Life | Love | Freedom

Just what is 'eternal life'?

My whole life I thought eternal life was the "life" you received at death that kept you from hell and let you live with God forever in heaven. Now I believe eternal life is something the believer experiences the moment he puts faith in Christ

In defining eternal life it is helpful to discover its purpose and identify who it benefits. Adam, in Gen. 1:26-27, was created in the image of God. God is spirit, so Adam was created with a spiritual component. (Note that the scripture reads let us make man in our image. Isnt it interesting that even in Genesis God refers to himself as a plural being?) Mans creation in Gods image requires a mirror of plurality within man. In 1 Thess. 5:23 mans spiritual component is confirmed. Man is described as a spirit (who we are) who has a soul (our personality) and lives in a body (our flesh & bones). Think of it as three circles arranged like a bulls eye; the smallest of which is our core being, the next ring going outward is our personality and the next our body.

Understanding mans composition is vital to discovering what truly happened in Eden. In the garden God told Adam in Gen 2:15-17 that you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." We know that Adam & Eve ate of that tree and did not die physically when they consumed the fruit, but lived a long life and had children. It is noteworthy when asked about what God said concerning the tree Eve added in Gen 3:3 and you must not touch it. Where did Eve come up with this addition? Could Adam have added to what God told him when informing Eve of Gods instructions? It is conceivable Adam, wanting to reinforce Gods command, told Eve dont eat of that tree or even go near it. In doing so Adam probably laid the foundation for the serpents deception. Imagine a scenario in which you see the serpent leaning against the tree when he asked Eve what God said concerning it. Eve says and you must not touch it and even as the words are coming out of her mouth, her eyes are taking in how the serpent touches the tree without harm, and she starts to doubt. If they did not die physically, what was the nature of the death God said they would experience?

Jesus continued description of himself as life, I am the bread of life, I am the way, the truth and the life; begs the question if you are life and want to give that life to others, who needs it? The answer is found in the garden where Adam & Eve enjoyed a relationship with God. At the moment Adam & Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good & and evil, the core of their being that was spiritually alive and able to relate to God died. Thats the death God was concerned about as man was created to relate to, worship and love God. The death of mans spirit disables the very purpose for mans creation. Gen 5:1-3 confirms this spiritual death in describing the birth of Seth. Verse one reminds us that God made man in His image (spiritually alive) while verse three describes Seth as made in Adams likeness and image, spiritually dead. Since all of mankind is decedent of Adam, all were born spiritually dead. Gen 3:20 names Eve as the mother of all the living, which logically places Adam as the father. All of mankind needs spiritual life because their spiritual condition originates in Adam.

God solution was two-fold. Overcome mans inability to relate to God by giving him eternal life while keeping him spiritually alive by satisfying, forever, the penalty of sin. Since the fall of Adam man doesnt have the ability to make spiritual decisions and is under total control of sin. In Rom 3:23 we find that the wages of sin is death and in Rom 6:23 we are told all have sinned. Even if man was somehow able to gain back his spiritual life, He would die again immediately after His next sin. God realized mans predicament and sent His son as a perfect sacrifice to once for all take away the penalty of sin (death).

Jesus was born of a virgin, ever wonder why? The identity of man is passed through his seed. If Joseph were Jesus father, Jesus would have his nature, spiritual death. However, when the angel told Mary of her future motherhood, she asked in Luke 1:34-35, how will this be since I am a virgin? The angel replied, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Here we learn that Jesus conception was from God whose seed is spiritually alive, which produced the first birth of a spiritually alive person. Adam was created spiritually alive and Jesus was born spiritually alive. With His spiritual life Jesus lived a perfect life and then offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice taking away the penalty of sin for the entire world, past present and future. 2 Cor. 5:19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting mens sins against them. In Christs death on the cross God forever took away the penalty of sin reducing mans two-fold problem to one, spiritual death.

Mans problem is like someone who has died of cancer. If you were to cure cancer the person would remain dead. If you were only to bring them back to life, cancer would, again, kill them. God took away the penalty of sin (death) and enabled us to become spiritually alive through faith in Jesus. Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.Faith is total dependence on God. Being dependent on something or someone requires intimate knowledge and trust of that something or someone. Consider a tightrope walker walking across the gap of two Manhattan skyscrapers. The crowd below roars their approval. He then pushes a wheelbarrow across to the continued awe of those below. As he reaches the other side he asks the crowd, do you think I can push the wheelbarrow across with someone in it? The peoples cheers reflect their support, to which he responds, Who will be first? Silence overtakes those below as there are none willing to put their faith into action (ie dependence).

God understood mans tendency to depend only on that which they know and trust when he described eternal life in John 17:3 and this is eternal life, they you may know you the one and only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (Eternal life = a relationship with Christ).

Mankind is constantly searching for that which they can place total trust. Many look to achievement in the work place, sports and relationships while others, as the Pharisees did, rely on right behavior. Both appear, superficially, to meet mans need, yet in the end leave a knowing emptiness within their core being. Mans failure in this search is actually a necessary part of the successful journey toward a relationship with Christ.

For man to depend on Christ he must first be at the end of himself. For God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble James 4:10. Christs offer to live his life through man requires a change of mind, on mans part, relinquishing control of his life. Man must first realize his need for spiritual life; see God as the solution and buy it with the currency of his control. John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

posted by Rick @ 5:40 AM