Some of us are more alive than others.

Matt Heard:
Some of us are more alive than others. Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
If you suffer too long under a do more, try harder religion, Key Life is here to proclaim that Jesus sets the captives free. Steve invited Matt Heard to teach us this week. Find more from Matt at ThriveFullyAlive.com he’s a speaker, teacher, writer, pastor, coach, and author.

Matt Heard:
Thank you Matthew. Well, it has been a delight walking with you this week through an out of the way verse of the Bible, John 3:16. Just kidding. It’s front and center to the 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.

But we’ve been looking at it in the context of the conversation that just preceded that. That was really a summation of, a conversation with a really religious guy. And there are a lot of people that think, okay, for me to rock it with God, I’ve got to be very, very religious. I’ve got to do all the right things. And I’ve got to pray this amount of time, got to go to church this number of times, got to not do these things and do these things. And we’re thinking, and what that is, it’s a transactional deal. We’re treating God like a vending machine, we’re treating our connection with God like a vending machine instead of the other image that we’ve had front and center this week, is a table. A table across which we relate with God. So, it’s religiosity versus relationship and for that relationship to happen, I’ve got to be born again, Jesus explains to Nicodemus. And once I’m born again, it’s learning to experience that life, experience it in a full way on a daily basis in the context of everything that I deal with. So, today we’re going to unpack the fourth table leg of this table across from which we’re relating with God in intimacy. And we’ve come alive and table leg number one is the love of God, realizing that’s what motivates him. It’s not me doing stuff to get him to love me, he takes the first step and everything I do as a result of that love. Then there’s the Son of God, it’s the love of God.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son.

And relating with Jesus as the epicenter, but not just as the mascot, not just as this distant figure, but the one who bridges the gap between God and me. Not to enable me to be healthy in a religious way to be, but to be healthy in terms of my humanity, but what connects me with that reality is the third table leg. It’s belief in God.

For God so loved the world,

table like number one

that he gave his one and only Son,

table like number two

that whoever believes in him.

And we talked yesterday about that belief, engaging with him in such a way that I, and we’re all people believe, we get on planes. It’s a statement of faith. I believe, I acknowledge that he’s trustworthy. There’s that appraisal of his value. Then I agree that he’s relevant to my need. And then I take action. I take steps of faith every day. And it’s a present tense. Believing is not just something I did in the past. As we talked about John 20:31, he said,

I’ve written these things that you may believe that Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.

So, coming into a relationship with him, but then he says.

And that by believing you may have zoe, life in his name.

It’s not just bios biological life or psuche consciousness. It’s the zoe life of God that we all long for. Every human being, our longings are all these rivers that come from that reservoir of vacancy that we have. It’s that hole in every human heart, that thing that we’re all lacking, that we try to fit things in. It’s the God shaped vacuum that we’ve heard talk about, and it’s that zoe of God. And so, this whole notion of having a relationship with God is all about coming alive. It’s coming alive by his Spirit, as Jesus told Nicodemus, he says, Hey, Nick, you’ve got to be born again. And we don’t talk about that as much as some have in the past, but that is part of what it looks like for me to come alive as I’ve got to be born again.

I’ve come out of death into life.

Now. So, let’s look at that last table leg. This whole notion of the life of God, that zoe of God, the epicenter of what we’re longing for. Years ago, I lived in downtown Chicago and I played softball and darts, for a bar up in the old town area. And I was the only God guy on the team. I was the pastor and they would ask me God questions here and there. And we were playing darts and it was a dart league either at your home bar or you’re at a bar somewhere else, your home or away. And it’s on Monday nights. It’s when we do this during the winter. And what happens in fall and the winter and Monday nights? Monday Night Football, that’s what’s on the TV. So, we’re kind of going back and forth between the darts, the dart game of our teammates and whenever we would throw the darts and looking at the Monday Night Football. And so, I’m sitting there with a friend of mine that I’d gotten to know over the previous few months, and I just enjoyed him. He was an honest guy. He was one of the guys that would come to me with God questions every now and then. And this is back before they had those five second delays. They were showing a field goal and the camera angle is right through the uprights and there’s this guy with his crazy colored wig and he’s holding up a sign and you know what that sign probably said back then. And my friend hit me, I mean he backhanded me. I mean, to the point it kind of shocked me, I turned and looked at him and I won’t give you the exact quote, but he said, what the heck is John 316? And I said, it’s a Bible verse. He said, I figured that, but what does it say? I said, you really want to know? He was a little perturbed and said, well, if I didn’t want to know, I wouldn’t have asked you. So yes, I want to know. I said, well, it’s a Bible verse that said, God wants to love you back to life. He said, what? God wants to love you back to life. He says, what’s that mean? Well, that prompted a number of discussions in coming months were just unpacked, this whole notion that God loves us so much, he doesn’t want to leave us in our deadness. The point of Christianity is not irreligious people becoming religious, but dead people coming alive. And that life is that zoe life of God, not just existence, but this whole aspect of our journeys that we have been yearning for. Jesus says, in John 5:24.

Very truly, I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

Has eternal zoe and will not be judged, but has crossed over from death to life. The majority of us church people, when you hear the phrase eternal life, we immediately think of heaven and eternal life in heaven are not the same. They’re not synonyms. Now, before you get out the heresy comments and e-mail us here at Key Life, hear this, and we will experience eternal life in heaven. In fact, we’ll experience it in an undiluted totally free way. We’ll no longer be hindered by a fallen body in a fallen world. But eternal life in heaven are not synonymous. In fact, there’s one time that Jesus defined eternal life, in John 17, verse 3, this is in his prayer the night before he gave his life for us. What John 3:16 says, God gave his one and only Son to do what? He died for us. He died in our place to invite us into his resurrection life. And he says this in his high priestly prayer.

Now, this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you’ve sent. That they know you.

Now, go back to John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, that whoever would believe in him. He so loved, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever would believe in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Nicodemus, this religious guy, Jesus was saying, you’ve got to reframe what it looks like with you and God. It’s not a religious thing, it’s not a religiosity thing, it’s a relationship thing. In fact, later in John, in verse 24 of John 5, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees. He says.

Very truly, I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but is crossed over from death to life.

In the same context, a little bit later, after he says that, he brings up their Bible study habits. And he says in verse 39, he says.

You study the Scriptures.

And you’re studying the Scriptures and you’re thinking, okay, the reason I’m studying the Scriptures is to get God to approve of me and so forth? No.

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life.

He says.

These are the very Scriptures that testify me, yet you’ve refused to come to me to have life.

They were being very diligent in their religiosity habit of studying Scripture. And he’s not condemning the study of Scripture, obviously. But what he’s telling them is, you’re not allowing the Scriptures to lead you to me.

This is eternal life, that they would know you.

So, what is John 17:3 telling us? It says.

Eternal life is knowing God.

So, this table that we’ve been restored to, to relate with God, we relate with him in such a way that it invades every nook and cranny of our journey. His Spirit has brought us to life and we believe present tense in such a way that we’re relating with him as we’re playing, as we’re working, as we’re grieving, as we’re laughing. And as a result, we’re living as men and women who are fully alive. As a result of that, I hope you thrive to his glory today.

Matthew Porter:
Thanks Matt. What a terrific week of teaching. If you’d like to listen to this series again, or maybe share it with a friend, just swing by KeyLife.org where you can stream our content for free, 24 7. Steve will be back tomorrow along with Pete Alwinson for Friday Q& A. Tomorrow they’ll tackle this question, among others, is the U.S. a Christian nation? Great question, tune in to find out. Well, if you have journeyed with us all this week in the series from Matt Heard, then you might be interested in this. It’s a book from Matt called life with a Capital L. It expands on a lot of the themes that Matt has been speaking about. If you ever feel limited or stuck, well, guess what? That’s not the way it was meant to be. God intends the humanity in each of us to be deeply experienced, lavishly enjoyed, and exuberantly celebrated. That’s a lot of adverbs. And for a minimum donation of $15 to Key Life, this book is our gift to you. Just call us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to order that book. Or go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, the book is called life with a capital L. And finally, would you consider supporting Key Life through your giving? Just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 and then follow the instructions. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And as always, Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.