What is eternal life?

 

I have to admit that the idea for this article was inspired by Pastor Cory Martin's sermon on John 17:1-5 last week. He discussed the concept of eternal life and how we often perceive it in terms of infinite time. However, John 17:3 states, "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." From this, we learn that eternal life is not simply about existing forever, but rather about being in an eternal relationship with the true God through the work of His Son, Jesus.

The truth we all intuitively know is that life is not merely about going through the motions each day, but about living with purpose, love, and in connection with others. When our lives are filled with suffering, loneliness, depression, and pain, we often contemplate ending our existence because we recognize that essential elements of life are missing. We experience the brokenness in our lives and understand that a part of us has succumbed to a little bit of death.

What Jesus expresses in His prayer to the Father is that true life is not found in simply finding temporary meaning and significance in worldly things or relationships. Instead, it is found in a relationship with the eternal God. When we truly know Him because we have been saved by Jesus, we discover the true meaning of life, experience boundless love, and have a relationship with someone who is always with us. This means that eternal life does not commence when we physically die in this world but rather when we die to ourselves and accept Jesus as our Savior. Paul articulates this in Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Moreover, eternal life should not be understood as simply existing forever in a place that might eventually become dull or tiresome. Instead, eternal life means living eternally with God. This is the same creative God who fashioned the entire universe and who will forever be infinitely creative. The goodness we experience in this world and universe is an expression of His own goodness and will continue to exist in the next life. Life with Him will be infinitely good and infinitely captivating.

If you currently know God through the work of His Son and are deepening your relationship with Him, you should be growing more and more excited about spending eternity with God. During the same service that Cory spoke about, an 80-year-old man shared his testimony of how he came to know Jesus. Afterwards, we watched a video featuring a song about spending eternity with Jesus. It is my hope, at 52, that I will be even more excited about knowing Jesus at 80 or 90, so that I will be fully prepared to meet Him face to face. I hope you, too, are excited about eternity with Jesus.