What is everlasting Life

1. What is everlasting life –5th
June 2016
“Noone who deniesthe Sonhas the Father; whoever acknowledgesthe Sonhas the Father also”(
1John 2:23)
The Word of God assuresusthat all who believe inthe LordJesusChristwill have everlastinglife:The
above passage clearlystatesthisandwe can alsofindin John 6:47 “Very truly I tell you,the one who
believes haseternal life” and alsothrough 1 John5:13, “Iwrite these thingsto you who believein the
name of the Sonof Godso that you may knowthat you have eternal life”.The Greekwordtranslated
“everlasting”means“perpetual,eternal,forever.”Perhapsthe word perpetualbestexplainsthe biblical
conceptof everlastinglife;itislife that,once begun,continuesperpetuallyintoeternity.Thisspeaks
clearly tothe ideathatman’slife isnotmerelyphysical.Rather,the true lifeof humanbeingsisspiritual,
and while the physical lifeends,the spiritual continuesthroughouteternity.Itisperpetual.Itis
everlastinglife…whetheritisinblisswithGodor beingrejectedtoaneternity fire inhell.
WhenGod createdAdamand Eve,He put theminthe Garden with the tree of life,intendingthatthey
wouldlive joyouslyforever,bothphysicallyandspiritually.Buttheysinnedandbroughtphysical and
spiritual deathtothemselvesandtoall subsequentgenerations aswe can readfrom Romans5:12,”
Therefore, just as sinentered the world throughone man, anddeath throughsin,and in thisway
death came to all people, becauseall sinned”. GodthensentAdamand Eve fromthe Garden and
stationedcherubimtoguardthe wayto the tree of life,andHe didso because inHismercy He did not
wantman to live foreverunderthe weightof sin.But as perGods way sinmust be punishedandthe
onlyacceptable punishmenttoaholyGod iseverlastingpunishment:We canreadfrom Mark 9:43–44,
“Ifyour handcauses you to stumble,cut it off.It isbetter for you to enter lifemaimedthan with two
handsto go intohell, where the fire never goes out”. However,ourmerciful GodsentHisSon as a
perfectsacrifice tosuffer,once forall time,the punishmentdue mankindforsin,therebyprovidinga
perfectwayto the tree of life foranyone andeveryonewhobelievesinHim.We can learnthisin 1 John
5:12, “ Whoever hasthe Son has life;whoever does not have the Son of Goddoesnot have life”.
We receive everlastinglife bydyingtoourowneffortsandreceivingChristJesusintoourheartsasour
Lord and Savior.Whenwe do,we are rebornand made alive inChrist.We maynot feel anyimmediate
change,butthere has infact beena rebirthinthe heart , We can learnas statedby Jesusfoundin John
3:6–7, “Fleshgivesbirth to flesh,but the Spirit givesbirth to spirit. 7
Youshouldnot be surprisedat my
saying,‘Youmust be born again”.Thereforebelieverswhohave faithinJesusChristcan now live free
of the fearof death; because we have the promise of Godthat we will neverdie spiritually.Furtherto
same, instead we will live foreverwithourLord Jesus.We can learnthisfrom 1 Thessalonians5:9–10,
“ForGoddid not appointusto suffer wrath but to receive salvationthroughourLord Jesus Christ. 10
He
died forus so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him”. Whenwe die
physically,oursoul willimmediatelybe withthe Lord,andstill later,whenHe returns,the Lordwill
resurrectour bodiestomeetHiminthe sky.As for those Christianswhoare alive atHisreturn,their
bodieswill be changed“inthe twinkle of aneye,”andtheywill notexperience evenphysicaldeath as

2. we read in 1 Corinthians15:51–52, “ Listen,I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, butwe will all be
changed— 52
ina flash,inthe twinklingof aneye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,the
dead will be raised imperishable,andwe will be changed”.
Apostle John to write the last book of the Bible, and therein we again read about the tree of
life: “To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of
God'” We can read this in Revelation 2:7, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit
says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of
life, which is in the paradise of God”. The tree of life in Revelation is symbolic of Jesus Christ. It
is in Christ that all Christians trust, and it is in God’s power that we rest, assured of our
everlasting life: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy
he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in
heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the
salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3–5).
As Christian believers, we must know that the one true God who created all things, including
life and death and rebirth, will keep His Word. Our God is all-powerful and full of grace and
truth as we learn about the deity of Jesus Christ from John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and
made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who
came from the Father, full of grace and truth”. He wants us to know that our eternal state is
assured because we can learn where Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who
believes in Me will live even if he dies” (John 11:25). Therefore as Christians an important
aspect to question from ourselves would be: ‘Does the life that I am conducting now avail me
an everlasting life with God?
“No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges
the Son has the Father also”( 1John 2:23)