What exactly is eternal life? In this message Pastor Brian gives seven different aspects of eternal life, the glorious inheritance of every child of God.
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The Destiny: Eternal Life
“but have eternal life”
We come this morning to our final message in our John 3:16 series. And you know what? I’m kind of disappointed! I have really enjoyed this little series. I kind of wish I could just continue preaching on John 3:16 for another year or so. But, I’m sure if I tried that I would bore you to tears, and even I would become tired of it.
We have delved into the Love of God and found that God has a true and real love for all of His creatures – a love in which He offers them salvation through His Son.
We have delved into the Gift of God and have seen how God the Father gave up God the Son to a horrible torturous death to accomplish our salvation.
We have looked at Faith in Christ, and seen how it is both our duty, but God’s gift, and how it receives and rests upon Christ alone for salvation.
Last Sunday we looked at a most difficult doctrine – the Wrath of God. We saw the Biblical teaching on Hell. This is the everlasting fate for all those who miss salvation.
This morning we will give our time to the Life of God. We will see that eternal life is the portion of all those who are saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the inheritance of our salvation. Eternal life is not simply everlasting existence, for every person who has ever lived will exist everlastingly. All those who end up in Hell will have an everlasting existence. John 3:16 tells us that only those who believe in Christ will have eternal life.
This morning our plan is simple. I’m going to answer just one question – “What Is Eternal Life?” That’s what this message is all about. John 3:16 tells us that if we believe in Jesus, we will not perish, but have eternal life. Well, what is it? I have seven answers to that question.
1. Eternal Life Is the Life of Christ:
In 1 John 1:1-2 we have these words, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life – and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” Here John opens up his letter by describing Jesus Christ as the One who was from the beginning, whom they had heard, seen, and touched. Then he goes on to say that He is the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. I used to think that eternal life was a nice, neat, little gift that God gave to every person who put their faith in Jesus. You receive Jesus Christ, and then God gives you the gift of eternal life. No, it doesn’t work that way. Jesus Christ IS the gift of eternal life. That is why no one will ever have eternal life who has not trusted in Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter how sincere or religious a person may be. Without Christ you don’t have eternal life, because Christ is eternal life.
You see, eternal life is simply the life that is in Jesus Christ. Since Jesus is God, eternal life is the life that is in God and has always been in God. Eternal life is God’s life. It is a completely different kind of life than the kind we have. Our human life is weak, and temporary. God’s life is powerful and permanent. The life of God has always existed. His life is uncreated, supernatural, and invincible. In Revelation 22:1 John wrote, “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb…” Here John sees a river of the water of life. Well, where does this river of the water of life come from? John says it came from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In other words this water of life comes from God Himself! John is seeing in vision form, the life of God flowing out from Himself to sinners who are dying of thirst. Do you remember what Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4? He said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” What is that water that Jesus gives us? It is Himself. It is His very life. In the 17th century, Henry Scougal wrote a long letter to a friend who had lost his faith. It has been titled, “The Life of God in the Soul of Man.” Friends, this is a wonderful definition of true Christianity. True Christianity is nothing less than the life of God in the soul of man.
Well, how do we receive this water of life, this life of God into our souls. Well, if this life is Jesus Christ, then you must receive Jesus Christ. 1 John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” You must become one with Him. You must be united to Him. The way you become one with Christ is through faith in Him. As you venture out on Christ by faith you are in Him in the same way that a branch is in the vine, or a finger is in the body. The same life that flows through that vine, now flows through you. If you were to chop off one of your fingers what would happen to that finger? It would die, wouldn’t it? Once you chop it off, it has been severed from the life flow in your body. It no longer has the capacity to move, or pick up objects. It is dead. When you go out into your backyard and cut off some of the branches of your tree, those branches may look just like they did before you cut them. But there is one huge difference. They’re dead. It’s only just a matter of time until they will appear dead. Their leaves will dry up and fall off. No new leaves will appear. Why? Because the branch has been cut off from the life flow of the tree. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
2. Eternal Life Is The Free Gift of God:
In Romans 6:23 Paul writes, “for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus said in John 10:27-28, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” According to Jesus, He gives eternal life to His sheep. According to John 3:16, God gave His only begotten Son. God didn’t sell His Son to the highest bidder. He gave Him for the wretched, and poor, and blind and naked. In other words, eternal life is not a reward that we obtain for our obedience, or performance, or deeds.
I might say, “Hey, I’ve got a gift for you. Would you like to have my Ipad mini?” You say, “Sure! Thanks!” I respond with, “OK, that’ll be $200.” You respond, “Hey, wait a minute! You said you had a gift for me. How can you now demand that I pay you $200?!” And you, know you would be absolutely right. It is also right that if God says that He gives eternal life, He would not require a price for us to purchase it. God doesn’t require you to go to church so many times, or read so many chapters in the Bible, or do some loving act for somebody else so many times before He gives you eternal life. He gives it freely! “Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost” (Is.55:1).
3. Eternal Life Is Bestowed Only On The Elect:
In John 17 we have what has been called the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus Christ. On the night before He was crucified, Jesus prayed to His Father, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.” Jesus knew that His Father had given him absolute authority over all flesh, over every human being. This authority that God gave Him was for the purpose of bestowing eternal life. But to whom will Jesus give this eternal life? The text says, “to all whom You have given Him.” Jesus gives eternal life to all the Father had given to Him. Who are they? Well from John 6 we learn that they are the ones who come to Him, the ones whom He not lose anything but raise them up on the last day. From chapter 10 we learn that they are His sheep to whom He gives eternal life. In chapter 17 we learn that they are the only ones for whom He prays, and the ones He asks would be with Him so that they would behold His glory. The Biblical title for these people is “the elect.” They are God’s chosen ones – chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. The gift of eternal life is offered to all. However, we have been so corrupted by sin, that all who would refuse the gift, if God did not open our eyes to see the beauty and value of the gift.
Let’s look at another text. Acts 13:48, “When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” Notice several things from this text. First, God has appointed certain people to eternal life. Second, those people and only those people believe the gospel. Third, a person believes because He was appointed to eternal life – he is not appointed to eternal life because he believes. Here the elect are called those “appointed to eternal life.”
When I was pastoring Milpitas Bible Fellowship, and our boys were small, every Christmas we would drive around and deliver baked goods to special friends. There were just too many families to deliver goodies to every family in the church, so we would just deliver gifts to a few of our closest friends. Well, God does the same thing. If God were handing out paychecks, he would have to give out those paychecks to all who had earned them. But God’s not handing out paychecks. He’s handing out gifts. God has the gift of eternal life, and He gives it to whoever He chooses to. Christ gives this gift to those the Father has given Him. He gives it to all He has appointed to eternal life.
4. Eternal Life Is The Present Possession Of Every Believer:
John 3:36 says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life.” He has it right now. It doesn’t say he will have it. It says he has it. It is his present possession. Likewise John 5:24 says, “Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” This person who believes God’s word has already passed out of death into life. He possesses God’s life right now. Eternal life is not something you get when you die. Eternal life is something you receive the moment you trust in Jesus Christ. Eternal life is not like a Christmas gift someone gives you and then says, “But you can’t open it until Christmas.” Don’t you hate that?! Yes, they have given you a gift, but you can’t enjoy it until sometime in the future. Eternal life isn’t like that. You begin to enjoy this gift of eternal life the moment you put your faith in Christ.
5. Eternal Life is the Outcome of a Life of Sanctification:
Listen to the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 6:22, “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.” Did you hear that? What is the outcome of a life of being freed from sin, enslaved to God and sanctification? It is eternal life. Eternal life is the outcome of a life of personal holiness.
Let’s look at another text. Galatians 6:8 says, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Again, the one who reaps eternal life is the one who sows to the Spirit. This describes the Christian who invests his life in the things of the Spirit of God. This person labors in the Word, in Scripture memorization, and meditation, in fasting and prayer, and in fellowship with other believers. The person who reaps eternal life is the one who is described as the one who has spent his life sowing or investing in his spiritual life. Eternal life is the outcome of a life of sanctification.
One more text – 1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.” Here again we see that possessing eternal life is seen in the person who fights the good fight of faith. This person fights sin, and Satan, and his doubts, and his temptations, and his fears by faith. He is a person who is being made into the image of Jesus Christ.
What do we see in all of these texts? We see that the gift of eternal life is always accompanied by a life of sanctification. Let no one here believe the lie that he may have the gift of eternal life if he is not being sanctified. When we go out to the light rail and witness to people, I often run into people who tell me that they are already saved, but are stoned or drunk or living with their girlfriend, or using God’s name in vain. Eternal life is always accompanied by personal holiness, mark it down, and bank on it.
6. Eternal Life Is To Know God and Jesus Christ:
In Jesus’ high priestly prayer of John 17, He said in verse 3, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Here is a definition of eternal life by the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. According to Christ eternal life is to know God and Christ. Eternal life is not the same thing as knowing all the correct doctrine. You can memorize the entire Westminister Shorter Catechism, and the Westminister Confession of Faith, and still not know God and Christ. This is speaking about a true, intimate, saving knowledge of God and Christ. It is speaking of relationship. Before a man receives eternal life he knows about God and Christ, in the same way that you and I know something about Barak Obama or Tom Hanks or Barry Bonds. But after receiving eternal life we enter into a true relationship with God and Christ so that we begin to know them like one of their close friends know them. Since God is an infinite Being in all of His attributes, we will continue to make progress in our knowledge of Him for all eternity. We will never arrive at absolute knowledge of God, but continue to make happy and fulfilling progress in discovering new beauties and glories in His matchless person. I think that is one of the things that will make heaven so glorious. Our primary eternal inheritance is going to be Christ Himself.
Listen to Psalm 16:5, “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.” David said that his heritage was beautiful to him. Why was that? It is because the Lord was the portion of his inheritance. He goes on to say that God supported his lot and the lines have fallen to him in pleasant places. What was he talking about? Well, in ancient Israel when they crossed the Jordan and drove out the peoples living in Palestine, they cast lots to determine which people would settle where. Casting lots was the way they determined what inheritance each tribe would receive. David says that the Lord supported his lot. In other words, the Lord was the one who determined what inheritance David would receive. The “lines” refer to the boundary lines within Palestine where each tribe would settle. It again referred to their inheritance. David is saying that the lines have fallen to him in pleasant places. David is absolutely thrilled with the inheritance the Lord has given to him. And what was David’s inheritance? It was the Lord Himself! In the Old Testament, the Levitical priests were not given land as an earthly inheritance. Instead, the Lord was their inheritance. And folks, the same is true of us who are spiritual priests. The Lord is our inheritance. And that inheritance is so vast, and rich, and beautiful, and glorious, that we will continue to be enriched and satisfied with it throughout the ages of eternity!
7. Eternal Life is to Experience Glory, Honor, and Immortality:
In Romans2:7 Paul says “to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.” Here Paul describes eternal life as glory, honor and immortality. In 1 Peter 1:7, Peter speaks about the proof of our faith resulting in praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. What Peter is saying is that when Jesus Christ comes back, He will give praise, glory, and honor to all those who possess a true and living faith that persevered through trials and sufferings. Think of it! The matchless Son of God is going to bestow praise on unworthy servants like us! He is going to honor us! He is going to glorify us!
They will receive glory. What glory it will be when He “transforms the body of our humble state into the conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (Phil.3:21). These old, weak, diseased, sin-ridden bodies will be transformed! They will become imperishable, glorious, spiritual, and powerful bodies like Christ’s. Then we will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of our Father.
They will receive honor. There is a most interesting text in Luke 12:37 in which Jesus says, “Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.” That is almost unbelievable! In fact, if it weren’t in Scripture, I would doubt it. The eternal Son of God, the all glorious One, is actually going to come and have us sit down at the table, and He is going to come and serve us! What honor that will be!
They will enjoy immortality. Last Sunday I reminded you that the sufferings of the damned will go on day and night, forever and ever. Well, the same is true of those who believe on Jesus Christ. Their happiness will go on day and night, forever and ever. They are immortal. They will dwell in the presence of God and of the Lamb, finding delight and pleasure just in being in His presence for all eternity.
Application
1. Consider how infinitely important our brief life is! It is either the preparation for endless horrific sufferings and torments, or it is the preparation for endless and ravishing spiritual joys and delights. The great weight of eternity hangs on the small wire of time. Thomas Watson, an old Puritan once wrote, “Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset; eternity to the godless is a night that has no sunrise.”
Jonathan Edwards said that time is precious because:
1) A happy or miserable eternity depends on the good or ill improvement of it;
2) It is very short. The scarcity of any commodity occasions men to set a higher value upon it. Time is so short, and the work which we have to do in it is so great, that we have none of it to spare. The work which we have to do to prepare for eternity, must be done in time, or it never can be done.
3) We are uncertain of its continuance; and
4) When it is past, it can’t be recovered.
Richard Baxter once said, “Heaven will pay for any loss we may suffer to gain it; but nothing can pay for the loss of heaven.”
John Wesley said, “I desire to have both heaven and hell ever in my eye, while I stand on this isthmus of life, between two boundless oceans.”
These men of old knew something that we need to relearn today! Oh how great are the issues of this life. What we do in this life has awesome ramifications. This should forever stop us from wasting our lives on the trivial and worthless, and set us to pursuing those things that will last forever! Oh, brothers and sisters, we have only this brief lifetime to make sure of our interest in the eternal kingdom of God. Do you see the infinite importance of your few years upon this earth? What you do in this life will either send you to everlasting torments or everlasting happiness! Oh, seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon (Is.55:6-7).
2. Accept the Gift of Eternal Life At Once! If you have any doubt as to whether you have the very life of God in your soul, receive this eternal life today, right now. Admit to God that you have no true spiritual life that animates you. Instead you find yourselves dead to God. Every other thing excites you and interests you, but when you come to God in prayer and His Word, you are apathetic and listless. Friends, this is a symptom of spiritual death. If you find no hatred of sin in your hearts, this is symptomatic of spiritual death. If you find no delight in worshipping God, this is spiritual death. Your only hope is that you would accept God’s gift of Jesus Christ immediately. I am not asking you to reform your lives and “do better.” I’m calling on you to open your hearts, confess your sin and guilt to God, and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Begin to follow Christ wherever He leads. Give your life up to Him to do whatever He wants you to do and go wherever He wants you to go.
3. Cultivate Your Spiritual Life! Those of you who believe that you do possess the life of God in your souls, go on to cultivate and deepen that life. It is possible after we have born of the Spirit, to sow to our flesh rather than the Spirit. It is possible to grieve the Holy Spirit of God through deliberate sin. Brothers and Sisters, pursue holiness without which no man will see the Lord! Fight the good fight of faith! Invest in the spiritual life that has been freely given to you by God! Every time you sow to your flesh, it is like throwing a bucket of water on the fire of your spiritual life. Instead, pour gasoline on it! Read God’s Word! Meditate on it! Memorize it! Turn all you read into prayer! Read good, solid Christian books. Read the works of the men of God that have gone before you like Calvin and Bunyan and the Puritans and Matthew Henry and Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield and Charles Simeon and Robert Murray McCheyene and Charles Spurgeon and J. C. Ryle. Seek out fellowship with other Christians who will our gas on your fire. Commit to a God-centered, Christ-exalting, Word-saturated, gospel-driven Church where you will be exhorted week after week to greater works in Jesus Christ! Get out of your comfort zone and serve the Lord! Give a tract to someone. Tell someone of God’s love in Christ. Take some food to a sick neighbor. Don’t just exist – live! Don’t waste your lives by trivial entertainments. Give your lives to the glory of God!
4. Look Forward to the Full Expression of Eternal Life! Friends, death for the Christian is no terror. For that person who dies outside of Christ, death is a great terrifying enemy, but if you are saved, death has lost its sting. Sure, you may experience bodily pain as your body is dissolving, but the moment your spirit leaves your body, you will enter into everlasting glory! Look forward to that! Those of us who are getting on in years – you are in your 50’s, or 60’s or 70’s, let the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. If you find your body becoming weaker and weaker and breaking down, let your spirit become more and more anxious for your homecoming. Soon you will be free of this old, dying body of flesh. There will be no more sin to tempt you, no more lusts of your flesh to struggle against, no more weakness, or sickness. God will wipe away every tear from your eyes, and bring you into His eternal kingdom. There you will shine like the sun in the kingdom of your Father. Oh, look forward to that day! Long for it! And when the day comes, enter in full of faith. “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, `Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!´” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them” (Rev.14:13).
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