The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 John 2:17,
“The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
In this life there are those things that are of the world and those things that are of God. John enumerates those things that are of the world in verse 16, “the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does”. John points out that these things of the world are all going to pass away. But as opposed to these things that pass away, he observes that those who do the will of God live forever.
When John says the man who does the will of God lives forever we understand he is not suggesting believers escape physical death. What he is saying is that in physical death believers possess eternal life. Physical death becomes a doorway into the presence of Jesus Christ for believers forever - never to die but to live an eternity with their Lord and Savior who has given his life for them.
So when do I receive eternal life? I possess it now, today. Now I am a child of God. Now I am marked as one who has done the will of God. In 1 John 3:23 John says, “This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” As believers John tells us in verse 2 of that same chapter, “now we are the children of God”. I became his child when I believed in his name and as a natural outcome I love the brethren. When this happened I received eternal life.
Eternal life is not something I will achieve some day. Certainly it is not something I will aspire to as if I could earn it or qualify for it in any way. It is something I possess today. As we read in John’s gospel 1:12, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”. I find this just wonderful!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!
(314) 814-8486
This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately
No comments:
Post a Comment