John 6:39-40 39And this is the will of the one who sent me, in order that I might not lose anything of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
The tension between God’s sovereignty and human free will continues in these verses. God’s will or desire is for all people to be saved (2 Peter 3:9), but God will not supersede the need for a person to choose to believe. Ever since God created Adam and Eve, humans have had to make a choice to love God. The choice in the garden was simple: do not eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. By making that simple choice, Adam and Eve showed their love, honor, and obedience to God. Life has become much more complicated, with so many choices that we must make every day, but the principle remains true for us as it did for them.
Jesus came to do God’s will. Everything he did was directed by his heavenly Father. God the Father put creation into the hands of the Son. The highest of creation are the creatures made in his image–us! We have been created to know and experience God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. God’s plan was ordained before creation. This plan was for humanity to come to know the depths of God’s love. The path to this is not always easy because it requires the human response of faith.
Jesus states God’s will clearly in verse 39 in for humanity to experience eternal, resurrected life. When judgment comes, God’s plan is for all people to be raised to new life. Verse 40 expresses the implied condition for his. God’s plan will happen at the resurrection, but not for everyone. The crucial condition is looking to the Son and believing in him. We must believe in Jesus to receive eternal life. This theme is repeated numerous times throughout John. Jesus states later to his discples that he is the Way to the Father (14:6). Those who do not believe will not experience eternal life but judgment.
The emphasis in this verse is positive and inviting. Jesus clearly explains to the Capernaum crowd exactly what his metaphor and their experience of bread meant. At this point, they became accountable because the choice was clear. Would they believe in Jesus and receive the promise of eternal life, or would they reject him and face condemnation? God’s plan for them and all people is to believe, but God always gives us the choice. God planned the way, but we must choose to follow it.
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