The Lord worked through me during the preparation of that sermon. Pieces came to me in my dreams, in the car, at work, in messages and thoughts while listening to the radio… and when it was time to record these thoughts, (I don't know if you've ever had this happen to you), but the thoughts were coming faster than I could get them down on paper.

When I was done, it was a sermon on the end times, and the age of grace in which we live. It was a very heavy sermon.

I fought to come up with another approach. I didn't think anyone wanted to hear the message I was given to preach. I wrestled with God over this. After all, we come to church to feel good, don't we?

God assured me that we come to church to hear his word, and some of the things he wants us to hear will make us squirm… will make us think… will make see that God is holy, and righteous, and that while he is a God of Love and compassion, he is also a God of principals and judgment.

After that service was over, I began apologizing to people for being so serious and deep up here, and to my surprise, I got a great deal of unexpected encouragement from many of you. Some even told me that it was a message you thought that we needed to hear.

Well I told Hans that God wouldn't let me off the hook for that sermon, and that I felt afterwards that I was then "off the hook", and the next message would be much lighter, and more about the message of joy and hope found in the living the Christian life.

God has kept his word to me. And once again, he is giving me the words to say, but this time it is about his eternal love, and his gift of eternal life.

God wants us to know that this eternal life does not begin when we get to heaven. It begins the moment we ask Jesus to come into our lives, and accept him as our personal savior.

At that point, we are transformed into brand new children of God. Transformed much like a butterfly from a caterpillar, and we are capable of living an abundant life-eternal, starting at that very moment. We are no longer struggling to overcome the gigantic hurtles we constantly encounter in life. As a new creation in Christ Jesus, we are able to live above our circumstances.

Like the butterfly, who has been transformed from a caterpillar, we look down as we soar high over the problems of this physical world, and recognize that much of what we used to struggle with, were not huge road blocks in our path, but mere twigs which could only pose a problem for someone much slower, smaller, and weaker than that which we have become.

Let's explore how this happens.

The word of God today comes from John 17:1-11.

Leading up to this passage, Jesus has been speaking more plainly to his disciples and telling then what the future holds for him and also for them.

And with that, he begins to pray for himself and also for his followers:

(Read John 17:1-11)

This entire chapter is Jesus' prayer. From it, we learn that the world is a tremendous battleground where the forces under Satan's power and those under God's authority are at war. Satan and his forces are motivated by bitter hatred for Christ and his forces. Jesus prayed for his disciples, including those of us who follow him today. He prayed that God would keep his chosen believers safe from Satan's power, setting them apart, making them pure and holy, and united through his truth.

How do we get eternal life? Jesus tells us clearly here—by knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one sent from God himself. (John 17:3)

We are cautioned throughout the Bible not to worship idols, or false gods. This can be interpreted to mean that by placing other things before God in our lives, that they will hold a place of greater importance to us than God does. For some, false gods can be money, power, pride, status, physical beauty or strength, or even worldly intelligence. God wants a relationship with us. God wants to be in the center of everything we do. He doesn't want to be just something we remember to do on Sundays.

Eternal life requires entering into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. When we admit our sin and turn away from it, Christ's love lives in us by the Holy Spirit.

Now I want to say a word about sin… God knows we sin… God knows we are only made perfect through the blood of Jesus. But the Bible warns us not to CONTINUE in sin. Romans 13:14 says: "But let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and don't think of ways to indulge your evil desires" .

The Living Bible says the same thing a little differently: "Ask the Lord Jesus Christ to help you live as you should, and don't make plans to enjoy evil".

This is an important aspect of living the life eternal. We are not to be preoccupied with the guilt that comes from struggling to overcome sin. Repentance is a by-product of living the life eternal. Of having the relationship with God. But many of us get this backwards, and spend so much time dealing with sin, that we miss the relationship God wants to have with us.

I heard someone describe this as "dancing while looking at your feet". You're missing all the fun, and you're missing the person you're dancing with. We should be dancing with God.

I had a band instructor in college who used to say, "Get your head out of the music, and get the music into your head!". I hope you can see the analogy here. He was saying "Practice the music, and then live it!". And you know, he was right… It's much more enjoyable that way!

One way to avoid sin is to feed our spiritual side, with scripture, and prayer, and good works. In Philippians 4:8, Apostle Paul tells believers to "Fix your thoughts on that which is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about that which is excellent and worthy of praise".

When we recognize sin in our lives we are to name it and turn from it. We are not to continue in sin but rather we are to turn to God, and we are to say, "Thank you God for showing me this. Thank you God for working with me to make me your servant. Thank you God for loving me in this way. Thank you for never giving up on me and being a constant source of reproof and strength".

When we do this we are free to move on. When we do this we are dancing with God and living the life eternal.

So, again, when we admit our sin and turn away from it, Christ's love lives in us by the Holy Spirit.

Now…

If we put this into practice it creates a certain amount of freedom to live this life eternal. But we still have trouble sometimes, don't we?

The reason is this very simple fact:

When we look around us in this world we live in, we see this:

We see that bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. And when they do, we struggle for explanations. We want to know why. We wonder… where is the justice in this world?

God wants us to know that he is wise and all powerful, and that his plan is one of perfection. If we are living the life eternal, we are more able to see the bigger picture. God is constantly grooming and pruning our lives to strengthen us, and to give us patience and insight, which in turn allows us to reach out, to help others in their times of need. And while this is happening to us, we become more and more aware of our dependence upon God and of our need for him in our lives.

Several weeks ago, 14 students and one teacher were killed at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

While on the surface this seems so senseless and the hand of the evil one is so plain to see, the students and people living in Littleton are a sterling example of believers living the life eternal.

I'm going to do something unusual here just before the end of my sermon, because if I describe this to you I simply won't do it justice… I'm going to play a short excerpt of an interview with some of the students who lived through that experience in Colorado. Listen carefully for signs of life eternal, signs of living a changed life, living above their circumstances, and of God's plan of working ALL things for our good, for those who love the Lord. (Rom 8:28)

~ Play Tape ~

This is living above your circumstances! This is living a spirit filled life with the knowledge that we have something that can NEVER be taken away from us! Not by anyone.