“Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.” – John 5:24
Hearing His Word
Jesus said, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life,” so we must hear what Jesus says to us, but more importantly, we must do what He says (Matt 25:40). When Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father said of Christ, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matt 17:5). So, Jesus and the Father say, listen to Him because whoever does and acts on what they hear, “has eternal life.”
Believing in Him
A lot of people listen but do they really hear? Jesus says we must hear Him and then believe in what He says. If we hear Him, we will do what He commands, but then we must also believe in Him while also believing in Him Who sent Jesus, and of course, that is the Father. Jesus came to do the will of the Father. Is that our mindset? Do we focus on doing God’s will over our own? I know I struggle with this and so I’m sure I’m not alone, but let’s all strive to hear Jesus, listen to Him, and believe in Him Who sent Jesus. If we do, we have eternal life.
No Judgment
Jesus tells us that if we hear His Words (found in the gospels) and believe in Him who sent Jesus (the Father), then that person “does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24b). This means that our sins were judged at the cross and there is no more condemnation (Rom 8:1) because we have peace with God (Rom 5:1). We can either have our sins judged at the cross by Christ or we will have to pay for them ourselves, and that is not a good idea at all because the judgment for our sins will never end (Rev 20:12-15).
Conclusion
To have eternal life we must hear Jesus’ words, we must live out Jesus words (Matt 25:34-40), and know that God the Father sent Jesus. If we do this, then God’s judgement for our sins have passed us by and we have eternal life, since “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).
by Jack Wellman
Image: Pixabay User
Prayer
A Prayer for Coming Home
“O True and Ever-Living God
I repent of all my false and empty gods
I look again into the closets of my life
my mind, my heart
to see what rules me.
Whom do I serve?
What are the possessions
the people, the opinions
the events,
that control my life?
O Welcoming One
I see you standing at the door
of my heart
waiting for me
You gaze at my strange gods
with an eye of compassion.
I am ashamed to invite you
into my cluttered house
yet my heart aches
to be at home with you
My hand is reaching for the door
I hear myself saying,
Come on in
I have more room than I thought I had
Come on in,
and be the only God in my life.
---Macrina Wiederkehr
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