ETERNAL LIFE

INTRODUCTION

My Uncle who died of Pneumonia last year, gave me a glimpse of Heaven. He was at the hospital, taking treatment, and since it were the time of the COVID-19 virus. He was isolated. A man who meets and talks to people relentlessly was desolated for he was the only one with him. However, He never looked sad and moreover, he tried to maintain a happy face when we were visiting him. We did notice the hiding sad face. Days passed, and suddenly one day, His face looked stunningly shinning and really joyful as if all his debts in this world are cleared. He was happy as heaven. When asked why, He began saying “Arey Ben, It is time. Only two more days and I will be free. I saw what God has planned for me. It was the most beautiful thing I‟ve ever seen.” I tried asking him more and where he saw what. He was responding with utmost excitement but is running out of words. What I did understand was He envisioned something greater and beyond this life. The reason I profoundly say it‟s beyond is because, I haven‟t seen such a happy soul in my life. He was in utter joy as if he had achieved everything. He did leave this world two days prior. My uncle saw this life as a prison compared to the Eternity he envisioned. Is Eternity a Blessing ? or Is It an opportunity ? , With a feeble knowledge of this common man‟s brain I possess, I would like to try explaining the life after death derived from the Scriptures.

Eternity or Eternal Life comes with a meaning bearing no time, space or matter. This life is believed to be beyond all human transgressions and limitations. Alister McGrath says that most of us find it impossible to visualize this. We are so conditioned by living in a world of time and space, that we cannot escape thinking in terms of time and space. Most of us work with a common sense notion of eternity as “an infinitely extended period of time” but that is not what the word „eternity‟ means. It means „timelessness‟ The word „Eternity‟ comes from the latin word „aeternus” meaning „without beginning or end‟. The words and language mean only a little to describe this underivable life beyond this matter.

Alister Mc Grath makes two important points.

Christianity understands, as it has always understood, God to be outside time. God creates the universe with time, not in time. Christianity thinks of God creating space and time, not standing in space and time and rearranging things that were already there. God therefore is not an object in the world, but someone who stands beyond our world.

CS Lewis suggests that our mental difficulties, whether scientific or religious, arise from seeing things from a limited and limiting perspective. We cannot break free from the world that we know, yet we are invited to imagine a „strange world‟ (Einstein) that seems to operate by different rules. We think of time, we are invited to think instead, of timelessness.

When we dive into scriptures of St. Matthew 19:16, He provides a wider opportunity for the audience to relate to the young rich man, who asks for eternal life. He did follow almost all the commandment except for one very important one. “Love your Neighbour as yourself”. At this point the young man interrupts. Avoiding the Implications of this last comprehensive command, he points out that the other commandments enumerated by Jesus he has in fact kept, and yet still he knows himself to be outside the gate that would open the way for him to eternal life. The Kingdom of God is hence, not an easy task for mere human being. One needs to know to foresee his own implications required to burn for the cost of Heaven.

GOD THE PROVIDER OF ETERNAL LIFE

The reference to life before the Fall of Genesis Chapter 3 is a simple display that sums up what we can look forward to in Heaven. God states in Genesis 2:25, “Man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.” The eternal Kingdom will be a new life where our souls will be willing to be open and trusting without any sense of shame or guilt. This suggests that we will no longer be judging each other or regret our actions. Immediately after Adam and Eve ushered in sin by choosing their own path rather than obeying God, they hid, denied, tried to cover up and blame others. Work became a chore and burden, and childbirth introduced pain. All mankind thereafter lost a sense of God‟s presence and was constantly enticed by the serpent‟s lies. All of this will be reversed in Heaven.

That being said, the Garden of Eden was „primitive‟ and the number of people initially living there was quite limited. For those who love the outdoors, and survivalists perhaps, Eden would seem like a really wonderful place. Imagine living where everything you think you need has to be made from scratch. For someone living in the 2nd or 3rd century AD, the Garden of Eden might seem like a wonderful great place. For the modern 21st century city dweller, the comforts and joy of Eden might be harder to comprehend.

Before the dawn of God the Son, The Prophets, The Kings, God‟s own people have sought not to sin for the sake of glory of God. “You guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you will receive me with honour.” When the King wrote „Honour‟, It wasn‟t simply an aspiration for felicitation, He was seeking for the Kingdom of God. He was seeking for Eternal life. Job has challenged the world and the generations to come that he would see his God even with his skin ripped apart. His God is ever- living and the Eternity is provided only though him. God was educating and teaching his people about a sinless and perfect life for his people will have to live such a perfect life in his Kingdom.

God the Parent is present, past and the future. God has indeed revealed through the book of Daniel in Chapter 12 Verse 2 “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”. For God has revealed the blessing he/she had for the mankind, through generations together. From the sons of Abraham to this day, Sages and Saints tried discovering why God has left the gates of Heaven open to the mankind alone. The reason the Image of God was given this Honour and Boon to live Eternally, stays with God alone. Yet, The Provident Provideth.

JESUS THE GIVER OF ETERNAL LIFE

Jesus is just not a High Christological Figure but he was a common man who sought to suffer. Throughout his Journey on Earth, he has been giving Implications about The Kingdom of God. Actually, a lot of them. The words of Christ were broken down to decode the deeper meaning contextually at that time. For Jesus was inferring Kingdom of God to Present Reality, he has also compared it to a mustard seed, a treasure, a pearl, an yeast, and few more. Erstwhile the education to Kingdom of God was given, The arrival of Jesus Christ inaugurated that same Kingdom. It is both Consummation and Judgement of Humankind.

The eternal Kingdom of God lives on the inside of every individual. In that kingdom is also a Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden is a spiritual place. A place where you eat love, joy, and peace. In a spiritual sense, our vessels are houses for the Lord and all of us make up the “kingdom of God”.

When Jesus spoke in parables, he would explain what the kingdom of heaven is and it was spiritual judgments and how one should handle things amongst each other, matters in our own hearts and affairs. It was always who and what one is on the inside. One has to believe that the life one has in Christ is better because even if Adam did not fall, one would all be bound to Adam‟s righteousness. He would be our covering. If Adam did not fall through Eve, he would have fallen at a different time. We are righteous through Christ and it is due to no cause of our own. Christ overcame what Adam could not do. Jesus inaugurated, declared, deployed, and demonstrated the Kingdom of God. At Last, He purchased it all.

In the song “I will sing of my Redeemer”, the chorus says :

Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer, With His blood He purchased me, On the cross He sealed my pardon,

Paid the debt, and made me free.
Singing of one‟s Redeemer, The Redeemer who freed us from sinful life, The redeemer who freed us all from a limited life. In short, The Redeemer of Transient Life and in other words, The Giver of Eternal Life.

HOLY SPIRIT THE SUSTAINER OF ETERNAL LIFE

For Paul says to Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” The work of the Holy Spirit has been mysterious yet straight. It acts directly towards Righteousness and peace. The Acts of Holy Spirit provides a new hope of understanding. For instance, Kingdom of God is certainly compared to meat for Paul says that these bodily appetites are secondary. Moreover, The Holy Spirit is ruling in us to make us more righteous, more peaceable, and more joyful. This seems to be the fruit of the Spirit now, not a declarative act back at the beginning of our Christian lives. This work is built on justification by faith. But now the Spirit is producing in us these things: righteousness, peace, and joy. Paul says, the work of the Holy Spirit and the advancing of the kingdom of God are the same thing. This is exactly what we saw in the ministry of Jesus, for example, Jesus said, “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” The work of the Spirit is the presence of the kingdom of God. Or to say it another way: The reign of God is exercised through his Spirit.

So when the Spirit rules and conquers our selfishness and pride, and replaces it with Christ-like righteousness, then we will not grieve and destroy a brother for the sake of food. The Spirit of God and the kingdom of God creates righteousness and peace and joy. This is what the Spirit of God does. He creates righteousness and peace and joy. And when one has these, one don‟t grieve and destroy a weaker brother.

Paul is a witness of the Holy Spirit, The toil of the missionaries and their valuable sacrifices are a witness of Holy Spirit. To be precise, I would like to take the liberty to say that there is a handful of Righteousness left in this world as a witness of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the sustainer of an eternal life in midst of a limited life. Deeds are often sins, and these sins can only transformed and transfixed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, a reading of Revelation Chapters 21 and 22 present an entirely new creation. Rev 21:5 states “He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new.” The new earth will not be like the old one. It will also be filled with a multitude of people who love God. Life will be restored to what it was before Adam and Eve fell, only there will be a new earth and city, a new Jerusalem. If life stared in Eden, it will begin anew with an entire civilization when the new heavens and earth are made. Eden is one beginning (at or just after Creation). The new Heavens & Earth is another beginning. Not only will there be a „new earth‟, we will have „glorified bodies‟ and may not even need to eat or have sex. Our needs and desires could very well be different than what we know now. The fruits of the Spirit can only achieve the desired transformation from old to new. The fruits  of Spirit like Love, Joy Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self- Control, they duly charter our function into a holy and righteous life.

CONCLUSION

During the final days of a Sage, his followers who are of two main sectors or backgrounds, started a debate regarding the final rites of their master. One group wanted to cremate his body and while the other wants to bury him. The followers unable to comprehend to a conclusion approached their master. The Master seeing their enthusiasm asks them to bring flowers and place a few at the one side of the mortal remains and a few other on the other side. He said the honour of performing the last rite would go to the party whose flowers remain fresh for a night. When the Master breathed his last, both the communities followed the same. But when they came back the next morning to see whose flowers remained fresh, they were surprised to see that none of the flowers were witted, but the biggest surprise was that, their Master‟s mortal remains disappeared, and It is said that both the communities buried the flowers and lived together in peace.

The story above gives us a clue where human mind rusticates it‟s desire. This finite body and mind wishes for something Infinite. This bounded soul chases for Immortality. God has instilled this thought since the very beginning. God has provided us the authority above all land and creatures and made our stay in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were born Immortal yet their thoughts and actions sought to their cease. However, The Gift of Immortality was free at the very beginning. Eternal life was given to us as a boon. And this very reason keeps us haunted to chase it and to earn it. Christ the Son has inaugurated this boon and given us a bond of definite judgement to our definite actions. While the Holy Spirit has lived throughout our entity, The Eternal life was offered to us as a blessing and the spirit enchants it‟s way till one is lost in wonder, love and praise. The Fulfilment of this BOON and BOND and the very BLESSING we long for, propels the life forward to a felicity of New Heavens and New Earth. I keep hearing about Lazarus from an unknown source that Lazarus was never seen happy after his Resurrection from Death. Few preachers quote saying “After a day or  a few in the Kingdom of God, It is highly impossible for a person to stay out of it.” That might be the probable reason why my Uncle was so happy with the utmost Chutzpah that he was going to the Kingdom of God.

So should the lines of life that life repair, Which this time's pencil or my pupil pen, Neither in inward worth nor outward fair, Can make you live yourself in eyes of men.

When a poet like Shakespeare, who does know that his poems would last long than any other creature on  this  land,  still  seeks  for  Immortality  and  Fortunately  this  Humankind  is  Indeed  blessed  for  it‟s commencement to Eternal Life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have Eternal Life.” St. John 3:16.

Article By K. Joseph Benhail