At the Heart of Christ¡¦s Passion,
We Experience Everlasting Life
March 31, 2004
John 10:25-30 (New International Version)
25Jesus answered, ¡§I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father¡¦s name speak for me, 26but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father¡¦s hand. 30I and the Father are one.¡¨
INTRODUCTION: This is eternity?
I saw this ad in Readers Digest, ¡§Scott Tissue¡¦s thousand soft sheets can seem to last an eternity.¡¨ And I wondered this is eternity?
Then I came across a quote, ¡§God has given me so many things to do, it will take me so long to do them, I¡¦ll live forever.¡¨ And I wondered this is eternity?
At the heart of Christ¡¦s passion, we experience everlasting life. Kind of ironic, don¡¦t you think, through death we receive life. Today let¡¦s look at 3 foundational beliefs that are part of what it means to
Experience Everlasting Life
FOUNDATIONAL BELIEF 1: Receive eternal life the moment you believe in Jesus. According to Alex Chiu, based on testimonies, facts, and proofs, people are believed to be able to stay physically young forever by using his new inventions "The Eternal Life Rings" and "The Eternal Life Foot Braces". The Eternal Life Rings are to be worn on both small fingers of a user during sleep. The Eternal Life Foot Braces are to be worn on all toes of both feet during sleep. Both devices consist of rare earth or ceramic magnets and plastic braces that hold magnets onto the fingers of the user. The inventor explained that the fingers and toes are the negative (-) and positive (+) terminals of your body. Alex Chiu even says he can bring a unified world. It must be his magnetic personality. I will give him this, he might live longer with his magnetic devices, but he won¡¦t live forever ¡V only Jesus can make that happen.
Jesus says in John 10:28, ¡§I give them eternal life, and they will never die, and no one can steal them out of my hand.¡¨ -- (New Century Version)
One T-shirt asks this question, ¡§Where will you be sitting in eternity? Smoking or Non?¡¨ The key to eternal destinations is what do you do with Jesus. Those who believe in Jesus as their Savior experience everlasting life. Those who don¡¦t believe in Jesus, don¡¦t experience everlasting life. The reason why is given in John 10:26, ¡§¡K you don¡¦t believe because you¡¦re not my sheep.¡¨ -- (GOD¡¦S WORD)
That¡¦s not meant to be an exclusive statement, but an honest one. Sin is the disease, death is the result, and Jesus is the cure. There is no other. What¡¦s amazing is the cure can be yours now by faith, and the moment you believe you receive eternal life.
FOUNDATIONAL BELIEF 2: Live eternally now by faith in Christ. Our present life on earth is the dot. It begins. It ends. It¡¦s brief compared to eternity. But from that dot extends a line that goes on forever. That line is eternity, which Christians will spend in heaven. „h-----„³ The Dot: Life on Earth The Line: Life in heaven. Right now we live in the dot. The danger is when we live for the dot, and not for eternity. When Jesus describes our relationship with Him, notice how he uses present tenses in John 10:27, ¡§My sheep respond to my voice, and I know who they are. They follow me.¡¨ -- (GOD¡¦S WORD)
Eternity may seem like a long moment, but eternal life is at the heart of the Christian faith. Eternal life is what Jesus won for all on the cross, and gives to all who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. By faith in Christ, we can live eternally now.
William Barclay noted, ¡§The word for eternal is aionios. It means far more than simply lasting forever. A life that lasted forever might be a curse and not a blessing. There is only one person to whom aionios may properly be applied and that is God. In the real sense of the term it is God alone who possesses and inhabits eternity. Eternal life is, therefore, nothing other than the life of God himself. What we are promised is that here and now there can be given us a share in the very life of God.
John writes in 1 John 5:13, ¡§My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion.¡¨ -- (The Message). Whoever believes in God’s Son has eternal life. He is all you need. You don’t need to wait for eternal life because it begins the moment you believe. You don’t need to work for it because it is already yours. You don’t need to worry about it because God himself has already given you eternal life ¡Xand it is guaranteed.
Some people hope that they will receive eternal life. John says we can know we have it. Our certainty is based on God’s promise that he has given us eternal life through his Son. This is true whether you feel close to God or distant from him. Eternal life is not based on feelings, but on facts. You can know that you have eternal life if you believe God’s truth.
FOUNDATIONAL BELIEF 3: Experience complete peace with God¡¦s gift of everlasting life. He was just a little fellow. His mother died when he was just a child. His father, in trying to be both mommy and daddy, had planned a picnic. The little boy had never been on a picnic, so they made their plans, fixed the lunch, and packed the car. Then it was time to go to bed, for the picnic was the next day. He just couldn’t sleep. He tossed and he turned, but the excitement got to him. Finally, he got out of bed, ran into the room where his father had already fallen asleep, and shook him. His father woke up and saw his son. He said to him, "What are you doing up? What’s the matter?"
The boy said, "I can’t sleep."
The father asked, "Why can’t you sleep?"
In answering, the boy said, "Daddy, I’m excited about tomorrow."
His father replied, "Well, Son, I’m sure you are, and it’s going to be a great day, but it won’t be great if we don’t get some sleep. So why don’t you just run down the hall, get back in bed, and get a good night’s rest."
So the boy trudged off down the hall to his room and got in bed. Before long, sleep came--to the father, that is. It wasn’t long thereafter that back was the little boy. He was pushing and shoving his father, and his father opened his eyes. Harsh words almost blurted out until he saw the expression on the boy’s face. The father asked, "What’s the matter now?"
The boy said, "Daddy, I just want to thank you for tomorrow."
When I think of my past and the fact that a loving Father would not let me go, ¡§Father, I want to thank you for tomorrow!¡¨ Yet even today, he already offers eternal fruit because of what Jesus did. We are told in Isaiah 32:17-18, ¡§17The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. 18My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.¡¨ -- (New International Version)
D. L. Moody was a great evangelist of his generation. Think Billy Graham, and you begin to get an idea of his impact. He made this observation about eternal life, ¡§Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all-out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal; a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like unto his glorious body. I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever.¡¨ D. L. Moody ended his time on earth in 1899. His time in heaven continues for eternity.
We expect such opportunities for Billy Graham types or Mother Teresa, but what if you are on the other end of the spectrum? What if you have moved far away from God, and your life hasn¡¦t gone as you know God would want it, is there any hope?
Listen to this guy who for fun and a consuming passion killed Christians, forced them to renounce their faith. Didn¡¦t merely harass them around the neighborhood, but traveled long distances to exterminate them. One day, he encounters Jesus and look at what he says about it in 1 Timothy 1:15-16, ¡§15How true it is, and how I long that everyone should know it, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners¡Xand I was the greatest of them all. 16But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as an example to show everyone how patient he is with even the worst sinners, so that others will realize that they, too, can have everlasting life.¡¨ -- (The Living Bible)
If God gave save the greatest sinner, then he gave save great sinners like you and me. God¡¦s desire to bring you to experience everlasting life is at the heart of the passion of Christ.
CONCLUSION: 3 wonders of heaven.
John Newton, the famous sea captain and author of the hymn, "Amazing Grace" said of heaven: "When I get to heaven, I shall see three wonders there: the first wonder will be to see so many people there whom I did not expect to see; the second, to miss many people whom I did expect to see; and the third and greatest wonder of all will be to find myself there."
The Bible talks much more about the way to heaven rather than heaven itself, and we must commit our lives to Christ now and learn to live in eternal life. At the heart of the passion of Christ, we experience everlasting life, as we believe in Jesus. As His followers today, we can already live eternally by faith in Him and experience the complete peace He gives. At the heart of Christ¡¦s passion, we experience everlasting life. Amen.
