The Centre of your life.

Any serious student, or even reader, of the Bible will be aware that the Centre of that single Book - that is a library of books - is One Person, the Lord Jesus, the Christ (Messiah) of God. What many do not realise is that He may also be the Centre of our lives. How may this be? Simply by believing in Him. John writes: "But these [signs] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name." (John 20:30-31). What does this mean?

First of all it concerns eternal life. There is a common misunderstanding that "eternal life" is "everlasting" life - life that goes on, and on, and on. Greek mythology lets us know how tragic that would be! The story is told of the young Greek "goddess" who fell in love with a mortal, and wanted to be with him forever. So she went to Zeus (head of the Greek pantheon) and asked that he be granted everlasting life. Her wish was granted, and she went off as happy as could be. For many years, all was well, but then the couple realised their mistake. The "goddess" remained youthful, beautiful, and full of vigour. Her mortal partner grew older and older, and more and more frail, but was destined never to die! 

Eternity is not "endless time". It is "timelessness". [I deal more fully with this in my book "Great Words of the Faith"]. You see, time is a created entity, and has both a beginning and end. Eternity is the "dimension" in which the Creator God "resides". And eternal life is, in fact, a totally different life that, in our mortal lives, is beyond our comprehension. What we do know is that is promised to all who have come to the Lord Jesus, in repentance and faith. 

Without the Lord Jesus, we have no hope of heaven. Paul reminds us that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), and we are all sinners. We have broken God's moral law, and deserve nothing but His wrath and punishment.

John, commenting on Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, writes: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). Note the tense of the final verb! It's in the present tense. In other words, as soon as we accept the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, we receive the very life of Almighty God. That is being "born again". It's not just new life, it's a whole new attitude to life in our physical, mortal bodies. It's not the oftimes artificial, unstable, life that the world offers, but a life full of purpose and peace, and joy.

So Jesus can be the centre of your life, and in your death. I commend Him to you.