Tag Archives: eternal life

JOHN’S GOSPEL…KNOWING GOD – 4b

Bible Study, ,

“No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.”

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In essence, as we have learned, knowing God is eternal life. What does knowing God mean? 

The Hebrew word for knowing in the context of knowing God is “yada”.  Among many uses in its context, “yada” means knowing as in sexual intimacy. 

“Now Adam had sexual relations (yada) with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

To know God, then, is to be in spiritually intimate union with Him.  Love is the core of this union.  

How can we know the love of God?

I have expanded the answer to this question in a longer meditation to be posted. 

Let me summarise here. Both Paul, in Ephesians 3 and John in 1 John 4, have thrown some light on knowing God  through experiencing God’s love. Paul explains both the role of faith and the work of the Holy Spirit in enabling us to know and experience God’s love which is  revealed in Jesus. 

John shows us how God’s love,  made known to us through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, is the root from which the fruit, our love in response to His love, grows. 

However, the real fruit of knowing God in Christ is about loving one another. We cannot show our love to God in any way because we cannot add anything to who He is, not even by loving Him. Jesus said that the only way we can love Him is by obeying His commandments. 

“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus gave His disciples only one new commandment. 

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭34‬-‭35‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Throughout the New Testament, this commandment to love one another is repeated and fleshed out in detail and included in the greatest commandments of the New Covenant. 

 “And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So, John concludes…!

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God….Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬, ‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God made knowing Him simple…Love His children, and He will continue to reveal His love to you.  

Jesus prayed…

“I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me…I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭23‬, ‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

MARK’S GOSPEL…DO OR DONE? – 24

Bible Study, ,

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭17‬-‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Another great “Sunday School” story, one that some of us learned when we were knee high to a grasshopper!

…but what is the heart of this story? 

A young man, possibly a Pharisee, thoroughly comfortable with his religion and his money, yet restless inside, came to Jesus. Something was missing. Perhaps, while he was watching, listening, puzzling…Jesus had made a deep impression on him.  

What was it about Jesus that held him spellbound? Jesus had an aura of peace, of security, of authority, of not being caught up in the stresses of life but living above them in another “realm”, that fascinated him. Jesus seemed to be in a space which didn’t depend on circumstances for the serenity that seemed to encase Him. 

Jesus portrayed something he wanted…together with his wealth and comfort, that would make his life perfect. Perhaps there was something he could do that would transport him into the same realm in which Jesus lived. 

When Jesus questioned him about his religious life, he was confident of his performance. Nothing lacking in his strict adherence to the rules, so he thought. He was obviously raised in a strictly orthodox family. He was a stickler for rules. He would have to look elsewhere for the cause of his emptiness inside. Perhaps there was one elusive “thing” he had not yet “done” to fill that hole. 

Jesus smartly diagnosed the heart of his problem. He put His finger squarely on one big obstacle. In the place where Jesus should have been Lord, owning, filling, and directing his life including his bank account, was his wealth and possessions. Instead, his claim to obedience to the law was exposed, a lie! The greatest commandment of all, to love God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, lay in tatters. 

All this man’s “doing” had no heart. It’s no wonder he felt empty and dissatisfied. He, like so many of his own countrymen, was drinking at the wrong fountain. He was trying to quench his thirst for authentic life, for that connection with God that gave life its true meaning and purpose, through earthly substitutes. 

What was the solution? For him it was not “let Jesus have control of your money”! Jesus knew that his love of money and possessions would always clash with loyalty to Him.  The principle is clear…

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This young man already had a master. The only functional solution was “get rid of your money…your master…and put your trust in me!”

He could not “have his cake and eat it”.  There was no such thing as wealth plus Jesus. Hs wealth was not an addition…it was an obstacle. 

The only solution to this man’s issue was to dump forever his notion that doing something was the answer and keep his money in place. The real issue was about “who or what is your master?”

For us, as for him, there is nothing we can add to everything we have and everything we have already tried to do to earn God’s acceptance. One more “doing”, however noble it might seem to be, only compounds our guilt before God. 

The only solution is to cut ties with money, possessions, people, ideologies, beliefs, practices, habits…whatever or whoever is master! There can only be one master…

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬

Lord! Supreme authority! 

This is the only solution to our empty hearts and restless souls, to cut loose, once and for all, from confidence in all our stuff and the notion that we can “do” something to inherit eternal life. Everything that needed “doing” has been done to save us from our self-destroying lives, including our past, present, and future. 

Here’s the solution…

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Did the rich young man mean what he said? Did he really want eternal life? 

“At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, he chose to drink the polluted water of wealth and possessions to the end of his days at the expense of eternal life! He continued to “do” what  Jesus had already “done” for him. 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO KNOW HIM?

Christian Life, ,

Why did God give us prayer? Let’s examine Jesus’ words in His High Priestly prayer.

John 17:3 NLT
[3] “And this is the way to have eternal life—TO KNOW YOU , the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”

God’s passion, among other things, is to give us eternal life, that is, to live eternally wth Him in His realm of love and peace. He said that “knowing Him” is the way to go. How important, then, that we understand what “knowing” means.

Let’s examine some of the Biblical ways and examples of knowing God, (not in order of priority).

  1. Genesis 4 introduces us to one of the most intimate expressions of knowing.

Genesis 4:1 NIV
[1] “Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.”

Genesis 4:1 NLT
[1]”Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!”

Genesis 4:1 KJV
[1] “And Adam KNEW Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.”

Some modern translations use euphemisms, others state bluntly what Adam and Eve did to produce a son. The KJV uses the word “know”… “yada”, to describe the intimacy of marriage.

God desires intimacy with us in our spirits so that He can impregnate us with His “seed”, His Word, that gives birth to His purposes. We can only have intimacy with the Father through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit by our submission and obedience to His will, and through transparency with Him. John calls this “walking in the light”.

1 John 1:6-7 NIV
[6] “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

  1. Knowing the Lord means sharing His heart for what is important to Him. Doing what is right, i.e., for example, taking care of those who need care, is the very nature of God. He gave us the gift of righteousness, Jesus’ own righteousness attributed to us. He requires that we live it out in our daily lives by loving and caring for others as He cares for us.

To the son of Josiah, Shallum, God spoke this rebuke, because he failed to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Jeremiah 22:15-16 NIV
[15] “Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. [16] He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to KNOW ME?” declares the Lord.”

Josiah knew and feared God, issuing in a life of helping the poor and and needy, which God acknowledged as” knowing” Him.

  1. God reveals Himself and His ways to believers through His Spirit in answer to prayer.

David’s desire to know God was to know His “way”.

Psalms 86:11 NIV
[11]”Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”

Paul reveals his own heart for fellow believers in his recorded prayer.

Ephesians 1:16-17 NIV
[16]”I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. [17] I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may KNOW HIM better.”

Paul prayed that God would give the Ephesians believers wisdom and revelation of Himself through the Holy Spirit in them. There is no way we can “know” the Lord through human intellect or reason. Only God’s Spirit can interpret God’s ways as He interacts with us in our day-to-day lives. How can we ever understand His dealings with us unless the Holy Spirit enlightens us since God’s ways are unpredictable and mysterious?

Psalms 103:7 NIV
[7] “He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:… “

Moses had intimate fellowship with God, so God enlightened him by revealing the meaning of His ways. The people of Israel did not share this privilege since they were stubborn and rebellious and had no desire to know God.

Deuteronomy 8:3 NIV
[3] “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

How would Moses have understood the meaning of these circumstances unless God had revealed it to him?

  1. God reveals the magnitude of His love by the ways He treats, empowers, and enables us to know Him through the Spirit in us, by our experience of Him. Again, Paul’s passion, expressed in prayer, was for his fellow believers to EXPERIENCE God’s love in all its dimensions so that the knowledge and the reality of His love would steady and steer them through life. Most of all, he wanted them to express in their own lives who God really was by understanding and experiencing His love.

Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV
[16] “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, [18] may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, TO GRASP how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, [19] and TO KNOW this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may BE FILLED to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

How is this possible? It boggles our minds to think that God’s “fullness”, the Greek word “pleroma”, meaning the full complement, the completeness of God’s NATURE, is in us!

Paul makes it clear that this has nothing to do with us. This work of God in us far exceeds our imagination, comprehension, or expectation.

Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV
[20] “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Now let’s summarise what it means to know God.

Knowing God means having intimate fellowship with HIM, being fully known and fully accepted, all blocks and barriers removed, absolute honesty and transparency between us, no mistrust, no reservations, no hidden agendas to cloud our interaction with God and He with us. How do we know when we are in this kind of intimate fellowship with God?

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
[6] “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And THE PEACE OF GOD, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

His peace in us!

Knowing God also means sharing His heart for what is important to Him. He is passionate about our doing the “good works” He prepared for us to do to benefit others. What are the good works He wants us to do? Whatever the Holy Spirit prompts us to do that blesses and helps others, especially using the spiritual gifts He has given us that equip us to serve others.

Romans 12:4-8 NIV
[4] “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, [5] so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. [6] We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; [7] if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; [8] if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

How else do we get to know God?

A powerful and effective way to get to know God is through our experience. Every time we experience God’s gracious intervention when we call on His name or even when He intervenes without our awareness until later, on reflection, we learn more about who He is.

John tells us how this happened to him and his fellow disciples during their time with Jesus in the flesh.

1 John 1:1-3 NIV
[1] “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. [2] The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. [3] We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

” Heard”… “seen”… “touched”… these are all human experiences through our senses. Jesus was a real, flesh-and blood human who said and did things in their presence, to them, and for them that profoundly influenced their knowledge of Him.

So with us. We may not have His physical presence with us but we have His Spirit in us. Awareness of “Christ in us” should profoundly influence the way we view life and the way we interpret our own circumstances. Knowing His love for us and His purpose to recreate the image of Jesus in us, our interpretation should give us greater understanding of who He is and what He is doing in our everyday stuff.

So, getting to know God is by His work in us and through our growing understanding of His ways, each new life experience increasing our knowledge that God is good, and laying the foundation for the love, trust, submission, and obedience that set us apart as God’s legitimate children.

In conclusion, perhaps the Lord is wanting us to move away from our preoccupation with our foolishness and failures that disappoint us and bog us down. Perhaps He wants us to see Him in everything, to learn the lessons of life that help us to know Him better. The more we know Him, the closer we get to becoming like Jesus in love, trust, submission and obedience to the Father.

You see., in the end, since eternal life begins in the here-and-now…we have eternal life…which means we are already living in eternity although our mortal bodies will perish one day in preparation for the resurrection.

So, why not live now in greater awareness of God’s presence, experiencing the benefit of knowing Him and growing in knowing Him, increasingly distancing us from the influences and irritations of this presently evil world?

HOPE – 2

Christian Life,

“.. Biblical hope is a confident expectation or assurance based upon a sure foundation for which we wait with joy and full confidence. In other words, “There is no doubt about it!”. (GotQuestions.org)

First, the hope we have is anchored in Jesus, and His work for us on the cross. God made a promise, anchored it with and oath, and secured it in Jesus who is our Mediator, Intercessor, and High Priest.

Hebrews 6:16-20 NLT
[16] “Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. [17] God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. [18] So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. [19] This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. [20] Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.”

Second, our hope has various facets that are all part of our hope for the future. Each facet is anchored in God’s promise.

The hope of glory

God promises that we will be perfected in the image of Jesus, through His presence in us now.

Colossians 1:27 NLT
[27]”For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.” (“Christ in you, the hope of glory” NIV).

The hope of eternal life

God has promised us that we will inherit eternal life through our faith in Jesus because He has forgiven our sin and declared us not guilty of all the sin we have ever committed.

Titus 3:7 NIV
[7] “so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

Titus 1:1-2 NIV
[1] “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— [2] in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,”

The hope of Christ’s return

All our hope in God for everything He has promised to do for us and to give to us is anchored in Jesus’ promise that He will come back to complete what He started.

Titus 2:13 NIV
[13]”… while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ… “

The hope of resurrection

We shall be given perfect, new bodies just like Jesus’ body because He overcame death by rising from the dead.

1 Peter 1:3 NIV
[3]” Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”

The hope of adoption

We will finally be part of God’s forever family, eternally sons and daughters of the living God. We have the hope of salvation, restoration to wholeness,

Romans 8:23-25 NIV
[23]”Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. [24] For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? [25] But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Hope in God’s promises produces the one quality we need to gain the prize – endurance, stickability.

Romans 5:3-5 NLT
[3] “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. [4] And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. [5] And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.5.3-5.NLT

Romans 4:18-21 NLT
[18] “Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” [19] And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb. [20] Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. [21] He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.”

https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.4.18-21.NLT

All this and much more is part of our living hope of life in God’s eternal kingdom when we relocate to glory.

Faith, hope, love… three enduring characteristics that must be entwined in the lives of all who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. These are all gifts of God’s grace but we grow them by believing, loving, and hoping for what He has promised in the confidence that He will do everything He has promised.

THE SHEPHERD’S VOICE – 14

Christian Life, ,

John 10:27-30 NLT‬
[27] My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, [29] for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. [30] The Father and I are one.”

What a profound promise! Is it possible to be eternally secure and to know it? Jesus said it is. What makes it possible for a person to go through life with an unshakeable conviction that his/her future with God in heaven
is guaranteed?

How many times did Jesus’ opponents ask Him the same questions! It seems that they has spiritual Alzheimers because, no matter how many times they asked Him the source of His authority, they “forgot” His reply and asked the same question again.

‭John 10:24-26 NLT‬
[24] “The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” [25] Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. [26] But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep.”

Still using the imagery of shepherd and sheep, Jesus responded with this profound reply.

‭John 10:26-27 NLT‬
[26]”But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. [27] My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

The difference between those who do not believe in Jesus and those who do, is simple….connection!

When one person knows another person, they have a connection. Understanding, empathy, involvement, participation, trust, love, togetherness, friendship, are all in the mix.

How does the connection between a believer and Jesus come about? Another important word joins “connection” – that is “identification”. Far more than knowing Him on a merely human level, identification with Him takes the believer into a connection with Jesus that enables them to participate with Him in His death and in His life.

‭Galatians 2:20 NLT‬
[20] “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

This connection and this identification with Jesus also takes the believer into a union with Him so intimate that we can hear Him speaking to us in our innermost being. Jesus gave us His Spirit to be His presence in us, closer to us than our breath. When He speaks, we are able to hear Him because we are joined to Him in the spirit realm.

His sheep, then, hear His voice and follow Him. Other voices, like the voice of the false shepherd, the hireling who has no interest in or concern for the sheep, can only drown out the Shepherd’s voice if we are not listening to the Shepherd.

Jesus’ sheep can only hear His voice if they are listening. Hearing is a function of the ear. Listening is a response of the heart. It takes a lifetime to learn to listen to the voice of Jesus’ Spirit that is guiding us safely home.

Only this connection and identification with Jesus can guarantee us a safe passage to the Father. He holds on to us as we hold on to Him. This is a mystery. Jesus said we can never perish. That’s His promise.

But He also warned…

‭Matthew 24:12-13 NLT‬
[12] “Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. [13] But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

‭Mark 13:13 NLT‬
[13] “And everyone will hate you because you are my followers. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Does this mean that someone can be lost who was once saved? I think that Jesus was speaking from the perspective of eternity. His sheep will never perish because they will endure to the end because the Father has them in His hand. From God’s point of view, it’s a done deal.

Jesus did not mean that we can take anything for granted. Security in Him involves listening to His voice and following Him. THEN, we shall never perish because our connection to Him is secure.