For The Record

1 John 5:11 “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”

1 John 5:12 “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

I’m sure you’ve heard someone “speak for the record” before.

When someone speaks for the record it means that what they’re saying isn’t just idle words, or messing around, or casual conversation… they’re saying something they want written down, remembered, quoted, to be referenced at a later date and for all time… it is speaking officially.

And we take people seriously when they go on record, and so does the law.

…How much more when God speaks for the record? … as the Bible says “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater”

… What that means is, what God says is more important than what you or I or the other guys say!

… thank God!

See, you going on record might mean something, most probably just to you more than anyone else, but God going on record means everything. It is final authority and applies to every single person who has ever lived and ever will.

And the Bible says in 1 John 5… “and this is the record”.

And did you know earlier in this chapter that the Bible is saying that this is the record in heaven? This isn’t just some earthly record, this is the heavenly record, agreed to and signed off by God, forever.

… so what does God want to go on record about?

See, this is a big book, but there’s two verses here that have the power to save your soul, which simplify the entire Bible, which give understanding to the rest of the Bible.

You put Jesus into your Bible reading, suddenly it becomes so gloriously simple, because it’s his book, about him, so you can be saved by him and live in him.

GOD goes on record by saying that he’s GIVEN us eternal life. A free gift! How good is that.

All the religions of the world never give you that, including all the false imitations of Christianity. They make you jump through million hoops, they make you pay your dues, make you lost in their maze, all while never even giving you the assurance that what you have done will be sufficient…

… meanwhile God says “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

Why would you not choose Jesus. There’s no good reason now, and won’t be at judgment either.

I’ve met so many people with such a detestable attitude to God, they feel God owes them, they hate God, how could you have so much hatred in your heart for such great love and mercy?

It shows how fallen we are doesn’t it. I’ve had that same hatred.

I know we feel entitled and that God just had to save us and be good to us… but we aren’t that amazing, it is purely God’s grace and mercy.

And we are only saved because God gave his word, and keeps his word.

The Bible says God has magnified his word above his name, and when he swears, he swears by himself because there is no greater to swear by.

…So when God makes a promise which is sealed in his own name… you can take that to the bank.

And so God, speaking for the record, says we are given eternal life in his Son Jesus Christ. If you have his Son you have eternal life. If you don’t have his Son you don’t have eternal life.

What a have and have not!

We are in a world and society that obsesses over what we have and what we don’t have. People constantly compare what they have to what others have, get envious over any perceived disparity, or feel better when they compare favorably… they even have their social group based on similar haves and have nots.

…Our entire economy runs on have and have nots, the marketplace and flow of money is based on providing what you have not, so you can have… at a price.

… but don’t worry about what society says you need to have… worry about what God says you need to have… and have to have!

The only important have or have not in God’s economy is whether you have his Son or not, eternal life is dependent only on that.

He didn’t say if you have religion or good works or pretty good person or you do this and don’t do that… he just said do you have my Son or not. Do you have Jesus? Everything you need of God, you need to know of God, you need to be right with God is found in Jesus… no we are not the centre of the universe… Jesus Christ is!

If you do not have Jesus, you do not have life. You may think you have life without Christ, but you will find out you don’t one of these days “Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”

It’s not always as it seems. People discover that everyday that it wasn’t as it seemed.

See, God doesn’t torment us and tease us, he doesn’t lie to us, Jesus is talking, and he’s warning us how we hear his word… and how you hear 1 John 5:11 and 12 really does matter.

If you turn your ear away and you don’t want to hear it, well that is up to you, but you are calling God a liar, you’re more right it seems than God speaking for the record on a matter very dear to him.

Dear reader, salvation may be given freely to us, but it’s not because it’s worthless, in fact it was paid for in the currency of God’s own blood. I’d say that’s pretty high value… and when you reject the blood of Christ for some other form of currency you feel is more important and relevant and of higher value to your life, you are saying Jesus wasted his time and died in vain on the cross for the sins of the world.

In 1 John 5, 11 and 12, God goes on record. It’s written in heaven. If you burnt every Bible and every Christian, as has been attempted through time… it’d still say the same thing. The Bible says the word of the Lord endureth forever. Jesus said heaven and earth shall pass away, but his word wouldn’t.

This is the record that will stand forever, written in heaven, where how could you go there when you didn’t abide it’s one rule… because when all else is gone, it will come down to whether you have or have not Jesus. That is what you will rise or fall upon. That is what your destiny hinges upon… not your job, not that hot girl, not your popularity and social status and friends group, not having more money, not winning that premiership, not setting yourself up for retirement. You can have everything, or seem to have everything, but if you don’t have Jesus you have nothing. That is what the Bible says, it is what God says. Take it up with him.

But I do sincerely hope and pray you have him. And if you don’t… you can! Today! Tonight! This minute! “I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.”

Yes it’s serious. But it’s simple, and it’s glorious. Thank God he made it so easy and simple and straightforward for us. Because he’s spoken for the record, and you can hold him to it. If you miss it, if you don’t have him, it won’t be because you couldn’t, it’s because you wouldn’t hear it. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear.

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