Real Life

There is one question everyone must answer in their life: Is Jesus real? Is Jesus who He says He is? Did He really come from God and live among us as a real flesh and blood person to show us what God is like? Can He help me know God? Can He give me the love, acceptance and belonging my heart longs for. And is it possible that real life is found in Him? Is Jesus real?

Is Jesus real? This is an important question to answer because we live in a world where everyone hungers for a life that’s real. We live in a world that’s becoming jaded. Our world promises to give us a life that is fulfilling, but never really delivers. We are told to seek pleasure, accumulate wealth and make a name for ourselves. And so, we continue to pursue all these things, but none of these things ever fully deliver. And in the pursuit of these things, no one is asking, can real life be found in Jesus?

So, I will ask again, Is Jesus real? This is an important question because Christianity actually stands or falls on the person and work of Jesus Christ. It stands or falls on whether or not Jesus actually did leave heaven’s throne to become one of us – on whether or not a true and genuine incarnation of God actually took place. In fact, the options as to who Jesus is and what Jesus did can basically be reduced to four. He could have been a lair – someone who simply was not who He claimed to be. He could have been a lunatic – someone who thought He was somebody but in fact He was not. He could have been a legend – someone who others later imagined him to be. Or He could be the Lord – He could be the real deal. He could be who He claimed to be – the true Son of God, who lived a sinless life among us, showed us what the Father is like, and then died on the cross and rose from the dead, to prove that He is indeed the living Lord, in whom real life is found. So that’s our question today: Is Jesus real?

That’s the same question that was being asked at the time the apostle John penned the letter of 1 John. At that time Jesus was no longer taken seriously, his life was distorted or simply denied as the true source of real life. So, in order to set the record straight, John wrote this letter to help us know that real life is indeed found in Jesus.

So, this is where we begin our study in the book of 1 John. To answer this question: Is Jesus is real? And in answering that question John not only reveals the reality of the incarnation but shows us three blessings of real life that are found in Jesus. So, if you brought your Bible with you today, let me encourage you to find 1 John 1:1-4, where John begins to answer the question: Is real life found in Jesus? And to get us started, He wants us to know one thing for certain, and that is this:

1. His Life Is Real That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 1 John 1:1 Jesus is real. He is not some grand idea or mystical being. He existed with God in the beginning and became one of us to show us what God is like. Telling us that “He was from the beginning,’ is John’s way of telling us the first thing he wants us to know about Jesus. And that is this:

Jesus is Divine! Jesus Christ is “that which was from the beginning.” And according to verse 2, John wants us to know that Jesus is “the eternal life that was with the Father.” In other words, Jesus has always existed with the Father as God. There has never been a time when the Son was not. Never. This is what John believed. This is what Jesus taught. Jesus Himself boldly declared “Before Abraham was, I am” in John 8:58.
In John 10, Jesus said, “The Father and I are one.” John 10:30 And in the Upper Room Jesus told Philip, “the one who has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:9 Clearly Jesus believed Himself to be God, and John confessed the same, and begins this letter by telling us Jesus is divine.

But John also wants us to understand that Jesus entered history as a real man, who really lived, really died and really rose again from the grave. John and his fellow apostles heard him speak. They saw him with their own eyes; he was not a ghost that only appeared to look human. Nor was he a man who upon whom “the Christ-spirit” descended upon and empowered Jesus at his baptism. No, he was and is the fully divine Son of God, born to us with a complete human nature. So then,

Jesus is Human! John speaks as an eyewitness of all Jesus said and did. John says four things concerning his humanity: First, we heard Him with our ears. Second, we saw Him with our eyes. John states this fact three times for emphasis in the first three verses. He also says, “we have observed” Him. This observing was an intentional, intense, and continuous gazing at and contemplation of this man named Jesus. For three years John and his fellow disciples watched and observed his every move. They watched him touch lepers, heal the blind, raise the dead. They watched him give mercy to broken. They observed his teaching. They scrutinized His ability to pass every test the Pharisees used to trip him up. And they contemplated everything he said and did and came to the same conclusion: Jesus was the Son of Man, the anointed One of God, God in the flesh.

And then thirdly he says, we touched Him with our hands. Jesus was a real flesh-and-blood human being. He was no ghost or phantom. John could never forget Jesus’ invitation to them as he appeared to them in upper room after his resurrection, when they were convinced, they were seeing a ghost. At that moment Jesus said, “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” Luke 24:39

Therefore, in verse 2, John tells us that he and his fellow disciples had physically encountered the risen Son of God saying, The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 1 John 1:2

This is such a powerful statement. John knew that Jesus was real – not a phantom, not a vison, but God in human form. I love how Warren Wiersbe speaks of this. He writes: “Some 20th century student may say: “Yes, and this means John had an advantage. He lived when Jesus walked the earth. He knew Jesus personally. But I was born 20 centuries too late.” But this is where our student is wrong! It was not the apostle’s physical nearness to Jesus Christ that made them what they were. It was their spiritual nearness. They had committed themselves to Him as their Savior and their Lord. Jesus Christ was real and exciting to John and his colleagues because they had trusted Him. And by trusting Christ, they had experienced eternal life!”

And that’ just his point. John is proclaiming to us that Jesus is real. And real life is found in Jesus. Jesus is no myth, fairy tale, fabrication or phantom. He existed with the Father in heaven and became one of us. He is fully God and fully man, who lived among us, so He could die for us, so that anyone who believes in Him might experience the eternal life He gives. And once you trust in Him, this eternal life is not just some pie in the sky promise, it can be experienced now. And that’s the next reality John wants us to know:

2. His Life Is Experienced and it can be experienced now through faith! The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 1 John 1:2 Here, it sounds like John is continuing his argument for the incarnation. And to some degree he is. He calls Jesus, “the life.” And right up front, he is declaring the good news that eternal life is found in Jesus. This eternal life is not simply everlasting life, but a spiritual life that is found in Jesus.

In other words, Jesus is both the source and the substance of the eternal life. This life is now defined in terms of a relationship with the Father and the Son. This is itself in keeping with the words of Jesus recorded by John in his gospel as part of the Lord’s high-priestly prayer: “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3). When you put your trust in Jesus, you not only come into a relationship with Jesus as your Savior and Lord, but you are also brought into an intimate knowledge of God as your heavenly Father. This is the real life found in Jesus and experienced the moment you put your trust in Him.

At that moment, you literally enter into the same kind of relationship with the Father that Jesus Himself experiences. You come to know God as your Father. You are spiritually born again and are brought into relationship with the Father for eternity. You come to know His love, His acceptance and His approval. You are immediately adopted into God’s family and become His beloved child. You are no longer alienated from God because of your sin. Because Jesus has removed your sin and made your righteous in God’s eyes. Now, you are intimately related to the Father as His child. This is the eternal life is received by believing in Jesus.

John makes this crystal clear in this letter by writing, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” 1 John 5:1

So then, real life with God is found in Jesus. And this real life is eternal life, knowing God personally as His child. Eternal life then, is not something you can earn by good works or deserve because you live a moral life. Eternal life, the life that is real, is a gift from God to anyone who turns from their sin to trust in Jesus as their Savior. And the good news is this: every person who believes in Jesus gets to experience this real life with God. Which leads us now to the next reality John wants us to grasp:

3. His Life is Shared We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. 1 John 1:3 John wants anyone who is reading this letter to know that you can experience this life with God. Unlike every other religion in the world, the moment you trust in Jesus, you get to enjoy an intimate relationship with a God who is both Savior and Father. At that moment, you are baptized into Christ’s body, the church, with every other believer. As a result, you are included in God’s family with brothers and sisters “from every nation, tribe, people and language.”

So now, if you’ve trusted in Jesus you share is a common bond with Jesus, a partnership, a communion with the Father and with other believers. That is why our shared bond in Christ is far richer and deeper than any other kind of bond. It is far richer and deeper than that of your college fraternity or sorority. It is richer and deeper than that of your favorite football team or a club you belong to here at the Ranch. In fact, I went to a Cinco De Mayo party last night that a friend invited me to. And while I was there I came to discover that all the people there were from four different groups my friend was involved with: there were the golfers, a group of water volleyball players, his Karaoke friends and pickle-ball friends. Each of these groups had a shared common interest, but none of them had that deeper spiritual bond that we share together with the Father, the Son and one another in Christ’s body.

For the real life that is shared with us is a life that unites us spiritually with the Father. Our union with the Father is what gives us fellowship with one another. That is why there is no such thing as a lone ranger Christian. The gospel was proclaimed, not to simply save you, but to include you with every other believer in Christ’s family. Therefore, when Jesus becomes your Savior, God becomes your Father, and every other believer becomes your family. The moment you trust in Jesus, His life is yours. His relationships are yours. And His fellowship with you is real life.

That is why life in the community of faith is like nothing else on earth. We have an unbreakable bond of relationship with the Creator of the world, and the Savior of our souls. And every believer shares this same bond with the Father, the Son and one another! That’s why John says, We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that YOU also may have fellowship with us.

Our world is looking for this kind of community: a place to truly belong, a relationship that is eternally secure, a community where you can be loved and accepted, encouraged prayed for and served. This is the real life that can only be found when Christians are knit together in community. Jesus saved you to enjoy fellowship with Him and the Father in community with other believers. He is the one who prayed that we would be one as He and the Father are one.

And this is why we want every person who comes to Rock Springs to be included in Journey Group – not so you can be part of a Bible Study (but you will study the Bible) but so you can experience the real life of the Holy Spirit in your relationships with one another. This is why Jesus created the church and fits you into it. This is why God sent the Holy Spirit and gives us gifts to build up one another in the faith. Fitting into His family and being God’s instrument of grace is what makes the fellowship of God’s people an irresistible community.

What a gift God gave us when He gave us this shared life together. For there’s nothing else like it on earth. And the result of being connected to such an incredible shared community is joy. And that’s the final reality of the real life that’s found in Jesus.

4. His Life Brings Joy John concludes his introduction into the real life that’s found in Jesus by writing: We write this to make our joy complete. 1 John 1:4 John wants every believer to know that you can have a life of joy in a relationship with Jesus. Not a partial joy, or an occasional joy, but complete joy. A fullness of joy. All the joy you could ever want or need. Here, John is echoing the words he heard from Jesus: “I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11); and “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” (John 16:24). John is driving home his point about the real life that’s found in Jesus. The blessing of real life is experiencing real joy in your relationship with Jesus, your security as God’s child, and your communion of the Holy Spirit found in your relationship with one another.

In fact, John describes this joy, as “our joy.” Such joy is quite different from human happiness. Human happiness is fleeting. It is dependent on happy circumstances. But the fullness of joy is meant to be experienced by those who trust in Jesus. It’s found in knowing God as your Father; it’s experienced in receiving an eternal life that can never be lost; and it’s enjoyed in the communal life of the Spirit that we share with one another.

Biblical writers looked for the day when they would know real joy. But here we see that John writes that this joy is now available to anyone who believes in Jesus. No need to wait any longer – the long-awaited blessing of the messianic age is here. Jesus has come in the flesh; He has made it possible to know God as your Father; to become part of His forever family and to experience the fullness of joy with Jesus. And this is why real life is found in Jesus.

And that is why I began this message with the question: Is Jesus real?
You need to answer that question for yourself. But the only way you can answer that question is by taking the time to discover who Jesus really is? Is He a liar, lunatic, legend or Lord? Is He a phantom, a fairy tale, a myth? Or is He truly the eternal Son of God, who became one of us, laid down His life for us, so that He could give us the life we were created to know:

A life of real hope
A life of real belonging
A life of real joy

With the God who created you.

Is Jesus real? At some point you must answer that question. You must either chose to believe He is real, turn from your sin and trust in Him. Or you must reject Him.

But remember, John wrote this letter to us to make our joy complete. And such joy is only found through faith in Jesus. So, Is Jesus real?

If you are ready to say yes, then today is the day you can know real life with Jesus! Say yes to Jesus, turn from your sin and put your trust in Him, and you will know real life with God forever.