Untitled Sermon (8)

Life in the Son

Text: “This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11–12 NIV).

Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 1:12; 1 John 5:9–12

The words of this song by Bill Gaither confidently express the basis of our Christian hope:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living just became He lives. After the spiritual high of Resurrection Sunday, some might ask, “Where do we go from here?” Because Christ lives, we can be sure of several truths that change our lives into a daily experience worth living. The key word in John’s first letter is know—the word is found thirty times in 105 verses. John was certain of the gifts that came with Christ. One of these gifts is life in the Son— “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (1 John 5:11 NIV).

I. God gives life.

A. Life in the Son. It is not God’s will for anyone to perish; he wants each person to live. But we can find fulfillment only in

Jesus, who said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25–26 NIV).

Jesus’ resurrection assures us of life. No “resurrection spirit” can give us victory over death. Paul asked, “‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?’ . . . But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:55, 57 NIV).

Lofton Hudson wrote that “death, for many, if not most modern Western men and women, is a four-letter word—obscene, vulgar, nasty, not to be used on stage or in polite society” (R. Lofton Hud- son, Persons in Crises [Nashville: Broadman, 1969], 110).

Jesus’ death and resurrection have changed the face of death. Death need not be the grim reaper but the doorway to eternal life—life in the Son.

B. New quality of life. The life God gives in Jesus is more than living for- ever. He imparts a new quality of life. The words eternal life refer to the very life of God at work within us now. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10 NIV).

An extraordinary quality of life is available in Jesus Christ. But those without Jesus are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1).

Jesus promised, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24 NIV). Life in the Son is more than just living—it is life with quality.

II. Do you have life?

A. Received through faith. The gift of life comes to those who have the Son, and the Son must be received through faith. “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” (1 John 5:13 NIV). Faith was the essential element to which Jesus responded. Four men lowered a paralytic through the roof into the house where Jesus was teaching. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’” (Mark 2:5 NIV).

Faith is a common ingredient of daily existence, yet many claim they cannot have faith in Christ. Aldous Huxley once wrote, “Theology claims the just shall live by faith. Science says the just shall live by verification.” Yet the scientist believes in a logical universe. He believes in principles used to verify presumptions. What is a theory? It is something believed to be true but unproven. We believe in education, democracy, ourselves. Belief is common; why not believe the best and have life in the Son?

B. Lost because of unbelief. If this uncommon life comes to those who believe in Jesus, those who refuse to believe are lost—“whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12 NIV). Can a good person really be lost? Yes. Can a churchgoer be lost? Yes. Can the lovable, generous neighbor who has simply delayed her commitment to Christ be lost? Yes. Faith in Christ is the crucial test: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18 NIV).

Brethren, see poor sinners round you Slumbering on the brink of woe, Death is coming, hell is moving,

Can you bear to let them go? . . . Tell them all about the Saviour, Tell them that He will be found.

—George Atkins

Realizing that life is only in the Son should motivate us to “rescue the perish- ing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin and the grave.”

III. Life—for keeps!

A. Trust God’s testimony. Maybe as a child you responded to a person’s gift by saying, “Is this mine, for keeps?” Life in the Son is a permanent possession. God is the basis of this security. A personal testimony about new life is great, but “God’s testimony is greater Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony” (1 John 5:9–10 NIV). To doubt the certainty of life on the basis of the requirements set forth by God is to make God a liar. If you have done what God said to do, then trust his word and rejoice!

B. God keeps us. Paul’s confident word to Timothy included a testimony of God’s keeping power. “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim. 1:12). The word keep means “guard” and evokes the image of a garrison of heavenly troops protecting the individual. Christ is able to keep us and present us one day at the throne of glory. Because he was able to defeat death, he is adequate for everything in this life and the next.

Conclusion

I share the sense of mystery about which Daniel Whittle wrote:

I know not why God’s wondrous grace To me He hath made known,

Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love Redeemed me for His own.

I do know I believe Christ. Life in the Son is real. Life is worth the living because he lives.