Day 1: What does Jesus say is the goal of every person’s life?

The answer may surprise you. Jesus gave us the clearest answer in John 17:3:

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. (KJV)

Here, Jesus tells us that eternal life is not just living forever. It is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ personally and intimately. The Greek word for “know” (ginōskō) means more than intellectual knowledge. It speaks of a deep, personal, relational knowing, the kind of knowing that happens between close friends or in marriage. Jesus wants us to know the Father the way He knows the Father. Some people read this verse and worry it makes the Father the “only” God and leaves Jesus out. But Jesus is not denying His own deity. He is highlighting that the Father is the only true God contrasted with all the other nations false gods, while pointing to Himself as the One sent to reveal the Father. The goal of life is to know both the Father and Jesus Christ.

Both the Father (Jn 17:3) and the Son (1 Jn 5:20,21) are called the “true God” by the same writer John. The true God is contrasted with false gods (idols) by John and by Paul in 1 Co 8:1-6. John isn’t contradicting himself, when he stated  the Father is the only true God, then saying Jesus is the true God. John believed that there is one true God (vs many false gods) in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19).

Father God, It Is You

Application for Today
Take a quiet moment right now and pray a simple prayer to know God more deeply, not just know about Him. Let this become your daily desire: to move from head knowledge to heart intimacy with the Triune God.