God's Eternal Love and His Eternal Life for Us

Elder Dorai Manikam
07-01-2018

Jude 20-21New King James Version (NKJV)
Maintain Your Life with God
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

How does eternal life look like?

Luke 10:25-28New King James Version (NKJV)
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

It begins here. It begins right now.

We are called to love and to be kept in God.

God the Father loves us. It is possible to have an emotional love.

"The great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, [God's] love for us does not." 
- C.S. Lewis

God the Father loves us,
even if nobody loves us.

We are kept safe in the care of Jesus Christ.

We have mercy, peace and love in abundance.

God's love for you and in you will multiply.

The love of God is our refuge.

"But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.” 
- C.S. Lewis, 

Become carriers of the love of God.

Love has to be embodied.

The best way to transmit an idea is to send it into a person.

The love of God is in us.

1 John 4:10New King James Version (NKJV)
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Love is an act of the will. You can will to love.

1 Corinthians 8:3New King James Version (NKJV)
3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

1) Keep growing in your Holy faith. (Jude 20)

Faith comes by reading and hearing the word of God. Have a plan. Keep on growing the foundation of your faith. Read 10 chapters. Make keeping the love of God a priority. The way to receive knowledge is by reason and by revelation. Have some form of accountability i.e. making disciples. Get back to the word of God and read through systematically.

Francis Schaeffer in The Mark of a Christian wrote about God's love. And the other side of love is forgiveness.

Faith must accompany action.

2) Keep praying in the Holy Spirit. (Jude 20)

Pray in the Holy Spirit, pray in tongues. (1 Corinthians 14) When I pray in tongues, I speak to God. God knows the future. He knows the end from the beginning. Lay hands and pray. 

3) Keep looking for His mercy. (Jude 21)

Keep looking for the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:13New King James Version (NKJV)
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Look towards His coming.

4) Keep sharing the eternal life of God. Keep sharing the gospel. (Jude 21)

Keep sharing the gospel anywhere, any person, any place. Now every one can share.

1 John 5:13New King James Version (NKJV)
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

Do you know that Heaven is a free gift?

Do you know for sure that you are going to be with God in Heaven? When you stand before God and God were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” what would you say?

The Bible says, "...the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). And because Heaven is a gift, like any other genuine gift, it is not earned or deserved.

No amount of personal effort, good works, or religious deeds can earn a place in Heaven for you.

"For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Why is it that no one can earn his way to Heaven? Because...

Man is a sinner. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

And because of this, man cannot save himself. 

However, in spite of our sin...

God is merciful, and therefore doesn’t want to punish us.

This is because  "God is love" (1 John 4:8). And He says, "...I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3).

But the same Bible which tells us that God loves us, also tells us that God is just and therefore must punish sin. He says "...(I) will by no means clear the guilty..." (Exodus 34:7). And "...the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4).

We have a problem. God solved this problem for us in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Who is Jesus Christ? The Bible tells us clearly that He is the infinite God-Man.

"In the beginning was the Word (Jesus)... and the Word (Jesus) was God. And the Word (Jesus) was made flesh, and dwelt among us..." (John 1:1,14).

Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a sinless life, but while on earth, what did he do? He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and rose from the grave to purchase a place for us in Heaven.

Jesus Christ bore our sin in His body on the cross and now offers you eternal life (Heaven) as a free gift.

This gift is received by faith.

Saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. It means resting upon Christ alone and what He has done rather than in what you or I have done to get us into Heaven.

"...Believe (trust) on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved..." (Acts 16:31).

The question that God is asking you now is would you like to receive the gift of eternal life?

If you want to receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, then call on Him asking Him for this gift right now. Here’s a suggested prayer:

"Lord Jesus, thank You for Your gift of eternal life. I know I’m a sinner and do not deserve eternal life. But You loved me so You died and rose from the grave to purchase a place in Heaven for me. I now trust in You alone for eternal life and repent of my sin. Please take control as Lord of my life. Thank you so much!"

Prayer: Lord, give me an open door, an open heart, and an open mouth--my mouth. Amen.