Tags

, , , ,

See the source image

It is hard to remember some days that this life is noticeably short. Then other days it comes home to me extremely hard. Even living to one hundred or so is short. It will pass away.

All its desires will pass away. Here is the good news of Jesus, the Messiah and our Master. I have billions and billions of years to live. It is a glorious life.

May we focus on doing the will of God. We will live billions and billions of years in Him with that focus. God’s goal for us is all that is important.

And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. [1]

1 John 2:17

When the Bible speaks of eternal life, it refers to a gift of God that comes only “through Jesus the Messiah our Master” (Romans 6:23).

This gift contrasts with the “death” that is the natural result of sin. We cannot earn eternal life. There is nothing we can do to make it happen on our own. It is entirely a Jesus thing!

  • The gift of eternal life comes to those who believe in Jesus the Messiah, who is Himself “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). The fact that this life is “eternal” shows that it is perpetual life—it goes on and on and on, with no end. Imagine trillion and trillions of years. Multiply that by a trillion. Still not there. Stunning!
  • It is a mistake, however, to view eternal life as simply an unending progression of years. A common New Testament word for “eternal” is aiónios, which carries the idea of quality as well as quantity. In fact, eternal life is not really associated with “years” at all, as it is independent of time. Eternal life can function outside of and beyond time, as well as within time.
  • For this reason, eternal life can be thought of as something that disciples of Jesus experience now. Believers do not have to “wait” for eternal life, because it’s not something that starts when they die. Rather, eternal life begins the moment a person exercises faith in the Messiah.
  • It is our current possession. John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” Note that the believer “has” (present tense) this life (the verb is present tense in the Greek, too). We find similar present-tense constructions in John 5:24 and John 6:47. The focus of eternal life is not on our future, but on our current standing in the Messiah.

We have good news! Want to know how to be saved? Click here and here for more.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Jn 2:17). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.