Eternal life starts...NOW?

(These are notes taken from a Paul Washer sermon that I listened to back in October and was reminded of today, so I looked it up and enjoyed it just as much as the first time I heard it. This was really helpful to me living in the here and now as I think about heaven and my future in Christ and eternity. I hope you find it helpful too!! It's good stuff.)

1 John 5:20
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Eternal life is not just a future thing. Those who believe in the Son HAVE eternal life. Eternal life is that we might know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
Eternal life is not so much a QUANTITY OF LIFE(even though it is that)...not just a long long time. But, eternal life is a QUALITY of life. A quality of life that has been absolutely changed by a Person that has been brought into that life- the Person of God. And that's why eternal life starts NOW.

A good illustration:
Speaking about the Kingdom of Heaven...
Imagine you're standing on a train platform...and a train is coming. The engine is right at the platform...so you can say that the train has arrived. But at the same time, you must say that the train has not YET arrived because all of it's not here...and at the same time you can say that the train is ARRIVING. That's the Kingdom of Heaven, the whole idea of eternal life and everything that God is doing in your life. That's what it's about.
When you come to know Christ, there is a sense in which the Kingdom has arrived and you have eternal life. But also in it's fulness it's still coming...You've got it, you've got the first-fruits of it- the indwelling of the Spirit, the presence of God, different works of God in your life...so it has come. But it's still coming and one day it will come in it's fullness when Christ returns and the resurrection and the new heavens and the new earth!

We learn things so that the quality of our life is transformed and the quality is only transformed in the Person of God, in the Person of Christ.
joy unspeakable and full of glory!! That's what it's about- the quality of your life.

Year's End Prayer

O Love beyond compare,
Thou art good when Thou givest,
when Thou takest away,
when the sun shines upon me,
when night gathers over me.
Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world,
and in love didst redeem my soul;
Thou dost love me still,
in spite of my hard heart, ingratitude, distrust.
Thy goodness has been with me another year,
leading me through a twisting wilderness,
in retreat helping me to advance,
when beaten back making sure headway.
Thy goodness will be with me in the year ahead;
I hoist sail and draw up anchor,
With Thee as the blessed pilot of my future as of my past.
I bless thee that Thou hast veiled my eyes to the waters ahead.
If Thou hast appointed storms of tribulation,
Thou wilt be with me in them;
If I have to pass through tempests of persecution and temptation,
I shall not drown;
If I am to die,
I shall see Thy face the sooner;
If a painful end is to be my lot,
grant me grace that my faith fail not;
If I am to be cast aside from the service I love,
I can make no stipulation;
Only glorify Thyself in me whether in comfort or trial,
as a chosen vessel meet always for Thy use.

~The Valley of Vision