Would it surprise you to know that eternity doesn’t start when the body dies? Eternity already is. As Christians, we believe in the eternal, immortal God. He is, always has been, and always will be. For God’s kingdom, eternity is now.
So when is the eternal life promised to us in scripture?
Many of us grew up hearing the afterlife described as “going to heaven when we die”. This saying is a cultural mix of generational beliefs that became muddied over time. We began to believe that eternal life starts upon death of the body. But, if we ask Jesus into our heart so that we can go to heaven when we die, what happens in our heart while we are still in our bodies?
According to scripture, the gift of eternal life is given the moment we believe in the gospel message of Jesus Christ. We receive the Holy Spirit and the eternal God now dwells in us through Jesus. In theology circles, this is known as the “already and not yet”. We have received the gift of eternal life and we wait for the new life to come when Jesus returns.
The Only Immortal God
God is immortal, a being that lives forever and never dies or decays. Only God can give life. If we think of the gift of eternal life as immortality, it is only God that can make a mortal being immortal. So let’s think of the free gift of eternal life John 3:16 talks about as immortality.
God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that whoever believes in him will not die but will be immortal with God. (My paraphrase). Granted, we will not be immortal like the movie Highlander with Sean Connery where there’s a Scottish accent claiming, “There can be only one.”
Paul speaks of the spiritual immortality for those who believe in Jesus. “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” (1 Cor 15:53). Paul was writing to the Corinthians to remind them that we are waiting for Christ’s return, that day when the “trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable” (1 Cor 15:52). Paul says because this is coming soon, be steadfast and immovable, always working hard in the Lord (1 Cor 15:58).
A Thin Veil that Separates
Scriptures speak of a veil that covers the eyes of man so that they cannot see God or his glory. God is near, not far. Only the eyes of faith can see through the veil.
In the Old Testament, God declared that no mortal human can see God’s face and live (Ex 33:20). So God hid Moses in a cleft of a rock and covered Moses as he passed by. Moses was only able to see the back of God’s glory after God had passed.
When Moses came down from the mountain, his face was bright and radiant from having been in God’s presence. The people were afraid and made Moses put a veil over his own face so they wouldn’t be afraid.
In the New Testament, Paul spoke of a veil that prevents people from seeing God. (To read this passage in its entirety, click here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+corinthians+3&version=NET).
Paul explains that the Israelites made Moses put a veil on his face because their minds were closed to God. But, Paul says, when someone believes in the Lord, the veil is taken away. When we believe in Jesus, we are set free.
“And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from[ the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).
In other words, God’s glory is reflecting through us into the world when we believe in the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
Why Does It Matter?
We live in a politically correct society. We have come to think of religion as a personal choice and what someone else believes is none of our business.
But, wait…
If, by faith, we receive the free gift of God that is eternal life, AKA immortality, while we await Christ’s return, we also know that those who do not know Christ and have not received the free gift of God that comes by faith are not immortal. Only God can make someone eternal and immortal. They will have no hope when Christ returns because “whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12).
Imagine knowing that immortality is real and free for the asking and then, not helping someone else find it. If you think about it, as a Jesus follower, immortality is in your grasp. We will be raised from the dead and united with God forever.
What about the lady at work, the weird guy that lives next door, the couple at the coffee shop? What about the criminal, the predator, the thief? Don’t we want immortality for them? God does. “To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (1 John 1:12).
I’m not saying this to guilt anyone. And please don’t go knocking on doors and (physically or metaphorically) whacking people on the head with a bible. My challenge is to be a willing conduit, a dispensary, of the gift of immortality that you have received and the Lord who gave it to you.
Be willing to be kind and patient. Be willing to show some grace and mercy. In light of the eternal life that awaits you, be willing to have compassion for those who have no idea that eternal life is free for the asking.
The whole of our entire mortal life is only a drop in a vast ocean of time. Eternity has already begun for those who have been given the free gift. May God grant us the opportunity to reflect his glory into the darkness of the world around us to those who do not have life.
A quote from Jesus, John 10:10: “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it in all its fullness.”
Copyright @ TA Boland 2024
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