79. Eternal Life
John 3:15, 16 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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.
John 6:47He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
This most famous and clearest proclamation of the Gospel deals with the promise of Eternal Life. Jesus has earned eternal life for all people who ever lived or will live. It is now available to all, and those who hear it and believe it have eternal life. The promise of eternal life is not for the future in that some day in the future we will have eternal life. The promise is that right now, today, in the moment of faith, we have eternal life. The meaning is that we have the very life of God within us, and it so happens that God’s life is by its very nature eternal, without beginning or end.
It is a life that is everlasting, forever, never-ending, but the wonderful truth is that we receive it today; we do not wait for it until later. The moment we believe in Jesus we “go to heaven.” Although we still remain on earth, in this visible world, we immediately enter into the next world, or age, the invisible realm where God lives in glory. Thus we are literally in two worlds at one and the same time. How we occupy two spaces at once remains a mystery, but whether we see it or understand does not lessen the truth. We believe the truth.
A further true mystery in connection with this truth is that we are two people at one and the same time; two lives live inside of us; we are both sinner and saint. The sinner who lives in this present age is ruled by the prince of the power of the air; the saint who lives in the eternal age is ruled by God Almighty. This sinner in this age is only evil and always evil, much more depraved than we are usually willing to admit; the saint in the eternal age is only good and always good, much more righteous and holy than we are usually able to believe. For this reason, a promise like this, “you have eternal life,” is extremely important to believe and pay attention to more often. The simple response is: repent and believe the Gospel very often. How vital it is to “go to heaven” every day! Eternal Life changes life.