John 8:23-29 : He said to them, “You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” They said therefore to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.” They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the Father. Jesus therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things. He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

The Bible teaches us that all humans were born of the earth out of the first man Adam. Adam sinned and corrupted our entire race. Everyone who is born into this world is born into sin now. Jesus was referring to the fact that we are from the earth where this corruption has taken place. Here’s some more of what the Bible says about this:

Romans 5:12 : Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned.

The Bible teaches us that if we, each one individually, don’t accept Jesus’ way of salvation, we will die in our sin and will be judged by God as a sinner. The judgment of a sinner is a very severe one according to the Bible, because it is a punishment that keeps going forever. It is really an important thing, and God the Father wanted Jesus to stick to this message. God doesn’t want people to suffer, but He has only given one way to correct our problem. We have not been given options on how to make things better. According to the Bible, it has to be God’s way only.

Jesus said another interesting thing here that I would like to talk about. He said “I am He.” I was told by a Jewish scholar recently that the word Messiah means “The Anointed One.” Jesus has been telling them over and over that He is the Messiah that they have been waiting for. He is the One. Many Jews today still look for “The Anointed One.” The Bible tells us that He will return.

Hebrews 9:27, 28 : Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation.

Here Jesus says that He does have other judgments to talk about but that He must now say what God wants Him to say for now. In the future, Jesus will be a judge and He will speak His judgment. In the book of the Revelation, we see the future of Jesus. Listen to a part of what it says:

Revelation 19:11, 12a : I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns.

Jesus would be “lifted up” on the cross soon. Anyone who would look to that event and believe that He paid for their sins would be able to understand what He was doing and saying all this time. As we have seen, even the disciples who believed in Jesus were not able to understand the meaning of many of these words.

Jesus pleased God through obedience to Him. Since Jesus didn’t sin, God was able to stay near Him all the time and not leave Him alone. Sinners have a different experience. God cannot be together with sin, but Jesus was providing a way to get back together with God.