The Daily Word of Righteousness

An Examination of Current Teaching, #29

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25,26)

We think what we want is Heaven. We are mistaken. What we desire is the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Father in Him. This is eternal life. In fact, our goal is to gain eternal life in our body, not to die so we lose our body. Paul wanted to go to be at home with the Lord. But he groaned for the redemption of his body. When the Lord Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom on the earth, the earth will be our home. Our home is where the Lord is. Heaven is for the angels. The earth is for mankind. Let's serve God diligently so we can work with the Lord in driving sin from the earth and setting up His everlasting Kingdom.

As we live in intense interaction with the Lord Jesus, He feeds us with His body and blood. In this manner we gain each day in eternal life and are prepared to enter eternal life in our body at the coming of the Lord.

Gaining in eternal life has nothing whatever to do with going to Heaven. It has to do only with the Lord Jesus Christ. It refers to the state of our personality as we abide in Him, the wisdom and strength by which we live, move, and have our being.

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (John 5:39,40)

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:54)

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (I Timothy 6:12)

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (I John 5:11,12)

To be continued.