“[This] is what
God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have
life”
(1 John 5:11-12,
NLT).
The Apostle John now sums
up all that is in store for the believer. Not only do we have the promise of
God’s Spirit living in us to help, teach, encourage, strengthen, and change us.
“But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives
within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit
teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true – it is
not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ”
(2:27). “[The] Spirit who lives in you is
greater than the spirit who lives in the world… the Spirit of Truth”
(4:4, 6). “God has given us his Spirit as proof
that we live in him and he in us” (4:13). But we are also given a
gift that cannot be earned, the gift of eternal life! Jesus Christ is the only true divine Son of God, and he is eternal life (5:20). We
can enjoy eternal life (2:25), we can
have eternal life (4:9), and we can know we have eternal life (5:13). This
is the God-size-coolness beyond measure!
What is eternal life? Eternal life is not simply an unending progression
of years. A common New Testament word for “eternal”
is aionios, which carries the idea of
quantity as well as quality. In fact, eternal life is not
really associated with “years” at all, as it is independent of time. Eternal
life can function outside and beyond time, as well as within time. For this
reason, eternal life can be thought of as something that Christians experience now. Believers don’t have to “wait” for
eternal life, because it’s not something that starts when they die. Rather,
eternal life begins the moment a person exercises faith in Christ. It is our
current possession.
[Source: Got Questions Ministries
website]
As you know, there are a
lot of people who are scared to death about dying. Some people are so afraid
that they won’t even talk about it, and if a loved one does die, they try to
act like it didn’t really happen. We see this fear in our society with such a
focus on being wrinkle-free, young, and fit, and the increase of photo editors’
apps. But the truth is that all of us will die sometime, and that can seem kind
of scary for those who don’t have hope. The power
or fear of death can be defeated. However, we don’t need to live our lives
being deathly afraid about dying. We know it’s going to happen, but we can be
relieved of the worry and fear that so many people have.
God “has
given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has
life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” This
eternal life really starts right now, when we confess our sins before God and
accept God’s Son as our Lord and Saviour. With Jesus in our lives, we can live
life to the fullest right now – with
joy unspeakable (even in the midst of suffering and persecution) and a great
sense of purpose in life (you know why and what you’re living for) we never
thought possible. To live without Jesus, on the other hand, is to be (always)
bored, unsatisfied life, depressed, afraid, and the worst of all is not hell
but – separation from God.
As this letter 1 John is
written to Christians, I want to focus on us: Not only does being a Christian
increase the quantity of our life
(life eternal with God) but also brings a greater quality of life (life lived in Jesus right now). Brothers and
sisters, what more could we ask for? Praise and worship God!
What comes to your mind when you think about death?
Fear or faith?
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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