John 17
1After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:1-3, NIV)
The Daily DAVEotional
An overwhelming number of people in the U.S. believe in an afterlife. According to a major Pew research study in 2023-24 and released in 2025, 70% of Americans believe there is, or there probably is an afterlife.
If there really is an afterlife, what does it look like and, more importantly, how do we experience it?
Christianity teaches that after people die physically, they experience either eternal life or eternal death.
But what exactly is eternal life?
I’ve asked hundreds, if not thousands of people that exact question over the course of my years in ministry and the most common answer I received is that eternal life is “living forever after you die”.
Now that’s obvious isn’t it? The word “eternal” means “forever” and “life” is the opposite of “death” so it kind of seems obvious that “eternal life” must be “living forever” because that’s exactly what the words mean.
Many people are surprised to learn, however, that Jesus actually defined eternal life and his definition doesn’t exactly line up with our traditional understanding of the term.
Most people think of eternal life as something you receive AFTER you die, like going to heaven.
But Jesus defined eternal life as something you can have NOW and then it continues on into eternity.
In John 17:3, Jesus defined eternal life as knowing God – having a relationship with Him. Hence, eternal life is beginning a relationship with Jesus now, on earth, so that when you die, you will live with Him for eternity.
This distinction might seem insignificant but it’s actually quite important.
If eternal life is just going to heaven when I die, then it’s not necessarily something I need to worry about until later in life.
But if eternal life is a relationship with God – something I can experience NOW, then waiting to receive eternal life will result in me missing out on a relationship with God.
Jesus didn’t go to the cross and die for us just so we could go to heaven after we die. Jesus died on the cross to give us LIFE….NOW!
Jesus wants us to know Him and that’s something we can begin to experience now in this life. Knowing Jesus simply means responding to the invitation of forgiveness that He offers through His death on the cross for us.
When we respond to Jesus’ invitation, Jesus comes into our lives and we become adopted sons and daughters in His family.
At that moment, our real life begins. This relationship with Jesus is permanent and never-ending.
Do you want to experience eternal life? You don’t have to wait until you die to experience it. You can experience eternal life right now, simply by entering into a relationship with Jesus, which simply requires that you put your trust in Him.
For more information on what it means to begin a relationship with Jesus, read the short article “FOUR POINTS TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO EXPERIENCE ETERNAL LIFE”.
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Reflection
Before reading this short post, what was your understanding of “eternal life”? How did you define it?
Most people think of eternal life as going to heaven after you die. But Jesus defined eternal life as knowing God and having a relationship with Jesus? How does this difference impact you? In what ways does this change or impact your desire to have eternal life?
On a scale of 0-100 (0 being no desire and 100 being the highest level of desire possible), how would you rate your desire to know God? What factors caused you to choose the number that you did?
On that same scale of 0-100, what do you think is God’s desire for you to know Him?
What would keep you from putting your faith in Jesus and beginning a relationship with Him?
The Lowedown 