Our New Life In Christ – The Faith Life

This week, our devotional thoughts will be a celebration of our new life in Christ. To do this, we are looking at eight sayings of Jesus after His resurrection. Each of these sayings explains one blessed aspect of our new life with Christ.

4. The Faith Life

FOCAL VERSE:
John 20:29 (ESV)
Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 20:24–29 (ESV)
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

I’ve always liked Thomas because what little we know about him tells me I’m a lot like him. Thomas has been given a bad rap, in that most only know him as “doubting Thomas” from one incident in his life.

Truth is, Thomas was a man with a complex faith. You see some people have a simple faith. My wife, for instance, put her faith in Jesus as a little girl and has never doubted since. Me, on the other hand, struggle because I want to question everything. And Thomas was like that.

So, when he missed the first appearance of Jesus with the disciples, Thomas could not take the others statement as fact because the complexity of his faith required more evidence. But upon seeing Jesus in person, Thomas had no need to touch Him.

Here is one of the neatest things Jesus ever said. He declared a blessing upon us who have never seen him and yet we believe in him. Had Thomas, in his weakness, not had a greater need of proof of the Living Lord, we would never have heard Jesus’ powerful words of blessing upon we who have believed in Him without seeing Him.

Did you realize that Jesus had you and me on His mind even before He went to the cross? In His prayer just before He was arrested, He was asking the Father for a special protection for His disciples. And then He said,

John 17:20–21 (ESV)
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Yes, I know, if you are like me you have thought how great it would have been to see Jesus in person. But, Jesus says we are blessed all the more because we have placed our faith in Him without seeing Him. And though we live by faith and not by sight, God’s Spirit had enabled us to see what cannot be seen.