Fully Persuaded

J.A. Matteson

"And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." 1 John 5:11

Are you fully persuaded of the joyful anticipation and implication of eternal life?  Is eternity something you daily ponder in light of your present difficulties?  Do you fret and strain during the course of the passing years and sigh at the changing reflection in the mirror?  How often do you catch yourself calculating your estimated time left this side of the grave with a foreboding sense of melancholy?   Answering yes to these questions indicates you are walking in the flesh rather than by faith.  And walking in the flesh will never deliver the joy and peace you seek.  The child of God is eternal life in nature by the promise and power of God.  Once that reality is grasped in its magnificence it changes everything.  It alters how we view our stuff that God has made us managers of.  It transforms our relationships with believers and non-believers.  It radically impacts decisions affecting our calendar and checkbook.  And perhaps most notably it alters our thinking when enduring difficulty, of whatever variety it may be.  Stop counting your mortal years and projecting an estimated end to them.  Yes, God has appointed a final day for your present sin laden body to return to the ground from which it was taken, but you will continue for eternity, eternity!  In God's appointed time he will provide you with a glorified body that will never age, become ill, or in any way suffer imperfection.  And in that perfect glorified state you will forever be with the Lord Jesus Christ, who ransomed you from the power of sin and death, to be with him forever.  Eternal bliss and joy inexpressible is promised you.  Now, don't miss this most important fact, what God has promised you already possess; that is, eternal life is not waiting for you in the future, it is a present reality.  Listen to the promise, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).  You see, eternal life is not merely a state of being, it is foremost a relationship with Jesus Christ, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3).  It was this truth as illuminated in the minds of the apostles by the Holy Spirit that infused them with a boldness that shocked the world, obliterated fear and recalibrated their perspective to an eternal plane from an earthly orientation.  This same joy is available to every child of God today when eternity is embraced in their daily experience.  The apostle Paul expresses this joy beautifully, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). 

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