Eternal Life is Only in Jesus
1 John 5v11-13
10th November 2023
We've been thinking about God's testimony. 1 John 5v7-8 says: "... there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement." 1 John 5v9 tells us that what they say is "the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.". 1 John 5v10 warns us, "Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son." This is serious stuff. Now John tells us what this testimony of God is:
1 John 5v11
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is
in his Son.
God's testimony about Jesus is not just that He came in the flesh, and lived on earth, and died on the cross, and rose from the dead, although that would be wonderful in itself. God's testimony is that God has given us eternal life through faith in Jesus.
Jesus Himself is eternal. He existed with God the Father before time began, and He will live with God the Father for ever and ever. There will be no end to His existence. And we are offered a share in Jesus's eternal life.
This eternal life is life in the Son of God. There is no eternal life apart from the Son of God. And we can only partake of this eternal life by accepting God's testimony about Jesus. Jesus is the only way to God. There is no other. Without Jesus there is no eternal life; there's only eternal death.
I urge you to accept God's testimony, surrender to Jesus the eternal Son of God, and experience eternal life. You can experience that life today, on earth, as the Holy Spirit comes to you and fills you with eternal love, joy and peace. And you can experience eternal life in all its fulness and perfection when you depart this earth and go to live with Him, if you will accept God's testimony about His Son, which we call the Gospel.
John confirms all this by saying:
1 John 5v12
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does
not have life.
If you have Jesus, then you have eternal life. If you don't, then you don't. Someone might want to say that this is unfair. But, as I said last time, I wouldn't advise you to argue with God.
It's amazing to me that God would offer eternal life to anybody at all. We're all sinners who deserve death. If you have any self-awareness at all, you know that's true of you. It's only because of His great mercy that God has chosen to save some of us, forgiving our sins and giving us eternal life in Jesus.
And He's made the same offer to all of us: believe the Biblical account of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and turn from your sinful ways, and you will be saved. If some people want to continue to call God a liar, then they're choosing a different destiny for themselves. That's their choice.
1 John 5v13
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so
that you may know that you have eternal life.
John has said this sort of thing before in this letter. He's written this because some people who used to meet with His churches left them, and formed other churches which teach falsehoods about Jesus. Such false churches – and their members – work against God. They deny God's testimony about Jesus. They corrupt the Gospel. They persuade people not to turn to Christ, to have their sins forgiven, to receive the Holy Spirit, and to enjoy God's eternal life both now and in eternity.
John wrote this letter to assure the true Christians, who remained in the true church, that they are, indeed, true Christians. Those of us who hold fast to the truth – the historical truth and the theological truth – about Jesus, are truly born again and truly saved for ever and ever.
The historical truth about Jesus is that He is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, who came down from Heaven. He was born of a virgin. Mary was His mother and God the Father was His Father – the clue is in the name. He lived a perfect, sinless life. He was falsely accused, crucified and buried. He rose from the dead three days later and ascended to Heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God the Father, ruling heaven and earth with Him for all eternity.
The theological truth about Jesus is that His death paid for your sin, if you will accept it. He did not pay for your sin if you do not accept it. All who repent of their sinfulness and trust in Jesus's perfect atoning sacrifice are born again as God's children, and will live for ever in God's presence and in God's favour. All who do not will be eternally condemned -because they would not allow Jesus to pay the penalty for their sin, so they must pay it themselves.
Dear brother or sister in Christ, you don't have to be perfect. Only Jesus is perfect. You don't have to be a great theologian. Nobody fully understands the mind of God. You don't have to have every aspect of your life perfectly sorted out. None of us do. You don't need to have amazing testimonies of answered prayer and miracles and mighty works. You just need to hold on to the truth about Jesus, and try to let the Holy Spirit work in your life to change you and use you as He chooses.
Dear Christian, God wants you to know that you have eternal life - present tense. You have eternal life now. You are connected with the eternal Son of God and you have His life. And nothing can ever separate you from His love.
As you pray, and read the Bible, and meet with your brothers and sisters, and share the Lord's Supper together, and worship God, the Holy Spirit gradually transforms you so that you know with greater and greater clarify and certainty that you are His, and you will always be His, because Jesus paid for your sins.
Hallelujah!