LIFE IN ABSOLUTE SENSE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY APRIL 04, 2021.

SUBJECT: LIFE IN ABSOLUTE SENSE!

Memory verse: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17 vs 3.)

READ: First John 5 vs 11 - 13:

5:11: And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

5:12: He who has the Son has life, He who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

5:13: These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

INTIMATION:

Life in absolute sense is “eternal life”—living forever with God. God’s life, by nature, is eternal (Deuteronomy 33 vs 27). To receive eternal life is to join in God’s life. For the sinful man, eternal life begins at the moment of spiritual rebirth. It begins when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Accepting Jesus Christ as Savior is accepting all He wrought for us in redemption through His sacrificial death on the cross, as a propitiation for our sins. Eternal life requires entering into a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is eternally existent with God, the Creator, He, too, is “the life.” Jesus said in John 14 vs 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life...” The life of the Father and the Son, Jesus, are the same, “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.” (John 5 vs 26.) The same nature of life is in the Father and the Son. In our “new birth,” God gives us this life through His Son; “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (First John 5 vs 11).

To many “eternal life” still sounds strange, either because they don’t know God nor believe in Christ, or are repulsed by the idea because their lives are miserable. But eternal life is real, and those in Christ have it already. It’s not an extension of a person’s miserable, mortal life: eternal life is God’s life embodied in Christ given to all believers now as a guarantee that they will live forever. Most people are discouraged because of the circumstances of life they face here. But that is not a reflection of life in the absolute sense. In eternal life there is no death, sickness, enemy, evil or sin. You are living with the Creator and Owner of all things, and He can create or make anything without difficulties, and with Him nothing is impossible. 

Some Christians hope that they will receive eternal life. John says we can know we have it already. Our certainty is based on God’s promise that He has given us eternal life through His Son. This is true whether you feel close to God or far away from Him. Eternal life is not based on feelings but on facts. You can know that you have eternal life if you believe God’s truth. If you aren’t sure that you are a Christian, ask yourself: “Have I honestly committed my life to Him as my Savior and Lord? If so, you know by faith that you are indeed a child of God, and has life in absolute sense—Eternal life—the real life.

When we don’t know Christ, we make choices as though this life is all we have. In reality, this life is just the introduction to eternity—the real life. The apostle Paul puts it clear to all believers, saying, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable” (First Corinthians 15 vs 19). This refers to Christians who do not have eternity in their minds; thinking that this life now on earth is all that is. 

You still will face physical death, but when Christ returns again, your body will be resurrected to live forever (First Corinthians 15 vs 52). At the second coming of Christ, the dead in Him will rise to meet Him; “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And all the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (First Thessalonians 4 vs 16 - 17.) Then we will be taken to live with Him forever.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for all You wrought for me in Christ Jesus. May I never miss my crown of life with You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!