Day 15: Jesus Is Coming Back
Read John 14:28-31
“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
Reflect
Let’s focus in on verse 28 in the Message version of the Bible, “You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life.”
Jesus wants His disciples to know that His impending experience on the cross is not the end of His ministry; it is the beginning of His ministry’s final purpose and the completion of God’s will for His life. Jesus was living out His life purpose and leaving a legacy that glorified God.
Jesus left a legacy of fulfilling the mission in life that God had planned for Him from the beginning. God has a plan, a mission for your life and a legacy He wants you to leave too. “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for,” Ephesians 1:11. A current example of someone who lived out his life purpose would be our 41st president of the United States. On November 30, 2018, President George H.W. Bush, joined his wife in Heaven. It has been said that he wrote his own eulogy with his life. He authored no formal autobiography, but he lived with such courage, patriotism, and integrity that his life became his legacy. This is true for all of us whether positive or negative, our lives become our legacies by the choices we make each day. Billy Graham puts it this way, “The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.”
Jesus left a legacy of fulfilling the mission in life that God had planned for Him from the beginning.
Respond
Ponder these questions with Jesus today. He would love to join you in developing the answers to live out your life plan and to help you leave a meaningful legacy. If you typically journal, you may want to write your answers down, or share them with someone who is close to you:
- Are you living out the life purpose God has planned for you? If not, ask Jesus to help you articulate more clearly what it is.
- What do you want people to say at your eulogy?
- What is the legacy that you want to leave?
- What is one change you can you make today to begin the journey in leaving the legacy that you desire?