“Can you pray for Terry, he’s got pneumonia and Elsie, she has a nasty cough…and don’t forget Derek he’s still in hospital, and……..”
The prayer requests are endless and while some are for practical assistance in unpleasant circumstances the majority are for healing, for relief from pain, from anguish, from fear.
We praise God for His healing work in all people that He has seen fit to heal this week, we thank Him that He has looked after our friends and fellow brothers and sisters and that He promises to continue to look after them.
Yes, we praise God for all the healings and the good gifts that He chooses to give to us.
However right it is to pray for the pain and suffering from sickness to be removed, for the effects of living in a futile world (Romans 8:20) to be relieved, as Christians we come to realise that healing and gifts are not the ultimate goal or indeed our hope in life; any person who was in pain with any disease, illness or with disabilities and has been healed has only received a temporary fix. They remain living in a futile body, the healthiest person alive still lives in a place where disaster could strike, or his body could fail at any moment.
As the end of summer approaches people start to look at their bodies, they question if they look better now than before the holiday, are they slimmer, tanned and toned enough? Do they look as if they have been on holiday? Are they looking relaxed, have the visible signs of over 12 months of lockdown been removed, or at the very least are the shoulders no longer sagging? Did they eat healthily, did they exercise enough, rest enough, drink enough, do they look and feel healthier?
There is certainly nothing wrong in wanting to look and feel healthier as that can aid us with our mental wellness, but we can sometimes start to think that these things, these bodily signs of health and fitness are the only things that matter.
A dear friend died at the beginning of the pandemic, one of the first casualties. Unfortunately, despite endless attempts to reduce his weight he was out of condition, he had a heart condition and more. Did it matter to him that he didn't have a toned and healthy body, a good tan or a healthy diet? At that time only one thing mattered: that he had eternal life because he had the Son.
And he who has the Son has life!
“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.” 1 John 5:11-12
The bible verse above is God’s testimony or statement to us...to all of us. If you are only ever going to listen to one testimony then this is the one hear and understand because God says here that he has given us eternal life, this is God’s gift to us, it is Gods own work and God’s gift; but what is essential to realise is that this eternal life is in His Son, this is important. We cannot think of eternal life separately from the Son nor can we think of God’s testimony or statement apart from him.
Life eternal is life with Christ and in Christ. Life and the Son go together, they are inextricably linked. It is impossible to have one without the other.
The way to have life is to have the Son and that life is eternal so the way to have eternal life is to have the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
But what does it mean to have the Son?
Well, if you have anything it means that whatever you have can accomplish its purpose for you: if you have a pound coin you can purchase a pounds worth of groceries (or chocolate!) if you have an employer then you have employment, a doctor is going to treat your illnesses, a car allows you drive around etc…what you have does ‘its thing’ for you.
So, what does Jesus do? As we've seen, John encapsulates everything in the term LIFE.
He who has the Son has life, and that life is eternal.
But, eternal life is not simply a continuation of this current existence, with all of its frustrations, illnesses, wars, disasters, pandemics, squabbles, difficulties, and half-joys....oh my, who would want to live in an extension of this kind of world...for eternity??
....but it's also not how Snoopy once described it: "floating around on a cloud all day, wishing you'd remembered to pack a magazine!!"
However, there can be no detailed portrayal of heaven or the regenerated earth without a thorough examination and study of the scriptures and there is neither space nor time to do so here; but one thing is certain: it will be far better than our current home as Paul states in Philippians 1:23
“I am hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
When Jesus completes His purpose, his thing, in your life, there will come a time when every frustration will be gone, every sickness healed, and every half-joy will be full; much of this we will experience in varying degrees this side of eternity, but we find our assurance, our ultimate hope and joy in knowing that there is a day when perfection will come and then the imperfect will fall away.
1 Corinthians 13:12 puts it this way; “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” Meaning imperfect reflections will be replaced by true perception—imperfect mirrors always distorted a proper reflection of the face in the mirror, but this partial knowledge will give way to full knowledge, we will no longer see Jesus dimly, but face to face.
Jesus said in John 10:10 "I came that they might have life and have it abundantly."
The abundant life that Christ talks about here is independent of circumstances, nothing can diminish the abundant life we have in Christ; neither a poor health diagnosis, a rebellious child or financial calamity; equally a dramatic healing, a sudden windfall or the return of a wayward child will in no way transform it. True abundant life rests in the God who is Lord over both the good things and the negative things in our life. To believe the contrary, to argue that pain-free, wealthy lives are a reward from God implies that people who remain wounded are trapped because of their lack of faith.
It is disturbing that the Bible's promise that Christ is the only route to salvation, the only road to eternal life, has become at odds with the post-modern concept of "tolerance." But it is, after all, exactly what the Bible says and thus what God teaches.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" John 14:6.
In Acts, the Apostle Peter addressed an audience of angry scribes and elders, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
The Apostle John wrote, "He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" John 3:36.
"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” says the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 2:5
Scripture emphasises over and over that Jesus Christ is the world's only chance for salvation.Only Christ can atone for sin, and hence only Christ can bring salvation
Having understood this truth, the subsequent and crucial question must be “What must we do to have the Son?"
It’s a vital question because the last part of 1 John 5:12 says that "he who has not the Son of God has not life."
In other words, not everyone has the Son and therefore not everyone has eternal life, it's infinitely important to have the Son.
Thankfully, the answer isn't too difficult to search out nor to understand. It's implied clearly within the verse that follows: John 5:13 "I write this 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 says, "He who has the Son has life."
The simple inference is that the way to have the Son, the way to have the Son accomplish his purpose in your life, is to believe the Son.
To believe in the name of Jesus is to believe Jesus: in his person as the Son of God, to believe in his deity, his sinless life, his death, and resurrection, to realise our sinfulness and need for a saviour, to believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who never sinned got in our place and took the wrath of God for us. To believe he died in our place.
This letter of John’s was written to encourage believers of their assurance of eternal life, to give them confidence because the assurance of eternal life is important for the Christian, it’s so important, that God himself desires to give us this assurance as a gift; we should not live our Christian lives wondering and worrying each day whether we are truly saved.
Shortly after my friend died, another friend was rushed to hospital with a life-threatening condition, fortunately, he made a full recovery.
However, during this trauma, his sustaining hope wasn’t in the fact he that had a healthy body to help strengthen him through it, that he was receiving the best treatment from the doctors and nurses, that he had an amazing and loving wife who has constantly supported him throughout their marriage, that he had a loving and caring family who wished him well through it all, or even that his Christian friends were praying for him.....my friends sustaining hope was that he has eternal life because that was ultimately the only thing that mattered. My first friend died, thankfully the other made an amazing recovery but regardless of the outcomes what was common to both, was that in life or death they both possess eternal life because they have the Son of God, they believe and trust their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
He who has the Son has life!
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