“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)
Many non-believers believe all good and perfect people go to heaven or born again into another earthly life when they die, so they work very hard to be perfect ones. They also may believe one-off acceptance to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour is one-way ticket to the Kingdom of heaven, so they may accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour according to their good timing or accept Him as their Lord and Saviour in the very last minute of their physical death. Overall, humans believe they are to enjoy their earthly life abundantly.
Yes, we are to enjoy our earthly life abundantly until the end, as Jesus has said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). However, He also has proclaimed, “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” (John 11:25-26). Furthermore, John 3:16-18 has stated,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
Jesus didn’t come into the earth to offer all people one-way ticket to the Kingdom of heaven. Yes, He is the only truthful way to heaven, as God sent His only beloved Son into the world to be crucified on the cross as an atonement of our sins (Hebrews 2:14-15). However, Jesus’ sacrifice also allows us to start new lives in Him, starting new lives through faith in Jesus, which includes eternal life (Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:17). This means we can experience eternal life in part, even in physical lives on earth, by accepting and believing in Him as our Lord and Saviour and doing whatever God has called us to do with the guidance of His Spirit (Titus 2:11-14). For example, as I became a true follower of Jesus in the late 2011, I have accepted Him as my Lord and Saviour since then. After two years, God has given me the writing gift to spread the good news of Christ. Therefore, I wrote devotionals over 5 years, articles for a several years, and started to write devotionals again from a couple of weeks ago. Nonetheless, God desires us to be in relationship with Jesus, so we can know and have a relationship with Him through faith in Jesus (John 14:6-7; 17:3).
“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)
When Jesus was put to death on the cross, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Matthew 27:50-51). God’s presence dwelt inside of the temple, where high priests only could go in and offer sacrifices to God for their people’s sins once a year, but since the temple’s curtain was torn, God’s presence became available to everybody anytime and there is no need to bring sins to high priests anymore. Jesus Christ became the ultimate high priest (Hebrews 9:6-15; 10:1-18). Not only Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to the Kingdom of heaven, but He also went there to prepare places for His followers (John 14:1-6). When humans accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, they receive their citizenship of heaven, as eternal life is God’s free gift to those who follow Jesus and do His will wholeheartedly (Romans 5:6-21).
Meditate on Titus 3:3-8 and Romans 6:23, and ask yourself this question: “As God’s free gift is eternal life through faith in Jesus and Jesus’ followers receive their citizenship of heaven, how shall we have our eternal lives to full potential?”
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