What good thing must I do…

…that I may have eternal life?

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" Why do you ask me about what is good? Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments...  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:16-21, Mark 10:17-31 and Luke 18:18-30

Isn't that just like us? Being a recovering “doer” I can so relate to this question! What can I do God to please you enough? What dots do I need to connect, what formula do I mix, or what magic words do I say to make it all good so I can have eternal life?!

 

So, what is eternal life anyway?? Is it a place to go, like heaven? Or just a reference to living forever without time and not dying? Before I did this study on “eternal life” I think I would have described it as an “after life” destination, being with Jesus always and for eternity. But, doing this study has really refined my thinking about this topic!

I love how, when I am working on a subject to blog, I read something in Oswald’s devotions that really speak to the topic I am working with:

April 12

“… Eternal life is the life which Jesus Christ exhibited on the human level. And it is this same life, not simply a copy of it, which is made evident in our mortal flesh when we are born again. Eternal life is not a gift from God; eternal life is the gift of God… Eternal life has nothing to do with time. It is the life which Jesus lived when He was down here, and the only Source of life is the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Oswald always cuts to the heart and TRUTH of the matter. Eternal life is the gift OF God Himself. The ONLY source of life is God through JESUS. His life IN US is eternal life. We need to die to ourselves, emptying all that is not of Him, and allow Him to fill us with HIS life… basically the process of sanctification. More of You Lord and less of me… He must increase and I must decrease (John 3:30).

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:24-25

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" What is written in the Law? He replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' “You have answered correctly, Jesus replied. ”Do this and you will live." Luke 10:25-28

It’s all about God, all the time. In the above scripture Jesus confirms the experts answer to eternal life as: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' When you love someone with ALL your heart, mind, soul and strength, you are consumed with them! Jesus says, ”Do this and you will live.” The assumption here is, live “eternally” since that was the inquiry.

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Joh 3:14-17

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." John 3:36

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. John 5:39

We need to “Believe in HIM”. What does that really mean? To believe in Him? I don’t think we fully grasp the meaning of this phrase. It’s not just believing certain things about him (i.e. He is the son of God, born of a virgin, died and rose again…) It’s about putting our faith and trust in HIM. The biggest one being, do we REALLY believe He paid for our sins (and the sins of others)? Just like the expert in the law, we are continuously trying to earn salvation! We even think that if we have a wealth of knowledge “about” Him, then that is all we need (see John 5:39). But is that the same thing as “Believing IN HIM”? Believing that He will do what He says He will do (not what we want Him to do)? And is who He says He is (not who WE think He should be)? The bottom line is, if we really believed what we say we believed, our lives would be very different!

And then we get into some interesting, if not downright difficult, scriptures:

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." John 6:27

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:53-54

…eat my flesh and drink my blood…?? What?? Who does that!!?? No wonder most of His disciples left Him at this point. While this may sound a bit cannibalistic, this was a really good word picture Jesus painted for us all. He wants us to literally CONSUME Him... He wants us to eat His flesh and drink His blood which I think of as eating His words, His Truth, His LOVE, His LIFE, and His SPIRIT which is the LIVING WATER for us all… Consuming Him every day of our lives. Most of us Christians spend almost all of our days taking in and consuming mostly what the world offers and not the Truths of Jesus. Have we turned away too?

For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:38-40

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28

A good part of “loving” and “believing” in someone is obedience (If you love me, you will obey what I command. John 14:15). Jesus was obedient and did what His Father asked of Him. He died to Himself so that He could die for us. In the same way, I don’t think we can have eternal life until we die, giving up “our” life, so that we can be “born again” into HIS "eternal" life. It is in this way that we will KNOW HIM, intimately, and not just know about Him…

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:1-3

So, to wrap this up, I now would define eternal life as a “Person”, the Person of Jesus Christ. Eternal life is KNOWING the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, not just knowing about Him. Eternal life is “dying” and being born again into HIS life, consuming and living off of His words of Truth, obeying His commands, and believing IN HIM for all things at all times... This, of course, is also a process :)

Father, I thank you that YOU are eternal life and all who love you and truly know you have eternal life with you! Help me Lord to consume more and more of YOU each day and less of the world. With much love, your daughter Linda :)

(Stay tuned for part three on “heaven”… you may find it very surprising!)