Is Jesus just your eternity insurance plan?

 

Are we treating our religion as our “just in case…”? Or is this what we truly and honestly believe?

I’ve heard this line of argument in defense of the Christian faith by well-intentioned people:

“Just believe in Jesus to gain an eternity in heaven. And even if it turns out there is no eternity, at least you would have lived your life as a good person because of the moral standards (of Christianity)”

The above argument, as I mentioned, may be well-intentioned. But we can do more than put Jesus forward as the eternity backup plan. There’s more to Him than that. 

Jesus, in His own words, came “so we may have life and have it more abundantly”. We focus on the Redemption and the Resurrection - two amazing gifts from Jesus Christ that we will see the manifestation of in the hereafter. This is the cause of the uncertainty of the power of Jesus, and why He gets reduced to a “backup plan”. But there are gifts and promises He has made to us that we can live out in this life, right now:

Reconciliation to the Father: because of Jesus, we can come near to God and have a Father-Child relationship with Him. The general view of God is that of the “Guy in the Sky” - detached, impersonal, far away, and to be feared. But Jesus introduces us to a dimension of God never before known: His Fatherhood. In Christ, you get to relate with the Creator as a child relates to a Father. You can approach Him and lay down your fears, your burdens, your petitions, practically any thing that is on your mind. You literally have the ears of the most Supreme authority in the universe, it is that amazing! You also, if you ask, get to hear His burdens and His intent.

Revelation of God: in the world, the concept of God is one of the most contentious: almost everyone has their unique interpretation of God. There is a struggle to understand the real nature of God (which is one of the consequences of sin - separation). People don’t know if He is worth loving or serving, because He is simply beyond their comprehension. But the work of Christ reveals God (Ephesians 1:17). The Holy Spirit illuminates the scriptures in such a manner that makes His nature and attributes crystal clear to us. 

We gain awareness of His nature, and His attributes - His devotion to love and justice, His kindness and long suffering, His hatred of wickedness, His love of mercy and truth. The Holy Spirit brings an elevated perspective to our knowledge of God that nothing or no one else could give us. And when we know Him, we know love. Loving Him and worshipping Him are a natural by-effect of knowing Him (1 John 4:19).

We don’t have to wait till eternity to know God, Jesus has made this available to us through Him.

Rest from our burdens: Jesus said “Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). One thing this life is skilled at placing on us is burdens. Some burdens are physical, some financial. Many burdens are mental and emotional. We live with the burden of anxiety, fear of the unknown, fear of what the future holds. We worry if we will earn enough to meet our basic needs. We worry about our health, our loved ones, our finances. We worry about economic downturns, global pandemics, social unrests, insecurity, wars and news of wars. All that worry and burden is exactly what Jesus wants to take off you. 

Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and He can deliver that peace within the storms of life to you and I. You don’t even have to beg Him to take your burden off you: He is asking you to bring it to Him already! In Christ, we can begin to experience “peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). We are living in a fallen world, and storms and turmoil are an inevitable consequence of that fall. But this is His word to us:

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)

Regeneration: we do not have to live as slaves to our sins. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can experience change of what we thought was our nature and could not be controlled. Many who have trusted in Jesus have experienced real transformation: a loss of desire for sin, and a new desire to do good. The transformation came from within and not just from following a system of religious practices, because God promised to “change the hearts of stone to hearts of flesh”. That’s a work Jesus can do for us right here on earth, before eternity. 

So, Jesus is more than a hope for an eternity yet unseen. He is more than an insurance (backup plan). Enjoy His benefits from today!