“And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life.”

This knowing God and remaining faithful to the end of our life, is the essence of eternal life. It is a gift from God that we cannot earn and cannot lose. The promise of eternal life is a gift given when we repent of our sin and put out trust in the Saviour Jesus and all that He has done for us.

The gift is free to us, given from the deepest heart of love from our Father God, but it was not free to Him. Sin is a very serious moral disease and God cannot and will not overlook it. God is holy and will never tolerate any sin. He cannot for His perfections know that that disease ruins everything. We do not easily appreciate that because we are evil and our hearts are used to the sins we commit and we are hardened to their evil. Every sin must be paid for, because God is just and will exercise that justice in every human life. This is why the dreadful place of hell exists, that sin is atoned for. We will all pay for our own sin because we are all responsible for it.

“I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”

Matthew 12:36

Yet, in His great and tender mercy towards us, God has provided a way of escape from the consequences of our sin and has given us a Saviour, His very own Son, to pay that terrible price for us. The good news of the gospel is that it is all paid for and by trusting in that sacrifice of Jesus, we can be free from it. The joy that brings the believer is huge. A great weight is lifted from us and we are given the gift of eternal life. This means the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us forever and will teach us and make us the people we are supposed to be. We get to commune with God in prayer and have His daily provision and protection from the sin that easily infests us. He protects us from all evil, even the evil in our own hearts, and gives us the ability to obey Him and keep His commandments.

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

1 John 4:10

This quality of life lasts and will keep us in God’s love right to the end of our lives and into eternity. What a joy to be free to relate to our loving Father and to walk every day in the company off the Lord Jesus Christ in the power and victory of the Holy Spirit. This is the destiny of all who will simply accept the free gift and turn from sin.

This is the delight of every believer, that they can rejoice every day in all circumstances that they are destined for heaven’s glory because of their Lord and Saviour. We love Him and enter into the reality of that love as we possess the eternal life that He has given us. To walk in the love of God is eternal life and full of joy. It lasts forever because God’s promise is true and can never be broken.