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I. Obtaining eternal life in this age:
А. Eternal life being the life of God.
B. Eternal life being in the Lord Jesus.
C. Eternal life being given freely by God.
D. Eternal life being obtained at the time of believing.
E. Eternal life being known in the present age.
F. Having eternal life and never perishing.
II. Obtaining eternal life in the coming age.
III. Enjoying eternal life in eternity.
Eternal life is a great topic in the Bible; it is the greatest blessing God gives us in His salvation. Obtaining eternal life and enjoying the blessings of eternal life are divided into three different periods. The first period involves obtaining eternal life in this age, the second involves obtaining eternal life in the coming age, and the third involves the enjoyment of eternal life in eternity. If we do not differentiate between these three periods in our examination of what the Bible says about eternal life, we will not be clear.
We obtain eternal life in this age when we believe. When we believe in the Lord in this age, we obtain eternal life. We do not have to wait for the next age or for eternity to obtain it.
1. “That which was from the beginning” (1 John 1:1).
Many misunderstand and think that eternal life involves a blessing in eternity. Actually, the Bible shows that eternal life is not a blessing in eternity; rather, it is the life of eternity. This eternal life was from the beginning. Only the life of God was from the beginning. Therefore, the eternal life is just the life of God, which existed before the universe and time began.
2. “The eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us” (1 John 1:2).
Eternal life is the life of God because God is eternal. In the Bible eternal means without beginning and without end. God is eternal, without beginning and without end, so His life is also eternal, without beginning and without end. The life of God, which has no beginning and no end, is the eternal life.
1. “Eternal life...is in His Son” (1 John 5:11, see also v. 12).
The Son of God is God incarnated, God Himself embodied in His Son; therefore, the life of God is also in His Son. This life, which is in God’s Son, is the eternal life.
2. “In Him was life” (John 1:4).
The incarnated Lord Jesus is the Son of God, so God’s life, the eternal life, is in Him. When we receive Him and obtain Him, we also obtain the eternal life in Him.
1. “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).
God considers His life, the eternal life, to be a gift freely given to us in the Lord Jesus. We do not need to pay for it; as long as we receive it, we obtain it.
2. “God gave to us eternal life” (1 John 5:11).
Since the eternal life, the life of God, was given to us by God, it is God’s gift, not God’s reward, to us. It is freely given, not sold to us.
1. “God so loved...that He gave...that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life” (John 3:16).
God loves us and gives us His life, the eternal life, which is in His Son for us to receive. The way to receive eternal life is to believe in His Son. As soon as we believe in His Son and receive His Son by faith, we obtain the eternal life that is in the Son.
2. “He who believes into the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36).
Since the eternal life of God that is in His Son is a gift, as soon as we believe into His Son and obtain His Son, we spontaneously obtain the eternal life within His Son.
3. “He who hears My word and believes...has eternal life” (John 5:24).
When we hear the Lord’s word, the gospel, and believe in Him, we immediately have eternal life. Many think that even though we believe in the Lord now, we do not obtain eternal life until some time in the future. They do not realize that there is no time between believes and has. From the moment we believe, we immediately have. As soon as we believe in the Lord, we have eternal life. After we believe, we do not need to wait, for even the slightest moment, to obtain eternal life. There is no need to wait for what we are immediately given.
1. “I have written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life, to you who believe” (1 John 5:13).
In Christianity many think and suggest that those who believe in the Lord cannot know whether or not they have eternal life in the present age. However, 1 John 5:13 clearly says that the Word of God, the Bible, enables us to know that we have eternal life. By the Word of God, the Bible, we can know that we have eternal life now.
1. “I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29).
Because the life we obtained is eternal, we will never perish. This life’s eternal nature ensures that we will never perish. Moreover, once we have eternal life, we are in the hands of the Lord and the Father, so no one can snatch us away. We have the eternal life of God to uphold us inwardly, and we have the Lord’s and the Father’s hands to protect us outwardly. How can we perish?
Obtaining life in the coming age, which is the time of the millennial kingdom, is related only to the matter of reward in the kingdom age; it is not related to our eternal salvation.
1. “No one who has left...for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now at this time...and in the coming age, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30).
In these verses the Lord Jesus speaks of the present age and the coming age. The present age is the age today; it is the age of grace in which we live. The coming age is the next age; it is the age of the coming millennial kingdom. The Lord promised that if we leave everything for His sake and for the gospel’s sake, we will obtain eternal life in the coming age. This shows that obtaining eternal life in the coming age is a reward for which we must pay a price, the price of leaving everything for the Lord’s sake and for the gospel’s sake. This is clearly different from obtaining eternal life immediately upon believing. Believing does not require anyone to pay a price, but in these verses the requirement to leave everything is an extremely high price. Previously, we gained eternal life by believing, but in these verses we will obtain eternal life in the coming age only if we leave everything. Therefore, this obtaining is not related to eternal salvation; instead, it is related to our reward in the coming kingdom age. This is because the eternal life that is spoken of in these verses is gained by leaving everything for the Lord’s sake and for the gospel’s sake, and it is gained in the coming age. According to the principle in the Bible, anything that requires us to pay a price now in order to receive it in the coming age is related to the reward in the millennial kingdom. Therefore, since obtaining eternal life in the coming age requires us to leave everything in this age, it must be related to the reward that the Lord gives in the millennial kingdom. This shows that the Lord especially designated the kingdom age as a period of enjoyment of eternal life as a reward for those who faithfully follow Him. All believers obtain and enjoy the Lord’s eternal life in this age as soon as they believe in the Lord; however, only those who pay the price and faithfully follow the Lord will enjoy the Lord’s eternal life in the coming age, the age of the millennial kingdom. In other words, anyone who believes can obtain eternal life in this age and enjoy it today, but only the faithful followers of the Lord who leave everything in this age will obtain and enjoy the Lord’s eternal life in the coming age, the age of the millennial kingdom. The Lord ordained the enjoyment of eternal life in the millennial kingdom as a reward to those who leave everything for His sake today.
2. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).
The Lord promises to give the crown of life to those who are faithful unto death. A crown is a symbol of the glory of reigning as a king. The crown of life is a symbol of the glory of reigning in life. Thus, for the Lord to give the crown of life means He gives the glory of reigning in life. The glory of reigning in life is given to those who are faithful unto death; it is bought at the price of being faithful unto death. This is not related to the free, gracious gift of eternal life obtained by faith in this age; rather, it is the reward of eternal life obtained in the coming age for paying the highest price. This reward is to enjoy the glory of reigning in life in the coming age. This will be in the millennial kingdom.
3. “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7).
The Paradise of God spoken of here has the tree of life. Therefore, this Paradise must be the future New Jerusalem because the coming New Jerusalem has the tree of life (22:2). The New Jerusalem and all its blessings have been prepared for us by God and are for our enjoyment in eternity in the new heaven and new earth. In 2:7 the Lord promised that to eat of the fruit of the tree of life in the New Jerusalem would be a reward to the overcoming believers. The Bible teaches that the believers will be rewarded in the millennial kingdom. Therefore, this also indicates that the Lord will give the fruit of the tree of life in the New Jerusalem as a reward to the overcoming believers in the millennial kingdom. Although all believers will enjoy the New Jerusalem with its blessings in the new heaven and new earth, only the overcomers will have a foretaste of the fruit of the tree of life in the New Jerusalem during the millennial kingdom. To eat the fruit of the tree of life is to enjoy the blessing of eternal life, to enjoy eternal life itself. To have a foretaste of the fruit of the tree of life is to have an early enjoyment of the blessing of eternal life. This enjoyment of the blessing of eternal life is something every saved one will partake of in the new heaven and new earth. However, only the overcomers will enjoy the foretaste of the blessing of eternal life in the millennial kingdom. Before the coming of the new heaven and new earth, the Lord first gives the freshness of the blessing of eternal life, the fruit of the tree of life, as a reward to the overcomers as a foretaste and early enjoyment in the millennial kingdom. Thus, enjoying eternal life in the coming age is different from obtaining eternal life in the present age and enjoying eternal life in eternity.
4. “He who overcomes...I shall by no means erase his name out of the book of life” (Rev. 3:5).
As soon as we believe and obtain the Lord’s life, our names are written in the book of life. The Lord’s life is the eternal life, so if we obtain the Lord’s eternal life, we will never perish (John 10:28). According to the Lord’s promise in Revelation 3:5, the names of the overcoming believers will not be erased from the book of life. Obtaining eternal life by faith and not perishing in eternity have no requirements related to overcoming. But the Lord’s promise to not erase our names from the book of life has the requirement of overcoming. Therefore, this verse is related to the matter of reward, not to the gift of grace. A gift is given freely, but a reward has requirements. Since this is a reward, it is related to the millennial kingdom. With respect to eternal salvation, no saved person can perish; with respect to the reward of the millennial kingdom, only overcoming believers will enjoy the blessing of having their names in the book of life during the millennial kingdom.
These passages of the Bible all speak of enjoying eternal life in the kingdom age. This is the section of the reward of eternal life, which is different from the section of the gracious gift of eternal life. The gift is free; the reward is earned.
The enjoyment of eternal life in eternity in the new heaven and new earth is the full enjoyment of God’s salvation, which all the saved ones will share in eternity.
1. “The water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life” (John 4:14).
The water the Lord gives is His life. This life will become a fountain of water in us, springing up and flowing us into eternal life. Thus, we will enjoy the blessing of eternal life in eternity.
2. “Enter into it, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:27).
The full blessing of God’s salvation is the coming New Jerusalem, which is given to all the saved ones for their enjoyment in eternity. All those who have the Lord’s eternal life and whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will participate in this blessing. All those who have received eternal life by faith will enter into the New Jerusalem based on this life and enjoy the blessings of eternal life.
3. “I will give to him who thirsts from the spring of the water of life freely” (Rev. 21:6 see also 22:1).
All the saved ones will enjoy the blessings of eternal life in the New Jerusalem, and one of these blessings will be the water of life. This water flows out from the throne of God and refers to God’s ever-living life. All the saved ones will eternally drink of this water of life and eternally enjoy God’s ever-living life.
4. “They may have right to the tree of life” (Rev. 22:14).
All the saved ones will enjoy the blessings of the New Jerusalem, including another blessing — the tree of life. The water of life indicates that the life of God will eternally quench our thirst, and the tree of life indicates that the life of God will eternally satisfy our hunger. Therefore, in eternity future we will enjoy God’s ever-living life, causing us to never hunger or thirst. This will be our enjoyment of eternal life in eternity.
In this age we obtain eternal life as soon as we believe. After obtaining eternal life, we can enjoy it and live by it. If we live for the Lord today by the power of this eternal life, we will be overcomers. Then during the coming kingdom age, we will reign in life together with the Lord, we will enjoy the glory of life, and we will have a foretaste of the blessings of eternity. Finally, when eternity arrives, we, who have received eternal life through salvation, will enjoy the blessings of eternal life in the New Jerusalem for eternity.
