‘Celebrating
Salvation’
Sermon Review
4 February 2001
1 John 5:11-13
In many, if not most of us here, an extraordinary miracle has occurred – a most extraordinary miracle of unheralded proportion, I might add – the receiving of eternal life. The reading from 1 John clearly shows that John believed that eternal life was given through the Son, that the Lord Jesus Christ, and whoever has the Son has eternal life. Elsewhere, John wrote that those who believed in Christ received eternal life J. 3:16 and therefore it is fair to conclude that believing in Christ involved receiving Christ. In fact John states this, as well as indicating that there were those who had received Him, and those who had not John 1:12. So in his mind it was quite clear – eternal life came about through receiving the Son – you have the Son and you have eternal life; you don’t have the Son you don’t have eternal life. The reason is, of course, eternal life is not some simple cellular alteration, or genetic manipulation, nor is it some cold calculating legal transaction. It is a result of the ongoing presence of One who is indestructible and who imparts such life to those whom He inhabits – that, the triune God John 14:6, John 5:26, 14:17,23 by means of the Holy Spirit. That is why so much is made of the presence of God or the presence of the Holy Spirit within the believer Rom 8:9, 1 Cor 2:12, 6:19 etc.
So, if the miracle if receiving Christ and therefore eternal life, has taken place in your personal life, and knowing that is not simple a legal transaction, but due to the presence of God Himself in your life – when did you last celebrate it?
The Creator of this universe, this world, resides in you in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and a result provides, among many other things, eternal life, is staggering and mind-boggling, but true, if you have seriously repented and believed in Christ as your own personal saviour and Lord. How do you go about celebrating this fact?
I think that the truth is that too often this wonderful truth, this staggering reality is lost in the struggles of daily living, and bleached of its significance. It no longer really thrills us, or inspires us, or excites us, though deep down we believe that it should. Too often we celebrate a lot of things e.g. birthdays, wedding anniversaries, football and sporting finals, and personal achievements, yet don’t seem to find the time nor the inclination to really celebrate the most important event ever to happen in our own personal lives, and those of whom we love. We fall into the trap of the original disciples. They celebrated the wrong things and had to be corrected by Jesus to celebrate the right thing, namely, that their names were written in the Book of Life (Luke 10:20). There is celebration in heaven when people are saved, the inspiring note of celebrate is hard-wired into the stories of the lost sheep, coin and son Luke 15. It is a shame that it is not hard-wired into us.
As appreciation and thankfulness are important precursors to celebration, let prompt a little of that in ourselves this morning so we really can remedy our lacklustre responses to God’s amazing miracle of the gift of eternal life.
Alarming Realities:
The Scriptures indicate a number of dreadful realities. The spiritual death in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3), provided an alarming birth defect Ps 51:5, which leaves people in a condition described as a living death. Eph. 2:1. A condition which has had devastating consequences e.g. Eph 4:18 – addled thinking, ignorance, loss of moral sensitivity, deceitful desires etc. In other words, there is an extensive toxic internal, personally corruptive force, wreaking havoc without each human being. We are by nature opposed to God, irrespective of our words and works Rom 8:7, blinded from the truth by Satan 2 Cor 4:4, and unacceptable to God Rom 3:10. Each human -being therefore in an intractable and hopeless condition, and without resource to change the facts. To put it bluntly, all have a bad heart and a bad record, neither of which we can do anything about. As Paul puts it in Eph 2:12, "We are without hope and without God in this world."
So three things have to happen to enable a person to be able to receive eternal life -–three things that can only be achieved by God. They are to provide forgiveness and removal of guilt for our bad record, a radical new nature, and influence to draw us to receive both of these.
1. Forgiveness comes through faith in the death of Christ Rom 3:21-25 who was the one time only sacrifice for all sin Heb 10:12, 1 Jn 2:2, and as one if forgiven, their guilt is removed. You couldn't provide this, only Christ could.
2. The radical change that has to take place for salvation to occur is regeneration Titus 3:5. Jesus called it "being born again’ John 3:5-7. Without this our old nature would stay the same. Being forgiven and have guilt removed as a legal transaction would still not give us eternal life or equip us to live with God for eternity. We would still be cut off from the life of God, unable to relate to Him, nor have a close relationship with Him, and we would still have this toxic force running rampant without, causing us to betray Him. Flesh can give life to flesh, but not spirit, and that is what is necessary for a person to undergo the necessary transformation which will allow them to relate to God and go to heaven 1 Cor 15:50, 1 Cor 2:12-14. Again, you cannot do it.
3. Furthermore, we would not even want to have these things done in us or for us unless God took the trouble to draw us to Himself ie. to influence and persuade, to equip and enable us to place our faith in Christ for salvation in the first place e.g. John 6:44, 16:8, 1 Cor 12:3.
None of these solutions could be provided by ourselves. That is, they cannot be copied, nor duplicated by human means. All our goodness, effort, religiousness, sacrifice, and faith would do nothing unless he provided something to place our faith in that would solve these things. The sacrificial death of Christ; all of our best intentions, ethical surgery, conscientious meditation, reflection, determination, and theologising, philosophising and earnest efforts at reshaping our inner life, would have been useless unless the Holy Spirit gave us a new birth and a new nature. All of our well-wishing, rational reflection, and self flagellation would never have sent us seeking Christ in the first place. The truth is that we cannot purchase, earn, nor accidentally fall into forgiveness, neither can we force ourselves to seek Christ.
Wonderful Realities:
What this means is that receiving eternal life is an incredible miracle. It is not only receiving of the God of the Universe and enjoying the radical effects of His presence within. It is also something that we cannot provide for ourselves, nor accidentally fall into, or for that matter, gradually get. Obviously, there must come a moment when it happens. A person either has Christ in their life or not; they either have eternal life or not. Or as it is said elsewhere, a persona has either been transferred from one kingdom to another or not Col 1:13; they are either washed in rebirth and renewed by the Holy Spirit or not- Titus 3:5; they are either born again, or not John 3:5-7, 1:13.
Perhaps you may think that it is not as clear cut as that in practice? It is true that for some the process of coming to a point of faith is long, and one cannot always pinpoint when the moment of receiving Christ took place, and therefore when their rebirth or transferral from one kingdom to another, happened. But there must come a time when the reality of this rebirth must be consciously discerned, and eternal life as a gift received in the now is grasped. The Christian life is to be lived as a response to these things, not as a means of making them happen, or in the hope that it will happen. That is why John stresses this so strongly in 1 John 5:11-13. Eternal life is something that a person receives now, and is given reassurances from God concerned it Rom 8:16, Rom 5:5, Gal 5:22, as well as the Scriptures. Having eternal life now is something that we must be sure of.
If you are not sure whether you have really received Christ, or as it is variously put, been born, again, or been regenerated by the washing of rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit, then it is time you sorted that out. You cannot have eternal life without receiving Christ because His presence via the Holy Spirit gives a person a new nature, and in doing, so equips to live eternally. All else is religiousness and uselessness with regard to eternal life. If you are not sure this has taken place in your life then either come to the front now, or come and talk to me afterwards.
Conclusion:
It is by God’s grace that you and I have been saved and given eternal life. It is not a cool and dispassionate legal transaction but a wonderful miracle of supernatural power as well as an incredible act of mercy and love. Grasping these things will not only lead to gratitude and appreciate for the magnitude of what has taken place in your life, if Christ is in your life, but it must lead you to celebrate with passion the gift of eternal life that you have received when you received Christ. So how are you going to celebrate the gift of eternal life that you have now? What yearly ritual, perhaps like a birthday, will you introduce into your life? How and when will you celebrate it in a meaningful way? Find a way to firmly embrace the fact of having eternal life now by deliberately celebrating the gift that God has given you.
Blessings