The Perspective of the Eternal Life in Christ Jesus!

‘I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.’ – Revelation 21:3-7 NLT

Most of us fear death so we tend to try to make our lives very satisfied and comfortable as we can, until the end of the age, with no regrets. It is true if we are thinking in a worldly perspective. When I was a teenager, which is before I became a true Christian, I sometimes feared death. However, there is more life and truth than this, and we are able to receive that life and truth if we become followers of Jesus Christ, as Jesus proclaims that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6),  In fact, the life that Jesus is proclaiming in John 14:6 is eternal because God, the Creator and the Almighty One (Revelation 1:8), has changed our eternal destinies from the death to the life through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:14-15), His beloved Son and the perfect image of God (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:15) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) The main reason why He did this is because of His steadfast love. God has loved us so much that He is willing to share His kingdom with us (John 3:16-18; 1 John 4:9-10), due to the fact we actually have been created by God to be His image (Genesis 1:27-31). Therefore, Jesus Christ declares, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) Thus, I am not afraid of death anymore, for I know that I am a child of God (John 1:12-13) and Jesus Christ is preparing a place for me in the kingdom of heaven (John 14:2-3). This does not mean that I should literally sacrifice my life into death right away as sacrificing life into death purposely would probably mean that we are not willing to live our lives until the end of the age, according to the truth (John 3:19-21).

Nevertheless, we have to put God’s Word into practice until the end of the age, even though some of them is hard. This is because 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” At the moment, I find Matthew 16:24-27 hard, especially after I have eaten a meal. This Scripture declares that we have to deny ourselves and lose our lives for the sake of Christ. As for me, I know that I have to sacrifice myself when I write devotionals, especially after I had my breakfast or brunch. This is because writing devotionals is the will of God for me, but I often take some rest even though I am not tired and have not got headache. Thus, for this reason, I plan to discipline myself into suffering (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). In fact, every kind of suffering is necessary to our lives if they are done for the sake of the glory and the kingdom (Romans 8:18-25).

As physical and drinking water is necessary to our physical bodies, spiritual water of life, which is the Spirit of God (John 7:38-39), is important to our spiritual bodies as well. This is because the Spirit is meant to overflow within those of us who have committed their lives to God through Jesus Christ, and who are determined to follow Jesus Christ until the end of the age, as it is by the Spirit that we are able receive the eternal life (John 4:13-14). Jesus states, “the Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” (John 6:63-65) However, Jesus Christ is currently knocking on the door of unbeliever's hearts to fully come in as the Spirit of God (Revelation 3:20) In fact, Luke 11:13 declares that the Spirit is available to everybody who ask God. These do not mean that all followers of Jesus have to deny physical and drinking water if they want to have eternal life as our bodies are actually the temple of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). the Romans 12:1-2 declares, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” This Scripture means that we have to get rid of our worldly desires and passions, in order to allow the Spirit of God to work within our lives (Galatians 5:24-25). The main reason for this is the desires of the Spirit is contrary to our worldly ones (Galatians 5:17).I know that Spirit is currently working powerfully within me because the Spirit empowers me to write devotionals and I think that I can hear the voice of God within me sometimes.