The Good Of The Father (That Eonian Life) # 2205

 

Now it is eonian life that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Him Whom Thou dost commission, Jesus Christ

Johns Account 17: 3, Concordant New Testament Translation 

If I were to ask you why you believe in God, what would you say?  That your sins be forgiven you?  That you spend eternity with Him in heaven?  Most believers would choose the latter.  To choose a heavenly abode over the trials and tribulations of this world.  In fact, this is the most common answer that people give me when asked why it is that they believe in God, eternal life.  Modern Christianity has taught us that eternal life and heaven are linked together as one as a reward for our righteousness.  That the believer will be with the Father in heaven for all time.  I was one of those who grew up believing in this version of the afterlife.  This is what I was taught while in the church.  So it is that I understand just why it is that most believers feel this way.  After the death of my mother in 2016, I trusted in my heart that she was now in the Fathers presence for all time.  I also knew that I would most assuredly see her again when my time came to join her there.  I still believe this, but I am also beginning to understand more about that which we call eternal life.  In His prayer in the garden before His death, Jesus spoke to the truth behind what we have been told is eternal life.  Many Christians do not understand that these words spoken by Jesus are the best definition of eternal life which we have.  For eternal life is not centered around our own being in the afterlife, but something completely different.  First off, the wording "Eternal life" is a crude reference to what Jesus has referred to as our Eonian life.  Now, eonian, as defined by definition, is "Lasting forever or for an indefinitely long time."  That sounds ok within this context.  However, eonian life is also defined as that which is relating to a specific geological eon, or age.  Still, Jesus obviously intended the use of His words which we see in His prayer in the garden that night.  I believe that His intent was to give us the true meaning of that time after we have passed from this life.  That eternal life has never been about our existence in the Fathers heaven, but of knowing Him intimately.

Jesus has spoken that "It is eonian life that they may know Thee" {Johns Account 17:3}.  That the truth about heaven and the afterlife is less about our reward for a good life and more about knowing He Who has provided for it.  Jesus obviously understood this, while too many modern believers have yet to grasp it.  Those within the modern church continue to preach of the reward for those who trust and believe in the Lord Jesus.  I know a man, a pretty dogmatic believer if ever there was one, who will adamantly condemn all who do not believe in Christ Jesus to the fires of hell.  For these poor souls, there is no reward given unto them by the Father.  Despite the fact that it is God Who loved the world enough to dispatch His one and only Son to save the world, there will be those who apparently will not be offered the reward of an eternity in Gods heavenly abode {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  But if this were indeed true, why is it that Jesus would pray that Gods children would "Know Thee?"  Why wouldn't Jesus simply spell it out and condemn those who did not believe?  Why indeed.  Well, we're told that despite being dispatched by the Father that all who believed in Him should not be perishing, but have life eonian, we're told that Jesus has not come to judge the world, but that ALL the world would be saved through Him {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  So it is that our afterlife has already been determined long before we were born into this life.  That the Father's true desire for us is for our life eonian.  Not that we would somehow be rewarded, but that we would finally know Him.  The apostle John has also spoken that what we have been promised is not a reward, but life eonian {First Epistle of John 2:25}.  God INTENDS for His creation to come to know Him.  Yes, in that day every knee shall bow and declare Jesus as Lord {Paul to the Philippians 2:10-11}.  But even this is accomplished "For the glory of God, the Father."  So it is that all will acknowledge Jesus as Lord, and all will come to know the Father.  So, what does this truth we have in the scriptures tell us about the punishment of hell for unbelievers?  Is there even a hell?  That's a topic for another day.  For now, I rest in the truth that in my life eonian that I will come to know the Father.  That is reward enough for me.  

And this is the promise which He promises us: the life eonian

First Epistle of John 2: 25, Concordant New Testament Translation 

~Scott~