Lifetime plans

Lifetime plans

I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. – John 11:25

John 5:24 I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

1 John 5:11-13

 11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

 13 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

The following online marketing ad was seen on the web in various locations. Upon closer examination it seems a bit ironic, does it not?

Annual plans, starting at just $12 + tax or Lifetime plans, available for only a limited time!

The company’s lifetime plans were available for a short, fleeting time. Does that bode well for the longevity of these plans?  Is a lifetime plan, a lifetime plan or not?

Praenumeration was an early method used to raise money to finance the publishing of books and magazines. It was used in the 18th-century German book trade. The publisher offered a book for sale that was on the drawing board but not yet printed. The money raised would be used to finance the cost of the book’s publication. In the 21st century, the same business plan is called Crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding is employed quite frequently by startups hoping to finance ideas that they plan to implement.

Along with the promised publication, people were also offered lifetime plans for future publications. Of course, such plans offered a significant discount. They seemed to provide real value for the money. However, startups are fragile and unfortunately, most do not survive. “The best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.”

Consequently, lifetime plans are often sunsetted (derived from the idiomatic expression “ride off into the sunset.”) and the original investors do not get what they paid for. Sadly, lifetime plans rarely last a lifetime.

What about eternal lifetime plans?

REFLECT & PRAY

When you are sick, you want a doctor and not a medical book or a formula. When you are being sued, you want a lawyer and not a law book. Likewise, when you face your last enemy, death, you want the Savior and not a doctrine written in a book. In Jesus Christ, every doctrine is made personal (1 Corinthians 1:30). When you belong to Him, you have all that you ever will need in life, death, time, or eternity! (Wiersbe)

Father thank You that You have provided a paid in full eternal lifetime plan. Thank You for the confidence and the certainty that this provides for every child of the King.

INSIGHT

If we are going to invest in an eternal lifetime plan, we need to find the best one available. This is one of the central pursuits of the human race. The quality and longevity of the plan would be tied to the individual that offers it. Things such as character, integrity, reliability, satisfied customers, and a proven track record, come into play. It is incumbent upon each person to perform due diligence to make the wisest choice possible.

The Father is in the redemption business. His business was founded, before the foundation of the earth itself. In fact, it existed in eternity past in the mind of God before anything else even came into existence (2 Timothy 1:9). When we place our confidence and trust in what the Father has offered to every child of the King, we are standing on a solid foundation. His company will not fail, it is eternal, and the CEO will carry through on every commitment that He has made.

The one who invests in this plan will never lose out or be lost.

John 10:29 My Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.

How is the Father’s eternal lifetime plan made possible?

It was for the express purpose of providing such a plan that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world. The Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God was given to the world to provide eternal life (John 3:16).

John 5:24 I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.

How can the Lord Jesus Christ make such claims? Anyone else would be considered a lunatic, a liar, or perhaps a fool. But the reality is that the Lord Jesus Christ is extraordinary. He made extraordinary claims and He backed them up during His life on earth, his death, resurrection, and ascension.

John 11:25 Jesus told her, I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.

“Jesus does not merely say that he will bring about the resurrection or that he will be the cause of the resurrection (both of which are true), but something much stronger: I am the resurrection and the life” (ESV Notes).  

“He brought the doctrine of the resurrection out of the shadows and into the light. The Old Testament revelation about death and resurrection is not clear or complete; it is, as it were, ‘in the shadows.’”

“By His teaching, His miracles, and His own resurrection, Jesus clearly taught the resurrection of the human body. He has declared once for all that death is real, that there is life after death, and that the body will one day be raised by the power of God.”

“He took it out of a book and put it into a person, Himself. ‘I am the resurrection and the life’! . . . we are saved by the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and not by a doctrine written in a book. When we know Him by faith, we need not fear the shadow of death” (Wiersbe).

When does our personal eternal lifetime plan go into effect? Do we have to die to receive its benefits? Absolutely not! It becomes the present possession of every child of the King. Eternal life begins immediately at the moment that any child of the King places faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:12 Whoever has the Son has life.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯