“That You may Know that You Have Eternal Life”
I John 5:9-15
5/24/09
Early on in their lives children believe just about
anything you tell them. They are very trusting, almost to a
fault, to the point where you have to warn them not to trust just
anybody, especially strangers. As they grow older, however,
children don’t accept everything that they’re told, even
from their parents, and they start asking the question, “How do
you know?” a lot. You might say something like, “We
can’t go to the zoo today, because they’re
closed.” “How do you know?” says the
child. “Because the sign says they are.” Or,
“Eating too much ice cream will make you sick.”
“How do you know?” “Because it just does,
that’s all!” Or, “You can’t go swimming
in the water today because there’s sharks out there.”
“How do you know?” “Because the news said there
were.” “How do they know?” “Because
they saw them.” “How do you know?”
“Because I said so!!”
Now, as frustrating as it can be for parents to
constantly have to answer the “How do you know?” question,
it’s really not a bad question to ask, especially when it comes
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While some would argue that this
Gospel is something that must simply be believed blindly, the writers
of the N.T. documents constantly invite their readers to check out
their eye-witness testimony, in order that they might know for certain
that the facts which the authors report concerning Jesus (including His
incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven) are
all true. At the beginning of this very letter the Apostle John
writes, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched
with our hands, concerning the Word of Life - the Life was manifest,
and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal
life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us - that
which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you...”
Here John makes it clear that he and the other Apostles were
eye-witnesses of Jesus Christ. And what they report of Him
weren’t things that were done in a corner somewhere. Jesus
was a very public figure, who did very public miracles, which even His
enemies witnessed. He also died a very public death, but then
rose again from the dead and showed Himself publicly to more than 500
eye-witnesses at one time. And many of these witnesses, including
most of the Apostles, paid for their testimony with their lives.
Now, it’s one thing to believe that something
is true when it isn’t, but it’s quite another thing to
maintain that something is true when you know it’s a lie.
Faced with execution, you would quickly tell the truth if it meant
saving your life. But the Apostles went to their martyrdom
confessing to the end that Jesus had risen again from the dead, and
that through faith in Him we have eternal life. And so, as the
Apostle Peter says, “We did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but we were eye-witnesses of His majesty.” And
elsewhere he makes it clear that Christians can give a reasonable and
rational defense for the Gospel when he tells them to “be ready
always to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the
hope that is in you.” And Luke writes that those who
checked out what the Apostle Paul was saying were more noble-minded
than those who rejected his testimony out of hand.
But the fact is, despite the overwhelming evidence
in support of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, people will not believe it
even if they do check it out for the sheer fact that they are unwilling
to believe it. While they will believe the testimony of others in
this world based on much flimsier evidence, they refuse to believe
God’s testimony concerning His Son given through those who
“saw, heard, and touched” Him. This isn’t
surprising, however, since Paul writes that the natural man does not
accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to
him. And that’s where we all were at one time, with our
mind and reason blinded and veiled by sin and the devil, so that we
could not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God. But God had mercy on us, and He who said,
“’Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ.” As James writes, “Of His own
will He brought us forth by the Word of truth, that we should be a kind
of first-fruits of His creatures.”
It’s this Word of Truth that John is talking
about in today’s epistle text when he talks about the testimony
of God. And that testimony is that God has given us eternal life
and that this life is in His Son. “Whoever has the Son has
life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have
life.” Those who believe in this testimony that God has
given concerning His Son can know that they have eternal life, and that
even though they haven’t seen the Lord themselves. Thomas
wouldn’t believe that Jesus had risen from the dead, even though
the rest of the Apostles assured him that it was true and that they had
seen Him. He wouldn’t believe unless he were able to see
the marks of the nails in His hands, put his finger into those marks,
and put his hand into His side. When Jesus finally showed Himself
to Thomas a week later, Thomas confessed, “My Lord and my
God!” But Jesus said, “You believe because you have
seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed.” That’s you and me. We have not seen
Jesus face to face, but we have believed the testimony of God given
through the words of the Apostles, which we have written down for us in
the N.T. documents.
You can believe this testimony even when
you’re struggling with doubts, disbelief, or any number of
emotions that might get you to question whether you’re still
saved or not. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true regardless of
how you’re feeling at the moment, regardless of whether you
believe it or not, regardless of how strong or weak your faith may
be. There may be days when the guilt of your sins ways so heavily
on your conscience that you wonder whether you might have disqualified
yourself from eternal life. Listen again to the testimony that
God gives you in His Son, crucified for your sins, risen again from the
dead for your salvation. Hear His absolution and know that God
will not lie to you. When He announces to you that your sins are
forgiven, they are forgiven. There may be other days when you
wonder if what you believe is really true or not. Remember again
that in the Bible you are reading and hearing the eye-witness testimony
of those who saw, heard, and touched Jesus. They saw Him
crucified and they saw Him alive again after His resurrection.
They witnessed His ascension into heaven, proclaimed Him in the world,
and sealed their testimony with their own blood. The Bible more
than sufficiently answers the “How do you know?” question
for us.
Still, there may come those days when you’re
concerned about your faith and how strong or weak it is. Some
people hear John’s words that if you believe in the Name of the
Son of God you can know that you have eternal life, but then they focus
in on the word “believe” and wonder if they believe
enough. What if they struggle with unbelief? What if they
still ask the “How do you know?” question? What if
they still have doubts? Do these things disqualify you from
eternal life? It’s when questions like these arise in our
minds that we go back to John’s words here which focus us in on
God’s testimony, not our faith. Faith trusts in God’s
promises, not in itself. If you look to your faith, you’re
going to see all kinds of weakness associated with it. It
won’t be strong enough. There won’t be enough of
it. It will be plagued with doubt. Instead of looking to
your faith, then, look to your Savior. Though He once looked weak
in His state of humiliation, He was and is your strong Redeemer.
He has secured eternal life for you by atoning for your sins on His
cross and by rising again from the dead. That salvation He has
delivered to you through your Baptism, His Word, and the Holy
Supper. Though you may struggle with doubt and disbelief, you
don’t need to despair. His words and promises remain
certain and sure. He tells you the truth; He will not lie to
you. By trusting in Him and His work for you, you have eternal
life.
The Lord does not want to leave you in doubt.
He wants you to know for certain that you have eternal life. He
doesn’t want you to be guessing. In the man-made religions
and cults of the world you are led to trust in your obedience and your
good works to get you into heaven. It’s only after
you’ve been a good person and followed all the rules that you can
then expect to have a chance at earning eternal life. But in the
end this kind of teaching only leads to despair. It was this kind
of teaching that led Luther to despair. Even after he had done
all kinds of good deeds and works as a very devout Roman Catholic monk
he had to ask himself, “Is it enough? Have I done enough to
earn eternal life? Will God be gracious to me now?”
The answer to those questions will always be “No.”
You will never be able to do enough, nor will what you do be good
enough to earn eternal life. God will not be gracious to you,
because you are a good person. The only person who is good in
God’s eyes is Jesus Christ, and He alone has done more than
enough to earn eternal life for you. With His holy precious blood
and His innocent suffering and death He has redeemed you, a lost and
condemned person, rescued and won you from all sins, from death, and
from the power of the devil, in order that you be His own, live under
Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness,
innocence, and blessedness. For the sake of Jesus, who sprinkled
you with His blood and clothed you with Himself in your Baptism into
His Name, you have a gracious God who has mercy on you daily and grants
you eternal life through faith in Him. This is the Father’s
testimony concerning His Son, given to you through His prophets and
Apostles. What they have written they have written in order that
you who believe in the Name of the Son of God may know for certain that
you have eternal life. Amen.