SERMON: THIS IS THE LIFE

Devotional

Day 1: Knowing the One True God

Jesus stood with His disciples, sweat still drying on His brow from the upper room. He lifted His eyes to heaven and prayed: “This is eternal life—that they know You, the only true God.” The Greek word for “know” here isn’t about facts but intimate connection, like a vine clinging to a branch. Eternal life begins not at death, but in the moment you recognize God’s face in the sunrise, His whisper in your child’s laughter. [07:18]

Jesus redefined eternity as a relationship, not a destination. He didn’t say eternal life starts when your heart stops. He said it starts when your soul wakes to God’s nearness. The disciples touched His scars, ate His fish, and learned: eternity is Person, not place.

You check clocks, count days, plan for “someday.” But what if your eternal life began the day you first whispered His name? What mundane moment this week could become holy if you saw God in it?

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
(John 17:3, NIV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to reveal one aspect of His character to you today—His faithfulness, creativity, or tenderness.

Challenge: Write three names for God (e.g., Shepherd, Healer, Father) on sticky notes. Place them where you’ll see them hourly.

Day 2: The Work Already Finished

Jesus wiped dust from His feet, hours from the cross. “I have brought you glory by finishing the work you gave me.” Not “I’ll finish,” but “It is done.” His work wasn’t sermons preached or miles walked—it was obeying the Father’s voice, step by step, unto death. [16:37]

Completion isn’t about productivity. A single mom changing diapers glorifies God as much as a preacher saving souls. Jesus’ final breath declared: your ordinary acts, done in love, echo eternally.

You tally unfinished tasks, feeling unworthy. But what if today’s “small” obedience—a kind word, a withheld complaint—completes a divine assignment? What work has God already placed in your hands that you’re dismissing as insignificant?

“I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”
(John 17:4, NIV)

Prayer: Thank God for three specific tasks He’s entrusted to you this week—even laundry, emails, or grocery runs.

Challenge: Text one person you’ll interact with today: “How can I serve you well right now?”

Day 3: Eternal Life in the Now

Judas slipped into the night, but Jesus stayed, teaching trembling disciples. “Eternal life isn’t later,” He insisted. “It’s knowing Me now.” The disciples didn’t need more information—they needed to recognize God breathing beside them in the garden’s shadows. [23:55]

We postpone joy, waiting for milestones. But eternal life isn’t a retirement plan—it’s the air in your lungs today. Like a 63-year marriage built on daily “I choose yous,” eternity grows in present-moment faithfulness.

You’re scanning horizons for “real life” while stepping over today’s miracles. What if you stopped waiting for heaven and started building it through today’s kindnesses, prayers, and forgiven grudges?

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 14:17, NIV)

Prayer: Confess one way you’ve delayed living fully. Ask for eyes to see today’s eternal opportunities.

Challenge: Do one intentionally kind act today—pay for a stranger’s coffee, leave a generous tip, write an encouragement note.

Day 4: The Marriage of Now and Not Yet

Jesus compared eternal life to a marriage—not the anniversary party, but the daily grind of love. Betty and Bruce’s 63 years weren’t about reaching a number but choosing each other through sickness, arguments, and predawn feedings. [11:59]

Eternity isn’t a finish line; it’s the rhythm of walking with God through grocery stores, traffic jams, and chemotherapy rooms. Every “help me” prayer, every resisted temptation, weaves golden threads into your eternal story.

You’re grinding toward “someday” while missing today’s sacred ground. What ordinary moment this week could become a altar if you invited God into it?

“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. […] Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”
(Philippians 3:12-14, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to show you one area where you’ve prioritized future dreams over present obedience.

Challenge: Call someone older than 70. Ask, “What’s one way you’ve seen God in everyday life?”

Day 5: Glorifying God in the Grind

Jesus didn’t just die—He lived. He glorified God through calloused hands, dusty roads, and fishing nets. The Ford factory worker, the UPS driver, the nurse checking vitals—each glorifies God by doing their assigned work with love. [19:02]

Your workplace isn’t a waiting room. It’s a sanctuary. When you clock in, you carry the presence of the God who shaped galaxies. A well-timed joke, a meticulously welded seam, a patient ear—these are your burnt offerings.

You’re clocking hours, counting paychecks. But what if today’s tasks became worship? What if you worked not for human praise but to hear, “Well done, good servant”?

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”
(Colossians 3:23-24, NIV)

Prayer: Dedicate today’s work to God. Ask Him to infuse your tasks with eternal purpose.

Challenge: Pray over one routine task today (e.g., washing dishes, filing reports). Whisper, “This is for You.”

Sermon Summary

Jesus refuses to treat life as something that finally starts someday. John 17 opens with Jesus lifting his eyes and naming the hour, then asking the Father to glorify the Son so the Son will glorify the Father. The prayer then plants a flag: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Eternal life does not wait at the end of a last breath. Eternal life lives as knowing. The text shifts the center of gravity from far-off reward to present relationship, from collecting facts about God to a growing, intimate knowledge of God’s heart.

Eternal life, as Jesus defines it, is not keys to a mansion or streets of gold. It is relational, not merely informational. A disciple can learn doctrines and still miss the look in God’s eye, the countenance of his presence, the living nearness that reshapes Monday through Saturday. The marriage image exposes the problem of postponing life to some milestone; a couple that lives only for “year 64” misses the daily joys and hard-won graces that actually make a marriage. In the same way, a believer who pushes eternal life into the future ends up with a weekend faith and a split self.

Verse 4 shows what that knowing produces: “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.” Jesus glorifies the Father not by chasing someone else’s assignment but by completing the particular work entrusted to him. The cross is his alone. That truth releases the church from comparison. The Spirit does not hand out generic tasks; the Spirit places people and then fills ordinary spaces with holy presence.

The prayer, then, calls a disciple to live eternal life now by knowing God in the place God has already given. On a factory line where faces and names are known, the Spirit can steady hands and “flush out” the darkness with a steady, kind presence. In a shipping hub, attentiveness becomes worship. In an office, remembering a coworker’s mother’s name participates in God’s care. In retirement, cards, crafts, and phone calls become seedbeds of glory. Verse 5 belongs to Jesus uniquely, but the impulse is clear: ask for the Father’s presence now. Stop pushing eternal life into the future. Receive it as the present-tense knowledge of the Father and the Son that turns common work into finished worship.

Key Takeaways

1. Eternal life is knowing God now [05:11] This life does not wait behind death’s door; it grows as a living knowledge of the Father and the Sent Son. Facts can sketch a profile, but only relationship teaches the tone of God’s voice and the weight of his presence. Such knowing matures through attention, obedience, and a steady nearness that changes how a disciple moves through ordinary hours. [05:11]
2. Future-only faith starves everyday obedience [14:00] When life with God is postponed to “someday,” faith shrinks into weekend rituals and vague hopes. The marriage image warns that milestone-thinking steals the meaning of the days in between. Whole-life faith integrates Sunday’s confession with Monday’s decisions so that worship and work are not strangers. [14:00]
3. Glory comes by finishing assigned work [16:37] Jesus glorifies the Father by completing the work uniquely given to him, not by imitating another’s calling. That pattern dignifies particular assignments and releases the burden of comparison. Finishing well means attending to the task at hand with the Father’s pleasure in view. [16:37]
4. The Spirit dignifies ordinary places [18:07] Factory lines, loading belts, and office hallways become altars when a disciple carries God’s presence into them. Remembered names, noticed countenances, and steady kindness open space for grace to land. Small, faithful acts preach a quiet gospel that many will feel before they know its name. [18:07]
5. Practice heaven’s presence in the present [23:33] A person can cultivate either heaven or hell on earth by the presence they carry and the habits they choose. Asking for God’s nearness now anticipates the joy beyond death without abandoning today’s field. Eternal life stretches through the present as a practiced awareness of God that spills into love. [23:33]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:17] - When does life begin?
[02:00] - Eternal life imagined as later
[04:32] - Jesus prays John 17
[05:11] - This is eternal life
[07:59] - Not heaven, but knowing God
[10:18] - Knowing God starts now
[11:59] - Marriage illustration of milestones
[14:00] - Weekend faith vs whole-life faith
[16:37] - Finishing the work brings glory
[18:07] - Factory lines and UPS boxes
[19:40] - Names, mothers, and holy presence
[21:20] - Retirees, cards, and crafts
[23:33] - Live eternal life in the present
[25:10] - Glory before the world, presence now

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
John 17:3-4 (ESV)
“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”

Observation questions

According to John 17:3, how does Jesus define eternal life?
What specific action does Jesus say glorified the Father in verse 4?
In the sermon’s marriage analogy, what happens when a couple focuses only on reaching a milestone like their 64th anniversary? [11:59]
What examples were given of “ordinary places” where the Spirit can work through people? [18:07]

Interpretation questions

Why do you think Jesus defines eternal life as relational (“knowing God”) rather than a future destination?
How might postponing eternal life to “someday” lead to a “weekend faith” or a “split self”? [14:00]
The sermon compares eternal life to a marriage focused on daily joys rather than milestones. How does this analogy challenge common assumptions about faith? [11:59]
What does it mean for “ordinary work” (like factory jobs or office tasks) to become “altars” for God’s presence? [18:07]

Application questions

What is one practical way you could shift from seeing eternal life as a distant reward to experiencing it as a present relationship this week?
Where in your daily routine (work, errands, chores) could you intentionally practice “knowing God” through small acts of kindness or attentiveness? [19:40]
The sermon warns against “future-only faith.” What habits or mindsets do you need to confront to integrate Sunday’s worship with Monday’s decisions? [14:00]
Think about your current responsibilities (job, family, retirement). How might God’s “assigned work” for you right now bring Him glory in ordinary moments? [16:37]
What specific person in your life needs to feel God’s presence through your words or actions today? How could you reflect His “steady, kind presence” to them? [19:40]
If eternal life is knowing God now, what step could you take this week to deepen your relational knowledge of Him (e.g., prayer, Scripture, serving others)?

Sermon Clips

Stop putting eternal life in the future. It's not just your future, it's your present. Live it now. Your eternal life is right now, and the things you create in your life right now are just a glimpse of the glory and the wonder and the joy that waits for you whenever you stop breathing. Oh, we're all afraid of death or most people are afraid of death, I guess. That this is that's the doorway to even more glory, to even more joy. You get to do that now. [00:23:42] (42 seconds)

We can do that with people, and and I understand you say the challenge of it whenever you don't get to see a physical version of God. I understand the challenge of that, but you see God every day, do you not? Is God not always present and around us? Is he not within the very wind that we feel within the warm sun that's coming right now? Is he not is he not providing all of those joys and those blessings and those great great honors to our life? We're meant to live in the presence of God in this eternal knowledge of who he is, in this relationship, this marriage with our God, we're meant to live in now, not sometime in the future. [00:15:43] (43 seconds)

And so when eternal life is future focused, when it's separated from who I am today in my faith, my faith becomes something that only exists on the weekends. Like I show up to church, I do my faith thing, and then I leave. And when I do that, I have now separated who I am Monday through Friday, and Monday through Saturday from who I am on Sunday, and that was never intended to be the case. I don't get to walk away from Ashley and say, well, I'm at work today, so now I'm not longer married. Like like, no. Like, we are always one, and you can't divide that. [00:14:09] (35 seconds)

You're passing those boxes, and for a lot of people, it's an aimless, mindless task that feels like it's the end of it. It's just like, oh, I'm just gonna I'm not gonna do my best because who cares? And maybe God's put you in that place to be the person who steps into those moments and to say no like the spirit of God tells me that I'm here to work, and I'm here to work because I need to look at these people, and these people need Jesus in their life, and I may be the only Jesus that they get to experience. They may not even know how to interpret the goodness in their life, and they need someone to show up and show them. [00:18:49] (36 seconds)

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

What is the biblical definition of eternal life?

How can eternal life be experienced now?

How do I finish the work God gave?

SERMON: THIS IS THE LIFE | Josh Watkins