Everlasting Life!
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
The message of most evangelicals is focused on dying and not living. The age-old question that is asked over and over again is: If you die tonight where will you spend eternity? We have focused on giving people a better death instead of a better life. This scripture does not say that if you believe in Him you will have a better death. Somehow we live to die and then to go to heaven. Our subconscious understanding is that life really is only on the other side of death. This is contrary to what Jesus came to do.
His life was a demonstration of what we need to have before we die. Life after death is not the issue here. When you die and we all will, you will spend eternity with Him. What we need to look at is how did you live your life before you died. In a movie one time a statement was made by one of the characters. “We all die but we don’t all live.”
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Jesus is speaking here and He makes a statement that qualifies when this reality of eternal life happens. He says that if you hear and believe, both things a dead person cannot do, you have passed from death to everlasting life. Everlasting life is imparted when you believe. You already are living forever. Why then is our message of salvation centered on dead things and not living things? He imparted everlasting life so that we might live!
John 10:10 Jesus said: The thief comes to kill, steal and to destroy but I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.
Jesus’ mission was to deal with sin and to give us life that will manifest in abundance. The enemy steals, kills and destroys. That reality is only experienced this side of eternity. Jesus came to give back, and give back in abundance what the enemy steals. Life as we experience it is not what God ever intended for us. The bible is full of testimonies about people that lived in abundance. I am not talking about being rich. I am talking about people that saw and faced difficult situations but in every one of them God showed up. I am talking about people that faced their fears and God showed up. I am talking about people that faced famines, wars, their life’s at stake and God showed up. That is life abundantly. Eternal life is a person. His name is Jesus.
1John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
1John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
1John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Eternal life is to know Him. Eternal life is to have Him. Christ in us the hope of Glory. Eternal life is what you have right now. Because of that gift He gave you, you live never to die. Your body will die but the death that came from sin is removed and eternal life was given to you. You have that now. How will this change the way you live right now?
Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Daily I desire to know Him better. I must have more of Him. I must know Him better. My heart longs for Him. He is my everything and I desire nothing more than to be found in Him.
