Because He Lives Series

BECAUSE HE LIVES

Last week we celebrated Easter, the death and resurrection of Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

We also shared the joy of seeing a baptism.

With both of those in mind tonight, I want to affirm the great truth of 1 John chapter 5 verses 11-12

For context listen to 1 John 5:6-12

Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by His baptism in water and by shedding His blood on the cross - not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with His testimony. So we have these three witnesses - the Spirit, the water, and the blood - and all three agree. Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about His Son. All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about His Son. And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

Powerful words from the Apostle John.

The Resurrection of Jesus has happened.

Jesus is alive, and as the words of the old song says:

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 because He lives.

Because He lives, this is a truth that we know changes our lives now, and affects our future destiny.

“He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ” (1 John 5:11).

God gives life. Life in Jesus, life in the Son.

In John 11:25–26, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die”

The resurrection of Jesus assures us of eternal life and gives us victory over death.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

For the believer in Christ, the death and resurrection of Jesus has changed the destination of death.

For the believer in Christ, physical death is not the end, death is the doorway to eternal life — life in the Son.

And, until God calls us home, we can experience a new quality of life right now.

The life God gives the believer in Christ, is more than living forever. God imparts a new quality of life in us now.

The words eternal life refer to the life of God at work within us now.

In John 10:10 Jesus said, “ I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

For the believer in Christ, an extraordinary quality of life is available.

But for those who have not accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour, they are as Ephesians 2:1 says, “dead because of disobedience and many sins”

How pleased we should be at Jesus' promise in John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”

Have you responded to the message of the Gospel and trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour?

Have you received the gift of eternal life?

Do you know that you have already passed from death into life?

Life in the Son is more than just living — it is life with the assurance of what God has already done for you.

As the old song says:

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 because He lives.

Friend, do these words ring true in your heart and mind?

Can you face tomorrow because you know your redeemer is alive?

Do you live without fear knowing that God has a plan and purpose for your present and your future?

Do you have the gift of eternal life?

1 John 5:13, “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.”

The gift of eternal life comes to those who have the Son, and Jesus must be received through faith.