Whoever has the Son has life
1 John 5:12 - Jesus gives us life, and our lives should reflect the life we have in Him.
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“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
1 John 5:12 NIV
A big Day after Resurrection Day blessing to all Heaven On Wheels readers! As usual, the Lord picked a perfect verse for today; this one is from the First Epistle of John.
1 John has a very simple goal: teaching Christians how to discern true teachers from false ones. It’s an epistle that every Christian should read regularly, especially if they’re feeling that nudge from the Holy Spirit telling them that the messages they hear on Sunday just don’t seem to ring true…
In this short five chapter epistle, John lays out three primary methods of discerning whether or not a teacher is true to the teachings of Jesus: examining their ethics, determining whether or not they teach that God became human in the person of Jesus, and observing the way they display (or don’t display) their love for others.
This verse describes a key precept of our belief as Christians, so let’s explore it. “Whoever has the Son has life” emphasizes the central focus on Jesus in the Christian faith. This phrase highlights the relationship between Jesus — the Son of God — and God the Father. What does John mean by “has the Son”? He’s implying that a person has a personal relationship with Jesus and has accepted Him as Lord and Savior. As we know from John 3:16 and John 14:6, eternal life is inextricably linked to faith in Jesus. That’s eternal life — not just a short physical existence, but a quality of life beginning when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and continuing forever!
The second part of the verse — “whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” — is a warning. Salvation comes only through Jesus Christ. Without a relationship with Him, eternal life is impossible.
This is consistent with the Old Testament, in which two paths are presented to every person: one leads to life, the other to death (Deuteronomy 30:19). By repeating the word life in this verse, John is emphasizing just how important it is to consider the decision to either accept or reject Jesus… and to also consider the eternal dire and negative consequences of rejecting Jesus.
There are several other messages we can glean from this verse. Probably the most important message is understanding that since life is found only in Jesus, we should have a sense of urgency in sharing the Gospel with those who do not know Him. We can help share the Good News by living our faith — being loving, obedient, and by exhibiting the Fruit of the Spirit in everything we do (Galatians 5:22-23).
Jesus gives us life, and our lives should reflect the life we have in Him.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, I thank and praise You that I have received the gift of eternal life and the forgiveness of my sins through my trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Help me to be a witness to Your truth found in this verse, that those who have the Son have life, and those without the Son of God do not have life. AMEN.