There's a statement in the Gospel of John which is simple and yet profound. Only the Son of God Himself could make it. He said, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. What an amazing statement. In that statement we see the scope of salvation. He or whoever believes on me. The Word is at once universal in its scope, meaning that anyone can believe on Him. And yet it shows the individuality of the decision, that each person must make that single decision.
He that believeth, there is the secret of salvation. It is faith apart from works. It means to rely upon or to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. He that believeth on me, the source of salvation, Him alone. He that believeth on me hath, has the sureness of salvation. No questions about it. Belief on Him brings the security of salvation. He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. There's the summary of salvation. Everlasting life.
Everlasting or eternal life is not just life that has a lot of quantity to it. That is life that goes on and on and on forever, but it's life that has quality to it. It means to share the very life of God Himself through our union with Jesus Christ. We talked about that this morning. The fact that when we trust the Savior, we are united to Him in death, burial, and resurrection. And from that moment onward, we share the very same life as He has. Eternal life.
Paul speaks about this in Colossians chapter 3, and I invite you to look at that passage with me, and then we'll read another passage in 2 Corinthians. But first, Colossians 3, beginning in verse 1. If then you have been raised up with Christ, there's that co-resurrection we were talking about this morning. If then, or better, since then, you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. And then turn to 2 Corinthians, the fourth chapter, as we see something more regarding this matter of our life in Christ. I'm going to begin in verse 11 of 2 Corinthians 4.
For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we also believe, therefore we also speak. Noring that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.
For all things are for your sakes that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. A person who shares the life of Jesus Christ has a new perspective on life in this world, his life here. Because of his faith in Christ, he is a possessor of eternal life. And that brings a whole different view of things. Back in the old days, when I was young, as my children like to say it, back in the old days, we used to sing a chorus. It went like this, things are different now.
Something happened to me when I gave my heart to Jesus. Things are different now. I was changed. It must be when I gave my heart to him. Things I loved before have passed away. Things I love far more have come to stay. Things are different now. Something happened that day when I gave my heart to him. One who trusts the Lord Jesus Christ and who therefore possesses eternal life is different. I'd like to talk about the difference that eternal life makes this evening.
In the first place, the one who has eternal life sees things differently. Things are not the same once one has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ. The world around us loves things and uses people. But one who trusts the Savior in truth loves people and uses things. What does one use things for? All the temporal things of life, those things that seem to demand so much of us, those things that tend to consume us and which call upon us to love them rather than just use them.
Those temporal things become tools for us to use. Tools for us to use in ministering to other people. Those temporal things become means to an end. They become instruments for us to use to help people and to glorify God. The danger that all of us face is that these things rather become the ends rather than the means to the end. That the things become gods instead of only goods that we use.
That's why we're exhorted in Colossians as we are, set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. The fact is that the things on the earth are passing away. We might be tempted to say, well of course, that's the way I live every day of my life. But if we examine our hearts carefully, most of us will find a struggle regarding things, especially in our culture. We are willing to sacrifice a lot, a lot of quality in life for things that we might enjoy.
It's not that those things are wrong in themselves. Things are a part of life, aren't they? And yet when those things become the focus of our life, when they become the reason for our living, somehow we've missed it. One who has eternal life has a difference made. He tends to see things differently. Things become a means to be a blessing to other people and not a reason for living. The only way to really enjoy life is to yield up our things to God, to use them rather than letting them use us.
How tragic to live for things and to accumulate things in this world only to die and to enter heaven because we're saved, but to enter heaven as it were impoverished of reward. The things that God blesses us with and the poorest of us in terms of the world at large is rich in things. The things that God blesses us with are intended to be used by us, not to use us. God wants us to see those things differently than the society around us.
He wants us to see those things as His provision for us, not to use selfishly for ourselves, but to use those things to be a blessing to other people. One who has eternal life sees things differently. One who has eternal life also sees people differently. He sees people differently. The apostle mentions this in 2 Corinthians 5 in the context of where he talks about the love of Christ controlling him and that one died for all, that we who live might no longer live for ourselves but for him.
He says as a result of this, this change of perspective in verse 16, therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer. One who has eternal life sees people differently. The New International Version puts verse 16, the first part of it, this way, so from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. How do you see people? There are some who see people as pawns.
To them life is something like a game and people are the pieces on a chessboard as it were and they move people around and adjust their relationship to them in order to gain the greatest advantage for themselves. People are to be used like in a game. Others see people as obstacles. Obstacles that stand in the way of what they want and they're willing to do whatever they have to do to remove the obstacles in their lives to accomplish their ends. What a sad and tragic way to live.
Others see people as nuisances. To them people are just something to put up with. Other people are just something that's a part of the downside of life and the thing they really look forward to is to get away from the nuisances around them. And then there are those who see people as enemies. To them life is like a big war. There's that side and my side and the real purpose in life is to win, to be the victor at the end and other people are seen as enemies.
How tragic to see people in any of those lights. One who has eternal life sees people differently. One who shares the life of Jesus Christ, which is what eternal life really is, sees people as individuals and each individual is God's creation and potentially God's child. It's hard to look at people that way, especially nasty people. People you don't like to be around. You probably don't have people like that in your life, but some do.
People that are just difficult, who seem to enjoy making life miserable for everybody else in the office. People. But one who has eternal life, who has God's perspective, looks at people, even difficult people and he recognizes that that person is the creation of God. However marred, however distorted that image of God be because of what sin has done, that person has the life, the natural life of God in him.
And that person is a potential child of God and so he sees that person as Christ sees him. Too often we're tempted to see people from a worldly point of view, aren't we? There are people around whom we cower and shrink. We see them because of their position perhaps or their wealth. There are others that we look upon with some spite because we think ourselves better than they are. They're poor or they're lowly or they don't have it all together. There are others that we admire. The elite.
The ones that seem to have arrived, the ones who are quote successful as success is measured. How do you see people? Those people that you work with, those people in your neighborhood. May I encourage you as a child of God to look at them differently than you might normally but see them as Christ sees them. See them as lost sheep who need a shepherd. That's how Jesus saw them. He sees them as lost children who need to be restored to the Father. Do you see them that way?
It is easy for us to look down upon others. To see ourselves in relation to them and to see ourselves above them or better than them. Oh not because of what we are of course we say but because of what God has done. How sad when we see people that way. Oh that we might see people through the eyes of Jesus because we share his life.
Because we have eternal life it makes a difference the way we see that person in the office or that neighborhood, neighbor, that person that we are friends with, that schoolmate. We see that person as Jesus would see them. That's a challenge friend. Oh there are some people it's easy to see that way. But there are some people it's hard to see that way. Oh that God would give us the eyes of Jesus. To see especially those that are unlovely as he sees them and as he loves them.
The difference eternal life makes we see things differently and we see people differently. And then one who has eternal life sees the future differently. As we look at the future that is before us there are some things that ought to be concerns I suppose. One of the things that all of us realize is the decline of our culture, of our society. How long are we going to be able to last anyway at the rate we're going?
Spending up our resources, living on borrowed money, pushing ahead with loose immoral living and approving that in our midst. Making pornography, making that a part of our culture and our neighborhoods. How long is this culture going to be able to last? It's uncertain. Then of course as believers in Jesus Christ we look at the future and we say how long is it going to be before we face some kind of a significant persecution?
Right now there is building up tremendous tension in our culture between two forces that are opposing each other. Right now it's those who are pro-death and those who are pro-life. Our culture is developing into camps. We are less and less a unified people, the ideal of pluralism, it's only an ideal. It can never be reached in any society. I think it's Bill Gothard who says that a society that is pluralistic is only in transition from one set of moral standards to another.
That's where our society is headed. Our society is dividing up into camps around various issues. And it may not be long before there is a tremendous force exerted against those who believe what you and I do about God and about the Bible and about Jesus Christ. But then to bring it down to a more personal level, what about growing older? Isn't that fun? That happens to all of us. There is an alternative, but you might not want to think about that too hard.
Growing older is a part of life and yet there are many uncertainties with growing older. As you grow older, am I going to be able to take care of myself? Will I have the health to do that? Will I have the money to retire on? Where will we live? Where will we be in relation to our children? Where are many uncertainties in life as we grow older and all of us are?
Then though we don't like to think about it, if you look at the statistics, many of us sitting right here in this room will suffer in our lifetime from some kind of a serious disease. Perhaps cancer, perhaps a disease of the heart, or something else that is less common than those two, but statistically the facts are that in the future many of us are going to face some kind of a life-threatening illness. Well, it's fun to look at the future, isn't it?
But the fact is that one who sees the future, even with these rather gloomy pictures that I've painted, sees the future differently. As Paul says in Colossians. I knew it was in there somewhere between Philippians and the next book. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. Overarching all of the things I've said about the future that are rather gloomy is this bright truth.
In fact, I see here in these four verses three of four spiritual realities that ought to possess us because we have eternal life. So that as we look at the uncertainties, we are not dragged down by them. We see the future differently than the average person in the world. In the first place, we see that God is in control, that he is on the throne. If you've been raised up with Christ, keep seeking those things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Friend, you and I have a Savior who is at the very right hand of God, the place of utmost supremacy in all of the universe. We are one with him. We have been united with him. We share his life. So as you and I see the future, we can see it differently. Our Savior is in control. He is in a position of sovereignty. Whatever he allows to come to my life or to yours is purposed for our good, for our benefit.
There is nothing that can happen to us that will snatch us away from his good purposes because he is in control. And suggested here in this verse also is the fact that the same God who is in control is able to meet our needs because he is on the throne. We may come to him in our time of deepest distress and greatest anxiety and know that he who is on the throne receives us and he hears us and he intervenes on our behalf. We who have eternal life see the future differently because of that.
We have a resource, capital R, on that. Jesus Christ who stands at the right hand of God who intercede for us. And then this same Christ is keeping us secure. Your life is hidden with Christ in God, says in verse 3. There are uncertainties about the future. The possibility of disease, just growing older, persecution perhaps, the decline of our society and what that is going to mean to us in the future. Yes, all of those things are out there. The fact is that we have one who keeps us secure.
Our life is hidden with him in God. The springs of our life go to the eternal person of Jesus Christ himself. You and I can see the future differently because of that. And then the verse we read, verse 4 of Colossians 3, one day he is going to come and he is going to be revealed, revealed in his glory and it says that when that happens we will be revealed with him in glory. What does the future hold for us? Well we don't know what it holds in the next year or the next day.
But we know that at some point the future holds the return of the Savior. And when he comes and his glory is exposed, then in that same instant as his glory is revealed you and I are going to be caught up with him and be like him. We will share his glory. There are reasons for those who don't know Christ to look at the future with great big question marks, with big thunder heads and lightening and gloom. For those of us who know Jesus Christ the future is different.
The same possibilities are before us and before others. But the fact is that behind all of that darkness, all of the looming possibilities, there is the bright sunshine of the promises of God. There is our relationship with Jesus Christ that cannot and will not ever change. There is our security in him. One who has eternal life sees the future differently. Well my friend in Jesus Christ, my fellow believer, my brother, my sister, by the grace of God you are a possessor of eternal life.
Not just then and there, but here and now it's yours, it's a gift from God. Are you living in the light of that? Is that eternal life that God has given to you through Jesus Christ making a difference? Does it affect the way that you truly look at things? Does it affect the way that you look at people? Does it affect the way that you look at the future?
And in light of things and people and the future, are you living now so that on that day when you see Jesus face to face as we shall, you'll be able to stand before him and give an account that will bring his commendation. Oh, let that be our hearts desire. Let that be the driving motive of our lives that when we stand before him we may be accepted by him. That is accepted by him and here well done, thou good and faithful servant. One who has eternal life is different.
Now it's possible for one who has eternal life to live below that, to live below his privileges, to live below his position. How tragic that we should do that when God has lifted us up in Jesus Christ into the heavenly places and gives us the joy, gives us the privilege of seeing and using things as instruments for his glory.
Seeing life as a stewardship for him, how wonderful that he's lifted us up and enables us to look upon people, not as pawns, not as nuisances, not as enemies, but as dear people whom God loves and wants to save. How wonderful that he lifts us up in Jesus Christ and allows us to see the future beyond the clouds on the horizon, to look beyond the clouds and see the sun that shines, the bright promises of God that will never change.
He who has eternal life, he who believes on me, said Jesus has eternal life. What a difference that makes. I hope it's made a difference in your life, that you're living in light of who you are in Christ and I hope that you've believed on him and that you have the assurance of that eternal life. Not life that would just live forever, but a quality of life that comes because you are united with Jesus Christ. Let's pray.
With our heads bowed and as we just look inside for a moment before we go, how do you see things? I mean really. You may understand how Christians ought to see things, but do you really look at things differently than that person who sits across the office from you or who works in the same plant or teaches in the same institution? How do you see people? I mean really. Do you see them through the eyes of Jesus as sheep? Bewildered and lost, fleeced, the Juanita Shepherd?
How do you see the future? Is it bright with the promises of God? If not, perhaps it would be good to go back to the basics tonight. Right back to the very foundation of it all and to ask yourself the question, do I have eternal life? Have I really believed on Jesus Christ? Or have I grown up with some language that I've used? Have I sort of inherited this thing called Christianity and never made it my own? If you've not trusted the Savior for yourself, would you trust Him tonight?
He said, He that believes on me has eternal life. Believe on Him. And if you've believed on Him, let that eternal life make a difference this week, a difference in the way that you see things and people and the future. Lord Jesus, you are life. You are the fullness of life. You are abundant life and we love you. We desire that the life you have given to us as a gift of grace, that that life will make a genuine difference in the way that we live.
I pray that this week, as we deal with things, as we encounter people, as we enter the future, that we'll enter it as the children of God. And hear your well done one day when we see you face to face. Thank you for this Lord's Day and for our meeting together here in church. We are mindful that there are many tonight who have no hope of eternal life. Lord, burden our heart for those, our friends, our neighbors. And stimulate us to reach out to them with genuine care and love for Jesus' sake.
And to build bridges into their lives so that they too might believe on Him and have eternal life. Thank you for hearing us and meeting with us tonight. Amen.