When does eternal life begin? (2018-01-19)

Does eternal life begin when our physical bodies die and we continue in our spirit or does it begin while we are alive on this earth? As everyone knows, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” When we believe in God, we ‘shall not perish,’ in the future, but ‘have eternal life,’ in the present. Jesus said this to Nicodemus immediately after telling him he must be born of the Spirit. “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5-6). “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12) When we believed, we received the Spirit. This Spirit came into us so we were born of the Spirit. This Spirit that was brought into us is divine. It is God Himself making a home in our hearts. God is eternal, so went he comes into our spirit, we become eternal. We have received God’s divine life, an eternal life, so we have the eternal life. “Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'” (John 14:23) It is the most significant change a human can have. The human is born of water, burying the things of the world that is human, and is born of God, made alive in the things of God that is divine. Christ has come into us as the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). That is what gives us the ability to overcome sin.  That is what gives us the ability to manifest him. That is what makes us the sons of God.