What is Eternal Life?

Now this is eternal life: That they may know you, the only true God; and Jesus Christ

whom you have sent.
John 17:3

How clear is this?! Eternally life is truly about who you know. And there is a level of that knowledge. We are not to just know of God or acknowledge his existence. "Know" suggests a very close intimacy, just as a husband and wife are intimate in marriage (Genesis 4:1). It indicates experiential knowledge (walking and experiencing his presence in your life), not theoretical (believing he exists and occasional prayer).

In Amos 5:4, God exclaims, "Seek Me and live!" He is saying, "Turn to Me and My way of life; seek to know Me," not "Search for Me," because He has already revealed Himself to us. He is saying, "Seek to know Me by living the same way I do." That is how experiential knowledge of Him becomes an intimate knowing of Him. Because He will walk with such people (Amos 3:3) I have longed to know Him intimately! Here is what I found.

Who is God? Or should I ask What is God?
Key Text: God is LOVE (I John 4:8, 16).
In our world today love is one of the most abused words. I love my dog, I love basketball, I love Indian food, I love my kids, I love that color, I love my husband, I love that show, I love God. The devil is in the business of devaluing and watering down language and its meanings especially the words that describe God's attributes. But God IS love…not just loving. The very fiber of his being is LOVE - His nature, His core, His existence is LOVE.
I like to think that I am a loving wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend. But the word loving describes an action or verb - Not who I am…for I am not LOVE…but loving. The greatest most charitable person you may know can only be described as being loving…but never has there been a human being that encapsulated LOVE as the core of who or what they are. Only God is LOVE.
So what is love?
I Corinthians 13 hangs cross stitched on my wall and I have read it a myriad of times. It states:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
If I substitute the God's name in place of love I see Him more clearly.
God is patient
God is kind
God is not wanting of anything we own or posses.
God is not a bragger
God is not proud and arrogant, rude or self-seeking
God is long suffering….he does not anger easy
God is forgiving
God is not happy with the evil he sees around him - but seeks to rectify it
God is truth
God is our protector
God is trustworthy
God is our hope
God is always calling and perserving (pressing on) to complete restoration.
This is the God of Love. This is the God who is Love.
This is LOVE and this is God,
because God is Love.
However, I caught something I never noticed before in this passage that sums up completely who God is.
Verse 5 says: "[Love or God] it is not self-seeking. Or Love does not seek it own. This is the biblical essence of love: Love is the principles of putting others first. Not a feeling, emotion but a principle. Love is principle of putting other's first.
God is love - His very nature is to put other's first. So think about it…if love is the principle of putting others first what would you have to have in order to love? You have to have OTHERS! So God created "Others" to love -
Because He is LOVE!
You were created to be Loved by Love.