Going it Alone?
John 3:16-21
If you don’t believe in the divinity of Jesus, will you not have eternal life?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” - John 3:16-21
For the purists among us, John is the only gospel writer who explicitly uses the term “eternal life,” while the others say that Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God.
While eternal life specifically refers to the continuation of this life after death, entering God’s kingdom is something that happens while we are living in this life.
So, what’s the difference?
Many get hung up on the requirement to follow Jesus to gain eternal life. Jesus is the bread of life, the living water, the way. So, of course, one needs to follow the way of God to be with Jesus in his Father’s kingdom.
Does that happen at death, or at some other time?
I like to think it happens now.
If we don’t follow Jesus, we miss out on being a part of this glorious kingdom of God that is all around us. We live our lives, true, but we miss out on having the knowledge that God is with us in everything we do. This was the original promise God made to his people.
“The kingdom of God has come near.” (Mark 1:15)
“The kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:21)
If we look closely at the way John tells us about eternal life, we get a sense of the present tense as well.
“Whoever hears my word and believes… has eternal life… has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)
The call to follow Jesus begins now, and has benefits in this life as well as in the next. Actually, this life extends forward forever.
If all souls live on beyond the body, we can look at the possibilities in two ways. Either we wind up alone and suffering, or we wind up with Jesus and the heavenly hosts.
But I think we should stop worrying about the afterlife and start focusing on this life. We have been called to join Jesus today, to be a part of his godly kingdom. We may shy away from the terminology, not wanting kings, so look at it as a full life, versus an incomplete one.
When this journey ends, who would want to look back and realize all the things missed during this existence on earth. We could have been clos eto God all along, and we chose to wait to see what happens at death.
Not me. No thank you. I’m saying yes to Jesus every day. And the Holy Spirit is with me through everything, good, bad, joy and sorrow.
Why go it alone?
More to come...
Excellent advice: ". . . start focusing on the life."