“This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify:8 the[a] Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 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. ” 1 John 5.6-12
John says it clearly, and this is the crux of the gospel: “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Period. End of story.
People can make the Christian faith about so many other things. We can focus on tradition, ritual, or experience. We can emphasize our own biases, spiritual gifts, or debates about which acts of the church are truly sacraments. We can center it on obedience and doing the right thing. But as John boils it down, the Christian faith is about a relationship with the person of Jesus Christ.
And so, he makes the case for Jesus—the one who came by “water and blood.” The Spirit testifies about Jesus, who was born as a baby yet was with God since the creation of the world and sacrificed His life on a cross so we might have life.
If you believe God’s testimony about Himself and about Jesus, you are on the right track. But if you don’t believe God, John writes, you make God out to be a liar. Yet “God has given us eternal life,” and what is this gift? Life in the Son.
Having true life—abundant life today and eternal life to come—means we trust God as our King. We fully rely on Him. We are spiritually born again; not only are we born of water, but we are also born of the Spirit. True life begins when we trust God as Savior.
This week at Revive Youth Camp, we are trusting God as Savior and Lord. We are fully relying on the Lord to save us. Many students will begin to discover the mystery of who Jesus is to us and who He has been in history for 2,000 years. The story of God means we find life in His name.
Have you found life in Jesus? Have you committed your ways to Him so that you might live with hope, turn away from sin, and rest in the arms of a Savior who wraps you in His Spirit? Come to Jesus. Pray for those who do not yet know Him, that they might understand what it means to be in relationship with God and thus find life in His name.
“O Lord God, You are good and beautiful. You redeem Your people and call them by name. You fill us with Your grace and seek us when we are lost and alone. You rescue us from the power of sin and death, and by trusting in You, we have life. Come now, Holy Spirit, find me able and willing. Fill me with Your love and help me to love You back this day and all the days to follow. For You are good, and Your love endures forever.” Amen