Live longer and Eternal life

One of my favorite books is Dr. Michael Greger’s How Not to Die. He lists the top ten causes of death (heart disease, diabetes, various cancers, etc.), and shows how diet and lifestyle changes can increase your chances of preventing, and in some cases reversing, these lethal maladies. Dr. Greger, employing winsome humor and loads of incontrovertible evidence, is very convincing. But he candidly admits that there is no cure for death. His goal is to help you be healthy, energetic, and enjoy vitality… right up until the moment you die of old age.

But what if there was a cure for old age? Some reputable scientists are taking the challenge to find the fountain of youth very seriously.

Biologists at UCLA have successfully extended the lifespan of fruit flies by tweaking their genes. These files live only 40 days, but with the UCLA longevity intervention, they get an extra 20 days. That’s a 50% increase; imagine you could live to be 130 years old! At Nottingham University, scientists did something similar to mice.

Longevity expert, Dr Aubrey de Grey, (says he) believes that the first human who will live to be 1,000 years old is alive today. New research on telomeres has opened the door to the perpetual rejuvenation of human somatic cells. A telomere is a cap at the end of our chromosomes. Think of it as the aglet (plastic binding) at the end of your shoelace. The telomere cap prevents your DNA from unraveling. 

Telomeres shorten over time as they get damaged by poor diet, stress, trauma, UV rays—the stuff of life on a cursed planet. Eventually, your DNA starts to fray like a shoelace without aglets. And that is what causes aging. If scientists figured out how to rebuild/lengthen damaged telomeres, they could in theory, cure aging, and no one would die of old age.

The research needs another 60-70 years. That’s not going to help most of us.

So, I have great news for you today. I know a way we can live longer. Not just a mere 1,000 years longer. I know the way we can live forever.  If you want to know how not to die, you need to see what Jesus prayed in John 17.

2 GROUNDBREAKING DISCOVERIES ABOUT ETERNAL LIFE SO YOU WILL LIVE FOREVER

1. AUTHORITY OF ETERNAL LIFE

John 17: 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

When the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine became available, nobody objected to the plan that the most vulnerable people should get it first. But when it comes to death, no one is more vulnerable than anyone else. We are all potentially moments away from death and judgment.

We are all constantly living on the precipice of eternity. So, who decides who gets the vaccine for eternal death?  Look at verse 2 again: since you have given him (Jesus) authority over all flesh, to give eternal life…

What we learn from Jesus’ prayer to his Father is that the ultimate decider of who gets eternal life is not the individual. The authority of who gets eternal life lies squarely with one person… Jesus Christ. Jesus is not saying here that the Father gave him the power to save, but the rightful & legitimate exercise of his power over all flesh—all people.

And Jesus uses that rightful exercise of his authority to give eternal life to all whom the Father has given him. This is a staggering reality! Jesus gives life to his people because the Father gave them to him. This group is called: his Bride (Revelation 19:7), his saints (Colossians 1:26), his elect (Matthew 24:31). And Jesus refers to this group as My Church (Matthew 16:18). 

Look at vs 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. …

When did the Father choose us and give us to Christ? Ephesians 1: 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world…

This groundbreaking discovery about eternal life should rock your world more than that of extending the life of worms and fruit flies. Think about it. The Father had you in mind and gave you to the Son before the world began so that you can have eternal life and be his forever. Now, how do we know if we are in this group?

2. AVAILABILITY OF ETERNAL LIFE

Here we are given a powerful definition of eternal life in Christ’s own words:  And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. To live forever is part and parcel of knowing God, through Christ. How do you know if you have eternal life?

Simple: Do you know the one true God through Jesus Christ?

If you know Jesus, you trust that he was sent from God – that he is who he claims to be and proved to be – then you know the one true God. Knowing God will have unstoppable effects in your life. You start to hate your sin, to understand Scripture, to love other people, to join and serve a church of other believers.

1 Thessalonians 4: 3-5 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. But now you might be wondering – can anyone become a Christian, what if I am not chosen?

The reality is: if you desire to know God, and you are willing to obey Christ, then yes, you can be a Christian, because only the chosen desire that. So, come to Jesus.   He will never turn you away. You may never understand the deep theology behind why you came. But come; he will have you.

CONCLUSION

The offer from God of eternal life is free to all. If you don’t know God… you can. Meet Jesus in the pages of Scripture. Surrender your will to him. Believe in Jesus, believe in his death in your place, repent of your sins and embrace the free and full forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

And that is how not… to die.

Author: Cripplegate