If you have had your sins forgiven but have not entered into an intimate relationship with God, you are overlooking what eternal life is all about. God created us to be eternal. The soul of man never dies. Everyone will live forever in heaven or hell (Matthew 25:46).
In John 5:11-13, John wrote: “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”
Eternal life is not just about living forever with God in eternity; it is a quality of life in our relationship with God the Father through Jesus, His Son, in the present. God has given us eternal life through His Son; if we know the Son, we have that life. Those who don’t know Jesus are not experiencing the abundant life God intended (John 10:10). Regardless of how brilliant, capable, talented, or wealthy someone may be, without Jesus, life lacks a purpose that gives fulfillment. We don’t have to wait until we go to heaven to experience His abundant life. We have the witness within us that we are the children of God (1 John 5:10).
In John 17:3, Jesus prayed for His disciples and all believers who were to come: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)
Eternal life is a present reality. The word “know” is the same term used in Genesis 4:1, which states that Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “Know” is a term used in the Old Testament to describe a man and woman coming together in physical intimacy. When Jesus prayed, “This is life eternal, that they might know You,” he expressed that eternal life is an intimate and personal relationship with God. This relationship is what Jesus came to purchase for us. God didn’t come to save us because He was sorry for us. He loved us so much that He died to take away our sins so we could “know” Him and enter into an intimate and personal relationship with Him.
Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with God in the Garden, but they gave it away to Satan. Jesus restored this perfect relationship to us. When God created this world, it was ideal—heaven on earth. However, Jesus did not restore an ideal world. He returned the authority God had given us in the Garden. We are responsible for our lives and the condition of this world.
Your perspective changes when you start to look at eternal life as something you have now. You spiritually see what Jesus has restored. If you look physically at this world, you do not see heaven on earth. But if you look spiritually through the eternal life Jesus has restored to you, you see what God sees. You see what this world can physically be when He is Lord of all. And you are His agent to bring it about. One day, you will go to heaven, leaving behind the results of Adam and Eve’s sin. But for now, you have a personal, intimate relationship with your Savior. You know that even though this world is not your home, heaven will be one day. Jesus has restored what was yours in the beginning. He has given you eternal life to live in this fallen creation Adam and Eve destroyed.
Eternal life now is the abundant life Jesus has given you. It is His restored authority to reign in this life over the enemy. Eternal life is His life in you that dispels the darkness of His once-perfect creation. You are responsible for your life and caring for God’s creation. You are His light in this world. It is God’s will for this earth to be as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Is He illuminating your soul? Are you reigning in life over the defeated deceiver? Are you shining Christ's abundant life, dispelling the darkness of this sinful world?
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