“Jesus defines [eternal life] as a quality of knowing, a depth of relationship. This means that eternal life isn’t just about living forever; it’s also about living now, in the reality of God’s eternal Kingdom. It means knowing and understanding who Jesus claimed to be.”- Kyle Idleman and Mark E. Moore
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”- John 17:3 (ESV)
Kyle Idleman and Mark E. Moore continue Chapter 1 of The Missing Messiah with commentary on Matthew 16:15. In that text, Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do you say I am?”
Above all, the authors stress, this question didn’t appear in a theological pop quiz that Jesus conducted. Nor did Jesus take a poll to determine His identity. Instead, Jesus asked the most consequential question any human could answer. And Peter provided the correct, and revolutionary, answer:
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”- Matthew 16:16 (ESV)
Therefore, Kyle and Mark underscore, eternal life is:
- not what we get when we get to heaven.
- what we get when we get Jesus.
Most significantly, the authors note, the Hebrew word Messiah meant more than simply ‘savior’ in some vague, spiritual sense. In addition, the wore Messiah referred to the promised King. The Deliverer who would establish God’s reign on earth — a politically charged title!
In conclusion, Kyle and Mark caution:
“Yet we’ve domesticated this revolutionary title. My guess is that most people today think that ‘Christ’ is Jesus’ last name rather than a declaration of his Kingdom authority. We sing about Jesus Christ without considering what his messiahship means for how we live today. In short, we’ve separated Jesus the Savior (who gets us to heaven) from Jesus the King (who demands our allegiance now).”
Today’s question: Describe your understanding of eternal life. Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Keeping Jesus in the sanctuary”