🧒 Children’s Devotional — Day 222

Eternal Life Is Knowing God

📖 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.“
—John 17:3 (NKJV)

After Jesus finished speaking to His disciples, He lifted His eyes toward heaven and prayed. The time had come for Him to be betrayed, arrested, and crucified. Jesus knew the suffering that awaited Him, yet His prayer began with the Father’s glory and the eternal life He had come to give. Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Eternal life means living forever, but Jesus showed us that it is more than life that never ends. Eternal life is knowing God. This does not mean merely knowing facts about Him. You can memorize Bible verses, name Jesus’ twelve disciples, explain how Noah built the ark, and know what happened to David and Goliath without personally trusting and following the Lord. Knowing about someone is not the same as knowing that person. You may know the name of a famous athlete, musician, scientist, or leader. You might know where that person was born, what work he has done, and many things he has said. Yet that person does not know you, and you do not share a relationship with him. Jesus came so that sinners could truly know God. Sin separates us from Him. We cannot repair that separation by being kind, attending church, helping others, or trying harder to behave. Good works cannot erase our guilt.

God sent His Son to do what we could never do for ourselves. Jesus lived without sin. He died upon the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. Everyone who repents and believes in Him receives forgiveness and eternal life. Jesus also called His Father “the only true God.” The world has always offered people many false gods. Some are statues or images made by human hands. Others are ideas people create about what they think God should be like. People may also give God’s rightful place to money, success, popularity, pleasure, power, or themselves. But there are not many equally true gods. There is one true God. We do not have the right to invent Him according to our preferences. God has revealed Himself through His Word and most fully through His Son. Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9, NKJV). If we want to know what God is like, we must listen to what He has revealed—not imagine a god who always agrees with us. The true God is holy. He never approves of sin. He is just. He always judges rightly. He is merciful. He welcomes those who repent. He is faithful. He never breaks His word. He is loving. He sent His Son to save sinners.

Jesus prayed that His people would know both the Father and “Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” We cannot reject Jesus and still claim to know God. The Father sent the Son, and the Son reveals the Father. Jesus is not merely a teacher who helps us become better people. He is the Christ—the promised Savior and King. Knowing Him means believing who He is, trusting what He accomplished, receiving His words, and following Him as Lord. This relationship begins when we believe, and it continues growing throughout our lives. When you read the Bible, you are not only collecting information. You are learning who God is, what He has done, what He loves, what He commands, and what He has promised. When you pray, you are not performing a religious task to impress Him. Through Christ, you are speaking to the Father who hears His children. When you obey, you are not purchasing eternal life. You are responding to the Lord who has given it. When you confess your sin, you are agreeing with the God whose judgment is true and returning to the Savior whose mercy is sufficient.

The earliest Christian children lived among people who worshiped many gods. Temples, statues, sacrifices, and religious ceremonies surrounded them. Their neighbors might have believed that different gods controlled the weather, crops, health, travel, or success. Christian children learned that those gods were not real. One true God had made Himself known through Jesus Christ. A Christian child did not need to fear whether an angry idol had been given enough food or whether a ceremony had been performed correctly. She could know the Creator who had sent His Son to save her. That truth may have made her different from other children. She might have been excluded from certain celebrations. Someone might have laughed because her family would not worship an image. She may have needed courage to obey the true God when everyone around her followed something false. You may need the same courage. People may tell you that all beliefs about God are equally true. But two opposite claims cannot both be true in the same way. Jesus did not say that eternal life is found through any god we choose. He said it is found in knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. This truth should not make us proud or unkind. We did not discover the way to God because we were wiser than everyone else. We needed God to reveal the truth, and we needed Christ to save us. Therefore, we speak truth with humility and love.

Eternal life is God’s gift in Christ. It begins now for those who believe and continues forever. Believers will still experience physical death unless Jesus returns first, but death cannot end the life He gives. Jesus promised, “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:26, NKJV). One day, everyone who belongs to Christ will live with Him free from sin, pain, and death. Yet knowing God does not have to wait until heaven. You can know Him now. You can listen to His Word. You can speak to Him in prayer. You can trust His Son. You can obey what He teaches. You can continue learning His character throughout your life. The greatest gift God gives is not merely an endless life filled with things we enjoy. The greatest gift is God Himself. Knowing Christ means I have been brought into a relationship with the only true God. That relationship begins through faith. It grows as I remain in His Word and walk with Him. And because Jesus gives eternal life, it will never end.

Prayer:
Father, thank You for sending Your Son so that sinners may be forgiven and know You. Help me understand that eternal life is more than living forever—it is knowing You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You sent. Keep me from being satisfied with knowing facts about You while refusing to trust and obey You. Teach me who You truly are through Your Word. Give me courage to reject false gods and anything that tries to take Your rightful place in my heart. Help me speak the truth with humility and love. Draw me closer to Jesus, and let knowing You become the greatest treasure of my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.