Deus Ex Machina

“Now this is eternal life: That they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” John 17:3

Eternal life is more than just living forever. If eternal life was simply living forever God could let us do that right here on earth right now. Everyone is going to live forever somewhere – either in heaven with God or in hell separated from God. What exactly, then, is eternal life?

Eternal life is knowing God, being fully connected to God, being in God, and having God in you. It is worshipping God, obeying God, loving God, serving God, and glorifying God. And as believers, we get eternal life now. John 17:3 doesn’t say, “The gift of God will be eternal life.” It says, “The gift of God is eternal life.” It isn’t something we wait to receive. You have eternal life the moment you trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You aren’t just going to live forever…you are going to live forever with God. His home will be your home. His family is now your family. The Heavenly Father is now your Father.

There is only one remedy for sin and that is God. There is only one remedy for death and that is life. There is a Latin phrase used in theatre, “Deus Ex Machina.” In classical drama, it referred to the introduction of God into the action of a play to resolve a problem. Euripides had a rule for using God in the drama. He said that God must never be introduced as a Deus Ex Machina unless the characters had gotten themselves into such a problem that only God could solve it. It had to be a dilemma that only God could get them out of.

Sin and death are the ultimate Deus Ex Machina. The only way out is by accepting the free gift of eternal life that God offers to every one of us. Yes, we deserve death; but God desires life.

Dearest Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for me, for creating a way for me to spend eternity in heaven, and for helping me each day as I live here on earth. You are my savior and Lord. You desire the very best for me, and I am grateful to know you in my heart.