Here are some important lessons from deep sea diving that can help you to understand some things about being a true Christian! We all know that the diver goes about his work in an under-sea world that could easily crush and destroy him, and carry him away from his work.
While Jesus was in this world, even though He had made it, it turned out to be a most unfriendly and hostile environment for Him! Sinful mankind just did not want to know Him, or obey Him; rather they wanted to crush and destroy Him, and prevent Him going ahead with His work.
Now let us listen to Jesus as He prays to His Father about His disciples:
"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in this world, so that they may have the full measure of My joy within them. I have given them Your Word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more that I am of the world." (verses 13-14.)
What does a diver need if he is to survive in the hostile sea? He needs a life-line of support from a ship above. Fresh air from above has to be pumped down to him to keep him from being destroyed by the pressure of the sea.
Likewise true Christians needs constant help from above and beyond themselves. Jesus knew what was needed, so He said to His Father, "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that YOU protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the Truth; Your Word is truth." (verses 15-17.)
Jesus wanted His followers to realize that people around them would oppose and resist them for living in obedience to God's Word. But they must also realize they can obtain all the help and support they would need from God above. God has promised those who trust in His Son as their Saviour, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5-6.)
But why does God want the Christian to go on living in such a threatening world?
Think of why the deep sea diver spends so much time in the threatening sea! Isn't it often because he is searching for precious lost objects?
Well, it is to search for an even more important treasure that Jesus sends His followers out to be in this world for a while longer.
Jesus had been sent from Heaven by His Father to provide a way of Salvation for sinful mankind. Now Jesus said to His Father, "As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world." (verse 18.) Jesus was sending His followers to preach about Him to a hostile world. The world that had rejected Jesus Christ must be told again and again that He is indeed the only Saviour, and their only Hope!
No power or pressure on earth had been able to keep Jesus from doing the will of God, in the power of God! By that same power of God, His true followers would be able to withstand the pressure and opposition against them as they pointed others to Christ the Saviour. (Romans 8:9-11. 2nd Corinthians 5:17-21.) Are YOU one of Jesus' unpopular followers and witnesses in this world today?
You can read of Jesus' intercession for His followers in John chapter 17, verses 13¬19.
John Nixon, Cork, Ireland. P31HD98. Contact: jnixonj@gmail.com
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