The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"This Is Life Eternal"
"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).
Upon first consideration, we might think eternal life speaks of duration, namely, that born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ will live forever. This is certainly true. We have "everlasting life" (John 3:16). However, eternal life according to our Savior far more involves relation, that is, who we know and who knows us. We live in fellowship with the Father and Son, as led and enabled by the Holy Spirit.
"And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me" (John 17:22-23).
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (I Corinthians 2:12).
This relationship has already begun in all believers. "Ye have eternal life" declared the Apostle John in the present tense, referencing our present capacity to know the Father and the Son through the Spirit (I John 5:13). Of course, we "walk by faith, not by sight" in our current existence (I Corinthians 5:7). We do not see, hear, or touch our Lord in sensory terms. We do see, hear, and touch Him spiritually as we trust and submit ourselves to Him. By His Spirit, in His Word, through His people, and according to His providential working, God makes Himself known in personal terms as we believe the clearly proclaimed truth of a presently limited, but nevertheless experienced knowledge of Himself.
"The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16).
Ask any born again believer, "Do you know God?" The answer will likely be, "Well, not as well as I should know Him. But yes, by His grace, in unmistakable ways of light and life, I do know Him. And even more, I know that He knows me." The Christian testifies to such a wonder never with arrogance, but with a stark humility that comes the realization of how our relationship with God began, how it continues, and how faithfully He works to lead us in the Heart to heart bond that means so much to both parties. Indeed, consider the cost that made our communion with Him possible…
"He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:21).
A vital aspect of "the righteousness of God in Christ" involves proper standing with God and relationship to Him. It also means that the Lord Jesus suffered divine wrath, rejection, and forsakenness to make such relationship with God possible (Matthew 27:46). For the believer, even in his worst times, to say that he does not know God would constitute a scandalous denial of the cost that made such a gift possible and actual in our hearts. Far too much was sacrificed to fail to avail ourselves of a grace that makes possible and actual living fellowship with the living and true God. We deserve no such blessing. However, it did not come to us, nor does it abide with us based on our merits. It - He - came and remains by blood sacrifice, and every bit as vital, the heart sacrifice whereby "He hath put Him to grief" (Isaiah 53:10).
The next time we feel hesitant, disinterested, or discouraged regarding relating to God, let us remember how ready, willing, and engaged He is to relate to us. "The prayer of the upright is His delight" (Proverbs 15:8). Let us also recall the confirmation of this relationship for which our hearts were made and redeemed. On the cross, the Lord Jesus suffered abandonment by the Father and Holy Spirit He had known "from everlasting" (Psalm 90:3). This tells us all we need to know to find motivation in seeking the fellowship with God purchased by the most inestimable of all costs. This is indeed life eternal, the grace of relationship with God whereby He knows us, and we know Him.
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."
(I Peter 3:18)
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith."
(Hebrews 10-19-22)
Weekly Memory Verse
The LORD is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.
(Psalm 145:17).
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