Need of Christ: “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” John 5:40. There is a vast difference between speaking of Christ and needing Christ. Religion often confuses the two. Many can speak of Him, esteem Him, or identify with some outward form of faith. They may know the stories of the Bible, possess some concept of doctrine, participate in worship, and move comfortably among religious things, yet feel no true need of Him at all, content with what they suppose they already possess. Revelation 3:17.
I was reminded of this when a friend stopped by my workplace to tell me that a man we both knew had passed away. He had lived a long life. I knew him fairly well, as he bought products from our warehouse, and we had spoken many times over the years. He was a warm, kindhearted, and genuinely pleasant man. The friend who brought the news had been very close to him for over twenty years, so I knew the loss was heavy. He simply said, “well, at least he’s in a better place.” Those words sunk my heart. I said nothing, but inwardly I thought, a better place? He is dead. That does not sound better to me. I would rather be alive than dead. Ecclesiastes 9:4.
Then I remembered a conversation I once had with the man who passed. I asked him where his hope of eternal life rested. Without hesitation, he said, “I live a good life. I try to be good to everybody, and I live by the Ten Commandments.” I cannot recall my exact reply, but hopefully it was something like this: that will never be enough. “I live a good life.” In that one sentence you hear the religion of mankind. Whether religious or irreligious, inside the church or outside of it, men naturally trust themselves. If they think they are whole, they will not seek the Physician. Matthew 9:12.
That is why it is so easy and natural for men to take refuge in religion, in church attendance, in good behavior, in comparing themselves with others, and in the belief that they are not so bad after all. It is welcomed so easily, because it gives cover to self-righteousness, allowing people to remain largely satisfied with themselves. False religion lives upon that illusion, but the gospel shatters it. It comes to those who know they are sick, thirsty, guilty, and undone. Matthew 5:6. Christ is not for those who think they can stand, but for those who know they have fallen. Luke 18:13-14. Outward dealings with Christ are common enough; coming to Him as life is another matter entirely.
Men will come to Christ for many things, but not for life. They may come for answers to hard questions, peace of mind, comfort in sorrow, help in trouble, or simply because they were raised that way, but Christ says, “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Why? Because men do not seek what they think they can live without. A man seeks what God has made him feel he lacks. Psalm 42:1-2.
In the end, the truly needy come to Christ for all things. The gospel is for such as these: the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, and them that are bruised. Luke 4:18. That is why Christ is everything to the empty, and nothing to the full. Only the Lord can awaken such need. He brings a man low, reveals his true condition, and causes him to seek that salvation which is nowhere else to be found but in Christ. Then Christ is no mere subject of discussion, but life itself. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” I John 5:11-12. MPJ