
little trenches and dropped the seeds in. The big
ones remain visible till we cover them up. The
little ones vanish the moment they leave our dirty
fingers. Invisible. Dead and gone even before we pull
a little fine soil over the trench. As 1
Corinthians 3:6, 7 tells it, the planting and watering
are no big deal really. It is God who makes it
grow.
Inside every viable seed, no matter how
small, is a tiny dormant embryo, living but at a
very slow pace, nestled snugly in among the
starchy endosperm, its food source until the embryo
can raise its head out of the ground. The embryo
looks like a miniature plant with a root end and a
shoot end. If you open a dried peanut carefully
you can see the tiny embryo with its leaves all
formed ready to go - except in thy, roasted, or
salted peanuts the embryo is dead. OK, then, how
does the seed germinate?
Seeds soak up water first. Since seeds
are stored quite dry, they can absorb several
times their weight in water and will swell to at
least double their size when dry. Once they have
enough moisture, the embryo's metabolism kicks into
high gear, and they need to get nutrients and
start growing. The starchy endosperm all around
them is in a good energy storage form but not
much use for providing energy to the embryo. So
the embryo sends out a chemical signal (at least
this is what happens in cereal seeds) that
triggers the production and release of a
starch-digesting enzyme from the aleurone - a layer just
under the seed coat. The enzyme goes to work on
the starch, breaking it down into sugars that
the embryo can use. Though the growth of an
embryo does involve cell division, most of the
increase in size comes from cell expansion resulting
from water uptake. What a marvelous system God
has created to provide food for the embryo just
when it needs it.
In the text above, the dying of the grain
kernel represents the death of Christ. By going
into the ground it can grow and produce lots of
seeds, Christ's sacrifice made the gift of life
possible for many. And in that sacrifice, we receive
life.
Hope of Glory, does Your life live in me?
May I be totally focused on serving You. [God of
Wonders by David Steen]
CLOSING PEARL
One aspect of following Jesus means
spending time with him. That seems obvious. But think
about it. When Jesus was here on earth, people who
believed in Jesus' teachings literally followed him.
They walked with him. They traveled together, ate
together, prayed together, saw awesome things
together, and suffered together.
So how do we follow Jesus today? How do
we spend time with him? One way to spend time
with Jesus is through prayer and reading the
Bible. We need to take quiet times to sense his
presence and to welcome him into our lives. We need
to read and study God's Word so we can do what
he wants us to do. Though we cannot see or
touch Jesus today (he is risen and in heaven!), he
has given every new believer his Holy Spirit.
Through the Spirit, we can live in the awareness of
God's presence as we go through our daily lives.
We are never out of his sight. We are never
separated from his love. [The One Year Bible for New
Believers re John 12:26]
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
We would see Jesus." ... It is a blessed
thing for a man, when he has brought all his
desires into a focus, so that they all center on one
object. When he has fifty different desires, his
heart resembles a mere of stagnant water, spread
out into a marsh, breeding miasma and
pestilence; but when all his desires are brought into
one channel, his heart becomes like a river of
pure water.... Happy is he who hath one desire,
if that desire be set on Christ, though it may
not yet have been realized. If Jesus be a soul's
desire, it is a blessed sign of divine work
within.... Is this thy condition, my reader, at this
moment? Hast thou but one desire and that is after
Christ? Then thou are not far from the kingdom of
heaven. (From Morning and Evening by Charles H.
Spurgeon) [Inspirational SB]
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE
John 12:24, 25 - Living for Christ or Self?
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2006/20060719-0927.html
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Steps to Peace by Billy Graham:
https://stepstopeace.org/
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Voice of Prophecy Discover Bible Study
Guides:
https://www.voiceofprophecy.com/study/discover
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of
Adventist World Radio: https://www.awr.org/bible
Panorama of Prophecy with Pastor Doug
Batchelor: https://www.panoramaofprophecy.com/
Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW:
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
Islam and Christianity in Prophecy, The
Third and Final Conflict by Tim Roosenberg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSJB-fuHLU&list=PLWhQIHGTHlkaGg5Cwe3NDzWtFX8vNSpsE
