What Is Eternal Life?

I want you to turn in your Bibles
today for the message to the book of John chapter 17. I'm
going to read the first three verses of John 17 and speak to
you on the subject. This is eternal life. I think if you listen to this
message carefully and if you're following your Bibles while I
read the scriptures, it may be that the Spirit of God will give
you some understanding some light on this subject, eternal life. This is eternal life. In John
17, verse 1, our Lord lifted his eyes to heaven and said,
Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son
may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal to as many as thou
hast given him, and this is eternal life, that they might know thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
Now, we couldn't find a better source to study on the subject
eternal life than the Lord himself, and we couldn't find a better
text anywhere in the Bible than the one in which our Lord said,
this is eternal life, and then defines it. He prays to the Father,
and he says, Thou hast given me power over all flesh, that
I should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given me.
And this is eternal life, that they might know Thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. When they hear the term eternal
life, suppose that we mean heaven or life after death. But it does
mean that. It means a whole lot more. When
the average person hears you talking about eternal life, he's
thinking about something that occurs in the future, something
that takes place after death, something we have in heaven.
Well, it does mean that. But it means a whole lot more
than that. Now listen to me. Eternal life that our Lord is
talking about here begins, it commences in the believer right
here on the earth. It's not a future experience
only. It begins in a believer as soon
as he's born again. That's right, as soon as we're
born again, we have eternal life. Now listen to the scriptures,
John 5, 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my
word and believeth on him that sent me hath eternal life. And shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed, has already passed from death to life. He has eternal
life. He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath eternal life. He's already
passed from death unto life. And John wrote in 1 John 3, 14,
we know that we have passed from death unto life. In other words,
the believer, the born-again believer, the man who knows God,
Already has eternal life. He has the same spiritual life
right now that he'll have in heaven He has the same spiritual
life right now in Christ that he'll enjoy throughout eternity
for he's already a child of God He's already born of God. He
already has a divine nature. He already has divine life. He
already has spiritual life So that's the first thing we need
to understand about eternal life. It's not some future experience
only It's a present possession. He that heareth my word and believeth
on him that sent me right now has eternal life. And that same
spiritual life that the believer has right this minute in Christ
is the life he's going to have throughout eternity. In other
words, I'm saying that death does not bring us eternal life.
Christ does. Death does not transport us into
a new life. Christ Transports us into a new
life. We have translated into the kingdom
of God's dear son out of the kingdom and power of darkness
Death doesn't bring us eternal life Christ does well, what does
death do preacher? Well, it rids us of Those things
of the flesh which hinder our spiritual life and you have plenty
of those things and I do too There are things that drag us
down that hinder us Paul called it a body of sin that we carry
about a body of death And someday we're going to lay it aside.
Someday we're going to put it aside. Death is going to rid
us of those things that hinder our spiritual life from being
fully expressed in all of its beauty, in all of its glory. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13,
9, now we know in part. We do know, we know in part.
We know God, we know Christ, we know his will of redemption.
We know his way of saving sinners. We know how he can be just and
justify the ungodly. The Son of God had come and given
us an understanding that we might know the true God. We know, but
we know in part. We only know partly. But when
that which is perfect is come, we shall know as we have been
known. And that's what death does. You see, I know now. I
have spiritual life now. I have eternal life now. I have
the life of God now. I know now. I know in part. But
when death rids me of my limited mental capacity and my limited
ability to love, my limited ability to understand, when death rids
me of this human flesh, then I'm going to know as I have been
known. He says now we see through a
glass darkly, but we do see. We do see. If we didn't have
spiritual life, we couldn't see. We see. We see through a glass
dimly, but we do see. We see the glory of the Lord.
But someday we'll see Him face to face. I couldn't stand that
sight right now. You couldn't either, not in the
flesh. But one of these days, when that which is perfect has
come, then we shall see perfectly. And faith will give way to reality,
and hope will give way to possession. So the eternal life we're talking
about here, is a present possession. It's something that the believer
possesses right now. He that heareth my word and believeth
on him that sent me already has eternal life. Now here's the
third thing I want you to see. This is why our Lord came into
the world. He came into the world, the grand design of his perfect
obedient life, the grand design of his sacrificial death, the
grand design of his Resurrection and his intercession is to give
eternal life to all believers. That's why he came to give eternal
life He said I am come John 10 10. I am come that they might
have life and That they might have it more abundantly. That's
why I've come Jesus Christ came into the world Paul said to save
sinners of whom I am chief I am come that they might have life
and then first John 5 11 says this is the record of that God
has given to us eternal life. God has given us eternal life. And this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. You see,
death does not bring us eternal life. Christ does. Christ does. This life is Christ. That's why
he came into the world. He came into this world that
we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly.
He had an obligation to discharge in reference to God's law. He
had an obligation to discharge in regards to God's justice and
righteousness that we might live. And he fulfilled all of those
requirements and he gave us eternal life. It is in the power of Christ
to give eternal life. Look at that verse again, John
17. He said, Thou hast given him power over all flesh. It is in the power of Christ
to give eternal life. God has given him that power.
By his obedience, he honored the law, and he has power, he
has power to deliver. By his death, he satisfied justice,
and therefore he has power to justify. By his resurrection,
he conquered death, therefore he has the power to raise us. He has the authority, you see.
And by his intercession, he has the power to take me into the
presence of God. Now, he could not do any of these
things for me if he had not come. I am come that they might have
life. And because he came and because he fulfilled all that
he came to do, he has been given that power. God has delivered
all things into the hands of his Son. And because of his obedience,
he has the power to give me righteousness. He has the power by his sacrifice
to give me cleansing. He has power by his visit in
the tomb and his resurrection to raise me. He said, because
I live, you shall live. And because he is that great
high priest, he has the power to take me into the very presence
of God and to seat me on God's right hand with him in glory. All right? Eternal life is not
only in the power of Christ, but in the person of Christ.
Thou hast given him power, authority, over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life. It's by our union with Christ
that we have life. That's why I have no life in
myself. I have natural life, I have mental life, but I have
no spiritual life in myself. It's in Christ. And the life
which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. In Adam I died. In Christ I made a life. He restored
my soul. He told this to Martha in John
11, 25. He said, Martha, you know, Martha
said, well, I know my brother's going to rise in the day of the
resurrection. I know that on the resurrection
he'll rise. Christ said, Martha, I'm the
resurrection. I am the resurrection. I am the
life. You talk as if this day and this
life was separated from me. I am the resurrection. I am the
life. And he that believeth on me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Paul in Colossians chapter
3 verse 4 says, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear,
then shall ye appear with him in glory. When some people talk
about eternal life, They talk as if it was something out yonder
somewhere that's going to occur apart from the person of Christ.
But Christ is life. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath the Son of God hath
resurrection. He that hath the Son of God hath
eternal existence. All of it is in Christ. And it's
because of our union with Christ that we have this life, eternal
life, spiritual life, divine life, call it what you will,
but it's in Christ. I read an article one time that
said something like this. There is mineral life in the
rocks, in the ground. You have mineral rights on your
property. Well, there's mineral life. And
then there is vegetable life. The things that grow have life. Without life, a thing wouldn't
grow. Corn wouldn't grow without life. Your apple tree has life
in it. If it's not dead, it has life. So there's vegetable life.
And then there's animal life. Your dog and cats have life.
Animal life. And then there is mental, or
natural life. And mental life, or natural life,
is high above animal life, as animal is above vegetable life. You've got mineral life, and
animal life, you've got vegetable life, you've got mental life.
And then there's spiritual life, or eternal life. And this spiritual
life is as high above natural, mental life, as mental life is
high above animal life. And this spiritual life is Christ.
It's of God. We're born of God. Now that which
is born of the flesh is flesh. I was born to my mother and father
and they gave me fleshly life, mental life, natural life. I'm
a living person. But when I was born of God, I
received the life of God. You see, that's John chapter
3. That's what being born again is. It's not just a profession
of religion. It's not just a denominational
Party spirit is to be born of God born from above As many as
received him to them gave he the right to become sons of God
even to them that believe on his name Which were born not
of blood that is not a fleshly inheritance not a human parent
Not of the will of the flesh. It's not something man wills
to do. It's not of the will of man It's not something we can
do for someone else. We're born of God John 1 11 through
13 We're born of God. You understand what I'm saying?
There is a mineral life in the rocks and the coal and these
other things. There is a vegetable life in
the things that we eat. And there is an animal life in
our pets. And there is a natural life in
men and women. Natural life. We're born of the
flesh. And that which is born of the
flesh is flesh. But there's a spiritual life.
And that spiritual life is as high above that mental life as
that mental life is above that animal life. And that animal
life came from another animal. They breed after their kind.
Horses have horses, and sheep have sheep, and goats have goats,
and cows have cows, and dogs have dogs, and men and women
have boys and girls. God gives life. Spiritual life. And that's eternal life. That's
what it is. And it's in Christ. For this is the charge that Christ
brought against those Pharisees. He said in John 5.40, you will
not come to me that you might have life. Life is not in the
church. Eternal life is not in the church.
The church can't give life. Eternal life is not in a doctrine.
Our Lord said, you search the scriptures, in them you think
you have life. But they are they which testify
of me, and you will not come to me that you might have life.
Life is not in the scriptures, it's in Christ. It's in a living,
vital union with a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal life
is not in the ceremony. You can't eat the Lord's table,
bread and wine, and get life. You can't eat the wafer and the
wine at the sacrament or communion or whatever you want to call
it. But you can't get life from these things. Life is not in
the sacrament. It's not in the communion. It's
in what it represents, the person of Christ. He said, this is my
body which is broken for you. This is my blood which is shed
for you. You eat my flesh and drink my blood and you have life.
If you don't eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life
in you. You have natural life, you have mental life, but you
don't have spiritual life unless you eat the flesh and drink the
blood of the Son of God. Just like the Israelites in the
wilderness ate the manna. But that manna just refreshed
their natural lives and they died. But he that eateth this
bread liveth forever. He that drinketh this blood liveth
forever. Come to Christ that you might
have life. You will not come to me that
you might have life. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath life. He that believeth not the Son
of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Now go back to our text. He said, Thou hast given him
power over all flesh. that he might give eternal life.
Christ has the power to give life. Christ says that life is
in the person of Christ, and then it's the promise of Christ.
He's promised eternal life. It's a promise. He says, thou
hast given him authority or power to give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. Our Lord has a people. If you
read John 17, after this program goes off the air, you'll find
six times Our Lord uses this phrase, to as many as thou hast
given him. He six times in this priestly
prayer, in John 17, he talks about his sheep, those whom the
Father hath given him. And then in John 10, verse 24,
some people came to him and turned there to John 10, 23 and 24,
and they said, how long do you make us to doubt? If you be the
Christ, tell us plainly. Tell us in words we can understand.
And he said, I told you, I told you, but you believe not. You
believe not because you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my
voice and they follow me and I give 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. You see this eternal life is
the life of Christ It's an abiding life, it's a continuous life,
it's an unchangeable life, and it's a life that'll never end.
That's why it's called eternal life. It's as eternal as the
God whose life it is. It's as eternal as the power
of Christ whose life it is. It's as eternal as the promise
of Christ whose promise it is. That's right, eternal life. And
Paul said in Philippians 1, 6, He that hath begun a good work
in you, shall perfect it, shall perform it, shall finish it in
the day of Jesus Christ. Now my friends, this thing of
salvation, I'm telling you, according to this book, eternal life is
a whole lot more than walking down a church aisle and giving
a preacher your hand and saying you believe some doctrine. This
thing of eternal life is a whole lot more than reading the Bible
and saying, well, I believe a few mental facts here, I give mental
agreement to a few facts here, And turn over a new leaf and
start living right and attend church on Sunday. This thing
of salvation is more than that. Thou hast given me authority,
Christ said, over all flesh that I should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given me. Now in verse 3, this is interesting. Our Lord points out some evidences
of that life. Now you stay with me for a few
moments. Our Lord points out some marks of eternal life, because
I know some of you are asking now, well, do I have eternal
life? Am I a recipient of eternal life? I'm a religious person.
I go to church. I believe what that preacher
is saying. I believe the Bible. Do I have eternal life? All right,
listen to Christ. It is in the power of Christ
to give it, because he fulfilled every requirement. It's in the
person of Christ. It's not an experience, it's
a person. It's not a profession, it's a person. Don't forget that.
We live because of Him and our union with Him. He's the vine,
we're the branches. And a branch severed from that
vine has no life. The life's in the vine. And the
branch partakes of nourishment and life because of its union
with the vine. You see that? Christ said, I'm
the vine, you're the branches. So I partake of nourishment and
life, spiritual life, because of my union with Christ. Not
because of who I am or what I've done, but because of who He is.
He's the head, I'm the body. We're members of that body in
particular. All right? Now, Christ said, and this is
life eternal. This is it. This is life eternal,
that they might know me, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. This is life eternal. Now, my
friends, if you'll notice that the great evidence of eternal
life given by our Lord is not outward conduct but inward knowledge. Now stay with me. Our Lord said
this is eternal life, that they might know God, the living God,
the only true and living God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent. It is true, no question about it, that if a man has eternal
life, his past is changed. That's right, his sins are blotted
out, he's forgiven. Though your sins be a scarlet,
I'll make them white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. It is true there's no condemnation
in Christ. The past is taken away, it's
changed. If a man has eternal life, his
present is changed. That's right, it's changed. He's
a new creature in Christ. That's true, no question about
that. He walks in light, not in darkness. If we walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. He walks in love, not in hate.
He walks in God's glory, not in selfishness. He loves. The
people of God. He loves the Word of God. He
loves the God of the Bible. He loves Christ. I've heard people
say, well, preacher, you know, since I've been converted, I've
gone back to some of the old places and some of the old crowd,
but they're not the same. Yes, they are the same, too.
Yes, they are the same. You're the one that's changed.
They're the same, but you've changed. And if a man's in Christ,
if he has eternal life, his past has changed, his present has
changed, and his future has changed. That's right. He is a new man.
And he belongs to a new family, and he's a citizen of a heavenly
kingdom, and he'll be satisfied when he awakes with Christ's
likeness. That's true. Now, don't you misunderstand
me. If a man has eternal life, he's a new creature. He's filled
with the Spirit of God. He loves God. He walks in integrity
and righteousness and holiness. He's not perfect, but he wants
to be. But the evidence of eternal life given here is not the outward
conduct or action, but the inward knowledge. He said this is life
eternal. that they might know thee, the
only true God. Now what does he mean by that?
The real evidence of eternal life is to know God. Now my friend
Enoch did not just walk down a moral road, he walked with
God. He knew God. He fellowshiped
with God. You see that? He didn't just
walk according to a set of rules of righteousness. The scripture
says he walked with God. He knew God. And then Abraham. Abraham didn't just believe in
God, believe that there was a God. He believed God. And he was called
the friend of God. And God spoke to him face to
face. He knew God. He didn't just know
about God, some truths about God. The devil believes in Tremble. He knew God. He was a friend
of God. Take Job. Job was not only an
upright man, but Job trusted God. He knew God. This is what
he said, though he slay me, I trust him. I trust him. He trusted
God. That's what it is to know God.
And then David did not only just serve God and write beautiful
songs of praise to God, but David was knit to the heart of God.
The scripture says he was a man after God's own heart. And then
Paul was not only a preacher, he was not only a writer, he
was not only a missionary, he was not only an honest man, but
he knew the living God. He said, I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded he's able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. I
know whom I have believed. Now a lot of people quote that
verse this way, I know in whom I have believed. That's not what
it says. Paul says, I know whom I have believed. He didn't say,
I know what I believe, though he did. He didn't say, I know
when I believe, although he did. But he said, I know whom I have
believed. And then listen to John. John
said, we know that the Son of God has come and has given us
an understanding that we may know him that is true, and we're
in him that is true, even in his Son, Jesus Christ. And this
is the true God and this is eternal life. To know God. It's not just
the path of righteousness. It's walking with God down the
path of righteousness. It's not just a belief in doctrine.
It's a belief in the Christ of doctrine. It's not just a belief
in the Bible. It's to believe in and to know
the God who wrote the Bible. Believe the Bible because it
is God's Word. We know him and he's given us
an understanding We have an understanding of Old Testament prophecies.
How did they reveal Christ? Old Testament types how they
Prefigure Christ Old Testament Promises that are filled with
Christ. We have an understanding of God's
righteousness in Christ. This is life eternal to know
God and Jesus Christ

What Is Eternal Life?

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What Is Eternal Life?

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