Indeed it is a joy and an honor to be called a son of God! That day we asked the Lord to save us, we probably never imagined that He would have given us these many blessings wrapped up in salvation. If you’ve been following our series for the past week, you will realize just how much we have inherited by becoming a child of God, and there is so much more to discover! I would like to bring your attention to the following verses:
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 17:3
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
To know God as the only true God, and to know His son Jesus Christ is eternal life. This is a free gift that no man can earn or deserve. In giving us the Holy Spirit, God is giving us the opportunity to know and fellowship with Him. Salvation is a chance for us to know and love God; it is a chance to know His son Jesus Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, no one can know God’s heart or mind, and no one can please God without His Spirit. To know God is to fellowship with Him in holiness, to be free from darkness and therefore be in a position to be used by God. If we walk in any form of unrighteousness, we are denying or rejecting God’s eternal life. And God will say to us, “depart from Me: I never knew you.” I never fellowshipped you. I called you and desired for you to know Me, but you rejected My call and your name has been blotted out from the Book of Life”.
Eternal life is also God’s life force. It is His quickening (life-giving) nature that resurrects those who receive Christ, as seen in John 6:54: “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” This eternal nature allowed God to create living plants, animals and people out of a planet that was void and without form.
The amazing thing is that God has already dispensed His eternal life to all His children, and He made a record about it. In this record, it tells of how everyone who has received Jesus Christ has received this life. Don’t think of it as two separate gifts, where you receive Jesus, and eternal life alongside that; but rather, they are the same gift. The gift of eternal life is in(side) the Son, Jesus Christ, and so when we receive the Son, this life comes embedded within Him:
1 John 5:11-13
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
My encouragement to you today is the same that Jesus said to His disciples, “freely you have received, freely give.” Give of this eternal life that you have to those who need life. Share and witness about the love and mercy of God, and of how He gave you a gift that you were not worthy of. Allow the Lord to use you today to be a life-giving force in this world as you cause someone to know the only true God, and His son Jesus Christ!