Eternal Life (4)

So, how can we know that we know that we’re headed to heaven? And how can we help someone else know? Remember, there’s nothing more important than having eternal life.

I am greatly indebted to John Piper for what follows here.

To know that you have eternal life...receive.

Have you received Jesus?

12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

So what does it mean to HAVE the Son of God?

have – echo – to receive in the sense of laying hold of, clinging to, being closely joined to.

It doesn't mean quite the same thing each time when you say, "I have a dollar" or "I have a lawyer."

But there is something common to those meanings: when you HAVE something, it does its thing for you. If you have a dollar, it buys a dollar's worth for you. If you have a lawyer, he stands in for you. Having something means that it does its thing for you.

Now we can say that having the Son means: if you have the Son, then the Son does his thing for you.

He is a Savior who saves. He is a justifier who justifies. He is a Forgiver who forgives. He is a Shepherd who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death to the place where we will dwell in His house forever. He’s the propitiation for our sins and takes the wrath of the Father that we should have taken. He’s the Advocate who defends us in heaven’s courtroom.

If you have the Son, you have a lawyer in heaven.

If you have the Son, He does his thing for you! What He can do he does for me. What He promises to do He will do for me. That is what it means to HAVE the Son.

Ask yourself, “Do I truly have Jesus as my Advocate – my defense attorney?”

Now, we need to answer some questions, "How do we come to have the Son? How do we receive Jesus?" This is very important because the last part of verse 12 says that "he who has not the Son of God has not life."

Not everyone has the Son. So, not everyone has eternal life. It is infinitely important to know how to have the Son.

So, how do we “have” the Son?

To know that you have eternal life...receive and believe.

So, how do we “have” the Son?

The answer is not complicated or hard to find. It is implied clearly here in verse 13.

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.

Notice that verse 13 says that those who believe in the name of the Son of God have eternal life and that verse 12 said, "He who has the Son has life." The simple implication is that the way to HAVE the Son is to BELIEVE the Son.

believe – pisteuo – trust in, place confidence in, rely upon, depend upon.

The Son of God does his thing for those who believe in Him, who trust Him, who place their confidence in Him, who depend upon Him. You can have the Son of God if you trust the Son of God.

It is possible to NOT believe in or trust in the Son of God.

If an Advocate, a lawyer, makes an offer to defend you, you can reject him. You can say, "I can handle this case by myself." Or you can say, "No point in responding to the offer. He’s a really good lawyer and I'm a nobody.” Or you can say, "Sure. Come on. But you better not tell me to do anything stupid in the courtroom, because I'm not going to do it if you do."

Some of you here today need to have the Son of God. Don't reject his offer of life.

None of us can handle our case by ourselves. If Maryanne’s sister, Kay, hadn't had the Son, she wouldn't have had anything a few Saturday mornings ago. But she had the Son, and now she has life forever and ever. You can't handle that case by yourself!

And don't say that the Son of God won't come to work for a nobody like you. That's the only kind of people He will work for. The Son of God says, "I'm coming to help you not because you're somebody, but because I'm Somebody; and I like to show I'm Somebody by saving nobodies." God loves to glorify the fullness of His grace by saving the least likely candidates for eternal life.

And don't say, "Well, yes, I will accept His offer to be my lawyer, but He better not tell me to do anything I don’t want to do." That is not trust. You can't keep a lawyer that way. He will do his thing for you if you trust him.

To know that you have eternal life...receive and believe.