What is Eternal Life

What is Eternal Life

Whenever we start discussing Eternal Life, or everlasting life, we typically equate it with being "raised up on the last day" or simply the life we will live in heaven one day after we die, and honestly, that is a completely understandable connection.  But the bible actually describes two different events:  Current life in Christ by allowing Him to live his Life through you, and the end times-second coming of Christ, to bring about the New Heaven and New Earth at the end of time.  The issue is, we tend to combine them into a single salvation meaning and event.   That when someone dies, they enter Eternal Life (after purgatory, and hopefully if we dodged hell), and then one day later, we will all enjoy this Life in the new earth, but after we die.  The issue is that we as a society have accepted that there is no way out of our sinful nature to truly live happily with God unless we die and are taken to heaven.  Some might say "Jesus covers my sins so I can go to heaven". but again, is simply "going to heaven one day" really the goal of the Christian Life?  Or is there more to be revealed?

The beautiful thing is that we do not have to guess what Eternal Life is because Jesus Himself gives us the definition. At the Last Supper, just before His Passion, Jesus lifts His eyes to Heaven and prays: "As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he may give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him. And this is eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:2-3). This verse should stop us in our tracks because Jesus is not speaking vaguely here. He is literally defining Eternal Life for everyone here.

What isn't Eternal Life

He does not say that Eternal Life is Heaven. He does not say that Eternal Life begins after death. He does not say that Eternal Life is simply living forever. Instead, He tells us that Eternal Life is to know the Father and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Not simply to know facts about God, but to know Him personally. To dwell with Him. To walk with Him. To live in relationship with Him. Eternal Life is not merely something waiting for us in the future. It begins the moment we truly enter into the Life of God.

What do the Saints think?

This is why the saints speak so often about union with God. They were not merely waiting to begin living when they died. God's Life had already begun transforming them here on earth. They discovered that the Christian life is not simply about avoiding hell or "earning" Heaven someday. It is about allowing Christ to live His Life within us right now. The closer they drew to Him, the more and more they experienced the reality of Eternal Life long before they died and entered Eternity.

Saint Catherine of Siena captured this mystery beautifully when she wrote, "All the way to Heaven is Heaven, because He said, 'I am the Way.'" She understood that Christ is not merely the road that leads us to Eternal Life. Christ is Eternal Life. The more deeply we abide in Him, the more we begin to participate in that Life even now.

This changes the way we read the entire Gospel. Christianity is not primarily about surviving this life so that we can finally be with God after we die. It is about entering into His Life today. It is about allowing Christ to dwell within us, transform us, and draw us into deeper union with the Father. Eternal Life is not something we achieve through our own effort. It is the very Life of Christ shared with those who abide in Him.

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing."

John 15:4–5

Are You Ready to Live a Life of Sanctifying Grace?

When Jesus gives us the definition of Eternal Life at the last supper, He says something remarkable: "As thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that he may give eternal life to all who thou hast given Him. And this is eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:2-3).

So Eternal Life is not merely a future reward waiting for us at the end of our lives if we tried hard enough to be good. It begins the moment we truly come to know God. Not simply know facts about Him, but know Him personally and dwell in relationship with Him. This changes the way we read the entire Gospel. Christianity is not primarily about surviving this life so that we can get to Heaven one day. It is about entering into the life of God today. It is about Christ dwelling within us now. This is why abiding matters so much, because abiding in Christ is how we begin to live the Eternal Life that He came to give us.