Eternal Life: A Tangible Asset? | Tomorrow's World

Can We Think of Eternal Life as a Tangible Asset?

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When I was in high school, I was in a one-act play that reached the state finals. Our last competition started at 9:00 p.m. on Friday evening. As a Sabbath-keeper, I wasn’t able to participate. “Can’t you miss church once?” one girl from our cast asked me, casually adding, “God would understand.”

The answer to her question would come to me years later: God understands very well the things we vainly strive for in this life. In reality, we are the ones who don’t understand and who lose sight of God’s promise of eternal life. Fully understanding what that promise means should make it the supreme goal of our life.

Do we really comprehend what eternal life is? After all, we’ve never experienced it ourselves, so it can seem ethereal and out of reach. On the other hand, this physical life seems very real—or, tangible—to us. Therefore, it can seem much more tangible than the promise of eternal life.

First, the biblical facts: We know that eternal life is the gift that God gives us through grace (Romans 6:23), and we seek that gift through faith and action (James 2:24Romans 2:6–7). Eternal life does indeed mean to live forever, because death is destroyed after God’s plan is fulfilled (1 Corinthians 15:54Revelation 21:4).

The Bible reveals that, in order to receive this promise, there is something we must do now: keep the commandments (Matthew 19:16–19). Are those just the “big” commandments? James 2:10 states that “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all”! And Isaiah was inspired to write, “Woe to those who begin by pulling at transgression with a thread, but end by dragging sin along as if with a cart rope” (Isaiah 5:18Complete Jewish Bible). Some sins may seem minor, but “small” sins can lead us down the wrong path!

How can the connection between commandment-keeping and eternal life be more tangible to us? Imagine someone promised you $10 million if you didn’t tell a lie for one year. Your first thought every morning would probably be, “I’m not going to lie today!” Why? Because $10 million is tangible. You know of people who actually have that much money. The reality of the reward would inspire you. But it would not be easy to always tell the truth, and you would likely experience trials as a result. The question then becomes, is doing what’s right worth the reward? The same question applies to the pursuit of eternal life.

But how do we know eternal life is reality? Because someone already has obtained it—our Savior, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20–23)! And He tells us that regardless of what we leave behind for His sake, we will receive a hundredfold reward, “and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29–30). Also, the Apostle Paul wrote that the gift of eternal life is worth any hardship suffered in this physical life (Romans 8:18). Becoming part of God’s family as full spiritual children will literally fix everything suffered during this physical life—even death!

Is there something we can do to make eternal life more tangible in our present lives? In 2 Corinthians 4:18, Paul says we should look for the things that are not seen because they are eternal. How can you believe in things that are unseen? Hebrews 11:1 states, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is the key to making the invisible things of God real in our lives. Over time, our hope becomes grounded less in our fallible faith and more in the faith of Christ Himself in us (Galatians 2:20).

As the Apostle tells us, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). With this promise, we can know that devoting our entire lives to the goal of eternal life is worth it.

Tomorrow's World offers the booklets What Happens When You Die? and John 3:16: Hidden Truths of the Golden Verse. Be sure to look into them and learn more about the exciting truth about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

  Originally Published: 26th December 2020