See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life. (1 John 2:24-25)
A debate is going on right now in our society concerning whether medical science ought to focus on substantially lengthening the human life-span. Of course, because of the advances in medical science the average life-span is getting a little longer. Currently, in this Country, the average life expectancy is around 72 years. The maximum life-span, however, is around 120 years. And speculation that medical science could increase this to between 160 and 180 years is fueling the debate.
Would you like to live to be 180 years old? It is an interesting question. And the answer depends on a number of variables. For instance, what would the quality of your life be? You see, few people would like to live to be 160 or 180 years old if the quality of their life was poor. If after a certain age you were still plagued with sickness, degenerative disease, and pain, living to be very old would be a burden not a blessing. If, on the other hand, one could live longer without feeling the effects of aging, then that would be another story. This is why we want to find the fountain of youth. Unfortunately, it cannot be found in the plastic surgeon’s office.
Christians talk about living forever. And often the world has no idea what we mean. In fact, some people may think we are talking about living forever like we live now. This is why it is important for us to understand what we mean when we talk about eternal life. Eternal life, you see, is as much about the quality of life as it is about the quantity or length of life. And when defined like that, it is the most precious and desirable commodity around.
Throughout history, people have sought to find the secret of eternal life. Sadly, much of that endeavor has been to live a good enough life in order to earn eternal life. This is our way, not God’s way. It seems right to us, but the Bible indicates that the result is death. That is because there is no way we can ever be good enough to earn eternal life. That is not the secret of eternal life.
So, what’s the secret? The apostle John gives us the answer in our text today. It is the secret of an eternal life that is characterized not only by living forever but by living forever with the highest quality of life imaginable.
The first key to eternal life is remembering what we know. In verse 24, John points us back to the essentials of the Gospel message. What we find here is really a command. He exhorts us to see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. And what is that which they had heard from the beginning. It was the truth of the message of the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ, the Word of life.
John goes on to tell us that we are to see that this message remains in us. The word translated "remains" is also translated as "abides." I like the word abide a little better because it gives us a better picture of what John is trying to express. He is trying to tell us that we must let the truth of the message of the life of Christ take root in our very being. It must dwell in us in such a way that it impacts our life.
This is where we see the difference between an intellectual understanding of the word of truth and a personal commitment to live out the message. Far so often, in the Western church, we have thought that if we only understood the truth, that was enough. After all, didn’t the Bible say that we would know the truth and that knowing the truth would set us free? That is indeed what the Bible says. What the Bible means far more than many people understand it to mean at this point.
When the Bible says that we will know the truth, it means far more by the word know than most people understand. What is in view here is not a casual knowledge of the truth but an intimate, life-changing commitment to obey the truth. This is a deep, personal knowledge which impacts every area of our life. Unless we know the truth in this way, we will never experience the life-changing power of the truth. If you know that you are free and never live in that freedom, you are still bound.
Abiding in the word of life leads to a place of abiding in the life of God. Listen to what John says in the second half of verse 24. After he has told us to abide in the word of life, he says concerning the word of life abiding in us: If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. If we abide in word of life we will also abide in the life of God.
Here he sets forth the key to everything for the Christian. Christianity is all about a relationship with Jesus Christ. The power of Christianity to change a human life, and indeed to change the entire world, comes from the life of Jesus Christ. As the believer abides in Christ, Christ abides in the believer. Having the presence of Christ in your life is all about your relationship to Him.
John also wrote about this in his Gospel in chapter 15. Listen to what he records Jesus as saying.
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)
The key is to be plugged into our power source – Jesus Christ. This is what it means to remain in or abide in Christ. To the extent we remain plugged in we will experience the life giving power of God. And to the extent that we do not remain plugged in, we will not experience the life of God.
Remember what John said. He said if it does. There is a condition for abiding in the life of God. That condition is that we are living our lives by His word. We are living in obedience to His word. It does not come by occasionally reading the your Bible, or occasionally attending church. It does not even come by attending church every time there is a service. No, it only comes by a moment by moment commitment to live out the word of God. Listen to what Jesus said in John 14:23: "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." It is as clear as day. If we walk in the truth of the word of God, we will experience the life of God. We will have fellowship with the Son and with the Father. They will come and make their home with us. And we will be at home with them.
Abiding in the word of life brings us to a place of abiding in the life of God which is in itself abiding in the eternal life. Listen to John in verse 25: And this is what he promised us – even eternal life.
What is eternal life? It is abiding in the life of God. It is having the eternal Son of God living His life in you and through you. It is being in fellowship with the Father. It is living by the Word. It is experiencing the abundance of God’s peace and joy that flows out of His real presence in your life.
Of course, we also get to live forever. But we live forever in this new abundant life. And we get to taste it here and now. What happens when we come to Christ and begin to live by His Word is that we embark on a new dimension of living that will inevitably and unalterably lead us to transcend this earthly existence in what we call eternal life. This is the greatest miracle of all. That God could take people like us — people full of sins, people lurching headlong toward eternal condemnation and Hell — that He could change our eternal destiny and give us the highest quality of life imaginable is indeed the most miraculous of all miracles.
This is why Jesus came. This is why He died on the Cross. He came and died to reach out and touch us. He came to change our eternal destiny. He came to save us. And He did. And that’s the secret of eternal life.
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