Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                Chapter Eighteen

                                                                                                                                              Verses 1-9 continued

Jesus told them again that He was the man they sought for and that they should let His followers go. Jesus' statement indicated that He alone would volunteer to take the sins, evil, and spiritual deaths of all humans on Himself on a cross so that He would be able in His resurrection to liberate them all from the penalty of eternal death and separation from God's Love. Jesus knew when He said that that He had devised a plan to cause all living humans whom He creates and loves to return to the repentance and faith in Him that He had put into them when He creates them in His image. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14.

The next verse enforces Jesus' statement that He would sacrifice Himself to liberate all living humans from the evil power of the Devil. Jesus said that He would lose no living human that His Father has given Him. His Father had already given Jesus all things that He had created, including all living humans. I Corinthians 15:26-28; Psalm 8:6. In addition, Jesus holds all power in Heaven and in earth. Matthew 28:18. Christ can never lose anything He ever creates and loves. Ecclesiastes 3:14; I Corinthians 13:8. Jesus did say that He had lost Judas Iscariot, and by implication all humans who rebel against God, but He did not say that He had permanently lost them. John 17:12. God gave the burnt offering in the Old Testament to symbolize that He will recover and recreate every living human who has not already been saved by grace. Genesis 8:20-21. Certain Old Testament scriptures teach that God will recover and recreate all rebellious, living humans from the "shadow of death" which means the regions of the dead. Job 38:17; Psalm 107:8-21; Psalm 68:18. Jesus taught that He can save living humans who believe in Him even after their physical deaths. John 11:25. Jesus taught that in the general resurrection in the end of the world, He will separate the living natures of all humans from their dead natures because they all had done some good in their lives that God had given them to do. Christ will recover and resurrect their repentant lives and separate their evil natures from them for Him to cast into an eternal lake of fire. John 5:28-29. God will use His fiery wrath against evil to dissolve every human system confined to the regions of death in order to separate their repentant, living natures for Him to resurrect and recreate to live on His recreated earth from their evil and dead natures that He will cast into an eternal Hell. I Corinthians 3:11-15; II Peter 3:9-13; Psalm 75:3. In order to effect His recovery of all His living humans from eternal death, Christ will appear to all His living humans confined to the regions of death and cause them all to repent and believe in Him as the Lamb of God their Savior of their own free will near the end of the world. Revelation 5:11-14. Christ will recover all of His repentant, living humans from the regions of death and recreate them all with eternal lives on His new earth. Revelation 20;5; Revelation 21:1-5.