Our Eternal Hope
As those who have personally received
the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior,
we are to face physical death with
full assurance that we have eternal life.
Here's Dr. Gene Getz:
John has recorded the story of Lazarus
to illustrate this Principle.
And it's illustrated in such a marvelous, marvelous way.
So let's just move right into the story
which I've called Lazarus' Sickness.
Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany,
the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ...
And of course, if you know the story of
Mary and Martha and Lazarus,
you know that they lived in Bethany and
Jesus Loved to just recline.
I often say, just kick off His sandals and rest.
He loved to be there.
And Mary and Martha ministered to Him.
And Lazarus was a very close friend.
Bethany is relatively close to Jerusalem.
And notice what we read, continuing here in this story.
...Mary was the one who anointed the Lord
with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair,
and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick.
So the sisters sent a message to him...
Now Jesus is beyond the Jordan, some
distance away from Bethany but it's in
the vicinity of Jerusalem in Judea.
...Lord, the one you love is sick. ...
And that shows the kind of relationship
that Jesus had with Lazarus.
...When Jesus heard it, he said:
This sickness will not end in death
but is for the glory of God, so that the
Son of God may be glorified through it.
Now again, as I said, He's on the other side of Jordan.
This is some distance. And the disciples
really thought that Jesus was saying that
he's asleep or he's sick and it'll go away.
But that's not what Jesus was talking about
when He mentioned Lazarus' sickness.
When the message got to Him.
And we read a very direct statement to
the disciples to let them know what
has happened to Lazarus.
So Jesus then told them plainly, Lazarus has died. ...
Lazarus is dead.
And notice what Jesus said:
...I'm glad for you that I wasn't there so
that you may believe. ...
Now why does John include this miracle about Lazarus?
So that we might believe.
And here you see that application to the
disciples themselves.
Many other signs that Jesus did in the presence
His disciples, which are not written.
But these are written that you might believe.
And then Jesus said:
...But let's go to him.
Now, when Jesus comes, He shared with
Martha, first of all, these very, very reassuring words.
Jesus said to her,
I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. ...
This is a personal message to
Lazarus' sister, Martha:
...Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this? ...
And notice her confession:
...Yes, Lord, she told him,
I believe you are the Messiah,
the Son of God, who comes into the world.
Again, we see a very direct statement
from her that correlates with the whole purpose
as to why John recorded this Gospel.
That we might believe.
And so you have all of these illustrations
of people who came to faith, who believed.
And it's interesting that this is the fifth
descriptive "I am" where Jesus said: I am.
Let me review the first four and then
culminate with this one. Jesus said:
I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever.
Every time Jesus said "I am" this or that, it's ended with
reassurance that we have eternal life.
Notice the second time:
Jesus spoke to them again:
I am the light of the world.
Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness
but will have [what?] the light of life.
Eternal Life. And then He said a third time:
I am the gate.
If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and
will come in and go out and find pasture.
Again referring to the life that we have in Jesus Christ.
Then fourthly, He said:
I am the good shepherd.
I lay down my life for the sheep.
And of course He goes on to say that
no one will ever take them away from me.
We have eternal life. And then here with the
story of Lazarus, Jesus said to Martha:
I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.
And there, of course, He's talking about
life beyond the grave.
Now in our next Principle, we're going
to look more specifically at this great truth.
But at this point, I want to simply think about
application of what Jesus was saying.
And it' simply another question about
assurance as it relates to the Gospel of John.
What other statements in John's Gospel
can we use to reassure people that true believers
have eternal life the moment they
received the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior?
Well let me just share a few of these. Very familiar,
but again it just shows the whole
purpose of the Gospel of John.
John 3:16. How can we forget that:
For God loved the world in this way:
He gave Hhs one and only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him will
not perish but have eternal life.
Again, John 3:36:
The one who believes in the Son has
eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son
will not see life; instead,
the wrath of God remains on him.
Another statement, John 10:28:
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.
No one will snatch them out of my hand.
And then in John 20:31, which is a
statement of the purpose and why
he's recorded these signs:
But these are written so that you may believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,
and that by believing you may have
life in his name.
In our next Principle we'll look for
specifically at this great truth and how it
should impact us as we face death.
Particularly our loved ones and the
reassurance we can have as it relates to
Lazarus' death. And ministry to
Mary and Martha, and those who loved Him.
So here's that Principle to Live By that
comes from this passage:
As those who have personally received
the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior,
we are to face physical death with
full assurance that we have eternal life.
And here's the question again that
relates to these wonderful statements.
And I hope you go back and review them
because they're powerful
statements in the Gospel of John.
What other statements in John's Gospel
can we use to reassure people that
true believers have eternal life the moment
they receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior?
I hope out of the ones I shared with you,
you will never forget one that is the
most beautiful statement in all of Scripture:
For God loved the world
in this way: He gave his one and only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
will not perish but have eternal life.