WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.360 Well, this morning I'd like us to turn back to the chapter that we read in John chapter 5. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:10.560 We're going to focus especially on verse 13 where John says, 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:14.320 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:18.879 that you may know that you have eternal life. 00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:26.719 As I'm sure you know, in many parts of life we have goals at school, at work, in our community. 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:31.519 We all have things that we're aiming for, outcomes, targets, dreams. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:35.200 Sometimes these are the things that we want as individuals. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:38.239 Sometimes they're things that other people want for us. 00:00:38.239 --> 00:00:41.840 So your teachers at school will want you to do really well. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:44.560 Your employers want you to perform. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:48.879 And maybe as individuals we have high expectations of ourselves 00:00:48.879 --> 00:00:52.239 where we want a particular job or house or achievement. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:57.600 And as we all know very well right now in Britain we are in the midst of a great battle 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:03.280 between our politicians all fighting for the goal that they want. 00:01:04.320 --> 00:01:07.439 Maybe even in this past week you've had goals you've had to reach. 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:10.240 Maybe some have slipped by. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:13.840 And it can be thrilling for us when we achieve these things 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:18.560 and it can also be hugely disappointing when we fail. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:25.600 Either way, whether you're a Christian or not, whether you believe in God or not, 00:01:26.320 --> 00:01:29.680 goals are a big part of life for us all. 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:36.240 Today I want to forget about all the targets and goals of work or school or politics 00:01:36.240 --> 00:01:37.760 and chuck them to one side. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:43.040 And instead I want us to ask what is God's goal for you? 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:51.200 In other words, in terms of the Christian message, what is the outcome that God wants for us all? 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:56.000 And the answer to that is actually very clear. 00:01:56.960 --> 00:02:04.560 In the message of Christianity God's goal is that you would have eternal life. 00:02:05.600 --> 00:02:09.759 That's summed up brilliantly and possibly the most famous verse of the Bible, John 3.16, 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:13.679 where it says, for God, soul of the world, that he gave his only son, 00:02:13.679 --> 00:02:19.599 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:24.799 And in many ways for John, who wrote this letter and who wrote the Gospel of John, 00:02:24.799 --> 00:02:28.159 eternal life is a huge theme that he keeps coming back to. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:32.319 At the end of the great Gospel he wrote, the story of the life of Jesus, 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:38.000 he says that these things are written so that you may believe in Jesus Christ 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.840 and that by believing you may have life in his name. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:47.759 And the same is emphasized in 1 John 5.13, eternal life is a key theme. 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:51.840 And I think that's part of the reason why, if you noticed in the chapter we read, 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:57.680 John keeps on using the language of being born in reference to being a Christian. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:02:59.920 And that's something he does again and again. 00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:05.680 We're born of God into new life, into eternal life. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:09.280 These two words, eternal life, that's the goal. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:12.640 It's at the heart of the Gospel message. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:18.400 Today I want us just to simply ask, what does that actually mean? 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:24.159 What is this eternal life? 00:03:27.040 --> 00:03:32.000 To answer that question, there are two key words that we need to think about. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.599 The first word is quantity. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:42.159 One of the things that we are constantly aware of is the fact that life is limited. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:45.919 Again and again we are confronted by the fact that life is short. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:51.680 I'm sure you are the same that I can't believe that it's nearly December. 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:53.439 I can't even believe it's 2020. 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:57.199 I still tend to think it's kind of in the 90s, that was when I grew up. 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:05.439 And anything like 2020 just seemed like, it seemed like so unbelievably far in the distance. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:08.560 And yet here we are, life goes by so fast. 00:04:09.359 --> 00:04:16.480 And even if life is long, it's still so short, sometimes heartbreakingly short. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:18.800 Life is limited. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:24.240 There's only so much of life that we can all have in terms of quantity. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:26.240 It can seem so small. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:31.199 Eternal life is not like that. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:36.879 Eternal life is life that is unlimited in its quantity. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:40.639 In other words, it is life that lasts forever. 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:45.519 The old translations of John 3.16, the verse that's on the screen there, 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:51.120 used to use the phrase everlasting life, which I think is such a beautiful phrase. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:56.800 God wants us to have life that will last forever, that will never end. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:02.160 And so when we think about eternal life, we want to think in terms of that never-endingness. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:04.160 There's a perpetuity about it. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:05.199 It's endless. 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:08.000 It's life that keeps on going. 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:12.560 Now that maybe immediately raises the question, how is that possible? 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:20.720 Well, I think the reason that we can have this life that is without end, 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:26.400 is because it is a life that comes from the God who is without beginning. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:29.360 We say that God is eternal. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:32.480 And when we say that, we don't just mean that He always will be there, 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:34.880 we mean that He always has been there. 00:05:34.880 --> 00:05:40.000 And the whole reality of time, of days, of months, of years, 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:47.200 that whole system that we are completely confined to and limited by, God is above it all. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:51.680 And the reason He is above the system is because He made the system. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:53.920 He is the creator of time. 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:57.439 You go back to the first chapter of Genesis, at the beginning of the Bible, 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:01.839 you'll see there's a big emphasis on time, evening, morning, evening, morning. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:06.159 It's reminding us that God is the creator of time. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:10.159 And as the creator of time, as the creator of everything else, 00:06:10.159 --> 00:06:15.199 He can give life that is limitless in its quantity. 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:16.800 We can't do that. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:23.360 We, as fallen, broken humans, can only give limited life to the next generation. 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:29.279 So children born of us have life of a very limited quantity. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:37.839 The children born of God, those who trust in Him, have life of unlimited quantity. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:40.800 And all of this raises the question, I suppose, 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:42.399 that maybe we sometimes think about, you think, 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:45.199 how will time work in heaven? 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:48.079 We think, you know what, how will that work? 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:50.879 Heaven is in eternity, we're in time. 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:52.879 How will time work in heaven? 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:56.879 We can't fully answer that question. 00:06:57.679 --> 00:07:02.879 There's a sense of which we don't know, but I thought we might as well have a wee bash at answering it. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:05.279 And here's a suggestion to think about. 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:06.479 It's not definitive. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:11.199 But in thinking about this, I was thinking about the fact that we must remember that 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:17.360 in the new creation, in the future that God has for us, we will be there as humans. 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:20.800 We're not going to be there as kind of floaty spirits or clouds. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:24.879 We're going to be there as humans, body and soul humans. 00:07:25.599 --> 00:07:28.719 And as humans, we are space, time, creatures. 00:07:28.719 --> 00:07:30.399 That's the realm we exist in. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:32.399 We can't function outside that system. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:35.680 We can't comprehend being outside that system. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:36.879 We need time. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:39.360 That's the realm we exist in. 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:42.879 So in terms of thinking about how time might work in heaven, 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:45.920 I think that when God says, I will give you eternal life, 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:52.879 part of what he's saying is that he will keep on providing time for us forever. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:55.920 An unending quantity of time. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:58.560 And he can do that because he is the one who creates it. 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:00.720 He's the one who makes it. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:09.040 But what's even more important is that the reason he does that is so that you can always be with him. 00:08:09.840 --> 00:08:15.040 And that means that right now, time is the great limiter that restricts us. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:17.440 It restricts us in so many ways. 00:08:17.440 --> 00:08:24.720 In our future, in the new creation, time will become an unending resource that frees us to be with God 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:26.480 and to be with each other forever. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:30.879 That's why you can't use up time in the new creation. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:35.360 And I think that's captured beautifully in the hymn, Amazing Grace, that we'll sing at the end. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:41.360 One of the verses says, when we've been there 10,000 years, we'll have no less days to sing God's praise. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:45.360 A great image of how you've used up 10,000 days, but you've not used any up. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:49.840 What's left over is still unending. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:52.960 There's this never-ending quantity. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:09:00.960 And that's a brilliant reminder that in the new creation, in the future, you will always have time. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:05.519 Right now, so often, we don't have time. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:10.639 In God's new creation, we will have time. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:19.840 Time to rest, time to think, time to talk, time to laugh, time to walk, time to learn, 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:25.040 time to sing, time to sit still, time to run, time to savor, time to be together. 00:09:25.040 --> 00:09:30.000 God is saying, I will give you life that never runs out of time. 00:09:31.040 --> 00:09:35.360 Eternal life is a life of unending quantity. 00:09:37.040 --> 00:09:44.320 And one of the crucial things about that is for us today, is that it should shape our perspective. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.240 We said a moment ago that for us, life is so short. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:54.399 And if we were to try and draw a picture of eternity, which I know is impossible, 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:58.879 but we're just going to try it anyway, imagine that's eternity. 00:09:59.680 --> 00:10:03.600 Just, I know it's not, but just use your imagination. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:05.759 As big as why does the screen can be. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:07.600 Massive. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:12.480 And then we think, well, how do our lives compare to it? 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:14.480 And you have to look very closely and see if you can see anything. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:16.240 Do you see that? 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:17.360 Can you see it? 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:19.919 A tiny dot. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:27.919 Now, that picture is the biggest exaggeration I have ever made in my life. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:32.720 Because the dot is a billion times too big. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:36.720 It should be tiny. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:49.360 It should be tiny. And even if our life is long just now, in relation to even the age of the 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:55.279 universe, but beyond that to the endless ages of eternity, time is nothing. 00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:02.399 But if that's the case, why are we so obsessed 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:05.840 with the size of our dot? 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:12.480 And we never think about what's going to happen to us for eternity. 00:11:15.199 --> 00:11:23.199 So people are outraged if their dot is cut short to 50, 40 or 20 years, which, and that's an awful 00:11:23.199 --> 00:11:25.519 thing, but we're actually quite happy if it reaches 80 years. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:27.279 We think, oh, well, that's a decent run. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:33.439 And we pour our energy into preserving our dot for long enough until it's an acceptable length. 00:11:33.439 --> 00:11:38.480 And all the time, God is saying, look at what I'm offering you. 00:11:40.079 --> 00:11:41.600 Look at what I want you to have. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:45.039 I want you to have eternal life. 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:49.439 We would all do anything to preserve our we dot. 00:11:49.439 --> 00:11:52.000 If we get a diagnosis, we go straight to the doctor. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.439 When we hear that something is particularly unhealthy, we avoid it forever. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:59.600 When we're told to do something to keep well, we jump to it straight away. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:06.400 And all of that's a good thing, but in comparison to what God wants us to think about. 00:12:09.040 --> 00:12:12.880 But we turn round and say to God, no, thanks. 00:12:14.400 --> 00:12:15.920 I'll just make the most of my dot. 00:12:17.520 --> 00:12:21.680 And maybe you're sitting here thinking, well, what if the dot is all that there is 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:23.760 and eternity is not real? 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:30.879 Well, apart from the fact that without eternity, you have to try and explain where your dot came from. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:37.679 All I think we can say to that is that surely, same to yourself that the dot is all that there is, 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:45.679 that has got to be the biggest gamble that anyone could ever take. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:53.599 So when we're thinking about eternal life, we're thinking about quantity. 00:12:54.319 --> 00:12:57.439 But there's another key word that I want us to think about. 00:12:57.439 --> 00:12:59.919 And I'm sure you can probably guess what it is. 00:13:00.479 --> 00:13:03.439 This is the one that is actually, I think, the even more important one. 00:13:03.439 --> 00:13:06.319 Eternal life is not just about quantity. 00:13:06.319 --> 00:13:10.799 It is also, and primarily, about quality. 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:15.599 And that's why the translation, if I just go back a couple of slides, 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:22.240 the translation, everlasting life in John 3.16 is not actually adequate. 00:13:23.040 --> 00:13:28.800 Because as brilliant as the word everlasting sounds, it's not a good enough description. 00:13:28.800 --> 00:13:32.720 Eternal life is not just about never ending quantity. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:35.040 It is even better than that. 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:41.200 And that's brought out very clearly when we look across the New Testament and see the various 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:46.640 emphases that are made in regard to eternal life. In other words, when the New Testament talks 00:13:46.640 --> 00:13:51.440 about eternal life, it doesn't primarily focus on the never-endingness of it. 00:13:52.160 --> 00:14:02.080 What it focuses on instead is the incredible quality of life that God wants you and me to have. 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:06.160 And there's a huge amount we could say about that and too much to take in. 00:14:06.160 --> 00:14:09.680 I just want to highlight four things under four brief headings. 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:11.599 I'll have to skip through my diagram picture again. 00:14:12.319 --> 00:14:18.399 First one is to say that eternal life is a life of extraordinary privilege. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:23.919 The New Testament uses the word eternal to describe the standard of life 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:28.879 that God wants to give us. And he's saying it's a life of the highest, highest level. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:33.199 One of the key words used to describe that or associated with that is that word glory 00:14:33.199 --> 00:14:36.240 that we have in the verse before us, where it says, 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:42.960 this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:49.440 comparison. That phrase, eternal weight of glory, is speaking of the fact that everything God has 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:59.279 prepared for you, if you put your trust in Jesus, is utterly brilliant. It is of the highest, most 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:05.919 outstanding quality. The word glory conveys the idea of weightiness and brightness. It's the stuff 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:13.120 of heavyweight quality and of dazzling beauty. It's a bit like a big gold bar, just solid, 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:18.879 absolute quality. The eternal life that God wants to have is of the highest standard, 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:25.199 which means there's nothing flimsy about it, nothing superficial, nothing substandard, 00:15:25.199 --> 00:15:30.319 nothing compromise. That's why if you go to the last two chapters of the Bible and you read 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:35.680 about the new heavens and the new earth that God is preparing for us, it is breathtaking. 00:15:38.400 --> 00:15:46.800 And perhaps the only way for us to understand that or to start to understand that is to think 00:15:46.800 --> 00:15:52.879 of the best that you've ever seen. So think about the stunning hills of Scotland. 00:15:52.879 --> 00:16:00.480 Think about the glistening sea in the sunshine. Think of the stunning colors of your gardens, 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:06.320 flowers and full bloom. Think of the finest music, the most beautiful art. Think of all the stuff 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:17.120 that makes you say, wow. And then remember that that is just a glimpse of the eternal weight of glory 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:24.960 that God has for us. But what's perhaps even more amazing is the fact that these privileges of 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:30.159 eternal life are described with another very important word. It speaks in terms of this 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:35.919 privileged quality, the best of the best. And then there's this key word that's used. These 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:43.440 privileges are your inheritance. Jesus is the mediator of our new covenant so that those who are 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:49.200 called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. That means that through trusting in Jesus, 00:16:49.200 --> 00:17:04.880 you are guaranteed all of this. You are the legal, rightful heir to all that God has prepared. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:13.200 Eternal life is a life of extraordinary privilege. Second thing I want to say is that eternal life 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:20.880 of abundant satisfaction. The New Testament uses the word eternal to describe the provision that 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:25.920 God makes for us. Jesus speaks about this in John's Gospel. In chapter four, he speaks about 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:32.400 quenched thirst. In chapter six, he speaks about satisfied hunger. You can see the verses on the 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:37.600 screen there. In verse chapter four, he says, whoever thinks of water in this well will be 00:17:37.600 --> 00:17:42.240 thirsty again. Whoever thinks of the water, I will give him, will never be thirsty again. The water 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:48.400 I give him will be a spring of water welling up to eternal life. And then he uses the language of 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:53.200 food in John 6. Don't work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal 00:17:53.200 --> 00:18:01.279 life. And whoever comes to him will not hunger. Whoever believes in him will never thirst. Think 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:07.920 of all the ways in which people suffer because of a lack. Think of all the ways in which you 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:14.160 suffer because things are missing or limited. Eternal life is a life where there will be no lack. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:22.560 Instead, there is abundant provision and total satisfaction. Often the Bible speaks of eternal 00:18:22.560 --> 00:18:28.320 life in terms of a meal. The New City Catechism we read this morning made a reference to that. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:35.200 I think that that language of a meal in eternal life is both literal and figurative. It's literal, 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:41.360 in a sense, I think we'll have amazing meals together in heaven. But we will also feel and 00:18:41.360 --> 00:18:48.160 experience complete satisfaction and fulfillment in every part of life. So in the New Creation, 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:52.480 you'll be able to learn a musical instrument without it being incredibly frustrating. You'll 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:57.440 be able to herd animals without them driving you around the bend. And you'll be able to watch other 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:05.920 people have a brilliant time and never feel left out. All the best of life will be there without 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:13.120 any of the brokenness that sin has brought. And our own weaknesses and frailty are cared for 00:19:13.120 --> 00:19:18.640 in every way. There's a brilliant phrase using the word eternal in 2 Thessalonians 2.16. Now, 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:25.039 may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:31.920 and good hope through grace. Eternal comfort, that doesn't mean getting to sit in a nice sofa forever. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:39.839 It means eternal encouragement, the fact that God wants us to have a constant awareness that He 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:48.079 was right with us, that He loves us, and that He'll always be there. So often in life we find 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:56.480 ourselves saying, I wish it wasn't like this. In heaven we'll never ever feel like that. It's a life 00:19:56.480 --> 00:20:05.119 of abundant satisfaction. Third thing I want to say is that eternal life is life of unshakable 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:10.799 security. New Testament again uses the word eternal to describe this, particularly in reference 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:17.519 to what Jesus achieved on the cross. Here's three examples. Hebrews 5 speaks about eternal salvation. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:26.079 Hebrews 9 speaks about eternal redemption. Hebrews 6 speaks and makes reference to the reality of 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:33.119 eternal judgment. Our salvation is an eternal salvation. That means that our rescue from sin, 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:39.440 which is what God's great saving work is, is totally, fully, and completely achieved through 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:44.240 Jesus. That was again what we were noting in the New City Catechism, that when we have the Lord's 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:48.240 Supper we're not saying that there's something lacking from the cross. We're saying, no, the cross 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:54.640 is complete, full. Everything has been achieved. There's nothing lacking, nothing still to be done, 00:20:54.640 --> 00:21:03.360 and nothing that can ever undo it. And that means that if you are trusting in Jesus, you are 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:10.479 absolutely safe. Nothing that earthly life can throw at you can take away what eternal life 00:21:10.479 --> 00:21:18.000 has in store for you. Our redemption is an eternal redemption. The word redemption is the language 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:23.919 of the marketplace, of economics. It's the language of buying someone out of slavery. So to be redeemed 00:21:23.919 --> 00:21:30.639 means to be bought out of slavery, to come under new ownership. Eternal life is eternal redemption, 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:39.440 which means God owns us and keeps us forever. You are always His. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:48.320 And then in Hebrews 6 we see the mention of the fact that our judgment is an eternal judgment. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:56.560 Now there's two aspects to this. One is the judgment of those who reject Jesus. This is the 00:21:56.559 --> 00:22:01.039 judgment that will come to those who just say, no, I don't want you, I don't need you. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:15.119 I'll stand on my own. And that's a sin that leads to death, as John referred to in this chapter. 00:22:16.879 --> 00:22:24.879 A mindset that refuses the offer of salvation that's freely offered in Jesus. That will bring 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:31.600 an eternal judgment. That means that it's a fair judgment. It also means it's a permanent judgment, 00:22:31.600 --> 00:22:38.400 and that has got to be a massive warning to us. John makes it really clear in verse 12, 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:47.360 what he says, whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son does not have life. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:56.639 But the other aspect of eternal judgment is incredibly positive. It's the fact that for those 00:22:56.639 --> 00:23:03.599 who trust in Jesus, an eternal judgment is also made, but that's not a judgment of condemnation. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:09.919 It's a judgment of justification, of being pronounced not guilty. For those who trust in Jesus, 00:23:09.919 --> 00:23:16.079 those who are trusting in Him, or who start trusting in Him, we are eternally judged not guilty. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:20.799 We are eternally judged as righteous. In other words, we are forgiven forever. 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:26.799 And that's the astonishing truth about what Jesus does for us. He brings us from our sins, 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:33.919 from our brokenness and our inadequacy, and he makes us fully acceptable in the eternal judgment 00:23:33.919 --> 00:23:42.639 of God. That means that your status as a forgiven, adopted child of God is stamped into God's eternal 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:52.320 law. And all of that means that eternal life in Jesus is a life where we are utterly secure. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:58.960 And Jesus has a brilliant way of describing this. He says, I give them eternal life, 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:05.840 and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:16.000 Eternal life means to be held in impenetrable safety in Jesus' protective hand. 00:24:17.439 --> 00:24:22.319 So eternal life is this extraordinary privilege, its abundant satisfaction, its unbreakable 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:27.519 security, but perhaps most of all, eternal life is a beautiful relationship. That's really what 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:33.759 lies at the heart of eternal life. In John chapter 17, Jesus gives the definitive definition of eternal 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:37.519 life. He says, when he says, when he spoke in these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:42.559 Father, the hour has come, glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you, since you've given him 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:48.720 authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all you have given him. And this is eternal life, 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:58.000 that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Eternal life means 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:05.680 knowing God, knowing God as their Father, knowing Jesus as their brother and king, 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:11.200 knowing God the Holy Spirit as their comforter and their companion. The heart of eternal life is 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:16.960 a relationship where we know God, and that is a relationship of the highest quality, 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:24.480 because his care for you is at the highest level. His interest in you is to the minutest detail. His 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:31.279 plans for you are utterly brilliant. His dedication to you is immeasurably strong. His gentleness to us 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:39.200 is supremely tender. His love for us is never, ever one ounce less than eternal. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:50.240 And the quantity of eternal life, the never-endingness of it is simply there so that the relationship 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:56.960 we have with God will be at the highest quality forever. And that means that it's not that we come 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:04.000 to know Jesus so that we can live forever. It's actually that we live forever so that we will 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:12.799 forever know Jesus. But alongside that is the wonderful truth that eternal life is not just 00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:17.839 knowing God, it's also the fact that we will know each other. Eternal life is a community life. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:23.279 That's what union to Jesus does. It brings us into relationship not just with God, but with one 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:31.439 another as well. Eternal life means not just the highest quality of relationship with God, it also 00:26:31.439 --> 00:26:37.519 means the highest quality of relationship with one another. That's why when the Bible speaks of 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:43.359 the new heavens and the new earth, it speaks in terms of an eternal home. 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:50.719 Here we have it in 2 Corinthians 5, 1. We know that if the tent that is our earthly home is 00:26:50.719 --> 00:26:55.599 destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:27:04.319 And the key word I want to emphasize there is the word we. It's our home. We have a home together 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:10.719 because at the heart of eternal life is a beautiful relationship with God and with one another. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:19.440 So eternal life is not just about quantity, it's also about quality. A great reminder that even 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:26.079 the very best of life just now is just a fraction of the life that God wants us to have. And again, 00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:30.559 I'm going to try and draw a picture to illustrate this, which you just have to bear with me. 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:38.880 If we think of it in terms of a graph, eternal life gives us privilege, satisfaction, security, 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:49.520 and relationship to the highest level. Earthly life, it's not even close in comparison. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:55.520 And sometimes these things aren't even positive. I've not deliberately put relationship as the 00:27:55.520 --> 00:28:01.120 one that's in negative terms. It could be any of them, but we know that for so many people, 00:28:01.120 --> 00:28:06.960 for ourselves, some of these aspects in their lives aren't even positive at all, let alone 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:13.519 anything close to being eternal. And that comparison between the tiny dot and the end 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:19.600 of stages of eternity between the tiny bit of the graph and the infinite bar graph of eternal life 00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:26.400 is showing us the incredible difference of what God is offering us in Jesus. 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:33.600 And I suppose the key question is how do we get it? How do we get that eternal life? 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:37.759 And the answer is utterly incredible. 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:53.839 The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord. 00:28:53.839 --> 00:29:04.639 Eternal life is a free gift, is free. 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:14.159 God so loved the world that he gave his only son that he ever believes in him should not perish, 00:29:14.159 --> 00:29:21.039 but have eternal life. I want to say one more thing before I close. 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:29.359 When we do a sermon like this and look at a topic like this, you can think, all that sounds great, 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:32.879 but is it really real? 00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:40.879 It seems too good to be true and it seems like wishful thinking, and even if it is true, 00:29:40.879 --> 00:29:48.879 it seems a million miles from the reality of today, Sunday morning on the 24th of November 2019. 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:59.680 Well, if you're thinking like that, then I can understand that. But I want you to see something 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:05.520 amazing that's being emphasized to us in the chapter we read from 1 John chapter 5, because 00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:13.760 one of the great emphasis of that chapter is that none of this is vague optimism. And this 00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:22.640 whole concept of eternal life is not wishful thinking. It is utterly real and true. And that's 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:28.799 what John speaks about in verses 5 to 9, and particularly he uses two key words, water and blood. 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:33.440 It says, who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:38.079 This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. Now, what does that mean? 00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:44.240 What in earth is he talking about when he says water and blood? The readers obviously knew what it 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:48.319 was. It was obviously something that was familiar between John and the congregation he was writing 00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:54.720 to. It was possibly a common expression in the church. Jesus has come by water and by blood. What 00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:59.679 does that mean? Well, it's different suggestions. Some people say maybe it refers to baptism in 00:30:59.679 --> 00:31:04.319 the Lord's Supper. Baptism, there's water in there, Lord's Supper, the wine supposed to 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:10.480 symbolize Jesus' blood. Others say it refers to the reference in the Gospel where Jesus had a spear 00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:15.919 put in his side when he was on the cross and out came water and blood. Others have suggested that 00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:22.319 the water is referring to the baptism of Jesus at the beginning of his ministry and the crucifixion 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:28.159 of Jesus at the end of his ministry. You can think of it that when you're at home as to which one you 00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:35.360 think it is. I'll plum for the third one, I think. I think it's probably referring to his baptism 00:31:35.360 --> 00:31:42.800 and the Lord's Supper. But the key point is that all of these things are referring back to the 00:31:42.800 --> 00:31:53.440 real life space-time reality that Jesus has come. Water and blood are real things. And John is saying 00:31:53.440 --> 00:32:00.160 that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come into the real world of here and now. And the fact that 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:07.840 he has come has meant that the reality of eternal life has burst into the here and now. The life 00:32:07.840 --> 00:32:16.000 of the age to come has come now in and through Jesus. And if you think about the whole history of 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:22.880 humanity, there's been two great intrusions into that history. The first intrusion is sin 00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:28.960 that came in and broke the world. But the second great intrusion that comes into humanity is the 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:36.640 resurrection of Jesus. And in his life, death and resurrection, in the life, death and resurrection 00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:44.560 of Jesus, eternal life, the life of the age to come has burst into the here and now. That's the 00:32:44.560 --> 00:32:51.680 amazing use of the gospel that Jesus has come and that by coming he is going to overcome 00:32:51.680 --> 00:32:57.600 all the brokenness in the world, as you can see in verse 5. The second intrusion is going to overcome 00:32:57.600 --> 00:33:01.680 the first one. That's the message of the gospel. It's not vague optimism. It's not 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:08.080 floaty mystery. It's not a pipe dream in the distant future. It is real. And that's why John is 00:33:08.080 --> 00:33:13.360 writing all this. He's saying, I've seen it. I was there. I was an eyewitness. It's all real. 00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:22.639 Eternal life has burst into the here and now. If we trust in Jesus, we have eternal life now. 00:33:22.639 --> 00:33:30.159 And that should utterly transform us. But so often as Christians, we forget that it's true. 00:33:31.919 --> 00:33:38.159 And that's why he says in verse 13, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son 00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:47.600 of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. That knowledge gives us hope in all the 00:33:47.600 --> 00:33:53.360 heartbreak and weirdness of life. So you need to hold on to it. That knowledge gives us a promise 00:33:53.360 --> 00:33:58.320 to rest on. You need to build your life on every part of that. That knowledge gives us a message 00:33:58.320 --> 00:34:05.360 to proclaim. We need to tell others about us. And that knowledge that we have eternal life needs to 00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:13.199 shape how we live this week. Because the Christian church, the Christian community is the place where 00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:21.039 the quality of the eternal life is to be seen by all. That's why John says we don't keep on sinning. 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:28.000 We don't just live according to all the brokenness in the world around us. We are going to live 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:35.840 differently. We're going to live according to the brilliant standards that God has for us. And the 00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:45.920 result of that is that as you go into your week, your family, your colleagues, your friends, 00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:55.920 they can get a glimpse into the amazing beauty of the eternal life that God wants us to all have. 00:34:55.920 --> 00:35:06.079 They can get a glimpse of that by looking at you. And that's why eternal life is not just for way, 00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:16.960 way, way in the future. Eternal life is for tomorrow morning. And for the way you and I live this week. 00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:24.400 May God grant that for any of us here who are not yet Christians that we would have 00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:29.920 this eternal life through faith in Jesus. But may God also grant that for every one of us who is a 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:36.639 Christian that we would know that we have this eternal life, that we would never forget it, 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:43.280 and that the reality of it would shape every moment of our lives. Let's pray. 00:35:43.280 --> 00:35:53.440 Father, we thank you for your incredible gift of eternal life in Jesus. 00:35:55.200 --> 00:36:02.400 We pray that for any of us who are maybe not yet not yet sure where we stand before you, 00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:12.960 help us Lord to see and to think about what really matters. And for those of us who want to live this 00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:22.320 week as your people, we just pray that the way we speak, the way we behave, the way we work, 00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:28.320 the way we are towards our families and friends, would always just be a glimpse of that amazing 00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:36.000 quality of life that you have in store for us all through Jesus. We pray that we would always be those 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:44.000 who would know that we have eternal life. Amen.