So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son, just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
- John 5:19-24
The Apostles' Creed ends with us accepting the promise given to us by Jesus that we will see a life everlasting. It is the ultimate hope that one day, not only will death be overcome, but that in our everyday lives we will draw closer to God, the creator of all things. Its not just about living forever. Its about the kind of lives we can start having right now - lives devoted to the worship of the one who made us.
Human beings have tried all kinds of things to fill us up. Power, money, fame, lust, knowledge, you name it. But each one of those leaves us empty. At best, we're distracted for a little while but hungry for more.
When we say Amen to God though, we taste eternity. When we praise the one who made us, we glimpse what we were made for. That is the everlasting life on offer to us through Jesus. And every day, we get a choice: do we choose more of that life?
Once we take on the hope of eternal life, once we make the conscious decision each day to live that life out, our perspective changes. Our greatest fear, that of death, can be overcome. How differently we might behave when we don't live in fear of death and scarcity! How differently the world we build around us might be!
We can live extravagantly generous lives, sure in the knowledge that God the Father has made a place for us by his Son. Waiting for us to come home. Waiting for us to say Amen.
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son, just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
- John 5:19-24
The Apostles' Creed ends with us accepting the promise given to us by Jesus that we will see a life everlasting. It is the ultimate hope that one day, not only will death be overcome, but that in our everyday lives we will draw closer to God, the creator of all things. Its not just about living forever. Its about the kind of lives we can start having right now - lives devoted to the worship of the one who made us.
Human beings have tried all kinds of things to fill us up. Power, money, fame, lust, knowledge, you name it. But each one of those leaves us empty. At best, we're distracted for a little while but hungry for more.
When we say Amen to God though, we taste eternity. When we praise the one who made us, we glimpse what we were made for. That is the everlasting life on offer to us through Jesus. And every day, we get a choice: do we choose more of that life?
Once we take on the hope of eternal life, once we make the conscious decision each day to live that life out, our perspective changes. Our greatest fear, that of death, can be overcome. How differently we might behave when we don't live in fear of death and scarcity! How differently the world we build around us might be!
We can live extravagantly generous lives, sure in the knowledge that God the Father has made a place for us by his Son. Waiting for us to come home. Waiting for us to say Amen.