Virtual Bible Study: 1 John 5

Welcome to the this week's Virtual Bible Study!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long).

This Week’s Reading is 1 John 5. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:11-12

Really living!

I am fascinated with science’s search for life on other worlds! Recently I read an article about a Mars probe that will be launched to seek out signs of microscopic life on Mars! The probe will land on the poles and begin to search for extremeaphils, little bacteria who enjoy living in the worst places! That’s not all. With the recent discovery of so many extra-solar planets, the chances of finding other life in the universe have gone up exponentially. In time we will discover countless worlds rich with water and oxygen. Personally I think deep down inside, that there is other life, even intelligent life, out there in God’s Great Universe! God is too great to have only created life here on earth!

Still one question has always troubled me. What is...life? What is the definition of life? Is it the ability to reproduce? A self-propelled movement of cells? Is it the intake of nutrients and the expelling of waste? Is that life? What makes a human being alive? Is it their heart beating or their brain working? Is it the ability to think, to talk, to act? Or is it just the ability to remain alive by themselves? Is that life? What does it mean to be truly alive?

That question is at the heart of so many debates storming our country today. From the definition of life before birth to the sad end of life at death. It is also question that John addresses in this last chapter of his first letter. John asks the question: What is life? And what makes us alive? Truly alive? Is life more than just the in and out breath? Is there more to life than a heart beating in our chest or the firing of neurons in our head?

John thinks there is more to life and that “more” is found in one place: Jesus Christ! Faith in Jesus separates those who are alive, truly alive, from those who aren’t. Faith in Jesus Christ brings life to the dead! Gives eternal life to mere mortals. Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God have this life and those who don’t believe...don’t!

This might seem rather harsh to us 21st Century Christians. We look around at our neighbors and friends who don’t believe in Jesus and think: “But they’re living, right? They’re alive just like I am? They breathe and function and live their lives? They have friends and relatives, loved ones. They cry and love and live just like I do. What makes me so special?”

But are they really truly alive? Do they have eternal life? John would answer no because Christ Jesus is “the true God and eternal life.”(vs. 20) Those who reject Christ “make God out to be a liar because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.”(vs. 10) Eternal life is found with Christ alone and it is only through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ that we are ever truly alive.

Imagine it like this. You, in Christ, are riding the ocean in a raft while others, who are without Christ, struggle to swim the current. You are safe. Nothing will harm you. While your neighbor without Christ isn’t so safe. The current is rough and it will take a miracle for them to survive. Even now sharks are swimming around them. Now, which one in this scenario is truly alive? Is it the one swimming to save themselves? Or the one safely aboard the raft? And what would be the loving, kind, and compassionate thing for the rafted one to do here? Let the poor people drown? Or encourage them and invite and bring them the aboard the raft where life, even eternal life, even, is?

One writer put it this way: “Existence is universal, but life is given by Christ.” We could look at it this way. In order to truly live...to live life as God would want us to live it...it must be in Christ. Our existence is meaningless without him. We need an infusion of John in our churches today. An reading of his letter reminding us where our life is hidden, who holds our lives in His hand, and what our mission in this life truly is. Amen.

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...

1. Think of a person in your life who is apart from Christ, who might now know Jesus Christ as Lord of their life. How might you approach that person and invite them on the raft? What words and actions would encourage them to believe in Jesus Christ and come to him?

2. Do you agree with John that life is found in Christ Jesus alone? Or not?

3. What benefits and life have you found personally believing in Jesus Christ?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it here.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...

Almighty God, you sent Jesus to be our life and bring us into your eternal life. Give us courage to reach out to our neighbor with boldness and confidence, proclaiming the goodness of Christ who has brought us from death into his eternal life. Amen

Next week: A new book! The book of Amos! See you next week!