We Know

It’s hard to believe. It’s the end of July and before you know it football season will be upon us. We get to watch the Chiefs play, and hopefully they’ll make it to the Superbowl this time. They have a very promising young quarterback, who uses the same word to start each play, he and all the other quarterbacks who play the game. It’s the word “HUT!” Why that word? Well, about a year and a half ago (2018), right before the Superbowl, the New York Times pondered the answer to that question. The article said:

It is easily the most audible word in any football game, a throaty grunt that may be the sport's most distinguishing sound. Hut!

It starts almost every play, and often one is not enough. And in an increasingly complex game whose signal-calling has evolved into a cacophony of furtive code words – “Black Dirt!” “Big Belly!” “X Wiggle!” – hut, hut, hut endures as the signal to move. But why?

Most football players have no idea why. A pro ball center said, “I guess because it's better than yelling, 'Now,' or 'Go.' Some people have used 'Go' and that's awful. That doesn't sound like football.” A former quarterback reckons he shouted “hut” more than 10,000 times during games and practices. “I've been hutting my way through football for 55 years – but I have no clue why.”

The article suggests the word may have come from the military background of many early pro football players, but that's just a guess. (Bill Pennington, “Hut! Hut! Hut! What?” The New York Times, 1-31-18; www.PreachingToday.com)

There are a lot of things in this world that we just don’t know, and that’s okay, because they’re not all that important. However, there are some things that are important to know, because they affect your eternal destiny and the way you live your life today.

Dr. Jerome Frank at Johns Hopkins talks about our “assumptive world.” What he means is that all of us make assumptions about life, about God, about ourselves, about others, about the way things are. He goes on to argue that when our assumptions are true to reality, we live relatively happy, well-adjusted lives. But when our assumptions are distant from reality, we become confused and angry and disillusioned. (Haddon Robinson, “How Does God Keep His Promises?,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 130; www.PreachingToday.com)

It makes you think: What assumptions am I making that are “true to reality?” And what assumptions am I making that are not “true to reality?” Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 John 5, 1 John 5, where God’s Word tells us what we know is true.

1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. (ESV)

If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, then 1st of all...

KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.

Be certain of your eternal destiny. Be sure that you will spend eternity in heaven. Verse 11 says...

1 John 5:11-12 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (ESV)

There is no “in between.” There is no question about it. If you have Jesus, you have the life. If you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have the life. Either you do or you don’t, no if’s, but’s or maybe’s.

You can be certain of eternal life today, not because of who you are or what you’ve done, but because of who Jesus is and what He has done for you on the cross. He died on the cross for YOUR sins and mine. Then He rose again. And now, He offers eternal life to anyone who believes in Him.

In 1 John 5:24, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me HAS eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but HAS passed from death to life.”

Jesus does not say the believer WILL have eternal life, nor does He say the believer WILL pass from death to life. No! Jesus says, the believer HAS eternal life, and the believer HAS passed from death to life. Eternal life is a right now, present reality for every believer in Christ, not something you hope for in the future.

There are very few certainties in life, but one thing you can know for certain is that you have eternal life if you trust Jesus with your life. And such knowledge will make a huge difference in the way you live your life today. When you know you are invincible, you will do the incredible when God leads you to.