"The Greatest Future Ever Imagined!" Series

John 3:16 tells us that when a person comes to God through faith in Jesus Christ, he "shall not perish, but have ETERNAL life." The word "eternal" refers not only to length of life but depth of life! It not only has to do with how long I live, but to how well I live!

1. Eternal Life Is Eternal In Quality!

Eternal life is not something I have to wait to experience in the next life! As one commercial slogan puts it, "The future is now!"

Because of my relationship with God through faith in Jesus, I now have an eternal provision to live on! Through Jesus Christ, we have all we need to live life to the fullest!

Jesus said, "I am come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly," (John 10:l0a KJV). Peter tells us that, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness," (2 Peter 1:3). The apostle Paul declared, "And my God will meet all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus," (Philippians 4:19).

When one enters into a personal relationship with God through faith in Christ, he finds that God makes available all the resources of heaven itself, in order to make it possible for a person to be fulfilled in life no matter what his situation in this world. There is a quality of life that can be known by the Christian, that the world knows nothing about. This is what Jesus was referring to when He told His disciples, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about," (John 4:32), and what Paul was talking about when he spoke of living life with the "peace of God, which transcends all understanding . . ." (Philippians 4:7)!

But just because one is in a position to be blessed by the provision of God, doesn’t mean he is taking advantage of all God has to offer. Augustine said that "God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands are so full - there’s nowhere for Him to put it."

When we feel as though God’s provision is missing from our lives, it is often because our hands are not open to receive because they are closed around something that we refuse to let go.

If we who know the Lord will commit to live for Him, He will provide us with all we need to live life to the fullest, no matter what the world might do to us. We can experience heaven on earth today.

Through our relationship with God through faith in Christ, we have been given an eternal provision to live by, and an eternal perspective to live with. By virtue of our personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we can see things in a way that the world can*t begin to comprehend. The world evaluates life in light of the "here and now," but the Christian can evaluate life in terms of eternity.

It has been estimated that around 90 million Americans wear lenses to correct their vision (I happen to be one of them). This is close to half the population of the United States. Glasses are essential to these Americans because correct vision is one of the most important aspects of life. Without glasses, many people (including me) could not drive, work at their jobs, enjoy sports, or watch television. They would, in fact, miss out on much of life.

As important as it is to be able to see the physical world around us, however, it is even more essential to be able to see spiritually. It is possible to be blind to spiritual matters and to miss out on what real life is all about. What is needed is correct vision. But glasses will not help this kind of vision problem. Only Christ can give us spiritual sight. Through our relationship with Him, we are enabled to see the world through His eyes, which gives us an entirely different perspective to live with.

As one who has a different perspective to live with, are you allowing the eternal view make a difference in your approach to life?

If a person driving an automobile were to only look at the center lines in the road just ahead of the car, he would not drive very safely. His view of the road would be "short-sighted," resulting in his being unable to anticipate what might be coming up. Consequently, he would be constantly unprepared for whatever might be "down the road."

Instead, the proper way to drive is to make sure you look up ahead and fix your eyes on the road about 100 yards or so ahead of you. That way, you will be prepared for whatever might be coming up and will drive more safely.