ETERNAL LIFE
The quality of life including the promise of resurrection which God gives to those who believe in Christ. This important term in the New Testament is emphasized in the Gospel of John, but also appears in the other Gospels and in Paul's writings. Eternal life in the New Testament eliminates the boundary line of death. Death is still a foe, but the one who has eternal life already experiences the kind of existence that will never end.
Yet in this expression, the emphasis is on the quality of life rather than on the unending duration of life. Probably some aspects of both quality and duration appear in every context, but some refer primarily to quality of life and others point to unending life or a life to be entered into in the future.
''Quality of life''
Involves:
(1) life impaled by God; (In the Bible, impalement refers to the ancient practice of fastening a person, dead or alive, to a stake, pole, or tree as a form of execution, public warning, or severe punishment. It symbolizes supreme judgment, shame, and the consequence of sin, famously associated with the punishment of Haman in Esther 7:10 and the death of Jesus Christ.)
(2) Transformation and renewal of life;
(3) life fully opened to God and centered in Him;
(4) a constant overcoming of sin and moral evil', and
(5) the complete removal of moral evil from the person and from the environment of that person.
ETERNAL LIFE AS EXPERIENCE IN THE PRESENT
This term in John has important implications. The one trusting in the Son has eternal life; the one disobeying the Son has the wrath of God abiding on him (John 3:36, Romans 8:1). Trusting and obeying go together', they leave no room for neutrality. The one who hears Christ's message and believes or trusts in the Father who sent Him has eternal life. This person does not come into condemnation but has passed out of death into life (John 5:24). The perfect tense-one who has passed and remained in the state of having passed from death into life-emphasizes eternal life as a permanent, present reality. But no presumption is possible here. Eternal life is a present reality for the one hearing and trusting (John 5:24).
The bold metaphors of eating and drinking point to active involvement with Christ. ''The one eating my flesh and drinking my blood has eternal life'' (John 6:54a).
Verse 57 explains: ''The one eating me will live because of me. Since Christ is our life, (Gal 2:20) we must make that life part of us by ''sharing in Christ," by actively coming to Him and drawing life-giving strength from Him.
ETERNAL LIFE IS DEFINED IN JESUS' HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER
''Eternal life is this: that people be constantly knowing you, the only genuine God and Jesus Christ whom You sent'' (John 17:3). The present tense of the verb ''to know'' indicates that this knowledge is by experience- not from intellectual facts. Genuine knowledge of God by experience brings eternal life. Such experience transforms life.
ETERNAL LIFE AS EXPERIENCED IN THE PRESENT AND FUTURE
John compared the lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness to the lifting up of the Son of Man on the cross and His exaltation to heaven. People who respond to Christ by constant trust have eternal life (John 3:15). They have healing from something more deadly than snakebite-the destructive effects of sin. Here eternal life involves a present healing, a present reality.
But John 3:16 refers both to the present and the future: ''Now God loved the world in this fashion', as a result he gave his unique Son, that everyone believing or trusting in him should not perish but should be having eternal life". Perishing is contrasted with having eternal life. ''Eternal life'' here is both present and future and is the alternative to ''perishing.''
Christ defined His true sheep as those who hear or listen to His voice and follow Him (John 10:27). To such disciples, He gives eternal life, and they will not perish (John 10:28). Again, no presumption is possible. Those are secure who persistently listen, hearken, and follow. For such people eternal life is both a present and a future reality.
ETERNAL LIFE AS A FUTURE EXPERIENCE
''What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? The rich young ruler asked.
(Mark 10:17: compare Matt 19:16" Luke 18:18). He saw eternal life as a final inheritance. His earnestness moved Jesus, and Jesus loved this young man (Mark 10:21). But he had to make a decision: Would he follow Jesus without his possessions? (Mark 10:22). He answered, ''No.'' He could not part with his possessions first and then follow Jesus.
In Matthew 19:27 Peter asked Jesus, ''What then shall be to us. The disciples had left their dear ones and their possessions to follow Jesus.
Jesus promised them loved ones and lands (possessions) with persecutions.
Then He added: ''And in the coming age, eternal life'' (Mark 10:30). Eternal life here refers to an unending future reality.
John 12:20-26 tells of some Greeks who wanted to see Jesus. We do not know how Jesus interacted with these Greeks. We do know He spoke about His death and what it meant to be a disciple: ''The one loving his life (or soul) will lose it; but the one hating his life (or soul) in this world will guard the soul unto eternal life'' (John 12:25).
Jesus here contrasted eternal life with the present life. Believers are to guard their persons or souls by serving Christ and following Him (John 12:26). Such servants will be where Christ is, and the Father will honor them (John 12:26). To be where Christ is means to come into eternal life-a life freed from sin or moral evil.
Paul declared that ''the one sowing to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit'' (Gal. 6:8). Eternal life is given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This future reality, already experienced to some limited degree in the present, involves the Father, Son, and Spirit. Fellowship in life eternal means fellowship with the Triune God.
SUMMERY
ETERNAL LIFE’S PERFECT CIRCLE
- The Creation of the World
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen 1:1
- GOD, Eternal
The first verse, of the of the first book of the Bible simply presents us with God. The rest of the Bible is an expansion on the theme of who God is, what He is like, and what He is doing. God has no beginning--He is eternal; He is without beginning and without ending. He brings about the beginning of all else through His power as Creator. The eternity of God is difficult for the human mind to understand since we are so rooted in time and are accustomed to measuring life by the passage of time; (James 4:13-14
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.) Eternity is not simply unlimited time, forever extending backwards and forwards. Eternity is another dimension of existence and belongs solely to God.
Time itself is a creation of God. Time is the experience of a succession of events and experiences for a created being. God existed in the dimension of eternity when He had not created time. As eternal, God stands above time just as He stands above matter and persons whom He also has created. But He may also choose to interact with persons or things within time. In this passage, we see the beginning of all things, but not the beginning of God, for He was already living when time came into being. If God had a beginning, He too would be a creature, and we would want to worship the one who brought Him into existence. We human creatures cannot explain the existence of God. His existence will always be a mystery to the human mind.
HOLY SPIRIT
Creation:
- Gen 1:1-2
The Spirit of God participated in the creation of the world. The Hebrew word “roach” may refer to God's Spirit, the spirit of a person, breath, or wind. Scholars are divided about whether the reference here is to the Spirit of God creating or to God's breath blowing across the waters. The eternal Spirit of God was certainly present at the creation. The Spirit is everywhere associated with power and life, both of which are important in creation. This reference to the Spirit should not conceal the metaphor used here. God's breath-like Spirit moved or hovered over the waters which covered the earth. God's Spirit thus kept the chaotic forces in check. Only a few verses associate the Spirit with creation. He is more often associated with individual persons. Other references to the Spirit creating include Job 33:4; 34:14-15; Psa 33:6; 104:30; John 1:1-5
JESUS IN CREATION
- JOH 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Rev 9:13-16; Col 1:15-18.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
- John 1:1
What Jesus taught and what he did are tied inseparably to who he is. John shows Jesus as fully human and fully God. Although Jesus took upon himself full humanity and lived as a man, he never ceased to be the eternal God who has always existed, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and the source of eternal life. This is the truth about Jesus, and the foundation of all truth. If we cannot or do not believe this basic truth, we will not have enough faith to trust our eternal destiny to him. That is why John wrote this Gospel--to build faith and confidence in Jesus Christ so that we may believe that he truly was and is the Son of God (1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.)
JESUS CHRIST
Preexistent:
- John 1:1-18
John's account of Jesus' beginnings is an absolute account that stretches back beyond time and into eternity. John contributed an essential understanding to the Gospels' composite picture of Jesus. He affirmed that God's Messiah was in the beginning. "In the beginning'' is different from, "from the beginning.'' In the beginning speaks of eternity. From the beginning means as far back as humans have had any experience (8:44). Jesus is identified with the Creator rather than the created. He shares the divine attribute of eternal existence. Gen 1:1
CREATION
Personal Creator:
The world came into being through the perfect will of a free, personal, self-existing Spirit (John 4:24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."). Creation included the entire material world we experience--the earth on which we live and all the space of the heavens with the heavenly bodies. God's creative acts are introduced by a special verb (Hebrew “bara”) of which God is always the subject. The verb separates God's way of creating from all human experiences and comparisons. Creation is a uniquely divine act which humans cannot perfectly imitate. The verb never has an object naming material out of which God creates. He creates from nothing. Other verbs are used to describe God's shaping preexistent materials into new forms. Creation is God's sovereign act motivated only by His will and done without hindrance from any other power or being.
EVIL AND SUFFERING
Divine Origin:
God created a good world (Gen 1:1-3. God did not create any part of the world to be intrinsically evil but left evil as a possibility, since He wanted humans to be free to love and serve Him. Such freedom required the possibility of sin and its evil consequences. As Creator, God is responsible for the world in which evil occurs. He allows evil; but being good, He does not act in an evil way. Evil is whatever or whoever disrupts the goodness of God's world. The direct cause of evil and suffering may be human beings, or Satan, or demons. These are all created beings who can cause evil and suffering. Evil and suffering were not part of the original creation but are a perversion of that created order. Evil is not an eternal power or person equal to God.
GODS’ PERFECT CIRCLE
IN ETERNAL LIFE:
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; (Gods’ eternal life from eternity past) and man became a living being.
Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
Psalm 139:14-16 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. Scripture teaches that before God created a body for mankind to occupy they existed in eternity past and were well known by God as a spiritual being.
- GOD, Sovereignty
God chose to exercise His sovereign authority over His world in a special way in Jeremiah's life. Before God placed Jeremiah in his mother's womb, God planned to use him as the instrument to announce God's world-changing word to the nations. God is free to act in individual lives and among nations as He chooses.
Jer 1:5
HUMANITY, Birth
Conception and birth are a natural process and acts of God, the Creator of life. As Creator, God has a purpose for each of His creatures.
Jer 1:5
ELECTION, Leadership
Jeremiah sensed God's purposeful direction of his life from the beginning. God has a purpose for individual lives as well as for the community of His people. He creates individuals for definite purposes in His election plan. Individuals have the freedom to argue and complain about God's purpose, as did Jeremiah. Inner peace comes only as individuals find, accept, and follow God's purpose. Jer 1:5-10
EVANGELISM, Obedience:
The prophetic call to declare God's message has several significant evangelistic principles:
(1) God calls in His sovereign purpose (v 5a);
(2) the appointment comes from God, not human agency (v 5b);
(3) human limitations are not important (v 6);
(4) human obedience is expected (v 7);
(5) God is with those He calls for the task (v 8);
(6) God enables His witness to speak His word (v 9); and
(7) the message will provoke a crisis of decision (v 10).
In the light of all these marvelous truths, we ought to evangelize faithfully, for to this He has called us all (Mat 28:19-20).
- The "image of God" (“imago Dei”) in man refers to the unique, innate capacity of humans to reflect God's nature through personality, moral consciousness, rationality, and relationality, setting them apart from all other creation. This divine likeness grants humans inherent dignity, stewardship (dominion) over the earth, and the capacity for communion with God, representing Him in the world.
Genesis 2:7
"From the dust of the ground" implies that there is nothing fancy about the chemical elements making up our bodies. The body is a lifeless shell that Scripture refers to as a house, 2 Cor 5:1, a temple, 1 Cor 3:16-17; 6:19, and a tent, 2 Cor 5:4 ; 2 Pete 1:13-14.
until God brings it alive with his "breath of life." When God removes his life-giving breath, our bodies once again return to dust and our spirit returns to God, Eccl 12:7. Therefore our life and worth come from God's Spirit. Many boast of their achievements and abilities as though they were the originator of their own strengths. Others feel worthless because their abilities do not stand out. In reality, our worth comes not from our achievements but from the God of the universe, who chooses to give us the mysterious and miraculous gift of life. Everyone should value life, as He does.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
Image (“tselem”)
a phantom, i.e. (fig.) illusion, resemblance; hence a representative figure, especially an idol.
Likeness (“demuwth”)
Resemblance; model, shape; adv. like
- Our Heavenly Dwelling
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2nd Corinthians 5:4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
Hebrews 3:6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
1st Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
2nd Peter 1:13 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you,
14 knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.
JOH 14:2 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Conclusion
- God knows His creation plan for man in eternity past. (Jer 1:5)God provided Spiritual life for the empty body He had created. Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, [an empty container in which the eternal spirit of God was meant to reside] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (God’s eternal life); [then the empty body created from the dust of the earth became a living being.
- Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
- GEN 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou may freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that thou eat thereof you shall surely die. (It should be noted here that the eternal life breathed into the empty body created for man was the eternal life of the Eternal God. This is the sinless life that reclaimed when man disobeyed Gods’ admonition and brought Gods’ judgment upon man and his wife. The only life God has to breathe is eternal life.)
- SIN, Death Gen 3:4-24
Here sin was introduced into human history. For the first time Adam and Eve were confronted with options and the consequences relating to sin. The serpent (Revelation 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.) offered the woman the choice of disobeying God's direct command. He clouded the issue by distorting the consequences associated with this act of disobedience. "You will not surely die'' (v 4) must be interpreted as, at best, a half truth. Certainly physical death was not an immediate consequence of this action, but this act of disobedience surely introduced the potential for death into the history of the human race. Spiritual death or separation from God did enter human history. Compare Gen2:17; Romans 8:1-10. The account makes no hint that God was in any way responsible for sin's introduction into the world. Satan is the one who introduced sin when he beguiled Eve, but the Bible does not teach that human sin had its origin with him either. Sin's origin is to be found in the rebellious actions of Adam and Eve. Since that fateful action sin has infected humanity like a terrible disease. Because of their actions, Adam and Eve were driven from the presence of God. Sin not only infected them, but it also affected their environment and their descendants (see Genesis 5:3; Numbers 14:18 'The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.' The sin nature has been inherited down to our current generation; Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,) "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life'' (v 17). From the blessings of Paradise to the reality of earning their bread by the sweat of their brow was their immediate sentence for sin. Beyond their environment, their disobedience had also affected their physical longevity. Though there is no explicit statement relative to life expectancy prior to their sin, afterwards God explicitly told them that because of their sin they would die. Thus, because of sin, human history has been inflicted with sorrow, suffering, and ultimately physical death. Sin originated with one act of disobedience in Eden, but its consequences have been pervasive in all aspects of life throughout history. (Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,)
- Genesis 5:3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, (His fallen, sinful, spiritually lifeless image that resulted in spiritual death and limited physical life (John 8:44; MAT 13:38) and named him Seth. Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, God deals severely with those who have chosen to reject Christ’s redeeming sacrifice for their sin on the cross at Calvary. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 2PE 2:4-10 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds) 9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
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- PRO 6:16 -19 These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil,19 a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.
- The Parable of the Weeds Explained:
MAT 13:36-43 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." 37 He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 "The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 "The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 "Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 "and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
- The Blessings of Wisdom:
PRO 8:1-19 Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice? 2. She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, beside the way, where the paths meet. 3. She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors: 4. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, "To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. 5. O you simple ones, understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart. 6. Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, and from the opening of my lips will come right things; 7. for my mouth will speak truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. 8. All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; nothing crooked or perverse is in them. 9. They are all plain to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.10. Receive my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; 11. for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.12. "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge and discretion. 13. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. 14 . Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength. 15. By me kings’ reign, and rulers decree justice.16. By me princes rule, and nobles, all the judges of the earth. 17. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. 18. Riches and honor are with me, enduring riches and righteousness. 19. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver.
In this short study we have discovered that all humanity is the recipient of eternal life. The born again believer that has accepted Christ as his savior will spend eternity in the third heaven with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. (2nd Cor 12:2-4) The disobedient unbelieving who has rejected Gods offer of salvation through the shed blood of Chris on the cross will spend eternity in the Lake of fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.
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