Eternal Life (Part 1)

by R.A. Parker, Stoke-on-Trent, England | Category: Eternal Life | Jul 1989

Three young disciples of the Lord once wrote a contribution on the subject of eternal life which included the following extract:

If there is something wonderfully unfathomable in the eternity of the life which is ours as a gift from God, there is something equally unfathomable in the life which is ours for eternity.

All believers on the Lord Jesus rejoice in the knowledge of having eternal life, as in the first part of the above extract, but some often have doubts about it belonging to them for all eternity. There are four ways in which eternal life is presented to us in the New Testament. We trust an examination and meditation upon these will prove stimulating and helpful to our readers.

A Gift Received

All believers have eternal life as a gift when they receive the Lord Jesus as their own personal Saviour as shown by the following verses,

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but HAVE ETERNAL LIFE (John 3:16).

The wages of sin is death; but the FREE GIFT of God is ETERNAL LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:23).

He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him ... and the witness is this, that God GAVE unto us ETERNAL LIFE, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life (1 John 5:10-12).

A Life to be Lived

There is a life to be LIVED now on earth as shown in the following verses.

The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they may have LIFE and may have it ABUNDANTLY (John 10:10).

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap ETERNAL LIFE (Gal. 6:7-8).

Fight the good fight of the Faith, lay hold on the LIFE ETERNAL, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses (1 Tim. 6:10-12).

An Inheritance

In the future there is to be an inheritance for those who on earth had eternal life during their lifetime as given in the synoptic gospels:

Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Lo, we have left all and followed THEE; what then shall we have? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you ... every one that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, FOR MY NAME'S SAKE, shall receive a hundred-fold and shall INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE (Mat. 19:27-29).

Similar passages are to be found in Mark 10:23-3 and Luke 18:28-30 (which please read carefully).

Eternal life stands in sharp contrast to natural life which may be represented by a straight line beginning at birth and ending at death. Eternal life, however, can be represented by a circle which is joined by every believer on the Lord Jesus when he is born again.

In order to develop the subject more fully we wish to use three passages from the Old Testament in Leviticus, namely 20:24-26; 25:1-15; 25:23-31. These passages have primary application to New Testament teaching associated with the land and relate to the spiritual inheritance of disciples of the Lord Jesus in the kingdom of God today. They can, however, also be used to illustrate eternal life as presented in the New Testament writings. The land which was given to Israel can by illustration be equated to eternal life. These Old Testament passages therefore are now used to demonstrate the meaning and value of eternal life to the believer.

1.The Gift

When Israel possessed the land of Canaan it was divided up and each person was allotted a piece of land. It was promised in Leviticus 20:24, "I will GIVE it unto you to possess it", and again in Leviticus 25:2 as "the land which I GIVE you".

Just as the Israelite was given a piece of land, so each believer on the Lord Jesus is given eternal life as a present possession from the moment he puts his trust in Him for salvation from the penalty of sin. Paul confirmed this to the Roman saints in the words, "The wages of sin is death; but the free gift' of God is eternal life in Christ' Jesus our Lord". At a later date, John in his first epistle assured his readers, "he that hath the Son hath the life". It is ours for eternity.

2.The Life to be Lived

There were two important characteristics associated with the land given to each Israelite. It could maintain life by its produce and it had a value attached to it.

Living on the Produce

"The LORD spake unto Moses... speak unto the children of Israel thou shalt SOW the field ... thou shalt PRUNE thy vineyard and GATHER in the fruits thereof

the land shall be food for you" (Lev. 25:1,3,6).

Their means of life was to be found in the cultivation and produce of their land.

According to their labours and zeal in tilling the land would be their prosperity and health in natural things. They were to live off their land. So we too, if we are to live spiritually, must lay hold of our eternal life for nourishment just as a plant lays hold of the soil to thrive and flourish. Our eternal life is to be SOWN and REAPED, PLANTED and GATHERED so that it will become a life flowing with milk and honey. Those activities which promote our life will be those which concentrate on "knowing Thee the only true God and Him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ" (John 17:3). Sowing involves reading the Word of God, praying, listening to the Word of God, having fellowship with other disciples in churches of God, obeying the Lord's commands among many other essential activities of spiritual cultivation. What are we putting into our land? The diligence of our cultivation will determine the measure of our return from the land, some forty, some sixty and some one hundred-fold. If we sow unto the Spirit we shall reap an abundance of life, the life eternal. Be not deceived; God is not mocked. If we are sowing to the flesh, we shall of the flesh corruption. If we use our land and lay hold of it, we shall have strength for use in the Lord's things.

R.A. Parker, Stoke-on-Trent, England | Jul 1989
Eternal Life