45. Eternal Life
Matthew 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
Mark 10:29-30 Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
Luke 18:29-30 Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left houses or wife or brothers, or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come eternal life.
It is possible, though not likely, that one person could lose house, family, land and all that pertains to this life on earth. It is less likely, though not impossible, for a Christian to lose everything, family and property, because of Christ. This has happened and still happens with persecutions throughout the world. But the promised compensation for the losses will be 100 times. The blessings and rewards in the spiritual life more than make up for any losses in physical enjoyments; in fact, spiritual blessings can’t even compare with physical loss.
Not only is spiritual life so much greater than all the creature comforts of earthly life, but also the further guarantee is that we cannot lose them and we have the certainty of everlasting life; blessed spiritual life goes on forever and cannot be taken away. We have eternal life right now with the promise that we cannot lose it.
The key condition (the if clause) is that one would forsake all earthly delights and comforts and even necessities for the sake of Jesus; one would count it all as loss for the sake of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord; one would hold lightly everything, even family, in order to hold on tightly to Christ. When one is willing to let it all go he is happy, free and blessed: he lets it go before he is forced to lose it all. This is the claim of Jesus on our life that every believer is willing to submit to: “Let it all go; nothing is more important than Christ alone.” Then your spiritual life will be blessed one hundred times over forever.“Don’t hold on to what you cannot keep; then you will keep hold of what you cannot lose.”