REACTION PAPER: I BELIEVE IN LIFE EVERLASTING

This life begins at the moment we believe. We are immediately transformed into new
creations and a new existence, now lived in fellowship with God, begins. This is the origin of the
Christian's eternal life; we now have the presence of God with us at all times to guide us and
direct us and help us to live according to His Word. But what will eternal life be like? Although
this life begins in the present and is blessed by God, we are still living on the earth and subject to
earthly hardships, sorrows and disappointments. We take refuge in the presence of God while the
promises in His Word comfort and sustain us. But this life that we have obtained is everlasting. It
will extend beyond the boundaries of this earthly existence, indeed beyond time and the grave.
So while we may suffer adversity here and now as foreigners in a strange country, we have hope
of a better day.

I am still wondering how, if God made everything good, we still have suffering, poverty
and death in our world today. I try to logically figure out what God must be planning for
everybody in his or her life. I understand that we all have some mission to complete before we
die. However, what that mission may be is what puzzles me. Some people have died lately and
through their deaths I have come to have many questions. Why does God take young teenagers
before 90-year-old patients lying in hospitals? If God loves everyone equally then why does God
choose some people to suffer more than others? So many people suffer in this world today, while
others have very good lives. This puzzles me. However, I truly believe that God does no chose
for people to suffer. Because God is love and we have free will, God is not completely in charge
of what happens. I know that God must have a plan for all of us and everything happens for a
reason. However sometimes I still wonder what God is thinking.

But our hope is not only in this life we look forward to the time when we will live
without any burden by our mortal bodies and life's untoward circumstances. Eternal life in its
ultimate fulfilment will be lived in the joyous presence of the living God, forever. We will be no
longer need we fear sickness, pain or death.