|
ETERNAL LIFE IS MORE THAN JUST GETTING YOUR SINS FORGIVEN
LIFE ETERNAL IS MUCH MORE THAN JUST MAKING IT TO HEAVEN
There is more to Eternal Life than a lot of people think. Many people have mistakenly thought that the goal of salvation is
the forgiveness of sin to avoid hell. That’s not what John 3:16 is saying.
He accomplished our reconciliation with God by paying the debt for all our sins, past, present, and even the ones we haven’t
committed yet.
If that’s all there is to salvation, that’s more than any of us deserve, and it would still be worth preaching.
But salvation is much, much more than getting our sins forgiven.
Sin was a barrier that stood between us and a holy God. It had to be removed. That’s exactly what Jesus did, and He
did it well.
Sin is no longer standing between God and man (2 Cor. 5:17). But to what does that entitle us?
Let me say it this way. If all you did was ask Jesus to forgive your sins so you wouldn’t perish in hell, then you are
missing out on eternal life.
Sure, it entitles us to live forever with God in heaven. That’s wonderful. But there are tremendous benefits right here,
right now, on earth. Eternal life is one of those benefits.
Many people believe Jesus died to forgive their sins, but they still don’t have a close, personal, intimate relationship
with their Father God,Jesus or the Holy Spirit. They think that is reserved for heaven.
They are content to muddle through life singing songs about how, when we all get to heaven, what a day that will be.
Jesus defined eternal life for us in John 17:3. That verse says,
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
Eternal life is knowing God intimately. You think you know God and you still aren’t satisfied. You want there to be
something more. The key lies in understanding what the Bible means by this word “know.”
This is means more than just intellectual knowledge. It can be seen in hundreds of Bible scriptures, like, “Adam knew
Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain” (Gen. 4:1). Adam didn’t just know Eve intellectually. That won’t
produce children. He had an intimate, personal experience with her. This was speaking of a knowing between a man and a woman
in the most intimate way possible.
The intimate relationship I am talking about goes beyond sex. It goes beyond anything the carnal mind can dream up. Because
simply speaking, it does not exist in the carnal sphere.
This kind of a relationship with God ONLY exists on the spiritual plane. It has nothing to do with the flesh. We are not to
relate to God on the basis of the flesh, but of the spirit.
Jhn 4:24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
Yes , Jesus , the Word of God, became flesh and dwelt among us, but His job in the flesh of sinful man is over. His mission
was accomplished !
When Jesus said eternal life was knowing God, He was speaking of having an intimate, close, personal relationship with God.
That is not to take anything away from heaven, but we are supposed to have eternal life (close, intimate, personal relationship
with God our Father and Jesus Christ His Son) right now.
It’s not “pie in the sky in the sweet by and by” but rather “steak on your plate while you wait.”
Jesus said in John 3:16 that God loved the world so much, He gave His only begotten Son so those who believed on Him wouldn’t
perish but have everlasting life. If all you have done is believe on Jesus so you won’t go to hell, then you are missing
out on the everlasting life the Lord wants to have with you right now.
People misunderstand this because they have placed a period after the word “perish” in John 3:16.
They believe that the reason God sent His Son to die for their sins was so they wouldn’t perish, PERIOD. That excludes
the true message of eternal life and intimate relationship with God as the goal of salvation.
Faith comes from hearing God’s Word (Rom. 10:17). If we don’t hear that Jesus came to bring us back into intimate
relationship with God, then we won’t have faith for that and we won’t experience it.
How many people do you know who desire to have what you have? Is there anyone who wants the kind of Christianity you have
now?
If not, then may I suggest to you that you aren’t experiencing eternal life as the Bible describes it and as our Lord
Jesus died to give you.
This isn’t something for the select few. This is normal Christian living. In fact, if this isn’t your experience,
then perhaps you aren’t really living in His fulness.
This is what drove the Apostle Paul (Phil. 3:10) and all the early Christians. It’s still what drives victorious Christians
today. It’s all about personal relationship with a Person, not just some doctrine or legalism, or putting guilt on people
through someone's mis-interpretation of the scriptures.
Jesus came to set us free. If we are not experiencing that freedom fully, then something is wrong somewhere.
Perhaps the reason many Christians are not experiencing the fulness of a satisfying relationship with God is because they
are still trying to get their soul saved.
Eternal life is relationship with God, it is knowing God. when you got born again ALL the LOVE, ALL the FAITH, ALL the JOY
and POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT came into you. The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is on the inside of your
spirit, if you are truly born again.
Jesus is not inside of your brain, or your physical body. Jesus is in heaven sitting on the right hand of the Father. The
Holy Spirit is the one who does the regeneration of your spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who does the renewing of your
mind through the Word of God, and the Voice of God, and the Holy Spirit is the one who takes care of your body healing it
and keeping it healthy.
You can talk to Jesus, and He is IN you and WITH you as He said. How can He be IN us and WITH us at the same time? Through
the Holy Spirit, who keeps us connected with Jesus and the Father. How can everyone on this planet be breathing the same air
from the same atmosphere? How can millions of people in all over the world be watching the same live T.V. show
broadcast at the time?
How can the sun be way up there 93 million miles away and give off heat, light, xrays, ultraviolet rays, electromagnetic waves,
etc., all at the same time that affect the lives of every single person on this planet at the same time?
How can the moon way up there in space influence the seas and many other aspects of the earth in all the scientific ways it
does and at the same time have an effect on every human being on the face of the earth both physically and emotionally?
Radio waves have always been here since the beginning, but not always understood. They were not harnessed until the 20th century.
Millions of people tuned in at the same time gathering around their radios before there was even television to hear the latest
episode of "The Shadow" and other radio dramas.
Electricity has always been here since the beginning of time, and still not understood, yet only harnessed for mankind's household
use in the 20th century.
Now we have the Internet, cyberspace as it is called, as most of the world's population tune into the information highway
for a multitude of reasons and purposes at the same time, all connected together in cyberspace, all over the world.
These and many other phenomena can be seen and pretty much accepted, but 30 years ago the internet was only a dream, thought
impossible by many.
These are only physical things which , in order to make these things work, need a countless amount of miniscule parts and
electronic impulses unseen by the naked eye. Can you actually see the power that is behind the internet with your naked eyes?
So how do you know it is there? That's easy! You can see it on your computer screen!
How does all that power get inside of that small computer? Plus now, there is even wireless internet , and almost everyone
in this world owns a wireless mobile cell phone, which is even smaller. Millions and millions receiving the same kind of electromagnetic
power at the same time all over the world and this is the only thing that connects them with each other!
So just think about that and magnify it a quadrillion times and you will get the mind boggling picture of how an All - Powerful
(OMNIPOTENT) God can live inside of a human being.
But , unfortunately, no one's mind can conceive something of that magnitude with our finite , limited minds, so why stumble
over it?
Did you ever think about the fact that YOU yourself are a wireless, living, human, physical being walking and talking and
performing all of your daily bodily functions and millions of thoughts on your own with no attachments whatsoever, except
that you were attached for 9 months in your mother's womb and then suddenly de-tached after you were wound up by God and have
been operating completely independent of any outside power?
Yes, YOU are a whole independent wireless universe of its own performing billions of unseen electromagnetic and chemical functions
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 12 months a year. Can you remember when was the last time you were plugged into a recharger
of some kind?
Can your mind even begin to fathom how awesome that is? No, because we never think about that, because we take life for granted
and fail to give God the glory for such a wonderful creation. All we can do sometimes is complain how our wireless miraculous
bodies are malfunctioning , feeling sick , or giving us pain, so why did this God create us only to suffer anyway?
That's all some people can think about instead of acknowledging the wonderful loving God of the universe who made all things
by the hand of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and wonder why He didn't make it perfect. Well have I got
news for you! He DID create it perfect, but man, in his lust for power, messed it up and we have been reaping the effects
of that fall in the garden of Eden ever since.
That is why God's plan was to send Jesus to die for our sins, and that , my friend, is good news. All He asks is that we believe
and acknowledge Him. Accept His saving grace which you could never ever earn yourself.
Know Jesus, and His Father , the God Almighty, and get regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. Then you get not only one God,
but three persons in that God who love and care for you and speak to your spirit constantly day and night. God's station never
stops broadcasting and is always transmitting fresh and new messages to you whether you recognize them or not.
You can say a prayer , or you don't even need to say a sinner's prayer , but somehow, somehow, pray and start talking to God,
asking Him to forgive you of all your sins and show you the way, come into your life, your heart, your mind and spirit and
renew your spirit.
|
