Sermon nuggets Thurs Oct 16
Theme – Prayer
Verse John 16:3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Glory of Eternal Life
If you were to receive a package all gift wrapped and had ribbons and bows with your name on it, you might be excited to open it. This would be the greatest gift of all. As you open it up realize the gift from God to you is Himself. Eternal life is not the main gift, God is. Eternal life is a by product of knowing God through Jesus Christ.
Eternal life doesn’t begin when you die and leave this body behind. It begins when you have by faith received the gift of God Himself into your life. Physical death does not change, for we have already been changed. We just continue in a different form with new perspective. We are with Jesus now. We will be with Him ever more intimately without the bonds of this physical limitation when we shed these mortal clothes. Eternal life is not just existence forever, for that would be true of all people. Some will exist forever in heaven and most will exist forever in hell. Eternal life here refers to the relationship that we have with God now and forever. Eternal life is godly life to experience His splendor and majesty, His joy and peace, His holiness and love.
I John 5:20 says, “We know also that the Son of God has come and had given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true-even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Notice He not only gives eternal life, He is eternal life. Eternal life is Jesus Christ.
A human mother can stand before you and say, “I have life. I am life” And also through the wonder of God ordained reproduction human life can give new life in a baby. You must have life in order to give life. Life is a reproduction of itself.
We cannot give eternal life for we can only give physical life. “That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit.” -1 John 3:6. Jesus is eternal life and only He can reproduce it and we receive it by the working of the Holy Spirit. When we do we are alive, born anew.. Death is the inability to respond physically. Spiritual death is the inability to respond spiritually. Jesus is glorified through the cross because He is eternal life, which will not die. That earthly body was put in the ground for three days, but we discover in other passages Jesus was ministering to the spirits who went on before and brought them into glory with Him. He was not dead. He was continuing his work of redemption and unifying His followers unto Himself.
Jesus prayer was the marvel before His Father that we now can know Him in a manner than the world had never experienced. It filled Him with excitement and anticipation.
Pastor Dale
