Episode #335 Eternal Life Isn’t Just About Heaven – Learning to Enjoy Life with God
From Today's Episode:
In today’s episode, we talk about when eternal life actually begins.
For years, I thought eternal life was something I'd experience someday in heaven—but Jesus says it's knowing God right now, in the middle of ordinary life. If you've been waiting to truly experience God until things slow down or you get it all together, this episode offers Christian encouragement to start living in that reality today. He's inviting you into something beautiful that's already available.
Our Good God talks with us and we're created for life with Him, so let's experience more of it!
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Verse
John 10:10
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."
John 17:1-3
"When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.'"
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Question
God, how are you inviting me to participate more in eternal life with you today? And how can I notice you more in ordinary moments?
Here's the episode transcript
Hey friends, it's Jen. Welcome to this episode of Good God Talks. We're talking today about eternal life, and I'm excited about this because I really misunderstood God's invitation to receive eternal life for decades. And the main way I misunderstood it was I pictured eternal life as something that happened someday in the future. Eternal life would be in heaven, but that's only part of the story.
Eternity means it doesn't end. It has no beginning and it has no end. It's always been, and so eternity doesn't just start when we die. It's going on right now. And so because of Jesus, we can experience eternal life now. Not just in heaven.
Part of why we're talking about this today is because we can receive salvation, but misunderstand what eternal life actually means. Because if it's not just someday in heaven, then that poses the question for us: What actually is eternal life? And the good news for us is that Jesus straight up tells us.
So I'm gonna read for us from John chapter 17, and so reading verses 1 through 3 it says, “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’"
So Jesus is praying to the Father and he's affirming what he already knows. He's praying it back to God. You've given me authority to give eternal life, and this is where he defines it. “And this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
So eternal life isn't just waiting for you later. Eternal life is available with God right now. Knowing the Father, knowing the Son, knowing the Spirit. That is eternal life. And so someday, when we who have received salvation, enter into glory, we will enter into heaven and we'll know him more fully. Even as we are fully known.
Right now, it's partial. It's foggy. It's behind a veil. But it's still eternal life now because we get to begin knowing God now, and that is the life he offers us.
In John 10:10 Jesus is describing his role as our good shepherd and how as his sheep, we know his voice and he cares for us. But he also describes the thief, the enemy of our souls who seeks to destroy us. And this is what he says about the enemy in that verse. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."
So the enemy of our souls comes to steal, kill, and destroy the life that God offers us. He tries to rob from us on earth, in this part of life, the eternity that we can have in knowing and experiencing life with God here.
And I think part of that tactic might be the myth that I misunderstood for so long. The myth that so many people fall into believing that eternal life is only available someday.
Everything on earth can feel like it's up to me. I need to prove myself to God. I need to show him that I'm hardworking and I'm faithful, and that I'm trying to be a good Christian who pleases him so that hopefully someday I might enter into eternal life. That is so far less than what God offers us.
The reality is today, as those who have received salvation, we can live life with God. Now. We don't have to wait for someday. We get to know him and continue to know him more now.
And so here's a question that I invite you to bring to God in listening prayer, anticipating that there's something he wants to share with you. There's a way he wants to make him himself known to you more in exactly the circumstances and the situations that you are navigating today. And so here's that question:
God, how are you inviting me to participate more in eternal life with you today? And how can I notice you more in ordinary moments?
Have a good talk
And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!
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