“If you died tonight, where would you spend eternity?”
I once completed an evangelism training course that taught us to initiate spiritual conversations with strangers by asking that question. The question gets to the heart of one of Christianity’s fundamental truths: Because of Jesus’s resurrection, all who unite to Jesus by faith will also be resurrected. Jesus grants eternal life to those who repent and trust in him. “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
The promise of eternal life is a powerful motivator for faith and a precious promise of hope and comfort for God’s people. However, I fear that the church has so emphasized “going to heaven when you die” that we sometimes give the impression that’s all faith is good for. To be “saved,” we often proclaim, you just need to pray this prayer expressing your trust in Christ as Savior and Lord. You may not know much after that, but at least you can be sure of where you’re going.
This framework places all the emphasis on the future and provides little guidance for life until then. Salvation doesn’t happen until you die. The resurrection will be experienced one day. When we speak about salvation exclusively in terms of future destination, however, we give the disastrous impression that Christ has little relevancy to this present life beyond making us feel better about dying. Our lives don’t look much different than the unbelievers around us, other than our Sunday meetings where we remind each other that “some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away.”
But what if I told you the Bible presents the resurrection as something you begin experiencing now in this life? What if all our talk about “going to heaven when we die” obscures the powerful truth that we get to begin tasting heaven right now? In fact, I believe Christ initiates our preparation for that glorious future the hour we first believe. The Christian life is training for our eternal destiny.
Consider Paul’s prayer in 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”
Here and in many other places, Paul prays that the church would receive divine assistance toward the goal of moral progress. For Paul, resurrection power begins in this life as those who are being saved grow in holiness and love. The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead is currently working in the heart of every genuine Christian to bring about moral transformation in areas such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). At our baptism, we are united to Christ in his death and resurrection “in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
We were created to image God, but we have failed to achieve that high calling because of our sin. Christ, however, has come to show us what it means to be human. He reconciles us to God, grants us his Spirit, and initiates the lifelong process of conforming us into his image (Romans 8:29). When we make moral progress in this life through Christ, we are participating now in our eternal future.
Joshua W. Jipp writes, “The time between conversion and the eschatological telos is a time for moral progress in anticipation of fully sharing in God’s life.” By “eschatological telos,” he simply means the appointed end of history when Christ returns and consummates his kingdom. Through Christ, we are called to pursue both individual and communal transformation within our churches. By living holy lives and giving ourselves in love to others, we display resurrection power here and now.
Do you want to taste heaven now? Pursue transformation through the power of the gospel. You don’t have to wait until you die to experience heaven. Through Christ, you can anticipate future resurrection right here and right now. Why wait?
Ray Comfort (Living Waters.com), the evangelist that I follow, starts his talks with unbelievers by asking the question, “Do you think there is an afterlife?” I think it is a great opening, as people are required to stop and think about it. He then asks if they are a “good person,” thinking they might be good enough for “heaven.” Thankfully he gets them into some of the 10 commandments, and asking if they have ever done some of the prohibitions there. Then he shares the gospel. He always inserts REPENTANCE OF SIN, AND FAITH IN CHRIST. He then asks when are you going to do this, many times prays for them on the spot. All that being said, I totally agree with this article…the issue is ARE YOU RIGHT WITH GOD, NOW? You can have a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD …..NOW! That should be our focus, and I commend the author for this truth, thank you!