The Promise of Eternal Life: Pen-in Bible Illustration

Objectives for this Week:
1. To begin to build a relationship with this person/group
2. That this person/group would begin to trust God’s Word as her authority
3. That this person/group would understand the assurance of her salvation

After you spend some time getting acquainted, ask:

If you were to die right now, on a scale of 0 to 100 percent, how sure would you be of going to heaven?

Let the learner answer.

We will spend time each week looking at verses in 1 John and other books in the Bible concerning our relationship with Christ. This week we will look at objective evidence for salvation and subjective evidence for salvation. Some of these questions may come across as obvious, but the purpose in asking these questions is to help the learner interact with the Scriptures and dig a little deeper.

If the person you are taking through this lesson has a solid church background, challenge her to learn these lessons in a way that she can teach these truths to others.

Ask: Did you get a chance to read through 1 John and write out the verses having to do with eternal life?

Have the learner share the verses she found. If she didn’t do the assignment from last week, go ahead and give her the following verses.

Read 1 John 2:25: “And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.”

Ask: How good is a promise?

Let the learner answer.

A promise is as good as the person who promises and their ability to fulfill the promise. An example is someone they trust telling them to buy a lottery ticket, promising they will win. They cannot control the outcome.

Ask: Based on this definition of a promise being as good as the person who gives the promise and their ability to follow through, how good is God’s promise?

Ask: To whom has God promised eternal life?

Let the learner answer.

“Us” are people who are believers and followers of Jesus.

Read 1 John 5:11–13.

Ask:
Who gives eternal life? (God)
Where is eternal life found? (In His Son)
Who has eternal life? (People who have the Son)
Who does not have eternal life? (Those who do not have the Son)

Pen-in-Bible Illustration:

Let’s say that your pen represents eternal life.

And the Bible represents Jesus.

And the witness is this: God has given us eternal life. (Pick up the pen.)
And this life is in His Son. (Put the pen inside the Bible.)
He who has the Son has the life. (Hand the Bible to the person.)
He who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Read verse 13 again.

Ask: What is the difference between hoping something and knowing something?

Let the learner answer.

Ask: What difference would it make to know we have eternal life rather than hope we have it?

Let the learner answer.

God wants us to know we have eternal life. It begins when we become a child of God.

Ask: What do you suppose eternal life is?

Let the learner answer.

Turn to John 17:3.

Ask: What does this verse tell us about the focus and priority of the Christian life?

Eternal life is knowing Jesus; this is our focus and priority.

Ask: Based on what we have looked at so far, on a scale of 0 to 100 percent, how sure would you be of going to heaven? Why?

Practice explaining the promise of eternal life, using the pen-in-Bible illustration, with someone.

Watch a captioned version of today’s video here: https://vimeo.com/295870208