Eternal life is now

One day I found myself wrestling with the question, “OK, if life is eternal, when does it begin?” 

Since I do believe life is eternal, the query caught me by surprise. Common belief often presents eternal life as an experience one has after death. Lead a good life, general Christian logic asserts, accept Christ Jesus as your Savior, end earthly existence on good terms, and you’ll be received into heaven. And that’s when eternal life begins. 

But that is not possible, I reasoned. The very definition of eternal is to have no beginning or end, like a circle that is complete. Death does not birth life. Eternity doesn’t begin at a point in time or come only after certain rituals like baptism or joining a church. Eternal existence is a gift from God that is our birthright. We already have it. We’re living eternal, spiritual life right now!

Jesus understood this reality clearly when he taught, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58); “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30); “What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?” (John 6:62). Jesus walked the earth, spoke to mortals, healed the sick, and ate with neighbors, yet he was certain of his eternal, spiritual existence with God, which had no beginning or end.

In describing man’s uninterrupted continuity of being, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “Man is deathless, spiritual.” And she continued, “He does not cross the barriers of time into the vast forever of Life, but he coexists with God and the universe” (Science and Health, p. 266). 

Eternal life is exactly what it is—forever.  And as children of God, we possess immortality without pause.

It’s liberating to understand that our coexistence with God doesn’t have a birth date or an end date. It’s happening in every moment we call now. Our individuality as a child of God doesn’t temporarily fall away from Spirit into a state of mortal disrepair, despondency, and hopelessness, and then have to find its way back again. The infinite does not lessen into finiteness. The immortal does not degrade into the mortal. Eternal life is exactly what it is—forever. And as children of God, we possess immortality without pause. 

Each of us can learn how to overcome the conditions of mortality that would limit life and end health, from how Jesus responded to Lazarus’ death.

Jesus was called to heal his friend Lazarus, who was gravely ill and then died. Three days later, Jesus arrived at his tomb. Grief and despair overwhelmed the community. But Jesus saw something more to Lazarus than the bystanders perceived. 

To lift thought higher, Jesus had the stone in front of his tomb removed, and, as John’s Gospel records, “He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43). And Lazarus came forth. “Preposterous!” many observers may have protested. He was talking to a dead body and commanding it to rise and walk. But Jesus wasn’t speaking to a mindless body, trying to revive matter and bring it back to life. Christian Science explains he understood that Lazarus was alive and well, living his eternal, spiritual life in divine Mind, the sustainer of all existence. He knew that the picture of death was a human mind illusion, which he could change and improve. And to help those around him see this truth, Jesus spoke to their human consciousness and woke it from the belief that Lazarus had died. Jesus’ efforts to elevate thought were effective, and Lazarus walked out of the grave alive.

In commenting on the revival of Lazarus, Mrs. Eddy wrote, “Jesus restored Lazarus by the understanding that Lazarus had never died, not by an admission that his body had died and then lived again” (Science and Health, p. 75). Jesus proved for all time that life is eternal. God is our Life. It does not begin or end in matter, but exists forever, united with God, Spirit.

One day, I was called to the home of an elderly woman, who her caretaker feared was quickly passing away. There was no response to anyone’s calls or prodding. I went to the woman’s room. She lay flat on her bed barely exhibiting signs of life. Alone in the room, I knelt at her bed, and prayed the truth about her life in God. I knew she was alive and well in Spirit, and that her existence was not ending or disappearing. Life is forever, I affirmed. This woman was not an aging mortal, but an eternal manifestation of Life, sustained by divine Mind. I spoke the truth out loud to her. Soon, one finger moved a trifle, then a hand, an arm, and minutes later she was sitting on the side of her bed, smiling and engaging in conversation. 

“Life is eternal,” Eddy instructed. And she continued, “We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal” (p. 246). Jesus conquered his fear of being crucified because he knew the cross, nail, and spear were not a threat to his life. He knew his being was spiritual, above and beyond the dream of existence in matter. He let his enemies try to kill him to show that they could not, and he left the tomb three days later, having proved the immortality of life.

Jesus told his followers, “I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20). The same Christ-life that sustained Jesus, sustains us. As the Father is eternal, we are eternal. Life is immortal, with no beginning and no end. 

The material dream of life in matter ends with all its sin, disease, and death, but our individuality in Spirit has no start or finish. It’s forever perfect, held safe in God’s love.