We’ve journeyed five weeks together exploring some of the choices we have to make in life. The choices we’ve explored are purpose or popularity, surrender or control, discipline or regret and important or urgent. Each are important choices, and the one we choose ultimately determines the course and quality of our lives. There remains one choice that will determine the course and quality of our lives more than all the other choices, and that is the choice between life and death.
None of us would ever consciously choose death. That choice is antithetical to human nature. Besides, we don’t have to choose death. It’s already been chosen for us, right? We are all going to face death. The old saying is true: The only certainties in life are death and taxes. Even so, we don’t like to talk about death. Some folks even have a superstitious fear that talking about death causes death to happen. Start talking about death, and sure enough, someone you know is going to die! I hesitate to even bring it up this morning. We’ve been blessed to not have any deaths in our congregation in a couple of months. That may change after today’s message. Let’s pray otherwise. Maybe you should just pay me to stop talking about it right now! Too late! We already did.
I also suspicion some of you, when you saw the topic for today’s message, immediately thought this would be a pro-life message. I can honestly say that it is, but not in the way you may initially believed. I’ll confess. I’m adamantly pro-life. I believe life begins at conception, and that we must do all we can to protect the life of the un-born. This, however, isn’t a pro-life message in that regard. It is, however, a pro-life message in the sense that each one of us have been called to life, eternal life, and eternal life can be ours as we choose to live our lives walking in the light of Jesus Christ. That’s the simple point of this message: Choose Jesus, choose life—eternal life.
For the people of the new Testament death was often in their thoughts. They were a persecuted Church for whom the next day, the next hour even, could signal arrest and possible death. There are some 200 plus references to death or dying in the New Testament. But, death was never referred to as something to fear. The message of the gospel was that the fear of death has been removed. In the place of death is eternal life. Far from fearing death, the believer can see death as a necessary step that leads to new life, to release from all the ravages of this world.
So John writes to the Christians in the late first century words that are equally applicable to us at the beginning of the 21st century. He says: “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.” There’s no need to fear death if you believe in the name of the Son of God, because belief in Jesus’ name brings eternal life. Back in chapter 4 John tells the believers that there is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear, and it’s the same here. Believing in Jesus Christ isn’t just about knowledge and belief, you see, it’s about a relationship. It’s about a relationship of love. Believing in the name of Christ and loving Christ are the same.
This same writer, John, is simply reiterating something he heard Jesus utter years before. Ad he recorded his gospel account, he recorded Jesus’ prayer as he was preparing to face the cross. Listen to the words he records on the lips of Jesus:
After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. 2 For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. 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. (John 17: 1 – 3 NLT)
Here’s John’s point: If we’ve chosen Jesus, we’ve already chosen eternal life. God’s life has begun in us now. Death, as great an enemy as it is, is nothing to fear. Life has overcome death, and we can have a blessed assurance in the knowledge that Jesus is ours and we are his. It’s about a relationship.
Assurance. Such a nice word, but the assurance of eternal life can be ours. Assurance is knowing that we know. Look, we’ve all doubted our salvation at some point. That persistent sin in our lives, the challenge of adversity or any low point in our spiritual journey causes us to doubt. John Wesley, too, had doubts. Before his Aldersgate experience in 1738, he wrote and confessed his own identity as a child of God was missing. There may be moments when a difficult situation will remove any sense of personal assurance. Maybe lapses into sin will lead us to doubt. Nevertheless, relationships—and being a child of God is just that—are not broken off instantly. The same God who gracefully justifies us also preserves us in our weakness. The merit of our identity is not based on our subjective knowledge but on the work of Christ and the Spirit in our lives. Assurance is nothing other than a gift of God to his children.
How do we know we have this gift? How can we know that we know? I believe there are four ways we can know, and John unpacks them in the verses following our passage this morning. First, answered prayer is a change we see in our lives. John writes in verse 15: “And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.” Those who are children of God spend time with Him, finding out what His will is; Then, as obedient children, we begin to act, and ask according to that will. It is a strange situation in a household when a child won’t talk to a parent. Something is wrong! There’s not much of a relationship if there’s no conversation. In the same way, prayer (and its answers) become a natural part of a believer’s experience. No, it doesn’t mean every prayer is answered immediately, or in the way we desire, but over time, we’ll see God working and answering the prayers we pray, because the more we pray, the more closely aligned we become with His will.
Secondly, our care for others is a change we see in our lives. The natural human inclination is to ridicule and criticize. Someone errs, we the world piles on. It’s not supposed to be that way in the church, friends. Look what John says in verse 16: “If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life.” Our position as believers ought to be to care for the restoration and redemption of the one who has fallen. I’m not saying there aren’t consequences for our mistakes, but rather than ridicule and criticism, we ought to offer forgiveness and grace. We’re all just one mistake away from falling ourselves. When we care for others, we can be sure it’s the power of the Spirit at work in our lives.
Thirdly, sin’s influence over us is a sign assurance. What do I mean? We are not “sinless” by any stretch of the imagination, but the believer should sin less. That’s what John was talking about in winning the victory back in verse 5. When we are so uncomfortable with our sin, despising it in ourselves so much, that we fight, and eventually win-out against the dominance of sin in his life.
When Thomas Dewey lost the 1948 election to Harry Truman, after everyone expected a Dewey landslide, Dewey later said he “...felt like the man who woke up to find himself inside a coffin with a lily in his hand and thought: ‘If I’m alive, what am I doing here? And if I’m dead, why do I have to go to the bathroom?’” Genuine believers are embarrassed by sin in their lives. We feel like we don’t belong. A pig will go back to the mud because he feels at home there. A sheep gets out of a mud quickly, and avoids the next one he sees. That’s the nature of a sheep.
Finally, our desire for worship is a sign of our eternal life. A.W. Tozer said, “We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God.” God is worthy of our worship. One of the ways that we are reasonably assured of our salvation is our desire to worship. Knowing the true God, and recognizing idols that would take His rightful place are marks of a true believer. We recognize counterfeits—like cell phones!
Each of these is a sign that we’ve chosen life and death has no sway over us. There is a story told of a wealthy man and his son who loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.
When the Viet Nam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son. About a month later there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.
He said, “Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.”
The young man held out his package. “I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.”
The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears.
He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. “Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift.”
The father hung the portrait over his mantle and showed it often to visitors who came to his home before showed them any of the other great works he had collected. The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. As the auction began, the painting of the son sat on the platform.
The auctioneer pounded his gavel. “We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?”
There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, “We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.”
But the auctioneer persisted, “Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?”
Another voice shouted angrily, “We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!”
But, still the auctioneer continued, “The son! Who'll take the son?”
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. “I'll give $10 for the painting.” It was all he could afford.
“We have $10, who will bid $20?”
“Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.”
“$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?” The crowd was angry. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections. The auctioneer pounded the gavel. “Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!”
A man sitting on the second row shouted, “Now let's get on with the collection!”
The auctioneer laid down his gavel, “I'm sorry, the auction is over. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until now. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!”
When we choose Jesus, we choose life. We get God’s life, and that’s everything.
