1 John 5:9-13
INTRO: Human divisions and Divine divisions are radically different. The world divides men differently that God divides men. SOCIAL and SPIRITUAL….
The world divides horizontally–lower, middle, upper
God divides vertically: The saved and the lost, the haves and the have nots.. .those who have the Son and those who don’t have the Son; those who have life and those who don’t have life.. .and the DIVIDER IS JESUS CHRIST.
This passage: God is testifying to us concerning Jesus Christ, His Son.., if we believe the testimony of men, how more should we believe the testimony of God. And if you reject the testimony, you’re calling God a liar. IN REJECTING CHRIST, YOU CALL GOD A LIAR!
The issue isn’t doctrine, or church, or creed, or conduct, but LIFE AND DEATH. This is a life and death decision. The issue is whether or not you will live!
WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY ABOUT THE LIFE HE OFFERS;
I. THIS IS GOD’S LIFE.
It is called ETERNAL life.
1. What does that mean? Living forever? MORE THAN THAT. Not everyone wants to live forever. Over 600 people a day commit suicide in the US . The greatest cause of death among teenagers is suicide.
2. It is not how long you live but HOW YOU LIVE. NOT ADDING YEARS TO LIFE, BUT ADDING LIFE TO YEARS.
3. It is ETERNAL life, that adjective can be correctly applied to only one noun–GOD. Only He qualifies for the word eternal.
(1) It is a GOD-KIND of life He offers. Life on a new plane, a new dimension of living.
(2) II Peter 1:4, partakers of God’s nature. Col. 2:9,10 COMPLETE IN CHRIST. We have been born of God—like produces like…just as my father passed on his nature through my birth, so my Heavenly Father passed on His nature through the spiritual birth.
(3) This is the fulfillment of our destiny.., what God intended us to be. We are not as God intended. We are sinful, selfish, hateful, envious–THIS IS THE IMAGE OF GOD?
Illustration: car with a new transmission —still looks the same, same dents, and scratches, same age, but something new has been added within and now runs the way its maker intended.
(4) You can’t LOSE it. It is eternal. I’m just as eternal as God is. Col. 3:3 says that” Christ is our life.” I have right now all of God I’ll ever have–without the hindrances of the flesh.
Illustration: You received at your physical birth everything needed to live physical life. It is the same with spiritual birth. Growth is discovering what you received at birth and learning to use it.
II. THIS LIFE IS GOD’S GIFT.
“God hath given.
1. If eternal applies only to God, then to earn it we have to become God. Just as easy to become God as it is to save yourself
2. Romans 6:23–all we can earn is DEATH.
Illustration: Going up on a down escalator. It makes a little progress but doesn’t alter final destination.
Illustration: Like throwing flowers on grave. It doesn’t change the death inside, just makes the outside more acceptable.
III. THIS LIFE IS IN GOD’S SON.
1. It is in His Son not in the church, baptism, doctrine Church membership is the trap door the devil is using to drop millions into Hell.
2. Sign post simply shows the way, won’t take you there. The church is the sign post pointing the way to salvation.
3. How we receive the Son. Revelation 3:20.
IV. THIS LIFE IS GOD-WITNESSED.
1. You can know you have it. The word for “know” is a strong word that indicates absolute certainty.
2. Evidences:
(1) The witness of Behavior.
(2) The witness of Brotherhood.
(3) The witness of Belief– brings the internal witness of the Spirit.
V. THIS LIFE IS RECEIVED BY FAITH.
Verse 10–believeth into the Son–faith is universal and democratic and available to anyone under any circumstance. Christmas Evans: “I can put a man in a rain barrel, wrap a chain” around it, kick out the knothole and shout through it how to be saved, and he can be saved.”
