What is “eternal life”?
People often assume that this phrase simply means life that doesn’t end. An unending sequence of lived experience, stretching into a future beyond the length of time we can imagine.
But as many astute thinkers have pointed out, if the only thing that changes about your life is that it *keeps going,* that’s not very good news. It could, in fact, be bad news.
When the phrase “eternal life” pops up in the Bible, it’s not primarily about the *quantity* of life someone has.
It’s talking about the *kind* of life they have, the kind of life that they possess in their inward being.
Jesus gives us one clear definition: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3 NIV).
This is the language of communion: A life where you know God and God knows you.
That’s what eternal life means.
Sources: John 3:16-17 (ESV)
#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #GoodNews #Gospel #TheGospel #Euangelion #Salvation #EternalLife #Communion #Union #Knowledge #Interaction #Personal #Witness #Evangelism #Evangelical #Evangelicalism #John3 #John316 #John17 #GentleWitnesses #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral