This morning I am reflecting on a few verses from the John's first letter. I have been reading through each of His letters recently, and this morning started at the end of his first letter. Here are the verses - 1 John 5:11-12,20 NIV:
[11] "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life."
[20] "We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."
Verses 11 and 12 have always been helpful to me in my effort to understand eternal life. First - eternal life is IN Jesus! He is essentially the embodiment of eternal life. Second, if you have a relationship with Jesus, you have Him and all that He embodies. The Greek word that is translated "has the (son)" in verse 12 is the word "echo" and it is defined as follows:
1) to have, i.e. to hold
a) to have (hold) in the hand, in the sense of wearing, to have (hold) possession of the mind (refers to alarm, agitating emotions, etc.), to hold fast keep, to have or comprise or involve, to regard or consider or hold as
2) to have i.e. own, possess
a) external things such as pertain to property or riches or furniture or utensils or goods or food etc.
b) used of those joined to any one by the bonds of natural blood or marriage or friendship or duty or law etc, of attendance or companionship
I think definition 2b is most helpful, in understanding the relational component of this statement by John. It is only possible that one "has" Jesus, in the context of relationship. I can imagine myself holding His hand, as I would do with my spouse, reflecting the intimacy of relationship, not ownership. I can see how my thoughts are affected by my relationship with Him, and my identity is adjusted to include Him in much the same way as how my thoughts about myself, now include my wife. I identify myself as married and my thinking about any life choices always includes thinking about my honey, and engaging her in conversation about said choice.
In the same way, our Christianity, is supposed to about being in a relationship with Jesus, first and foremost. It can and should involve being a part of a church or congregation, but the primary focus should always be relationship with Him. His invitation isn't just to follow Him, but to be able to say that we have Him, and He has us, relationally. I was reminded of Jesus was talking about true and false disciples in the following verses, and the distinguishing factor is relationship with Him, and within that context obedience.
Matthew 7:21-23 NIV
“Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22] Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' [23] Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
That single statement - "I never knew you" is key to our life as Christians. The Greek word is ginosko, and it is defined as follows:
1) to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel
a) to become known
2) to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of
a) to understand
b) to know
3) Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman
4) to become acquainted with, to know
Notice how all the definitions are relational in context when talking about a person! Jesus is describing having this knowledge of us. While it is possible to argue that the omniscient God would know everything, including us, I think this involves an active willingness to participate and engage relationally on both individual's behalf. He is looking for active relationships, active willingness to know and pursue deeper knowledge, and understanding. He wants us engaged, talking sharing, praying, listening and doing!
Imagine a marriage where you just check in with the other spouse once a week, and mostly listen to others talk about them. I don't think we could ever describe that as a relationship. Or imagine a marriage where the spouses only briefly think of the other right before they eat, and maybe once in a while when they have a difficult task in front of them. Again, I don't see that as ever working out, nor even being a relationship. Or imagine a marriage where the one spouse was only in it because of what the other spouse could provide for them, e.g. money, status, clothes or cars. Again, we might call that a relationship, but it certainly isn't a healthy one. Unfortunately, some of these marriage descriptions are how some people have a relationship with the Lord.
I believe that the Lord wants relationship and provides us the means for relationship with Him. He wants us to live our lives fully engaged, and identifying ourselves as in relationship with Him. It is my prayer that one day the Lord looks on me an welcomes me as one who is known deeply, and who deeply knows Him!
Amen!
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