“Now this is eternal life”

We give glory to God by giving ourselves up to Him, as we learn in John 17:1-11.

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said,
“Father, the hour has come.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
just as you gave him authority over all people,
so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.
Now this is eternal life,
that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
I glorified you on earth
by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.
Now glorify me, Father, with you,
with the glory that I had with you before the world began.

“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.
They belonged to you, and you gave them to me,
and they have kept your word.
Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,
because the words you gave to me I have given to them,
and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you,
and they have believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me,
because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours
and everything of yours is mine,
and I have been glorified in them.
And now I will no longer be in the world,
but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”

“Now this is eternal life,” says Jesus, “that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” He is speaking to the Father, who is to raise Jesus to the heavenly kingdom. Then He goes on to explain how He got to this point in His journey on earth and then asks the Father to bring Him home to heaven.

Heaven is our true home. We haven’t been there before, but it is where we belong, the home that the Father has prepared for us and the Son has made way for us. The Father chose us to be with Him in heaven, sent His Son to prepare us to be with Him, and then when His Son’s work was done on earth, called Him home to heaven, creating our path to being in the presence of God.

It’s no mistake nor some happenstance that we are chosen. God wants us with Him. He loves us. He gave us birth. He gave us life. He gave us faith. And He will give us death that we may make the journey to heaven. We shouldn’t fear death – natural death – we should welcome it as our way into God’s kingdom. Just as we embrace life.

What is the meaning of life? The meaning of life is to encounter Jesus in our hearts, listen to and act on his teachings, love God and love one another, and make our journey to heaven. Giving ourselves to God is giving glory to God. This is eternal life.