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John 17:3 - A Supreme Relationship with Jesus Christ is Eternal Life.John 17:3 (NIV) Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.INTRODUCTION How do we get eternal life? Jesus tells us clearly here - by knowing God the Father himself through his Son, Jesus Christ. Eternal life requires entering into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. When we admit our sin and turn away from it, Jesus' love lives in us by the Holy Spirit. [Life Application SB 2019] COMMENTARY PEARL The experimental knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent, transforms man into the image of God. It gives to man the mastery of himself, bringing every impulse and passion of the lower nature under the control of the higher powers of the mind. It makes its possessor a son of God and an heir of heaven. It brings him into communion with the mind of the Infinite, and opens to him the rich treasures of the universe. COL114 COMMENTARY Look at your friendships, especially with those you're closest to. Isn't it stunning that what's often most important about community is spending time together and not necessarily having the whole blueprint of friendship planned out? That's because who you are with is almost always more important than what you are doing. The same is true with God and your relationship with Him. He is far more interested in developing a deep and meaningful relationship with you than He is in giving you all the details and plans in a concrete blueprint for your life. God wants us to constantly lean into a relationship with Him. The moment we feel like we have a blueprint, we're prone to think, Okay, this is all I need. I'm off and running. If I run into any big obstacles or need Your help, I'll let You know. Thank You very much. No, God is looking for intimacy. He wants to know you. He's less interested in handing you long-range, detailed plans and more interested in cultivating a personal, day-to-day relationship with you. He wants your heart. Dear Jesus, You have made it possible to draw near in personal relationship to the Father, and I rejoice in the eternal life that comes through knowing You. [Grace and Glory by Louie Giglio] INSIGHT God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity CLOSING APPLICATION The aim of conversion is to bring one into daily fellowship with the Father in heaven. For the believer, taking time each day with God's Word and in prayer is indispensable. Each day we need to wait upon God for His presence and His love to be revealed. It is not enough at conversion to accept forgiveness of sins or even to surrender to God. That is only a beginning. We must understand that we have no power on our own to maintain our spiritual life. We need to receive daily new grace from heaven through fellowship with the Lord Jesus. This cannot be obtained by a hasty prayer or a superficial reading of a few verses from God's Word. We must take time to come into God's presence, to feel our weakness and our need, and to wait on God through His Holy Spirit to renew our fellowship with Him. Then we may expect to be kept by the power of Christ throughout the day. We must see the absolute necessity of spending time with the Lord Jesus. Without this, the joy and power of God's Holy Spirit in daily life cannot be experienced. [Andrew Murray 365-Day Devotional Bible mod.] LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY John 17:3 - A Supreme Relationship with Jesus Christ is Eternal Life. https://www.abible.com/devotions/2022/20220418-0927.html http://www.abible.com/devotions/2018/20180823-1030.html 1 John 5:11, 12 - Eternal Life Is A Relationship With Jesus. http://www.abible.com/devotions/2006/20061214-0741.html LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT https://abible.com/links/ |