Eternal Life Defined

Eternal Life Defined

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only True God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 17:3

When we think of eternal life, we often think of it in terms of heaven; perfect bodies, no death, streets of gold, gates of pearl, and all the things that go with a perfect environment. In the High Priestly Prayer, from which our text for today arises, Christ defines eternal life in the simplest and most Divinely sublime terms. He prays, ‘And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only True God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.’ By this definition, eternal life is about a relationship, not merely the result of religious practice.

To know God, is to have eternal life. To know Christ, God’s Holy, Divine Messenger is to have eternal life. It means that eternal life is not something that is yet to be. It means that, for us who know Christ by faith, eternal life has already begun. The eternal state is but the extension and expansion of our understanding of Christ, our fellowship with Christ, and our abiding in the Presence of Christ. This eternal life is what we already possess, regardless of our current physical condition, our circumstances, or our location. Christ says in John 10, ‘I give unto them eternal life;’ that is, I give to them the knowledge of God, and of Myself.  We have an utterly transcendent life. This raises us above every temporal circumstance. How can I today dwell in discouragement, if Christ has given me eternal life, which only increases day by day?

Great and Gracious Savior,
We rejoice today in the eternal life You grant us.
Evermore lead us in that deeper, wider, and sweeter
knowledge of You.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning