Understanding Eternal Life in the Bible | David Jeremiah | John 8:58

many say I know about Jesus you may know about Jesus but do you know Jesus do you know him personally the study of Jesus has revealed to us in the New Testament scripture shows he is more than just a man [Music] more than a martyr [Music] more than a revolutionary [Music] more than a movement more than a superstar so who is Jesus Jesus is the mystery of the ages and the Marvel of history he is personal and Noah and he longs to know you more discover how your life will overflow when the Jesus you may not know becomes the Lord and Savior you will always love in today's message dr. Jeremiah answers the question is he from history or from eternity I have it straight from the Word of God on the authority of the word of God that Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father and he is in control [Music] stay tuned for dr. Jeremiah's series the Jesus you may not know today on Turning Point take the journey from knowing about Jesus to deeply knowing him in dr. David Jeremiah's new book that Jesus you may not know yours for a gift of any amount in support of this program or for a gift of $55 or more you will also receive dr. Jeremiah's previous companion book the god you may not know and for a generous gift of $75 or more dr. jeremiah will send you in appreciation the jesus you may not know sent containing his new book study guide online leaders guide and the he is bookmark plus his newest teaching series on CD or DVD which will arrive at the conclusion of the series receive the jesus you may not know and these additional resources when you support this program contact turningpoint today in appreciation of your viewership today dr. jeremiah would like to give you the Hijaz bookmark an inspirational reminder of the names of jesus to help you grow closer to christ each day receive the Hijaz bookmark completely free when you contact turning-point today now here is dr. Jeremiah with his message is he from history or from eternity hardly anything's eternal fact nothing in this world is eternal and given enough time everything crumbles and returns to dust and that's why you and I live in a Nancy world isn't it we see around us the things that we used to think were movable and they're gone and unfortunately for us today the word eternal and especially the word eternity has lost its meaning and eternity is a time thing for us but eternity is not time eternity is beyond time we don't understand eternity because we have no precedent Don and I were talking about it this week at home and we were talking about how hard it is to wrap our our minds around something that never began and never ends something that has no beginning and no end but that's what he turned he is we live in a world which given enough time everything crumbles and nobody remembers us and life is ultimately meaningless and absurd and if you don't understand that what God has given to you in his word to give meaning to this life it's very difficult to make it all the way through because in Jesus Christ alone is it possible for us to discover the meaning of eternity I want to talk about eternity in history eternity in your heart and eternity in heaven first of all eternity in history let's begin in many respects the idea of associating history with eternity is absurd eternity is you see one of the great mysteries of the universe one of the great mysteries of God everything is now to the Lord Jesus Christ this is a mystery and it is difficult to get our minds around it and it stretches us does it not it reminds me of that powerful thought that if the God you worship is small enough for you to understand he's not big enough for you to worship I don't understand all of this I learn everything I can from the revelation of the scripture but when I've learned all I can learn god there's still much so much more about God that I can not know one day I will know but I don't know now so what that means for you and for me is that since Jesus is God and since he has no beginning and no end and he has existed ages before he came into the world to be our Savior when the prophet Micah predicted that Jesus would come to be our Savior did you listen to his words listen to how he described it he said out of you shall come forth to me the one who is to be ruler in Israel who is that Jesus Christ whose goings forth are from of old from everlasting in other words Jesus Christ is coming to be the ruler of Israel but he's been around forever he's never had a beginning one day Jesus was talking to some of his friends and he stunned them they did they never did get over this they were talking about Abraham and David and all of that and Jesus said before Abraham was I am in other words here's Jesus thirty years old saying that he knew Abraham almost like Abraham and I were buddies Jesus didn't say before Abraham was I was he said before Abraham was I am in other words Abraham had history Jesus doesn't have any he is forever who you say how does that affect me well listen up the Bible says that you and I were chosen in Christ before the world began Ephesians 1:4 says he chose us in him before the foundation of the world what that means men and women is since we are in Christ before the foundation of the world we have been loved by Christ for a lot longer than you may think we have been loved by Christ throughout eternity jeremiah 31:3 says it this way yes I have loved you with an everlasting love sometimes we think Jesus only loves us if we do good things you know we sometimes pick that up along the way going up in our culture if you be good God will love you if you be bad he won't well that's nothing to do with God's love for us the scripture tells us that long before the world was long before there was a creation long before Abraham Jesus loved us that He loves you I remember reading that Justin Welby the Archbishop of Canterbury was asked what he believed to be the greatest challenge we face as Christ's followers and without a moment's hesitation he said every Christian I meet cannot quite believe that they are loved by God one of the great great problems people have is accepting the fact that Almighty God loves them maybe you're like that maybe you don't believe Jesus loves you at all God through Jesus Christ has loved you before the foundation of the world before you could do anything good or bad you were loved by God that means he doesn't love us because of who we are he doesn't love us because of what we've done he loves us because of who he is when we succeed he says I love you when we fail he says I love you because he is loved there is nothing you can ever do to make him stop loving you and there's not anything you can ever do to make him love you more than he already does because his love is eternal it's a part of who he is as God and it's always been true everything you have ever done or thought whether it be good bad or indifferent was in the future when God set his love upon you he loves you my friends like you cannot imagine will you say I don't feel loved let me tell you with authority that is not God's problem we cannot blame God for our feelings God has told us the truth he loves us believe it eternity in history God loves you here's the second thought eternity in your heart this is a really an amazing thought hold this because it's important to this he's loved us forever then he said about creating us and he created us men and women with eternity in our hearts he created us literally so that all of us were made for him it should say on us made for God because every one of us have been created for his pleasure and the Bible tells us that when God created us he left a space within us vacant a space that only he can occupy in Ecclesiastes 3:11 we read these words God has put eternity in our hearts that means that every one of us has a hunger and longing for God even if we don't know it that even when we might be rebelling against God we might be saying I won't have him to rule over me there's still this empty place in our hearts and God is the only one who can fill that one of the challenges we have in our culture is we try to fill that with everything else don't we we try to find meaning through riches or relationships or pride or money or sex or drugs or whatever everything we stuff into that space doesn't fit because that space was made for God he created eternity in our hearts God has put every one of us in a place of knowing God if we want to he's built this place in us that specifically for him and if you do not know that if you do not accept it it doesn't go away it will continue to be there and do you know that even after we become Christians there's still a bit of that within us the Bible says that all creation is groaning waiting for the day of redemption what that means is that in this world in which you and I live we can have the joy of knowing Jesus Christ in a personal way but we were not built for this world and this world was not built for us we were built for eternity until we get there we're not going have that wonderful feeling that everything is right I think when we get to heaven the first thing we're going to do is say oh man this is what I've been looking for and I've heard over and over again people who have accomplished great things they get to the place they hope they could get to and it didn't fill the emptiness in their heart you know why Jesus is the only one who can fill the emptiness in your heart you can keep trying if you want to it'll be a frustrating existence if that's what you do so eternity is in our hearts in fact Saint Agustin once wrote it this way he said you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they learn to rest in thee so what is eternal life John 17:3 says it this way this is Jesus definition of eternal life listen carefully this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent what did Jesus mean by eternal life let me tell you a story I don't know how I got fixed on this but I as a young pastor when I would ever go to do a funeral and go to the cemetery I started kind of getting there early walking around and looking what people put on their tombstone turned out to be sort of a little gathering of humor for me over the years and then people found out about it and they started sending me all these really crazy epitaphs I had a whole book full of them like here lies the body of oh man peas buried beneath the flowers and trees but peas ain't here just the pod peas shelled out and went to God there you go that's on the tombstone someplace or this one here lies the body of Mary Ann brown at death she weighed 400 pounds but now in sweet repose she rests in peace and rest on Abraham's breast little boy came along and saw it thought and they need another stanza so he added it may be sweet for Mary Ann but it's really tough on Abraham so I got all these epitaphs but you know what folks the strange is epitaphs you will ever see and you will see it over and over you can go to almost any cemetery and you'll see it here's what it says born August 1st 1930 entered into eternal life and then there's a date the only thing wrong with that is that's not true you do not enter into eternal life when you die you enter into eternal life when you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior jesus said and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish eternal life is described by one Scottish Minister as the life of God in the soul of man when I accept Jesus Christ and he comes to live in that vacuum that God created in my heart eternal life begins and when I die it just takes a step forward so I am living today I have eternal life we say that on occasion but we don't really stop to think what it means you don't get eternal life through death you get eternal life through faith when you see Jesus Christ and you receive him as your Savior you become a Christian the Bible says you have eternal life so now you have eternal life and what does that mean well first of all it means enjoyment how many of you know when you when you're not a Christian your attitude about Christianity is that you don't want to be a Christian because it won't be any fun I had a guy tell me one day I'd be a Christian doctor Jeremiah but it would be really inconvenient for me right now and what he meant by that was he'd have to stop doing some of the stuff he was doing because he wouldn't think that would be right for a Christian to do I'm here to tell you that the greatest joy you will ever know you will know when you become a Christian I'm not talking about happiness I'm not talking about rah rah rah I'm talking about the deep settle peace in your heart that all is well with you and your maker when you have that kind of joy you've never experienced it or you can't have it any other way except through receiving Jesus Christ and eternal life you will have enjoyment and then you will have enlargement when you become a Christian it isn't God's purpose to shrink you down but to expand you he gives you his Holy Spirit and when the Holy Spirit comes he begins to identify gifts in you that can be utilized for the kingdom one of the greatest things to see for me is to watch people become Christians and then watch what happens to them after they become Christians as God begins to use them and they explode into something far greater than they could ever have believed would be possible of them becoming a Christian is not dialing life back it's turning it up and seeing how God allows you through your faith to touch people everywhere you go and to make an impact that you never thought possible eternal life is enjoyment and it's enlargement but it's also enrichment when you become a Christian you get the Holy Spirit and everything the Holy Spirit brings to you your life is enriched you know I can say this is the fact I've been a Christian for many years and I've been serving the Lord now as I just discovered for 50 years as a pastor and I look back over my life and I'm just amazed at how God has changed me as a person everything that we have started God got ahold of it he took it to the level I could never have believed when I left College my goal was to be a disc jockey I was doing that right then I didn't want I didn't want to go into the ministry because I thought by going into the ministry I wouldn't be able to fulfill my love for radio are you kidding me I was on a couple of little stations as a disc jockey Turning Point is now on 3,000 stations in America alone who does that God does that God saves us not only to bring joy to our hearts and to expand their influence but to enrich us that's what eternal life is all about never forget it eternal life is enjoyment its enlargement and it's enrichment you become a Christian those things happen in your life it doesn't mean you don't have issues you don't have trouble you start living life in a whole different way the Bible says that for 40 days after Jesus had risen from the dead he was here on this earth showing himself to his disciples and then he ascended to heaven the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 12 by this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sin sat down at the right hand of God where's Jesus right now he's at the right hand of God and the Bible says he went into heaven and he sat down he didn't sit down because he was fatigued he sat down because he was finished he had finished what he came to do and he sat down at the right hand of the Father well a lot of times children will ask you is Jesus in heaven yes he up there forever yeah what's he doing that's kind of what they asked and we offered wonder that too what is Jesus doing in heaven let me tell you a few things I've discovered from the scripture first of all he's providing for you at this very moment he's seated at the supreme place of authority he isn't resting he's reigning sometimes I look around and I wonder what in the world's going on and I sometimes even say tadhana it's like nobody's in charge but I want to tell you Jesus is in charge and no matter what's going on in this world that seems so disconnected to us so crazy and unresolvable Almighty God has it all in his hands you say well what if this happens let me tell you what I know nothing's gonna happen that Jesus doesn't let happen or want to happen he's in control so when you go to bed tonight you're tempted to worry about what's going to happen tomorrow in this place or that place with this leader or that leader just rest assured it's all under control we may not see in the everyday things that go on around us but I have it straight from the Word of God on the authority of the word of God that Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father and he is in control hallelujah here's the second thing this will surprise some of you did you know that Jesus is praying for you or you say pastor that's wrong I'm praying to Jesus no no Jesus is praying for you listen to this jesus said to Peter just before Calvary he said Simon indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail who is the I Jesus jesus said Peter I've been praying for you and I want to tell you on the authority of this and two other scriptures that he's praying for you Romans 8 says who is he who condemns it is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us Jesus is making intercession for us he's praying for us Hebrews 7:25 he is also able to save to the uttermost who come to God through him he is always living to make intercession for us I have to promise you that I don't know how this works but since Jesus is the infinite eternal God it is absolutely possible for him to it one at the same time be always praying for those of his family including you and me and he prays for us before we even know we need prayer because he knows what our needs are and this week wherever you go and maybe you have an interview this week for a job or you're facing a doctor's appointment you dread let me just tell you something whatever's going on in your life Jesus is praying for you when you pray to him you know he's already praying for you the scripture teaches that I believe that I've experienced that in my life here's the third thing he's providing for us he's praying for us and he's protecting us I don't know how he does this but he has this way of caring for us this is borne out in one of my favorite benedictions listen to this benediction it's from the book of Jude now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy did you know that one of rolls in heaven is to keep us from stumbling so that one day he can present us faultless before the Father that's what he's doing in heaven he's providing for us he's praying for us he's protecting us and here's maybe the one you know best of all he's providing a place for us where we're gonna live someday John 14 says it this way in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again to receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also Jesus is up in heaven getting our residences ready so that when we get there we won't have to get a real estate person to help us find where we're gonna live you say well what are they gonna look like I have no idea but here's what I do know Jesus took seven days 24-hour days to create the whole world and we've given him a whole lot more time than that to work on our heaven so I think it's going to be pretty good and if you take the descriptions of heaven that are in the Bible seriously and I do it is beyond anything you can imagine he's getting ready for us and one day we're gonna be with him and we'll live with him forever and you know how I know that the Bible tells us that the Bible teaches that and when does that start it starts the day the hour the moment when you say yes to Jesus when you accept him as your Savior and you receive the gift of eternal life the Bible says this the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord I want to ask you today do you have eternal life have you filled that space in your heart that just cries out for God are you still trying to figure out some way to bypass God's plan and stuff everything else into that space I want to promise you you will never know joy and satisfaction piece until you know Jesus I'd like to ask you to accept him as your Savior today I'd like to introduce him to you and tell you with absolute confidence that if you make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life today it will be the absolute best decision you have ever made or will ever make it will change everything in your life not only here but in the future please don't walk away from that opportunity [Music] thank you for watching Turning Point dr. Jeremiah would like to offer you the Jesus you may not know to take you on the journey from knowing about Jesus to deeply knowing him dr. Jeremiah's new book will be sent to you as a thank you for a gift of any amount in support of this program or with a gift of $55 or more you will also receive dr. Jeremiah's previous companion book the God you may not know and for a generous gift of $75 or more dr. jeremiah will send you in appreciation the jesus you may not know sent containing his new book study guide online leaders guide and the he is bookmark plus his newest teaching series on CD or dvd which will arrive at the conclusion of the series receive the jesus you may not know and these additional resources when you support this program contact turning-point today if you have never taken the step to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you can do that today if you will allow us dr. Jeremiah would like to send you two resources that will help you the first is a booklet called your greatest turning point which will help you as you begin your relationship with Christ and the second is our monthly devotional magazine turning points to give you encouragement and inspiration throughout the year these resources are yours completely free when you contact turning-point today in addition to these free study resources nothing is as profound as the Word of God and now dr. Jeremiah has a Bible for every member of the family there are numerous versions of the Jeremiah Study Bible perfect for adults and teens and the airship Genesis kids Study Bible will bring the truth of God's Word to the young ones in contact turning-point for more information or to order today next time on Turning Point Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah there isn't any question about it any thinking person any honest reasonable person who goes to the study of it will come away not doubting but with their hands up high in faith thank you for being with us today join dr. Jeremiah next time for his message easy from the Old Testament or the New Testament here on Turning Point [Music]

Channel: David Jeremiah

Views: 211,785

Keywords: Dr. David Jeremiah, Dr. David Jeremiah sermons, Dr. David Jeremiah 2020, Turning Point, Turning Point Ministries, Turning Point Television, Jesus, Christ, Savior, Eternity, Son of God, Son of Mary, Teacher, Praying, King of Kings, King of the Jews, Old Testament, New Testament

Id: o1_ND_6m8Go

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 26 2020