Eternal Life
Pastor Chales Wages
It is not only difficult, but really
impossible for anyone to fully grasp the meaning of eternity. No one
really knows when time began and when time will end. No man saw the
beginning, nor can any man see the end. The only thing we can say
with certainty about eternity is that it never stands still. We just
have to trust God that He knows because He was there when time began
and He will be in existence forever. Habakkuk exclaimed in Habakkuk
1:12, “Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy
One?”
The Scriptures teach that God’s power is
eternal (Rom. 1:20), His purposes are eternal (Eph. 3:11); and His
wonderful Person is eternal (I Tim. 1:17).
In the wonderful prayer of our Lord recorded
in John 17, Jesus said, “And this is life eternal, that they may
know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent”
(vs. 3). In other words, everlasting life is to know God, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom He sent. But how do we get to “know”
God and Jesus Christ?
We get to “know” God by believing what
He has said. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth,
and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” When we
receive the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, He gives us His
life, which is eternal. He said in John 14:19, “Because I live, ye
shall live also.” God led Paul to write in Colossians 3:3-4, “For
ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who
is our life, shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in
glory.”
One of the most familiar truths in the
Scripture is that which Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:7, “Ye must
be born again.” Jesus knew the natural man would die. Hebrews 9:27
states, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after
this the judgment:” Only the life that God gives when we believe on
the Lord Jesus is eternal. What do we believe concerning the Lord
Jesus ? The gospel that saves is simply stated: “For I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures.” (I Cor. 15:3-4)
Eternal not only refers to the duration of
the life that God gives, but also to its quality. It not only speaks
of a future position but also of a very present reality. And wonder
of wonders, it cannot be lost or taken from us! Jesus said in John
10:28, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
Our eternal life is in God’s hand, not
ours. Our assurance depends on God’s faithfulness, not on our
weakness. Paul was led to write, “I know whom I have believed and
am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto
Him against that day” (II Tim. 1: 12).
Yes, the eternal life God gives is as
eternal as God is. And, yes, the eternal life He gives is the eternal
life we should live. If you have not as yet trusted Jesus Christ for
eternal life, remember the Scripture says, “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” (John
3:36).
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