Need for Departure

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Need for Departure

John 16:5-7

5 But [de] now [nun] I go my way [hupago] to [pros] him that sent [pempo] me [me] ; and [kai] none [oudeis] of [ek] you [humon] asketh [erotao] me [me] , Whither [pou] goest thou [hupago] ?
6 But [alla] because [hoti] I have said [laleo] these things [tauta] unto you [humin] , sorrow [lupe] hath filled [pleroo] your [humon] heart [kardia] .
7 Nevertheless [alla] I [ego] tell [lego] you [humin] the truth [aletheia] ; It is expedient [sumphero] for you [humin] that [hina] I [ego] go away [aperchomai] : for [gar] if [ean me] I go [aperchomai] not [ean me] away [aperchomai] , the Comforter [parakletos] will [erchomai] not [ou] come [erchomai] unto [pros] you [humas] ; but [de] if [ean] I depart [poreuomai] , I will send [pempo] him [autos] unto [pros] you [humas] . KJV-Interlinear

5 'But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' 6 'But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 'But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. NASB

There are three issues in this passage. First is the lack of persistence in the questioning of the apostles. Here is God standing before them and telling them that He must go away. Peter and Thomas, you recall, began the questioning but more in the form of opposition to His leaving. They did not follow up on the where, the why, and when He was going to return?

If we were to stand on any sea shore and look out at the ocean we could or should wonder about its vastness. In ones lifetime a mature believer grasps but a few buckets full of ocean water. There remains the rest of the ocean of Gods knowledge. It is there and we can sort of imagine it, but it is far too vast for us to intake into our soul. We should wonder and pursue its knowledge all the same.

On the second count, the apostles should have been glad that the angelic conflict was about to record a strategic victory for God, and thus close a very important aspect of that conflict. Man had custody of the world and lost it. Christ, on the Cross, won that custody back. At the Second Advent He will return to take physical possession.

The apostles were mourning their loss, or so they perceived His leaving as their loss. We should focus on the positives of life and not on the negatives. Everything that God does, He does with our best interest in mind. There is every advantage in orienting our lives with God rather than against Him.

And that brings us to the third point of this lesson. It is to our advantage that Christ did what He did. He went to the Cross, died for our sins (that is spiritual birth not His physical death), was buried (death in the human sense), was resurrected (victory over death), ascended (His promotion), and seated at the right hand of the Father (Christ's ultimate glorification and recognition of His authority, dominion, and power over everything).

Because of this, we all have a life to look forward to in eternity. Apart from this, we might not even have been born. History would have ended long ago.

Christ is the owner of this world. The owner as left to collect His inheritance formally from the Father. In His place, an ambassador (an emissary) is sent to protect His interests, to build a bride, and to promote His owners policy (Bible doctrine) throughout the world.

As a man, Christ would be in one place at one time. Had He remained, then history would not have been as we have recorded it over these many centuries. He did not remain because His remaining would not have been in our best interests. God has a plan for all of history and that plan looks to doing those things which are in our best interest.

The Holy Spirit residing here on earth is a seal, and contractual seal, which guarantees eternal life and eternal security for all believers, Eph. 1:13, Eph. 4:30.

The Holy Spirit being the emissary and being in each one of us, makes each of us an ambassador to this world. An ambassador is not a resident of the foreign country to which he is assigned. Our home is in heaven. One day we will be recalled (the Rapture) which is the policy of a government which is about to declare war on its enemy. All ambassadors are recalled before hostilities break out. Therefore while we the Royal family remain on this earth, those final days of hostilities which will bring the world to the brink of destruction, will not occur.

Again, security for our continued existence as a human race on this planet earth. No world war will destroy us. No disease will destroy us. No asteroid will destroy us.

Too often people look at the Cross with disgust and horror and sorrow. How could we as a human race have done such a thing? But our true focus should be on the victory of the Cross. Christ laid His own life down voluntarily in our place so that we could have and enjoy a fantastic life here on earth and in eternity. It is in our failure to pursue our spiritual life, that we suffer various heartaches which seem unendurable.

Prior to the Cross the anticipation was of a Messiah, Isa. 9:6, Mic. 5:6, Zech. 3:8, but now Christ, having arrived, gives a new hope, the anticipation of the Holy Spirit, who is not tied to one point in this world but is everywhere simultaneously. That promise became a reality at the first Pentecost after the Cross, for the world, and for each believer when they believe in Christ. It is also a guarantee that the Master will return to reclaim that which belongs to Him.