everlasting life

John 3:16

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“For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life” (John 3:16 VOICE).

Life. That’s what it’s all about.

Finding it. Living it. Sharing it.

I’ll be honest. I wouldn’t have chosen to insert all of John 3:16. I’m quite fond of the part about everlasting life. I’m all for that.

It’s the part about everlasting destruction that I would have left out. It’s not my favorite part.

Some have chosen to omit that part from their theology. It makes them uncomfortable. It rubs them the wrong way.

Here’s the thing. If you want the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, you have to take all of it. The good, the bad, and the parts that make you uncomfortable.

Here’s another thing. Those that get everlasting destruction choose it. C. S. Lewis once said that some will say to God, “Thy will be done,” and God will say to some, “Thy will be done.”

In other words, God will respect whatever decision a person makes, whether that is for or against Him. It’s called free will.

I don’t pretend to fully understand why God operates the way He does, but to say that God would never do something because I would never do it is to put myself in a position above God, to be His judge. I know I don’t want that responsibility.

So there it is. If you take anything away from this, it’s that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about a choice. It’s not your parents’ choice or your friends’ choice. It’s yours.

Decide today whether or not you really want to follow Jesus and surrender everything to Him. I chose Jesus because He chose me first long before I was born. But that’s another topic for another day.

The end.

 

This Is It

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“This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life” (1 John 5:12).

The life is in Jesus.

When I was a kid, I thought eternal life was simply living forever. Not that anyone overtly told me this, but it’s what my kid brain grasped when anybody talked about how whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. To me, that meant life that lasted a long time.

I think what I’m beginning to understand is that, while the forever part is right, there is more to it than that. It’s more than just quantity of life. It’s about a quality of life, too.

Eternal life is life with Jesus at the source. It’s where Jesus becomes my life. It’s where even my best days now are nothing compared to what my eternal future will be like.

As I’ve said before, I like to think of C.S. Lewis’ description of the New Narnia in his book, The Last Battle. It’s like everything you were always looking for but never knew it.

It’s like waking up on the first day of summer after school ends, knowing you have freedom up ahead. It’s like that first day of pure vacation bliss. Oh, and it doesn’t end in August or when you go back to work. It never ends.

It’s like that one book I read so long  ago. I can’t remember any of the detail, only that it was one of those books that I couldn’t put down and was sorry to see it end. Eternal life is the realization that this life now are like the title page and the introduction and the rest is the real beginning, a story where each chapter gets better than the last.

 

 

Easter Sunday 2014

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Empty-Tomb1

“Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen”

It’s Easter.

I celebrated with about 130 or so others at the future location of The Church at Avenue South. Though the building has been gutted and won’t be ready for official use for another two months, still the real church got together to proclaim to anyone and everyone that this is Resurrection Day.

The resurrection DOES change everything. It means no more fear of death because Jesus overcame that last enemy when he walked out of the tomb with the sunrise on that first Easter Sunday. It means that whatever I’m afraid of has already been defeated and overcome by this same resurrection power that brought Jesus from death to life.

It means that there is no such thing as TOO LATE, that there’s always time for a do-over and a second chance and a fresh start, that as long as we’re alive we have a purpose and a God willing to bring out that purpose in us.

So I revisit an old Easter toast that I blogged about three years ago today: “We lift our glasses and drink to a Love that never gave up.”

https://oneragamuffin.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/an-easter-toast-stolen-from-someone-on-facebook/

I’ve posted a link so you can read the original post if you want.

Regardless, I’m glad that Easter has come. I’m glad that it isn’t just one day a year, but something that I can celebrate all 365 days (and 366 on those leap years). I’m thankful that just because the holiday ends doesn’t mean the power of that resurrection or its effects do.