In the gospel of John chapter twelve people had heard about Jesus was coming to Jerusalem for a celebrated feast. They received him with waving palm branches and praising him as he rode a young donkey into Jerusalem. Jesus began to say many things and then focused on his future death on the cross asking should he ask the Father to save him from that hour, but no that is what he was born for. In front of the whole crowd Jesus the man said, “Father, glorify your name!” then a voice came down from the sky above saying, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Everybody heard the sound, but some could only interpret it to be thunder like from a storm. Others thought it was an angel who had audibly spoke to Jesus. Jesus clarified what they heard was a voice. This voice was meant for the people to hear. The voice was for their benefit. It was NOT for Jesus to hear, nor for his benefit. Basically, it is NOT for Me! – Jesus (John 12:30).
The words “Not for Me” leaped out in my mind and spirit with that special “pay attention” unction from the Spirit of the Lord, who will guide you into all truth (John 16:13) if you will allow it. “Not for Me” was spoken out loud from Jesus as I thought about the scene. I immediately started looking at who Jesus was. Jesus is the visible image (mankind was patterned after) of the Omnipresent (everywhere at the same time) invisible God, all things were created by Jesus in heaven and on earth, visible things and invisible things. Again, all things were created by Jesus and for Jesus. Jesus is before all things, and in Jesus all things hold together (Col. 1:15-17). God, everywhere present at the same time Spirit, was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Jesus so that through Jesus the man God could reconcile to Himself (the Spirit) all things whether on earth or things in heaven by making peace through the blood of Jesus the man (Col.1:19,20). Jesus being God manifested in the flesh does not need anything. The need was for all of us.
Okay, this is where I started seeing all the stars, planets, universes, the sun, the moon, water, land, vegetation, and animals…etc. In my mind I started traveling backwards through time with the its “NOT for Me!” in my eyes and I came to a stop at the beginning of creation where Genesis one and one says, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In my imagination I am looking in a direction where there is darkness, emptiness, and no forms at all. Then the voice of God says, “Let there be light,” and there was light. That still small voice says in my ear, it’s NOT for Me. Wait, that huge planet of bright burning light that we call the sun is not for God. God does not need light. God is light (1 Jn. 1:5), lives in an unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16), heaven does not need the sun or the moon to shine because God gives its light (Rev. 21:23). The sun in the sky is “NOT for Me!“, but for you.
At this point of creation being born I heard the words of Jesus “NOT for Me!” God who made the world and everything in it does NOT live in temples built by hands. He is not served by human hands. He does NOT need anything. He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. God created Adam after His Spirit image giving him a physical form, pattern from the dust of the earth and in filling Adam with the eternal breath of life by which every nation of man came from to inhabit the whole earth. God determined the times and places where mankind would live all because it was the “NOT for Me!”, but the reason was for mankind (His Children) to seek Him, reach out to Him, and find Him though He is not far from each one of us. This is the why all things are inside this present everywhere at the same time God – for us. We live and move and have our existence held together by Him because we are His children (Acts 17:24-28).
You can start anywhere in the Bible and begin to see God’s effort to get us to clearly see and clearly understand the visible and invisible things in life with the its “NOT for Me!”, but for you. The Bible is for us. God does not need the Bible to keep Himself straight. He is the Bible and beyond what the pages could ever hold. God put just the right amount of Himself inside those pages to get His point across. From Genesis to the last book of the Old Testament Malachi God has been aligning mankind up for His plan of salvation. God had set a system in place with the Jewish people as a type and a shadow of what was really to come to finally fulfill our debt owed to sin. The eat anything in the garden except from the tree of knowledge of good and of evil, which if you do will bring death was not for God, but for to protect Adam and Eve (mankind). If God did not value and care about Adam and Eve they would have died on the spot with no generations of mankind to follow. God with full intention to redeem and give us a second chance from our sinful state placed a birth of Himself as a promise to the future generations of mankind. It was not for Him, but for us.
Nameless lamb’s blood were offered in routine as a putting off temporarily the sin debt owed by mankind in the Old Testament. This was not for God, but for our sake. In the New Testament God sent an angel to proclaim the birth of His son and he should be called Jesus because he will save the people from their sins (Mtt. 1:21) and destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8) – it’s not for Me, but for you. God purposely choose this the name of Jesus to carry in it the power to save the people from their sins. Jesus is the only Named Lamb of God whose blood completely removes sin.
John the baptist was baptizing people in the river, not that God needed baptism, but for us making the future pattern of salvation for us to follow in water baptism for the washing away of sins (Acts 2:38). John did not know who this savior was, but he was told to watch for a man that he would see the Spirit coming down upon and remaining, and this would be the one that will baptize people with the Holy Spirit (Jn. 1:31, 33). This was all for a sign to John. When John saw this man coming towards him from the crowd of people the sign he was looking for came down from heaven as a dove, remained on this man Jesus when he came up out of that water. It was not God who needed this, but John who needed to see. John cried out Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus, being God manifested in the flesh, did not need any of this for himself, because it was to fulfill all righteousness for us (Mtt. 3:15).
God did not need anything in the history of mankind for Himself, but the history of mankind was for mankind. The Bible shows us the paths of choices we can make and the end results of those paths before we take them. When you are talking to God and an eye opening thought pops into your mind take it as God is saying this is for you not me. When you are worshiping God and a divine presences starts covering you take it as God is saying this if for you not me. When you are reading the word of God and a light of understanding flows into your spirit take it as God is saying this is for you not me. When it comes to His children God never runs out and it brings joy to His heart when we receive it because it is all for you.