I Believe in Life Everlasting

David Krueger

Apostles Creed • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

John 3:1–18

Eternal City

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The practical significance of the resurrection to the every-day life of the believer

Notes

Transcript

Text: John 3:1-18

Theme: The practical significance of the resurrection to the every-day life of the believer

Date: 06/06/21 File name: ApostlesCreed16 ID Number: NT04-03

I love satire. Good satire uses humor, irony, exaggeration, and even ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices. One of the very best satire sites on the Internet is called the Babylon Bee. It’s a conservative Christian website that publishes satirical articles on religion, politics, current events, and well-known public figures. They are written like a news article with an eye-catching headline followed by a brief story. They are certainly “fake news” but they often have a bite of reality to them. One of my favorite pieces is entitled: Christian Not Sure Why He Should Look Forward To Heaven When He Already Lives In America. Here’s the article ...

FRISCO, CO—Local Christian man Dave Hearth recently came across an interesting verse in the Bible: Philippians 3:20, which says that our citizenship is in heaven.

Confused, Hearth checked the cross-references and read that we are supposed to set our hearts on things above, not on earthly things. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul even had the "gall" to write that he "longs" to be clothed with his heavenly dwelling instead of his earthly tent.

"I just don't get it," Hearth told reporters. "I already live in the United States of America — what could the eternal state possibly hold for me?"

"I guess I can understand the Bible writer guys saying they long for heaven," he said. "They just lived in Israel, which is pretty nice, but it's not like it's God's chosen country or anything. I just don't feel these verses really apply to me."

Hearth pointed out that he already has baseball, a Chevrolet, and guns, concluding that there's just nothing that eternal life with God could possibly provide him that he doesn't already have. He's now rescinded his eternal citizenship in the new heaven and new earth, saying "thanks but no thanks" to the offer to reside anywhere but the present-day US of A.

"For my citizenship is in America," he said. "I'm just passing through the Kingdom of God."

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1902 to 1932 is attributed with the quote “Some people are so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good.” I don’t think this is much of a problem among Christians in the West any longer. I think that, for the most part, the opposite is true — like our fictitious Dave Hearth, we’re so earthly minded that we’re of no heavenly good. Seriously. When was the last time you had a prolonged meditation on heaven and eternal life? The last clause of the Apostle’s Creed reminds us that eternal life in God’s New Earth is something we believe in, and should also long for.

One of my favorite books is The Pilgrims Progress by 17th century Puritan author John Bunyan. Toward the end of the book Christian and his companion Hopeful are nearing the end of their spiritual pilgrimage. I love how Bunyan describes our Pilgrim's first close-up glimpse of the Celestial City. " ... as they drew near to the city, they had a more perfect view of it. It was built of pearls and precious stones, and the street was paved with gold; and the natural glory of the city and the reflection of the sunbeams upon it made Christian sick with desire.”

Does the thought of life everlasting in God’s celestial kingdom make you sick with desire?

[Read Text]

I. BELIEVERS HAVE ETERNAL LIFE NOW IN CHRIST

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12, NIV84)

1. according to the Apostle John, eternal life is not pie-in-the-sky-in-the-sweet-bye-and-bye

a. eternal life is not something that will only be experienced in the future though it will be experienced in the future most fully

b. for the Apostle John, eternal life is something that begins in the now

1) the Apostle writes, “he who has the son has life”

2) the verb tense in this verse says that eternal life is something every believer has now

a) you don’t have to first die, be resurrected, and then get eternal life

b) which is why Christians alive at the 2nd Coming of Christ will immediately be transformed to be like Christ

3) eternal life came with your new birth in Christ — it’s a done deal, in fact it is a now thing

c. between his gospel, his three epistles and his Book of Revelation, the Apostle John refers to eternal life over 50 times

1) it’s one of his favorite themes

2) it ought to be one of the favorite themes of every believer

2. our eternal life is a gift from God that comes with our salvation — it’s a package deal

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” (1 John 5:11, NIV84)

a. the longing for eternal life is bound up in the very fiber of our being

1) God put it there so we would seek Him

2) eternal longing is the yearning for something sacred, something truly beautiful and deeply satisfying

ILLUS. The 4th century Church Father, Augustine of Hippo, said it this way, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”

b. but ever since our Fall in Eden that inward longing has been too easily satisfied with counterfeits and cheep substitutes

1) those who sought to find it in their own strength through such legendary means as the Holy Grail or the Fountain of Youth were doomed to failure before they even started

3. this longing, that every person has to one degree or another, can only be found in the person of Christ through the new birth

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”” (John 3:1–3, NIV84)

a. want to go from eternal death to eternal life? ... you must be born again

A. ETERNAL LIFE IS A FOREVER LIFE

1. when you trust in Christ, the life of the age to come breaks in on you

a. eternal life is now, eternal life is in Jesus Christ, and eternal life is ... well eternal

2. in 2 Corinthians 5 the Apostle Paul contrasts this present life with eternal life by comparing our earthly body to a tent and eternal body to a building

“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Corinthians 5:1–5, NIV84)

a. Israel knew all about tents

1) they lived in tents, wandering in the wilderness, temporary, on the move, unsettled, never stable, never really at rest for 40 years … looking for the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey

2) in this text the tent and everything it stood for was clearly understood to represent our physical body

b. when we die, says Paul, death is not the ultimate end so many think it to be

c. for the believer death is movin’ on up

ILLUS. Some of you remember the TV show The Jeffersons. It was an American sitcom television series that ran for ten years beginning in 1975. It’s about a Black family in New York City who work hard, save their money and move up from Queens to Manhattan. The show’s opening theme song tells the story ...

Well we're movin' on up

To the east side

To a deluxe apartment in the sky

Movin' on up

To the east side

We finally got a piece of the pie

d. when you die in Christ you’re movin’ on up to something way better than a deluxe apartment in Manhattan

e. forever life means

1) your life is no longer wandering ... you have a building

2) your life is no longer transient ... you have a building from God

3) your life is no longer temporary… you have a building from God ... eternal

4) your life is no longer vulnerable to the elements ... you have a building from God ... eternal ... not made with hands

3. death is not the end of existence

a. it is not a transition to some other life form, depending on the balance in your karma account

b. for those who are born again and walking with the Lord at their death, death is like trading in a temporary tent for a permanent building — eternal in the heavens

B. ETERNAL LIFE IS AN ABUNDANT LIFE

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10, NIV84)

1. eternal life is more than and endless existence — it is a quality of existence that is endless

a. and it is the same quality of life that is in His Son

2. the word “abundant” in John 10:10 means “exceedingly, beyond measure, a quantity so abundant as to be considerably more than what one would expect or anticipate”

a. in short, Jesus promises us a life far better than we could ever imagine

b. the Apostle Paul speaks of this abundance

“But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—” (1 Corinthians 2:9, ESV)

ILLUS. If you’re a Joel Osteen or Joyce Myers fan you hear “abundant life” and immediately begin to have visions of lavish homes, expensive cars, worldwide cruises, and more money than we know what to do with.

c. the Bible tells us, however, that wealth, prestige, position, and power in this world are not God’s priorities for us

1) in terms of economic, academic, and social status, most Christians throughout the history of the world, and even now do not come from the privileged classes

2) clearly, then, abundant life does not consist of an abundance of material things

3. the essence of abundant life is found in John 17:3

a. in his High Priestly prayer to the Father on the night of his arrest, Jesus said ...

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3, ESV)

b. sorry Joel, sorry Joyce, but Jesus makes no mention of length of days, health, prosperity, family, or occupation

ILLUS. In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon writes that he had all the material blessings available to a man yet found it all to be meaningless.

c. as a matter of fact, the only thing John mentions is knowledge of God, which is the key to a truly abundant life

4. the abundance that Jesus talks about is a spiritual abundance and is in contrast to feelings of lack, emptiness and dissatisfaction

a. true abundant life consists of an abundance of love, joy, peace, and the rest of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), not an abundance of “stuff”

b. it consists of life that is eternal, and, therefore, our interest is in the eternal, not the temporal

c. Paul admonishes us, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:2-3)

... Believers Have Eternal Life Now in Christ

II. BELIEVERS VALUE RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS ABOVE ALL ELSE

1. our relationship with Jesus is the source of our eternal life

a. in fact, it is the essence of eternal life

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21, NIV84)

1) to live in Christ is great gain, to die in Christ is even greater gain

ILLUS. Our imaginary Babylon Bee character thought he had everything one could really want in life. To him baseball, a Chevrolet, and guns were the greater gain. How sad that any Christian would ever think like that.

2) the ugly truth about satire is that it often points to a real ugly truth in our lives

2. the ugly truth of this satirical piece is that we put supreme value on way too many other things

a. we value temporal life move than we value eternal life

b. we value relationships with men more than we value our relationship with Christ

3. we think of heaven as way less exhilarating, and way less exciting than this world

a. the world has become our home ... we are comfortable here

b. there is exciting stuff here ... there is fulfillment here ... there is fun here

1) unfortunately there are Christians whose mental image of heaven is sitting in a pew for eternity

2) what an insult to the glory of God that we would think that being in the presence of God is somehow going to be less that what we experience now in this life

c. heaven is not a place of less; it is a place of infinite more

4. all the good things we know in this life will either be amplified infinitely or they will be transcended by things that are so infinitely better that we will not even have any memory of wanting those things that we’ve known here on earth

a. who would want the pleasures of this life when we sit down at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb?

A. ETERNAL LIFE IS A LIFE FOCUSED ON JESUS

1. Jesus is not just a means to an end

a. he is not merely our transport mechanism out of this world into heaven

b. he is not just the way that you get to life everlasting

c. he is the reason you want to live everlastingly

2. eternal life is about more than perpetual life

ILLUS. I’ll be honest with you. If everlasting life is all about floating on a fluffy white cloud playing a harp for an endless eternity, I’m not sure that has much appeal to me. If that’s eternal life then, I too, would rather have baseball, a Chevrolet, and my guns. But if eternal life is all about standing before the Lamb on his throne, worshiping him and praising the one who redeemed my soul from a devil’s hell, then count me in!

a. if we translate eternal life simply as never dying then the lost also have eternal life

1) the authors of the New Testament, however, reject this

2) the lost man who dies without Christ has immortality, but he doesn’t have life everlasting

3) eternal life is not merely about never dying, but about how we will live for all eternity and who we will live with for all eternity

b. if we separate I believe in life everlasting from the previous clause of the Apostles’ Creed, I believe in the resurrection then never dying doesn’t have great appeal

1) the two are integrally linked which is why in John 11:25 Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life ... Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,”

c. it’s life in Christ, that culminates in our eventual total conformity to his nature, including our resurrection unto life that makes all the difference lin “never dying”

3. in the 5th chapter of John’s Revelation he describes a scene of the Lamb of God on his throne and the events that unfold

“And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.” (Revelation 5:6–14, ESV)

a. do you see it? ... do you hear it?

b. Jesus, the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world, is the focus of everything in eternity

1) he is the focus of the four living creatures

2) he is the focus the twenty-four elders

3) he is the focus of the myriads of angels

4) he is the focus of every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth

c. they are all in complete unity on one thing ... “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever”

ILLUS. Dr. R. G. Lee was a great Baptist preacher during the first half of the 20th century. He was the pastor of the Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN for thirty-three years. When Dr. Lee was dying, he suddenly opened his eyes and said to his wife, "I see Heaven! Oh...I didn't do it justice! I see Jesus! I didn't do Him justice!"

4. in this world the focus of the Church is on many things

a. we focus on the great political issues of our day, and are often divided over them

b. we focus on the great social issues of our day, and are often divided over them

c. we focus on the great moral issues of our day, and are often divided over them

d. we even focus on the great theological issues of our day, and are often divided over them

5. but a day is coming when the Church will not be divided because our only focus will be on the Lamb who is on the throne

ILLUS. At the end of Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress, when “Christian” and “Hopeful” have entered the Celestial City, they ask the angels “What shall we do in the holy place?” The angels answer, “You shall wear crowns of gold and enjoy the constant sight of the Holy One, for ‘there you shall see him as he is.’ There also you shall serve continually with praise, shouting, and thanksgiving, Him whom you desired to serve in the world, ... “

... Believers Value Relationship with Jesus above All Else

III. ETERNAL LIFE IS ONLY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE TRUSTED CHRIST

1. this is what the third chapter of John’s gospel is all about

2. many of you know the story

A Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus, one of the most important men in all of Israel, has come to Jesus with questions

He clearly respects Jesus, compliments Jesus and affirms him as a teacher come from God

Jesus virtually ignores the compliment and says “ ... “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”” (John 3:3, ESV)

Nicodemus is taken aback, but in good Rabbinical form asks the question, how can a man enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born

The new birth Jesus is talking is not a natural, worldly birth, but a supernatural, spiritual birth that comes through the work of God’s Holy Spirit

Jesus chastises Nicodemus for not believing because only by faith does one have eternal life and enter the Kingdom of God

A. ETERNAL LIFE COMES BY FAITH IN THE SON

1. there is no secret doors into the Commonwealth of the Eternally happy

a. there is only one point and one pass code

1) his name is Jesus, and it is by faith alone in Christ alone

“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” (1 John 5:11, ESV)

b. only those who trust in Christ have and will have eternal life

1) is that narrow-minded?

2) from a worldly point of view — absolutely

3) but hey ... God sets the rules, and we just deliver them

a) we can deliver them faithfully or we can compromise with the world and modify them to mollify a truth-hating culture

c. the exclusivity of the gospel, established by Jesus himself, is perhaps the most detested part of the gospel

““Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13–14, ESV)

d. in His wisdom, God the Father has determined that only faith in His only Begotten Son will quench that spiritual thirst every person is born with

2. faith in Jesus is not just an intellectual knowledge, but a personal faith-based reliance that says I will trust Jesus with my soul and everything about my life

a. the Bible is clear about this

1) at the end of time, at the last judgment the Bible says some people will say they know Jesus, but Jesus will say he doesn’t know them!

2) the question is not “Do you know about Jesus, but do you really, experientially know about Jesus by faith?”

b. we should strive to follow Paul’s example when he wrote ...

“that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10–11, ESV)

1) that’s the kind of intimate knowing of God that Jesus talked about

B. ETERNAL DEATH COMES BY REJECTION OF THE SON

1. just as there is eternal life for those who die in Christ, there is eternal death for those who do not

a. eternal death is the fate that awaits all people who ultimately reject God, reject the gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ, and remain in their sin and disobedience

1) physical death is a one-time experience

2) eternal death is a perpetual experience

“And [the wicked] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”” (Matthew 25:46, ESV)

2. the doctrine of eternal death is not a popular doctrine to teach or proclaim in our culture

a. to do so often opens one up to scorn and ridicule — when you tell about the exclusivity of the gospel, you’ll be accused of hate speech

b. however, we must not let that detract us from what the Bible so clearly teaches; namely, that due to our being born in sin and trespasses, we are under the just condemnation of God for our sin

c. if we do not embrace the saving message of Jesus Christ, we will perish in our sin and trespasses and be under God’s just judgment for our sin — eternal death

3. this is a sobering doctrine — it is never to be preached gleefully

... Eternal Life Is Only for Those Who Have Trusted Christ

IV. APPLICATION

1. 1st, to the unbelievers here this morning, do you know the Christ of the Scriptures

a. he is God incarnate, the second person of the trinity

b. he came into the world to save sinners which each of us are — none of us have a righteousness of our own — we all stand condemned before a holy God

c. your only hope is to put your faith, your absolute and complete reliance on Christ’s sacrificial death on your behalf as the only source of forgiveness, and eternal life

2. 2nd, to the believes here this morning, if all you have done is believe on Jesus so you won’t go to hell, then you are missing out on the everlasting life the Lord wants to experience now that will carry over into eternity

a. like the character Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress do you long for God’s eternal kingdom — does the thought of it make you sick with desire or do the cares of this world crowd out that longing?

b. is the central focus of your life Jesus?

1) that doesn’t mean that we don’t ignore the worldly part of our lives — our marriages, our families, our hobbies, our friends, our responsibilities

2) it does mean that we keep them in perspective to the eternal things of life

We are going to enjoy God forever. That’s what eternal life is all about. Some day, we will be freed from sin, and we will know the infinite joy of being in Christ, the glory of the Father, and of worshiping before the throne of God in perfect harmony with Him and with each other. No other world faith imagines that. All of our deepest longings will be fulfilled and all of our deepest sorrows will be swallowed up. Amen and amen.

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