Eternal Life

Eternal Life-excerpts from January 1st Sunday RS lesson: Sheryl Giddens

Eternal life is the phrase used in scripture to define the quality of life that our Eternal Father lives. The Lord declared, "This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). Immortality and eternal life are separate and distinct. Immortality is to live forever as a resurrected being. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, everyone will receive this gift. The gift of eternal life, which is promised only when certain conditions are met, is so much greater than the gift of immortality. Eternal life, or exaltation, is to live in God's presence and to continue as families. But only those who obey the fullness of the gospel law will inherit eternal life. … It is ‘the greatest of all the gifts of God … , for it is the kind, status, type, and quality of life that God himself enjoys. ..B.R. McConkie

When we think of eternal life, what is the picture that comes to mind? If we could create in our minds a clear and true picture of eternal life, we would start behaving differently. We would not need to be prodded to do the many things involved with enduring to the end, like doing our home teaching or visiting teaching, attending our meetings, going to the temple, living moral lives, saying our prayers, or reading the scriptures. We would want to do all these things and more because we realize they will prepare us to go somewhere we yearn to go. …L. Tom Perry

In His great Intercessory Prayer, the Savior gives to all mankind the key to obtaining eternal life: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST JOHN CHAPTER 17
17: 1-3 THESE words spake Jesus, …. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
17: 20-26: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be cone in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

It is absolutely essential to know who the Lord Jesus Christ is. President Ezra Taft Benson: First, He gave us the perfect model—Himself—after which we are to pattern our lives. We once knew well our Elder Brother and His and our Father in Heaven. We rejoiced at the prospects of earth life that could make it possible for us to have a fullness of joy. We could hardly wait to demonstrate to our Father and our Brother, the Lord, how much we loved them and how we would be obedient to them in spite of the earthly opposition of the evil one. Now we are here. Our memories are veiled. We are showing God and ourselves what we can do. Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His face is to us. God loves us. He is watching us. He wants us to succeed. We will know some day that He has not left one thing undone for the eternal welfare of each of us. If we only knew it, heavenly hosts are pulling for us—friends in heaven that we cannot now remember who yearn for our victory. This is our day to show what we can do—what life and sacrifice we can daily, hourly, instantly make for God. If we give our all, we will get His all from the greatest of all. Give God your best, and His best will come back to you.

Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life. Try as you may, you cannot put the Lord in your debt. For every time you try to do His will, He simply pours out more blessings upon you. Sometimes the blessings may seem to be a little slow in coming—perhaps this tests your faith—but come they will, and abundantly. It has been said, “Cast your bread upon the waters and after a while it shall come back to you toasted and buttered.