“Forever is a long, long time.” So go the lyrics of a popular Christian song when I was a youth. Sorry, I can’t remember the title of the song anymore. And I do not remember exactly how the song goes. (That was a long, long time ago!) But if I recall correctly, it had something to do with the promise of eternal life, being with the Lord in eternity.
The words reflect a common understanding of what “eternal life” means. Our time-bound existence forces us to conceptualize the idea in terms of time. And so eternal life for us can be nothing more than the promise of surviving death and extending our existence for a long, long time. Yet when the Bible speaks of “eternal life,” there is a more robust sense to the truth that the phrase expresses. Of course, the idea of “a long, long time” cannot be altogether dismissed. But there is a deeper dimension to what is promised.
The kind of life that is promised to those who believe in Christ is a life that does not just last a long time but a life that is inextricably bound to God. Eternal life can never be something that one possesses apart from an active, personal relationship with God through abiding trust in Jesus Christ. “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11–12 ESV).
Eternal life is a participation in the life of God himself. Peter reminds us: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:3–4 NIV). As such, eternal life is not something we experience only at the end of our earthly existence. It is ours to enjoy now when we enter in a relationship with God. But lest we think of it merely as some blissful benefit, we need to understand that to share in the divine nature is to live a new kind of life in the here and now. It is a life that increasingly reflects the character of the Lord we trust and worship (see 2 Peter 1.5-11).
Paul connects such a life to the resurrection of Jesus: “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4 NIV). The joy of eternal life is not just that we will live forever, but that we get to live a life that is worth living (Romans 6.1-8).
—Keith Y. Jainga