Biola Broadcaster - 1969-04

of life itself. Eternal life is a free gift which God gives to those who believe in His Son, and the gift of life, the experience of fellowship with God through Christ which is eternal life (cf. John 17:3), is God’s final testimony to His Son (cf. verse 20). John has previously written: “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself” (10). He now puts the same truth in these words: He that hath the Son (cf. 2:23 for another use of the verb echein to describe our personal pos­ session of the Father through con­ fessing the.Son) hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (literally, both times, “the life,” RV). The alternative is clear and uncompromising. We cannot escape its logic. Eternal life is in His Son and may be found nowhere else. It is as impossible to have life without having Christ as it is to have Christ without thereby having life also. This is because the Son is the life (1:2; John 11:25; 14:6). Three important truths are taught in these verses about eternal life. First, it is not a prize which we have earned, but an undeserved gift. Secondly, it is found in Christ, so that, in order to give us life, God both gave and gives us His Son. Thirdly, this gift of life in Christ is a present possession. True, it is further described as eternal, aionios, which means literally “belonging to the age,” i.e., the age to come. But since the age to come has broken into this present age, the life of the age to come, namely “eternal life,” can be received and enjoyed here and now. In this paragraph (6-12) John has been elaborating what he has stated briefly in one verse of the Gospel: “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that be­ lieving ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31). The Gos­ pel, recording the words and works

of Jesus, was John’s testimony to Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of God.” The purpose of this testimony was “that you may believe,” and the result of faith is “that believing you may have life in his name.” The way to life is faith, and the way to faith is testimony. The sequence of thought is the same here. God has IT MAY BE THE LAST! It may be the last of the years quickly flying, It may be the year when the Master will come, When the land of the holy, for which we are sighing, Will burst into view . . . the Father’s glad home! It may be the last of the earth’s checkered story, The last of the "desert,” "the fur­ nace," "the thorn," The last, too, of "service in weak­ ness," then glory. The Lord will have come, the star of the morn! It may be the last time on earth to awaken, To finish the story of sorrow and toil, Oft feeling unloved, neglected, forsaken, Oft treading in pain earth’s thorn- covered soil. It may be the last time, the cross daily choosing, The footprints of Jesus retracing below. Earth’s glitter and glamour . . . so tempting . . . refusing, Companionship with the unseen One to know. It may be the last! Then all mystery ending In radiant light from the sunshine of God! And, oh, what a welcome, as we are ascending! ’Twill more than make up for the difficult road. — Max I. Reich 27

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