John was dying. The end was near. He had suffered for months with terminal cancer. His doctor had said, “There is nothing more we can do. You can take him home and call Hospice.”
I was visiting John in his home. It was Tuesday of Holy Week. Easter Sunday was coming. John and I were good friends. He had been a key leader in our church, the kind of man God uses to grow a church.
John knew he had only a few days to live but his mind was as sharp as ever. He talked about going to heaven. He looked forward to seeing Jesus. He reminded me that Jesus had made a place for him in the Father’s House. I took that as a cue to read aloud to him and his wife the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John.
I said, “John, this Sunday is Easter. You are a beloved leader of our church. Is there a message you would like for me to give the congregation from you?”
His eyes brimming with tears, John smiled and said, “Tell them that Jesus is everything!” I promised him I would, and I did. I built that Easter sermon around John’s words, words that summed up for him and for me the true essence of life.
Many years have passed since that Easter. But those three words have remained etched in my memory bank -- Jesus is everything! That says it all. Those three words are the ultimate sine qua non of the Christian faith. That Latin phrase may be translated as “Without which (there is) nothing.” So, without Jesus, Christian faith is nothing!
When it comes to the Bible, Jesus is everything. The Bible is essentially the story of Jesus. The Old Testament says “Someone is coming!” The New Testament says, “That Someone is Jesus!”
Christians are fond of saying, “Jesus is all I need.” That is an absolute truth. Since Jesus is everything, when you have him, you have everything you need. You live in darkness until you discover this truth about Jesus. That is why Timothy Keller could say, “You don’t realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”
When Jesus is everything to you, then you can praise him with the words of King David in Psalm 16:5, “You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands.”
If all you have is “religion,” without Jesus, then your life is one constant struggle to “measure up” and please God by trying to “be good.” When Jesus becomes everything to you, then you realize why he said, “I am the vine, and you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit: for you can do nothing without me” (John 15:5).
Saint Paul acknowledged that he served Jesus by “by using the mighty strength which Christ supplies and which is at work in me” (Colossians 1:29). Nothing was more important to Paul than knowing Jesus and being united with him; everything else was “garbage” to him.
Unless Jesus is everything, life unravels and makes no sense. When Jesus is everything, you are in sync with the One who created all things, the only One who can enrich your life with joy and victory.
Is Jesus everything to you? If he is, then you are ready to live victoriously in this broken world, for life will work in only one way – and that is the way of Jesus! + + +