For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- John 3:16

The blessing God wants us to receive as a result of the giving of his one and only Son is the blessing of "eternal life." What exactly is that?

Dallas Willard spoke movingly about eternal life: "By trusting Jesus, you can live NOW in the kingdom of God ... eternal living ... to catch your life up into what God is doing in such a way that what you're doing becomes a part of the eternal being of God himself." He's tiptoeing around the edge of a great mystery here, the mystery of our union with Christ. The life we receive in Christ is the very life of Christ himself.

We can move past this mystery too quickly. We jump on the words "eternal" and "perish" and miss the life itself. Yes, we'll be given something that won't pass away, something that starts now and lasts and lasts and lasts. But what that something is ... that's what matters most.

God desires to bless the entire cosmos with life.

Every dead place, every dead thing, every dead person ... life is poured out in their midst. And everyone who believes will receive. And every thing those believers touch will be blessed with life. And every place they go - every place we settle or visit or pass through - will experience life ... as Alex says: "In Christ we leave life in our wake."

Ask God today to bless you with life that you might bless every person, place or thing you encounter with new, vibrant, transformative life.