The testimony of God—eternal life in believers

1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. It’s impossible to live to love without having the Son of God manifesting His life. Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). In this verse, John stated clearly the testimony of God concerning His Son. The person who has the Son dwelling in Him has eternal life, who is the witness to the world that Jesus lives and is seated at the Father’s right hand. Jesus is the life. What an incredible miracle it is for someone who once was dead in trespasses and sins, living according to the lusts of the flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and was by nature a child of wrath to be transformed by eternal life. While praying to His Father, Jesus described eternal life which He was authorized to give to everyone who the Father gave to Him. He said, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent (John 17:3). If we connect some of the thoughts presented in the last two chapters of this letter, we can see clearly how this is an encouragement to live to love. If someone has the Son, then they have the life of God in them. Having the eternal life of God in them through the Son, they know both the Father and the Son, who is love. In knowing the Father and Son, they know and experience God’s love in which they abide. Therefore the love of God flows from the Father, through the Son, through the believer, to others. They love because they have been loved by God. Love, having finished its course through the believer becomes the testimony of God concerning His Son. He is revealed as the risen, Son of God, Lord of Life, King of Righteousness, and Giver of eternal life.