The Fact Of Eternal Life

We live in a society that generally denies that you can know anything about where you came from or where you are going. In contrast, Jesus said, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10 The apostle John said in 1 John 5:20, "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." Many are being robbed of the life they could have by the philosophies of dreamers. Who is it that needs life? What life is it that Jesus gives? How is it that Jesus gives life? And how is this life received?

The offer of life is evidence of need. Romans 5:12, "Wherefore as by one man, sin came into the world and death by sin." As we see others die and know that we also will some day die, it is evidence of the reality that men are under the guilt of Adam’s sin, and are by nature following that path because it is what we are. Ephesians 2:3 says, "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Since we came from God who is eternal and infinite in holiness, it follows that the condemnation of our sin, being against him, is more than physical death, but also spiritual and eternal, unless God intervenes in mercy and grace. To resent the righteousness of God or his law as we naturally do, does not negate its holiness, justice and goodness. This resentment merely gives credence to the accuracy of God’s description of us. Romans 8:7 declares, "...The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." And in the inspired words of John the Baptist, Christ’s forerunner, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

How is it that Jesus gives live? Many are the suppositions of men about the life of Jesus Christ and its aim, but Jesus was not ambiguous. In John 10:11 we read these words of Jesus, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Again in Luke 19:10 we read his statement of identification with Nicodemus, "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus (John 3:1-21), he emphasized that his religious learning and teaching position would not avail him, but "ye must be born again." This is not merely an emotional high or new beginning (turning over a new leaf). He explained the basis of this new birth as being in himself and illustrated it with a reminder from Israel’s history which he well knew. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:" John 3:14 The serpent Moses raised on a poll was representative of the condemnation of their sin. This historical picture is followed by the truth of it, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." This giving of his Son is on the cross in substitution for us. "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." 1 Peter 2:24 Jesus Christ, the infinite, eternal God, came to give his life an atonement for sin which is the barrier between God and men. By the payment of the sin debt, men are reconciled to God and are given eternal life in him.

The reception of this life is by faith. John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Jesus often expressed it as "coming" to him as the Son of God. John 5:40, "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Salvation, eternal life, is in Jesus Christ alone because he is the only qualified sacrifice for sin. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." We urge you to trust him who alone is worthy and be accepted of God in him.