What is Eternal Life? Part 2

(In response to a reader who said Part 1 is how we get to heaven, not what we will do there.)

What we do in heaven is continually worship God, turning what was once mundane into something more. As Christ said, eternal life is to know God. What we do in heaven is get to know God in a variety of new and different ways. Christianity is about doing things in God rather than doing things apart from Him. To say I know exactly what we will do in heaven is like saying what will everyone do on earth. We will eat, drink, have fun, sing, work, etc. like what we do on earth. However, instead of it being for the mere sake of living and having it rot on us, we will be doing these things as a way to get to know the infinite God.

Thomas Aquinas once wrote that Theology was the first and greatest science since all things were made and consist in God the creator and the one who gave creation its order. What we do on earth is merely a reflection of the kingdom of heaven hence why we pray "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Now of course what I am explaining is nothing more than a shadow of the things to come since it is more than we can hope or imagine. To sum up, if you want to know what we will be doing in heaven, think about who God is and from there you will get a glimpse of what will be done in heaven.

What we do on the way there will resemble what we do when we get there. The last article simply focused on the fact that heaven is not some place that is far away and eternal life is not something which exists only after we die. It is the thing we hope in through our relationship with God. In fact, it is this relationship.

What is Eternal Life?

Eternity is written on the hearts of man. Even individuals who hope only to die and then exist no more seems to find an eternal rest apart from this world. Some search for an eternal life in a paradise or heaven. However, what do we do when we get there? More importantly what does it mean to have eternal life apart from simply just living forever? The Lord spoke "This is eternal life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Seeing how the Holy Spirit is also " the Lord and Giver of life... who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified", it can be assumed it is important to know Him as well. The Trinity is this, God is one substance in three Persons.

Christianity is not a mere set of religious rules and moral codes to follow. It is getting to know and becoming familiar with our Creator. In order to know this God we must fear Him at first, realizing we are sinful and that death is all that awaits our souls. However, in this we know the only Begotten Son died and rose from the grave "that whosoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life". It is through Christ that we are adopted by God to become a child of the Father and a brother or sister to the Son. It sealed by having the Holy Spirit "who raised Jesus from the dead" to dwell within us so that we will also be raised.

After this there is only one other way to know God in part and that is to praise and worship Him. Now we cannot praise and worship Him by our own standards. Imagine trying to give God, the creator of all things, something. There is nothing we can give to God that He has not given us. So the Lord gave us worship, that we may come to know Him. Worship isn't only music, going to church, or obeying His teachings. All these things are part of worship, but they do not form the whole. True worship is that "Whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father by Him." Worship Him not only by doing things for Him, but do things in Him. Whether it is your daily work, play, or rest converse and praise Him. When troubles come be like the Prophet Job and worship Him all the more that you have been spared the death and decay which currently plague all of creation. The worship the Lord seeks is communion with His creation and thanksgiving in their hearts for allowing them this opportunity.

Lastly we must love God and love man, His most favourite creation. For faith without love makes us nothing and good works and worship without love profits nothing. It is written that "God is love." So we must begin to love so that we may know who Love is.

However, the greatest thing of all is that we will never know how to fully and truly worship God. God is too great for that. This is why eternal life is not merely a place or state of being, it is knowing God each and everyday through worship and fellowship. Why wait till you get to heaven, when you can begin experiencing eternal life today?

Secrets Revealed: Fasting

“When you fast anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to be fasting.”

Fasting is often associated with empty stomachs and fatigue. Those who hear the word fast or lent from their local church leader cringe at the thought of the next 21 to 40 days. For the Prophet Daniel, fasting was not about simply emptying himself. Fasting meant about making room for the power of God.

From a young age, the Prophet Daniel was taken from his homeland and forced to live in captivity of the pagan Babylonian culture. He and 70 other young Jewish teenagers were to be ripped from the arms of their parents and placed in the kings courts to be molded into the image of good Babylonian slaves. It all started with the promise of a good education and good food.

However, Daniel and his three companions choose not to defile themselves with the kings food and asked to be only fed vegetables and water. The chief eunuch in charge of the Jewish boys worried that Daniel's diet would make them weak and frail. So Daniel proposed a ten day challenge. If he was found to be ill fit compared to the others under the eunuchs charge, he would relent and eat the king's food.

After the ten day challenge Daniel and his friends were more healthy and wise than any of the other young Jewish captives. In time, their relationship with God made them more wise and fit than any in the Babylonian Empire.

Fasting is about emptying ourselves to be fill with God. Within the secrets of our heart, we hope for the Lord to provide us with His power apart from our own. Daniel purposed in his heart that only God could give him what he needed. Rather than getting weaker and complain during his fast, he became wiser, stronger, and more hopeful. When people see us fast they should see a transformation from one state of glory to the next. Anything else is not fasting, but merely dieting and worthless.

Secrets Revealed: Introduction

It was spoken that “your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” The focus of this teaching was the basics of spiritual living: prayer, fasting, and alms giving (Matthew 6:1-18). However, God is not simply interested in what you do, but why you do it. The Apostle Paul wrote that faith without love is nothing and there is no profit in our works if they are not done in love (1 Cor.13:1-3). God is seeing if what we are doing is to obey His commandments to love Him above all things and others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40).

Some do works and proclaim faith as hypocrites. They are like actors in a show. They strut their hour on the stage hoping to get something from their audience. However, when all is said and done actors only play pretend.They may fool the world but they cannot fool God.

Spiritual living is not about what we do. It is about what compels the person to live out their life. Some give because they want to feel like they are a good person. However a Spiritual giver does not need to feel like they are a good person since they know they have sinned and will probably sin tomorrow. The Spiritual giver gives as he is given by his Savoir. Even in our hearts, we see that we often only play pretend.

How can Christians discern between a true spiritual life from a fake if even our own hearts deceive us? Just where is the “secret place” if even in the isolation of our hearts we deceive ourselves? We must look to the testimony of the saints who have gone before us and learn from them how to attain a true spiritual life that is openly rewarded by the Father.

Wisom's Wilderness: The Oasis of God's People

Welcome to Wisdom's Wilderness, where all there is to eat is the Bread of Life and all their is to drink is the Living Water. This is a place where you can develop your faith in Christ as well as learn how to silence all the noisy distractions so that you can hear the small whisper of God's voice. I pray that this will be a quiet place of contemplation and simple insight into the Christian faith that will help you develop your relationship with our God and Savoir. With Christ's blessing, let it be so.