The Amazing Love of God
John 17:3 (New International Version)
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
This is SO profound! The primary hallmark of eternal life, the thing that the Spirit-inspired writer tells us, is that the concept of "eternal life" can only be understood in RELATIONAL terms (THIS is eternal life: that they may KNOW You!).
Yes - by knowing God the Father and the Son He sent, anointed by the Spirit.
Eternal life is ALL about knowing God the Father and His Son, in the Spirit, in Truth! Comprehending the heart of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in their pure, from-all-time, beautiful, other-centered love relationship (they are ONE!) is posited by John as THE DEFINITION of eternal life! Any notion of eternal life we may have that is APART from seeing THIS God is a poor, distorted caricature at best. How do we "know" God? Understanding that God is Trinity and understanding the AWESOME implications of THAT fact will baptize our vision of God! Many Christian organizations include the doctrine of the Trinity in their Statement of Beliefs, but is appears to be a quaint, inexplicable doctrine that falls FAR SHORT of knowing "You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent."
1 John 4:8 (New International Version)
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
And here, the aged apostle John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reveals more to us about knowing God - which is, as we found above, THE key to eternal life. To KNOW THIS GOD, we must BE LOVING! Again, this makes sense ONLY if the God we worship and KNOW is the God who has ALWAYS lived in a love relationship for eternity past - the Father reveling in the Beloved
Son, the Son loving the Father, all in the fellowship and joy of the Spirit! We are birthed out of this eternal love relationship and love is what we are created for.
1 John 4:16 (New International Version)
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
Oh, what peace and joy and completeness and unearthly assurance we can have in the love God has for us all! The love of God is THE SOURCE of all true communion - between us and God and among ourselves!
ALL PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING BE UNTO YOU, OUR GREAT, LOVING GOD!
Jerome Ellard
Big Sandy, TX
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
This is SO profound! The primary hallmark of eternal life, the thing that the Spirit-inspired writer tells us, is that the concept of "eternal life" can only be understood in RELATIONAL terms (THIS is eternal life: that they may KNOW You!).
Yes - by knowing God the Father and the Son He sent, anointed by the Spirit.
Eternal life is ALL about knowing God the Father and His Son, in the Spirit, in Truth! Comprehending the heart of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in their pure, from-all-time, beautiful, other-centered love relationship (they are ONE!) is posited by John as THE DEFINITION of eternal life! Any notion of eternal life we may have that is APART from seeing THIS God is a poor, distorted caricature at best. How do we "know" God? Understanding that God is Trinity and understanding the AWESOME implications of THAT fact will baptize our vision of God! Many Christian organizations include the doctrine of the Trinity in their Statement of Beliefs, but is appears to be a quaint, inexplicable doctrine that falls FAR SHORT of knowing "You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent."
1 John 4:8 (New International Version)
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
And here, the aged apostle John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reveals more to us about knowing God - which is, as we found above, THE key to eternal life. To KNOW THIS GOD, we must BE LOVING! Again, this makes sense ONLY if the God we worship and KNOW is the God who has ALWAYS lived in a love relationship for eternity past - the Father reveling in the Beloved
Son, the Son loving the Father, all in the fellowship and joy of the Spirit! We are birthed out of this eternal love relationship and love is what we are created for.
1 John 4:16 (New International Version)
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
Oh, what peace and joy and completeness and unearthly assurance we can have in the love God has for us all! The love of God is THE SOURCE of all true communion - between us and God and among ourselves!
ALL PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING BE UNTO YOU, OUR GREAT, LOVING GOD!
Jerome Ellard
Big Sandy, TX