Jn. 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (NIV)
Jn. 17:3 – “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
1 Jn. 5:20 – “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”
Most believers have the understanding that eternal life begins once their lives on earth have ended. They also believe that eternal life is merely time without end. The scriptures above provide a different understanding of eternal life.
To better understand eternal life we need to distinguish time from eternity. Eternal life is in a completely different dimension outside the limitations of natural time. Eternal life existed before time began and will exist after time ceases; it exists independent of time. God dwells in the dimension of eternal life, and though we live in this time, and thus death, dominated realm; He has called us to walk with Him in eternal life right here, right now through Holy Spirit.
Eph. 2:5-6 – “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” The “heavenly places” exist in eternity – the spiritual realm immediately surrounding and blanketing men’s consciousness. For us to walk in the Spirit and experience the fullness of our salvation, we must truly become “new creations” (2 Cor. 5:17) capable of living beyond the natural realm which is time and death oriented; and, enter eternal life in Christ. Jn. 10:10 explains that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus Christ came that we might have life more abundantly. The word for “abundantly” in this scripture means “beyond, exceedingly above, or excessive” - this is a beautiful description of eternal life in Holy Spirit – not when we die, but right here and now!
One way that Satan attempts to steal, kill and destroy is to cause a separation between God and us. If he can divert our focus from the Lord, he can then limit our access to this supernatural life that is ours in Christ. An over-emphasis on either the past or the future distracts us from the present – which is our only time to truly live “in Him”. So long as we are dwelling in this natural time dimension, subject to carnal influences and the temporary, illusionary realm controlled by the ruler of this world, we cannot walk in the fullness of life, light and love that Jesus Christ died and rose again to make available to us. I thank the Lord for what He has done in the past and what He will do in the future; I also thank Him that I am not bound by either, but through the power of Holy Spirit to press on to the high calling of God in this present time to walk in eternal life in Christ here and now. Amen.
Jn. 17:3 – “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
1 Jn. 5:20 – “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”
Most believers have the understanding that eternal life begins once their lives on earth have ended. They also believe that eternal life is merely time without end. The scriptures above provide a different understanding of eternal life.
To better understand eternal life we need to distinguish time from eternity. Eternal life is in a completely different dimension outside the limitations of natural time. Eternal life existed before time began and will exist after time ceases; it exists independent of time. God dwells in the dimension of eternal life, and though we live in this time, and thus death, dominated realm; He has called us to walk with Him in eternal life right here, right now through Holy Spirit.
Eph. 2:5-6 – “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” The “heavenly places” exist in eternity – the spiritual realm immediately surrounding and blanketing men’s consciousness. For us to walk in the Spirit and experience the fullness of our salvation, we must truly become “new creations” (2 Cor. 5:17) capable of living beyond the natural realm which is time and death oriented; and, enter eternal life in Christ. Jn. 10:10 explains that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus Christ came that we might have life more abundantly. The word for “abundantly” in this scripture means “beyond, exceedingly above, or excessive” - this is a beautiful description of eternal life in Holy Spirit – not when we die, but right here and now!
One way that Satan attempts to steal, kill and destroy is to cause a separation between God and us. If he can divert our focus from the Lord, he can then limit our access to this supernatural life that is ours in Christ. An over-emphasis on either the past or the future distracts us from the present – which is our only time to truly live “in Him”. So long as we are dwelling in this natural time dimension, subject to carnal influences and the temporary, illusionary realm controlled by the ruler of this world, we cannot walk in the fullness of life, light and love that Jesus Christ died and rose again to make available to us. I thank the Lord for what He has done in the past and what He will do in the future; I also thank Him that I am not bound by either, but through the power of Holy Spirit to press on to the high calling of God in this present time to walk in eternal life in Christ here and now. Amen.