Hey church!
Is there more to eternal life than living forever? According to Jesus, yes!
One of the most popular verses in the Bible is John 3:16, which has Jesus saying to Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
This verse is popular for a reason: it’s life-transforming theology told in a small, concise phrase. I’d encourage us to meditate on this verse, and try to look at it with new eyes.
But I want to briefly focus in on the “eternal life” that is given to us as a result of our belief in the Son of God, Jesus.
Is it merely what it seems to be? Life everlasting?
Of course “eternal life” entails living forever, but Jesus actually reveals more of what it means later in his earthly life.
Immediately preceding Judas’ betray of Jesus—leading quickly to his death on a Roman cross—Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and prayed to his Father. This prayer is given to us in John 17.
By the second sentence of his prayer, Jesus says this:
“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
Just before Jesus said this, he referred to the fact that the Father has given Jesus the authority to give eternal life to all those who the Father has given him—and this would only happen after Jesus dies, rises again, and ascends to heaven.
In considering the gift of eternal life that he can give because of the gospel, Jesus specifically points out that eternal life has everything to do with one’s personal knowledge of both the Father and the Son.
And this knowledge is not mere theoretical knowledge—like information gained from reading a textbook. New Testament scholar D.A. Carson writes, “it is clear that the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ entails fellowship, trust, personal relationship, faith” (Carson, D. A. The Gospel According to John. Leicester, England : Grand Rapids, Mich: Inter-Varsity Press ; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991.).
Again, Carson writes, “Eternal life is not so much everlasting life as personal knowledge of the Everlasting One.”
The gift of eternal life is not separated from the gift of the intimate and personal knowledge of God and Jesus made possible through the gospel.
Jesus didn’t just give you eternal life—he gave you himself.
If our concept of eternal life ends at merely that—living forever—then we must take a moment and consider Jesus’ words in John 17:3. Eternal life is personal fellowship with the Eternal One.
May this short blog be an encouragement to all of us to truly experience eternal life—as described by Jesus himself.
Who doesn’t want personal fellowship with the Father and the Son? I certainly do! And by the Spirit of God in us, we can experience it.
And just because you may have been a Christian for years and haven’t experienced intimate fellowship with God, doesn’t mean it will always be that way. Maybe God has brought you to read this blog today to remind you that eternal life is so much more than you thought.
Let’s live like we’ve truly received eternal life this week!
Isaac