I was praying today and John 3:16 came to my mind and the words “you have nothing to fear!" Then again, the voice in my spirit said – “Christians have nothing to fear and everything to look forward to – this life, as sweet as it sometimes can be, is just the beginning of God’s goodness for those that love Him.”
As a Christian, you never have to fear anything, because God loves you and you love God, and Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. Such a no fear mindset can aid our healing and recovery in this life. May you have such a mindset
Everlasting Life Conquers Death
Death has always been humanity's enemy. It brings loneliness, sadness, disorientation. But it need not be a mystery nor be entirely devastating. Even though it is inevitable, death is not the end. Though at times death seems unfair and arbitrary, it does not thwart God's plan for eternal life. Through a resurrection God will reunite us with believing family and friends and extend His promises to everyone who has ever lived who claims Jesus as savior.
Eventually there will come a time when death itself will be banished. Writing about the resurrection that will take place when Jesus returns, Paul paraphrased from the book of Hosea: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades [grave] where is your victory?'" (1 Corinthians 15:53-55). Death will be swallowed up and defeated in the victory of eternal life. We do not need to fear death or disease or pain – Jesus has defeated all of it forever.
Taking this view of the future can give us hope and optimism at a time of great loss. "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep [died], lest you sorrow as others who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:30).
What is our eternal reward?
Some are put off by the thought of eternal life. Some feel this life is painful and difficult enough, so why would anyone want to live forever? Others may think that eternity sounds vague and uninteresting, that if it means they have to give up pleasure in this lifetime it just isn't worth the effort. They would rather experience all the good times they can for now and worry about eternity some other time. But the Bible paints a wonderful picture of Heaven.
The Scriptures show that God wants to give us an everlasting, eternal, immortal life. We are assured that it is more valuable than any physical treasure (Colossians 1:26-27; 2:2-3).
Still, there is much we do not know and there is much we can only imagine. Let's remember the limitations of our human experience and observation. God is so far above us that it is difficult for us to understand His way of living (Isaiah 55:9). What God is preparing to give us is beyond our wildest imaginations and fantasies. "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever" (Ephesians 3:20-21).
God is preparing our future
God is Creator. He plans, builds, implements. He designed the universe and devised His plan and our reward before He even started creating it (Matthew 25:34). He is planning and preparing an infinitely more exciting and rewarding life for us in His family (John 14:1-3). We can only try to begin to imagine the incredible, fulfilling and eternally enjoyable life He wants to give us-an eternal life free from human limitations and disappointments, weaknesses and suffering.
Pain, disappointment and death will be no more. John wrote of the "new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1): "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (verse 4). I, for one, am looking forward to no more pain, no more tears.
From Revelation 21 and 22 we learn that those who receive eternal life will be a family, the children of God, with community like relationships in the New Jerusalem. Relationship principles that God is now teaching us will be as applicable then as they are today. That is why God wants us to learn and apply His ways in our lives now. What we can take with us for all eternity is our love and concern for one another. Heaven will be a place beyond our greatest thoughts.
The full hope and meaning of an eternal existence with God and Jesus Christ are truly beyond what we can grasp or express. "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).
John states that God hasn't revealed everything that He has in mind for us. We have seen prophecies that take us into the future about 1,000 years beyond Christ's promised return. As Paul wrote, we see spiritual concepts and promises in a kind of vague outline as if we were looking through steamed glass (1 Corinthians 13:12). But someday, as Paul also says in this verse, we will see clearly. What a day of rejoicing that will be!
We are assured that God's promise of eternal life is more than worth the effort, struggles and disappointments of life and death: "Therefore do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:16-18).
Everlasting life is a matter of faith (John 3:16). Faith is not just a warm, vague feeling that Jesus has done everything for us. Faith is a frame of mind that is expressed by the kind of person you choose to be, the actions that express what you believe (James 2:20-24). When all is said and done, we must have faith that eternal life is a gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:18; Philippians 3:12-14). Through Christ, because of what He did on the cross, with faith in Him we have nothing to fear! Praise the Lord!
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