Eternity Is Now In Session - Union Series

Eternity is now in session. We are wrapping up a five-week series in which we have tried to understand that eternity doesn’t start way out there after we die, eternity and eternal life and the abundant life starts now, we can have it now. Following Jesus is not about getting us into heaven later, that will happen soon enough, but it’s about getting heaven into us now. And when heaven moves into us, when eternal life moves into us, when Jesus moves into us, it changes everything.

Today I want to take you a little deeper. I want you to imagine a life that we could have, that many of us don’t have, but a life that we should have if we follow Jesus.

In one of the last talks that Jesus gave to his disciples he tried to explain to them that the life that they were doing together - Jesus and his disciples - Jesus and his followers - what they were doing together on the earth - walking together - would continue on even though he would be gone.

John 14:18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

The physical absence of Jesus was never to be mistaken that he had abandoned them or us. The relationship simply changes; “you will be in me and I will be in you.”

Wouldn’t it have been amazing to have walked with Jesus, physically, in the flesh while he was on this planet? I would never want that to go away.

I mean, every day getting up, asking Jesus what was on the agenda that day, where they would be going and what they would be doing. And every day you knew that there would be something out of the ordinary, something you’d never heard before, something you’d never seen before, happening with Jesus.

And not only that think about the amazing comfort or safety it must have been like to be in the presence of Jesus. No matter what situation Jesus ever found himself in you would have known secretly, “he’s got this one, I don’t know how he’s got it, but I know he’s got it.” Somehow you would always know that it’s going to be all right when you’re with Jesus, the man from heaven.

- Like when they would meet out of control demon possessed people. Even though it was scary you knew that Jesus was going to drop a load of heaven on that guy.

- Even when you were scared to death on a boat in a storm you knew somehow Jesus was going to get you out of this thing.

- Even when tensions were running high because of bunch of ambitious political and religious people were in your face you knew Jesus was going to outsmart them.

- Even when the most desperate case of disease came before you… There was Jesus.

- In every single need that you could experience… There was Jesus.

How cool that would be.

It wasn’t just witnessing is awesome power but it was all the personal Access you had to the things that he said, the words that he spoke, the parables that he offered up. Even though you may not understand everything that he said you just knew that whatever he said was the way to go because he was Jesus!

And being around Jesus every day, and knowing that he knew everything about you and yet he still loved you and you are experiencing this magnificent thing called grace - and even though you knew you were of little faith or you still had a big mouth or some sin was still entangling you… There was Jesus, still walking with you, still talking to you, still inviting you to participate in his mission to change the world.

I think that being around Jesus at that level I would be amazed, always feel safe, and peace, and be anxious free, and always know that even if I didn’t have the answers I was with somebody who did, somebody who could do something about the problems. That would be awesome!!

You might say that the disciples lived a life of abiding with Jesus or staying with Jesus.

Well, Jesus is about to tell his disciples that even though he is going to go away this relationship of being with him is not going to end.

There’s going to be a key word in this passage of Scripture that were going to read; it is the word “abide.” Not a word that we use a lot today but look for it in this Scripture. There is something tremendously important about this word abide and abiding will deliver to you something more.