What is eternal Life

1. "Whatis eternal life" – 1st
May 2016
“Nowthis iseternal life: that they know you,the onlytrue God,and Jesus Christ,whomyou have sent”
(John17:3).
Whenthe Bible speaksof eternal life,itreferstoagiftof God that can only come only“throughJesus
Christour Lord” as statedin Romans 6:23, ““
For the wages of sinis death,but the giftof Godis eternal
lifein ChristJesus our Lord”.This giftof Godis eternal lifein ChristJesus our Lord isin contrastto the
“death”that is the natural resultof sin. The giftof eternal life comestothose whobelieve inJesus
Christ,whoisHimself “the resurrectionandthe life” aswe can learn from John11:25, “Jesussaidto
her, “I am the resurrection and the life.The one whobelieves in me will live,even thoughthey die”.
The fact that thislife is“eternal”indicatesthatitis perpetuallife—itgoesonandonand on,withno
end.
It isa mistake,however,toview eternal life assimplyanunendingprogressionof years.A commonNew
Testamentwordfor“eternal”is aiónios,whichcarriesthe ideaof quality as well as quantity.Infact,
eternal life isnotreallyassociatedwith“years”atall,as itis independentof time.Eternal life can
functionoutside of andbeyondtime,aswell aswithintime. Forthisreason,eternal life canbe thought
of as somethingthatChristiansexperience now.Believersdon’thave to“wait”foreternal life,because
it’snot somethingthatstartswhentheydie.Rather,eternal lifebeginsthe momentapersonexercises
faithinChrist.It isour current possession. We canlearnwhenJohn3 tellsusthat whoeverbelievesin
the Son has eternal life. “Whoeverbelievesinthe Sonhas eternal life,but whoever rejects the Son will
not see life, forGod’swrath remainson them (John3:36). Wecan note that the believer“has” (present
tense) thislife.We findsimilarpresent-tenseconstructionsin John5:24, “ “VerytrulyI tell you,
whoever hears my word and believes him whosent me haseternal life andwill not be judgedbut has
crossed over from death to life” andagain inJohn6:47, “Very trulyI tell you, the one who believeshas
eternal life”..The focusof eternal life isnotonourfuture,buton our currentstandinginChrist.
The Bible inextricablylinkseternal life withthe Personof JesusChrist. InJohn17 we can learnof an
importantpassage inthisregard,as Jesusprays,““Nowthisis eternal life: that they know you,the only
true God,andJesus Christ,whomyou have sent” (John17:3). Here,Jesusequates“eternal life”with ‘a
knowledge’of Godandof the Son.There is no knowledge of Godwithoutthe Son,foritis throughthe
Son thatthe FatherrevealsHimself tothe elect aswe can learnfrom John 17:6, “I have revealed you[a]
to those whom yougave me out of the world. They were yours; yougave them to me andthey have
obeyed your word” andagain inJohn 14:9, “Jesusanswered: “Don’tyou know me, Philip,evenafter I
have been amongyou sucha longtime? Anyonewho hasseen me has seen the Father. How can you
say, ‘Showus the Father’?.
Thislife-givingknowledge of the Fatherandthe Sonis a true,personal knowledge,notjustanacademic
awareness.There willbe some onJudgmentDaywhohadclaimedtobe followersof Christbutnever
reallyhada relationshipwithHim. Eventodaywe know of manypeople whostate thattheyare
ChristiansandknowChrist…butin fact neverreallyhadarelationshipwithHim. Tothose false

2. professors, onthe dayof judgment Jesuswill say, “ThenIwill tell them plainly,‘Inever knew you. Away
from me, youevildoers!’” (Matthew7:23). The apostle Paul made ithisgoal to know the Lord,and he
linkedthatknowledge toresurrectionfromthe dead: “Iwant to knowChrist—yes,to know the power
of hisresurrection and participationinhissufferings,becominglikehimin hisdeath, 11
andso,
somehow,attainingto the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians3:10–11).
In the NewJerusalem aswe learnfromthe bookof Revelation ,the apostle Johnseesariverflowing
from“the throne of God and of the Lamb,”and “on each side of the riverstoodthe tree of life… .And
the leavesof the tree are for the healingof the nations” as we can learnfromRevelation 22:1–2,” Then
the angel showedme the river of the water oflife, asclear as crystal, flowingfromthe throne of God
and ofthe Lamb 2
down the middleof the great street of the city. On each side ofthe river stood the
tree of life,bearingtwelve crops of fruit,yieldingitsfruit every month.And the leaves of the tree are
for the healingof the nations”.. We canlearnthat in Eden,we rebelledagainstGodandwere banished
fromthe tree of life asstatedin Genesis3:24, “Afterhe drove the man out,he placedon the east side[a]
of the Gardenof Eden cherubim anda flamingswordflashingbackandforth to guard the way to the
tree of life”.Inthe end,God graciouslyrestoresouraccessto the tree of life.Thisaccessisprovided
throughJesusChrist,the Lambof God whotakesaway the sinof the world as we learnfrom John1:29,
“The next day Johnsaw Jesus comingtowardhim andsaid,“Look,the Lamb ofGod,who takes away
the sin ofthe world!.
Afterthe comingof Jesus everysinnerisinvitedtoknow Christandto receive eternallife the free giftof
God: We can learnthisin Revelation 22:17,. “The Spirit andthe bridesay, “Come!” Andlet the one who
hears say,“Come!” Let the one who isthirsty come; and let the one who wishestake the free giftof
the water of life.” One mayinquire “How canI know that I have eternal life?Firstof all, youneedto
confessyoursinbefore a our holyGod. Then,accept JesusChrist- God’s provision asourSavior- on
your behalf. We canlearnthrough Romans10:13, “For,“Everyone who callson the name of the Lord
will be saved.”.As Christianswe needalwaysbearinmindthat JesusChrist,the Sonof God,diedforour
sins,andHe rose again the thirdday. We needtobelieve thisgoodnews;trustthe Lord Jesusasyour
Savior,andyou will be saved (Acts16:31; Romans10:9–10).
We can learnwhen the apostle John statesoneternal life:“Andthisisthe testimony:Godhas given us
eternal life,and thislife isin hisSon. 12
Whoeverhas the Son haslife; whoever does not havethe Son
of Goddoes not havelife.” (1 John 5:11–12).

3. What is eternal life" –1st
May 2016
“Nowthis iseternal life: that they know you,the onlytrue God,and
Jesus Christ,whomyou have sent” (John17:3).