What Good Is Eternal Life?

I was raised in what would be perceived as "a Christian home.' We went to church every Sunday, were involved in church activities and ministries; we even attended a nearby camp meeting throughout the summer. I heard the Gospel at a very young age and knew I didn't want to go to hell. Fire insurance. So, I accepted Jesus as my Savior. But in the everyday, in the face of childhood squabbles with my brother or broken relationships with playground friends, in the pain of unreturned crushes --to me --salvation meant nothing. What good is heaven at ninety-five when I have all these years of life to spend dealing with this stuff? Little did I know that was just the beginning. Bigger problems came with greater freedom to choose. How am I actually saved --from what am I actually saved --when I can't get through a shift without sinning --when I don't want to get through a shift without sinning? I knew I was not forgiven so that I might continue to do as I desired, but I also knew sin should no longer be what I desired. Is heaven really worth giving up my fun here on earth? 

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
~ John 17:3

Jesus' words defined eternal life and defined my problem: I had no clue what eternal life really was. Eternal life is not just heaven, streets of gold, angels and songs. It is not only life with no expiration date. Eternal life is a quality of life, a way of being that --yes, goes on in perpetuity --but is made supremely, unspeakably good by a relationship with the Creator of the universe, the King of all kings, the sovereign Ruler over all, and the One who made each one of us in His image. Eternal life is not exclusively measured in eons, but by the quality of life attained for us by the blood of Jesus Christ. Eternal life is to know, to have a personal relationship with God. 

Jesus' arrival as a Man in our midst brought light, clarification, revelation to the question Who is God? --a question He has been answering since before mankind existed. Imagine that! He's not having issues making Himself clear --that's just how big, how deep, how multi-faceted and infinite this perfect Being is! This perfect Being who not only invites us to join Him in relationship, but has made a way through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son! So, Jesus made all of this clear, revelation --and calls us, invitation --and became the means by which we could be made worthy, salvation. That is eternal life! If believing in Him is a real, all-encompassing belief, an acceptance that is often underpinned by an emotional or spiritual sense of certainty (Encarta), then the believer would seek God with his whole heart and body, would know God, would develop a quality of life consistent with Christ's definition in John 17:3 because he/she has been joined with Christ.

That truth delivered to me through multiple Scriptures and, by God's grace, in countless ways throughout the years, has made all the difference in the world --this one and the next! I look forward to spending eternity in His presence, and at the same time, from this vantage point, I know eternity has partially, imperfectly begun. It is here, it is the inheritance of all who believe. And it is good beyond imagination!