Jesus came not to eliminate the cycle of life,
but to deliver man's mind from being affected by it. The prophet
said, "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill
shall be wrought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of
God" (Luke 3:5,6). Jesus came to bring salvation to all
mankind.
However, the salvation He brings changes how a man will
face his circumstances more than changing the actual circumstances. Although
circumstances will eventually change, Jesus Christ primarily came to
redeem man from himself.
Jesus said, "If ye continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31,32).
Truth can
set people free; however, truth is not a body of knowledge. Truth is
a Person, Jesus Christ. Moreover, this freedom continues only if the
believer continues to experience Jesus.
For the believer to experience continual
(perpetual, eternal) life, life must not be attempted by living in past
understanding or past experiences, as glorious as they may be. For
abundant life is not based upon what has happened but rather upon what is
now being experienced. Continual, abundant life can be found only in
the current learning (experiencing of truth) of Christ, only in being a
disciple of Jesus Christ (continually hearing Jesus).
A learner (disciple) of Jesus Christ is not
one who has learned something (such as a glorious truth or even a glorious
experience) and then attempts to live life based upon that knowledge
or event. Rather, it is to base life upon the Learning Process
itself. Simply stated, a disciple of Christ is a learner, as
opposed to being one who has learned. Eternal (perpetual)
life is to experience the eternal (perpetual) learning of Jesus. Jesus Christ is the Truth.
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