Tag: John 17

Living an Eternal Kind of Life

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“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:11-12)

John the Apostle tells us in his first letter to early Christians that God has given us eternal life through Jesus Christ. What is this eternal life? Well, it is clear from various places in Scripture that there is both a certain quality and a certain quantity to this eternal life.

The Quality of Eternal Life

Eternal life is not just about the length of our lives, such as being extended to eternal days, but also about a different quality of life. Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). The kingdom of God sort of life starts now through faith in Jesus Christ. We are plunged into a life enriched by God’s presence and relationship with Him. We do not wait for eternal life to begin when we die, but we enter into a new quality of life with God now. We pass from death to life, from darkness to light, from imprisonment to freedom now in Jesus Christ.

The Quantity of Eternal Life (5:12; John 3:16; 5:24)

At the same time as eternal life does begin now, it also has impact on our days beyond our physical death. We see this when read the well-known verses from John’s Gospel: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This relates to now and to what we would term eternity. Death is not the end for us who have faith in Jesus Christ. It moves on into the future for endless days with God. As Jesus says elsewhere, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)

Jesus is the bringer of eternal life. It is a life marked by divine quality and divine quantity.

I believe in the life everlasting

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This past weekend at Eastbrook, we continued our preaching series entitled “Living the Creed: Connecting Life and Faith in the Apostles’ Creed.” This series walks through the Apostles Creed as a basic summary of our faith but also as a way to live our faith out with God in the world. Each weekend of this series will explore the biblical and theological roots of the Apostles Creed, while also providing specific spiritual practices and approaches to living out what we know as we ‘proclaim and embody’ the Apostles’ Creed in our daily lives.

This weekend Pastor Nic Fridenmaker concluded the third article of the creed with a message entitled: “I believe in the life everlasting.”

You can find the message outline and video below. You can also view the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

Eternal Life Then (Genesis 2,3)

            What We Had

How We Forgot 

Eternal Life in the Future (1 Corinthians 15, Revelations 22)

            What Is Ahead

            How We Can Endure

Eternal Life Now (John 17:2-3, Ephesians 1:17-23)

            What We Can Remember

            How We Can Flourish

Dig Deeper

This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:

  1. Memorize John 17:2-3
  2. For further study on the eternal life, read John 17. Underline or write down what you notice about how Jesus was praying that eternal life be imbued into His followers. Discuss or share your thoughts/questions with a friend.
  3. Watch the Bible Project video, “Eternal Life”
  4. Consider reading:

Bibliography for One: The Being of God in the Life of the Church

Matt EricksonLeave a comment

When I conclude a sermon series, I usually share resources I utilized in my study and preparation for sermons. Here is the bibliography for our recent series, “One: The Being of God in the Life of the Church.”

Bibliography for “One: The Being of God in the Life of the Church”

Gregory K. Beale. The Book of Revelation. NIGTC. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998.

Raymond E. Brown. The Gospel of John, I-XII. Anchor Bible. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1966.

Tim Chester. Delighting in the Trinity. Oxford: Monarch Books, 2005.

Marva J. Dawn. Truly the Community: Romans 12 and How to Be the Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997.

Michael O. Emerson and George Yancey. Transcending Racial Barriers: Toward a Mutual Obligations Approach. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Irwyn L. Ince, Jr. The Beautiful Community: Unity, Diversity, and the Church at Its Best. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2020.

Andrew T. Lincoln. Ephesians. WBC. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990.

________. “God’s Name, Jesus’ Name, and Prayer in the Fourth Gospel.” In Into God’s Presence: Prayer in the New Testament, edited by Richard N. Longenecker, 155-180. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. The Assurance of Our Salvation (Studies in John 17): Exploring the Depth of Jesus’ Prayer for His Own. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013.

Scot McKnight. A Fellowship of Differents: Showing the World God’s Design for Life Together. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015.

Christine D. Pohl. Living Into Community: Cultivating Practices that Sustain Us. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012.

Ephraim Radner. Hope Among the Fragments: The Broken Church and Its Engagement of Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2004.

Michael Reeves. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012.

Ken Sande. The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict, 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2004.

C. Christopher Smith. How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversations in the Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2019.

Gerhard Von Rad. Genesis. Translated by John H. Marks. OTL. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1961.

Bruce K. Waltke with Cathi J. Fredricks. Genesis: A Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001.

How Does Prayer Relate to Mission and Unity?: Andrew T. Lincoln on Jesus’ prayer in John 17

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While studying for my message this past week, “Praying One: learning to pray for unity from Jesus’ Prayer,” I encountered this insightful explanation from Andrew T. Lincoln about how Jesus’ prayer for unity relates to the mission of the church.

Jesus’ first petition for all believers, ‘that they may all be one’ (v. 21), is a request for unity—both for the disciples and for those who will come to believe through their witness. It is clear that what is envisioned is a unity that results from believers participating in the foundational unity that already exists between the Father and the Son. Again, the grounds for the petition follow. In verses 22-23 Jesus states that he has already laid the basis for the unity requested in the petition by giving to the disciples the glory that the Father has given him. God’s glory—that is, the honor and reputation of the divine name—has been bestowed on Jesus. Jesus, therefore, has granted to his followers a share in that glory by making known to them the divine name (v. 6) and by enabling them to share in his own reputation and honor (v. 10b).

This complete unity between Father, Son, and believers (‘As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,’ v. 21a) has as its goal the world’s coming to know the truth about Jesus’ mission: ‘so that they world may believe that you have sent me” (v. 21b). Its purpose, however, is not only knowledge about Jesus. It is also that the world might know the truth about believers’ relationship to God—a relationship in which they, as well as Jesus, are loved by God: ‘so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me’ (v. 23; cf. 14:21-23).

The community in which the believers’ witness is embodied is to be a united one, and the issues at stake in Jesus’ mission hinge on the reality ‘that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me’ (v. 23b). Since the truth established in the cosmic trial has to do with the unity that exists between the One who is sent and the One who has sent him, it is not surprising that the testimony to that truth is to be displayed by the oneness of the witnesses.

It is not simply that the unity of the witnesses mirrors the unity that exists between the Father and the Son. Rather, the unity of the believing community actually participates in the unity that defines the relation between Jesus and God (cf. v. 21). For the goal of its mission is not only that the world comes to know Jesus’ identity as the One sent by God, but also that it comes to know that his followers are loved by God just as Jesus is loved by God (v. 23c). How does the world come to know God as love? Not only through hearing the witness that Jesus’ death was God’s loving gift to the world, but also through seeing and experiencing the enacted witness of a community that is united in loving acceptance of one another.

Andrew T. Lincoln, “God’s Name, Jesus’ Name, and Prayer in the Fourth Gospel,” in Into God’s Presence: Prayer in the New Testament, ed. Richard N. Longenecker (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 168-169.

Praying One: learning to pray for unity from Jesus’ prayer

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As we continued our series, “One: The Being of God in the Life of the Church,” this past weekend at Eastbrook Church I explored Jesus’ prayer in John 17 as a key to the unity of the church and an example for how prayer contributes to unity. I concluded the message with a time of prayer based on Jesus’ requests in John 17:20-26.

You can view the message video and outline below. You can follow along with the entire series here and the devotional that accompanies the series here. You could always join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You.” (John 17:20-21)

A Summary of Jesus’ Prayer in  John 17

  • Jesus prays for Himself (John 17:1-5)
  • Jesus prays for His immediate disciples (John 17:6-19)
  • Jesus prays for future disciples (John 17:20-26)

Diving Into Jesus’ Prayer for Unity

  • Jesus’ prayer for those who will believe in Him through His disciples’ word (17:20)
  • Experiential oneness derived from the divine oneness (17:21)
  • This oneness tied to the world believing Jesus was sent by God (17:21)
  • Glory given to Jesus now given to the disciples for unity (17:22-23)
  • Unity as a reflection of being loved by God (17:23-26)

Jesus’ Prayer and Our Prayers

  • Jesus prayed uniquely
  • Our prayers can echo Jesus’ prayer
  • We will only live unified by prayer

Dig Deeper

This week dig deeper into the theme of prayer and unity in one or more of the following ways: