In Christ, you already have eternal life. Those who reject Him wander in darkness.
John 3:31-36 (NIV)
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Canons of Dordt
Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election
4 - A Twofold Response to the Gospel
God’s wrath remains on those who do not believe this gospel.
But those who
do accept it
and embrace Jesus the Savior
with a true and living faith
are delivered through him
from God’s wrath and from destruction,
and receive the gift of eternal life.
Summary
John here uses the flowing, somewhat poetic style he is famous for here to provide a very solid Christology - a description of who / what Jesus is. Jesus comes from above - from heaven, He is above all, and He testifies to what He has seen and heard. These themes are almost identical to the themes John poetically unpacks in his prologue (1:1-18).
Yesterday we noted that John is also famous for his use of contrast in his writings, such as light/dark, love/hate, truth/lie, love/death, good/evil. He uses that same literary tool here in today's passage, contrasting the difference between those who have not accepted Jesus' testimony and who reject the Son with those who believe in Him.
The contrast in the fate of those who do accept the testimony of Christ and those reject the Son couldn't be more stark. The rejectors will not see life. That's a very interesting way John puts it! He's not saying that they will not live, but rather that they won't see life (literally: life will not be lit up). Instead they will spend their entire existence, both now and into eternity, wandering and groping around in the darkness.
But those who do accept Christ's testimony, and who certify that God is true are people who have eternal life. Notice that John doesn't write will have. Eternal life is not a future concept or prize that you may get way off in the very distant future, it is something that you have right here and now if you put your trust in Jesus.
Dig Deeper
John drops a verbal bomb in the final sentence of today's passage, writing that God's wrath remains on those who reject the Son. That means that this wrath has always been upon people. In other words, for those who do not believe, nothing changes! They were born in the dark, they live a life of wandering through the dark grasping for some sort of meaning, and God's just and righteous wrath for our sin has been, is now and always will be upon them.
This also means that if you do believe in the Son, you must not live as if God is always angry with you! Many Christians continue to be terrified of God. They understand very well their own sinfulness, and because they also know well that God is holy, He must punish sin. So even though they're in Christ, they never have a free and open relationship with their Father because they fear His wrath.
Know that because you embrace Jesus the Savior with a true and living faith, you are delivered through Him from God’s wrath and from destruction. This means that God is no longer angry with you. Quite the opposite, in fact! He longs to be your loving Father and to have the close relationship with you that He created you for.
Know that in Christ, you already have eternal life. Start living with an eternal perspective right here and now.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is truthful, and who has removed His wrath from those who put their trust in His Son;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will begin to live the eternal life you have right here and now;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 15
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