November 22, 2021 - The Hope of Eternal Life

“Science promises that the most ancient human fantasies,” wrote John Gray, “will at last be realized. Sickness and ageing will be abolished; scarcity and poverty will be no more; the species will become immortal.”

Sickness and ageing abolished? The species immortal? Not quite.

Yes, science has done some great things in dealing with sickness. And ageing, too, has been extended. But abolished? Hardly.

And the specie—immortal? Please! Extending the human life span is one thing (giving up Bloody Marys for wheatgrass juice would do the trick, too), but these few extra years are as far from immortality as adding three inches to a yard is from infinity. Another few years, or decades, would be fine (if you could avoid Parkinson’s Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, arthritis, etc. along the way) but longevity isn’t immortality, not even close.

Instead, over and over in the Bible the promise of eternal life is found in one source only, Jesus and the plan of salvation His death and resurrection offer us all.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12).

“[I]n hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began” (Titus 1:2)

“[T]hat having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).

“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11).

The list goes on. We have, in Jesus, the promise, sealed in His blood, of what science can never do for us. And it’s ours, now, by faith.

Science is fine for some things. But for what, ultimately, long-term, really matters . . . we must put our trust in the God who created and sustains that world whose depth and richness science barely scratches.