SWORD OF THE SPIRIT                                                                                               1100

“Eternal Life”

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life; …And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. – John 3:16; 17:2-3

Have you ever pondered eternity? We tend to reflect on the past, the present and what the future might bring and we make plans and schedules and timelines. Our finite concept of time makes eternity seem like a very long time and difficult to comprehend.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God; God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day – Psalm 90: 2; Genesis 1:5

God is beyond the concept of time. He has always been and always will be. He has no beginning and no end. Time was created by God for the physical universe and it has no meaning in eternity. God is eternal – always in the ‘now’ – the present. There is no past or future, just the eternal forever and ever now.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. – 2 Peter 3:8

Maybe as I approach the septuagenarian milestone I have become more keenly aware of how fast the decades of my life in this body have past by and how few of them remain – there is so much more I want to do – to see – to accomplish.

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. – Psalm 90:10

Of all that I have achieved or desire to accomplish in this life on earth only one thing matters – and that is my choice to accept the free gift of salvation and eternal life that God has provided through Jesus Christ.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life; For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – John 5:24; Romans 6:23

We have a choice to make in the now. We cannot make it in the past nor should we postpone it to make in the future because we do not know how much future there is for us.

…yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. – James 4:14

Eternity awaits all of us and our eternal destiny is our choice. Either we will spend an eternal now perpetually tormented in hell or we will enjoy eternal life in heaven in the presence of God and our Lord Jesus. God, in His mercy and grace has provided the way to salvation for us through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me; My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand – John 14:6; 10:27-28

…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. – Romans 10:9