Eternal Life 101

We tend to think this life is a test and we want to get the test right and Heaven is our reward for passing the test. But, what does the Bible actually say?

In John 17:2-3, eternal life is the knowledge of God -- having a relationship with God. Eternal life is not a destination, it's a relationship. 

God meets us where we're at to take us where He is. God accommodates us -- probably more than we know. 

God is redeeming Creation. Creation will be liberated from death and decay (Romans 8:19-21). 

God's authority over Creation is being restored. The last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). 

God is reconciling with people. Christ came to reconcile us and re-establish our relationship with God (Col. 1:20). 

We have eternal life now but we experience the fullness of that relationship in Heaven. 

The new creation is the redeemed creation when the influence of evil is no longer a part of the order of things. 

Eternal life grows within us and prepares us for Heaven. Rather like C. S. Lewis' idea in The Great Divorce. 

When we die we enter God's presence in a disembodied state (2 Corinthians 5:6). Hellfire is figurative. 

The Experience of God

This is the final sermon of the "Inherit the Wind" series at Ventura Vineyard. 

Our faith is based on our experience of God. We experience God in our lives in different ways (rather like me connecting a biblical verse to Janice Joplin lyrics or something the Buddha taught). God can reach out to us from throughout creation. 

We can experience God in the depths of great tragedy or the heights of great joy. We can also experience God in the little things of life (like St. Teresa's little way). 

There are eight different ways of knowing: imagination, intuition, emotion, memory (controls our narrative), language, sense perception, reason, and faith. 

Faith as knowledge - two types - a leap of faith and faith based on evidence. These can come together - we know some things as evidence and then leap into action. 

There's nothing wrong with looking for an experience of God - for evidence of God - for a reasonable faith. 

Three types of experiences of God:

1. Strange or unusual episodes we experience with our senses (Paul on the road to Damascus). 

2. We become aware of God without our senses (an inner knowing - like prophets receiving the Word of the Lord). This is the most common. 

3. Mystical experiences. This is the rarest kind of experience. Psychotic breaks can be confused for this. 

The experience of God is purposeful. It is about God - not about us. It is taking us somewhere. It is not precise (we see through a mirror darkly - 1 Corinthians 13:12. It can be unwanted. Think of Moses and Jonah. 

God wants you to encounter and experience Him. People, oddly enough, are more likely to understate the experience of God. Who am I that God should speak to me? But God loves us and finds each of us infinitely valuable.