WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? (revised)

[tomdurst]

WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?

The Apostle John especially emphasized "eternal life" in his writings. This is referring to the quality of life that we have given to us when we believe on the One who brought this life to us by His life, death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father.

From Strong's Concordance (online): [166 (aiṓnios) does not focus on the future per se, but rather on the quality of the age (165 /aiṓn) it relates to. Thus believers live in "eternal (166 /aiṓnios) life" right now, experiencing this quality of God's life now as a present possession. (Note the Gk present tense of having eternal life in Jn 3:36, 5:24, 6:47; cf. Ro 6:23.)]

Death is not a cessation of existence but rather the opposite of this eternal (aionian) life that comes from God. We can be very much alive in a physical body but very dead to the life of God. People who focus heavily on their physical body as though it was their reality are making a huge mistake and setting themselves up for a lot of disappointment and suffering. Give that more thought. We indeed enter eternal (aionian) life NOW and this simply continues when we pass through the portals of the change called death.  

You may pride yourself on having correct doctrines and going through certain forms and be FAR from knowing God. Eternal life is nothing other than the very life of God. To possess it, to enter into it, is to experience here and now something of the splendor and the majesty, and the joy, and the peace, and the holiness, which are characteristic of the life of God. Eternal life is more than just endless life. The biblical eternal life includes power to produce quality living superabundantly far beyond merely existing forever. To know God thus includes a wide range of mental, emotional, and experiential knowledge. The fruit of this intimacy includes love, reverence, obedience, honor, gratitude, and deep affection. We come to know Him as sovereign Ruler, Master, parent, brother, friend, Savior, and Lawgiver.

"Let us occupy ourselves entirely in knowing God. The more we know Him, the more we will desire to know Him. As love increases with knowledge, the more we know God, the more we will truly love Him. We will learn to love Him equally in times of distress or in times of great joy.” ―The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence (1614-1691)

[Note: Some of the above thoughts are borrowed from various Internet Bible research sites. I compiled and paraphrased them to make clear the meaning of eternal life and knowing God. TD]

I invite you to read LIFE IN GOD ALONE which is on the link below:

LIFE IN GOD ALONE

[tomdurst]

CREATED ANEW IN CHRIST JESUS

"It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

"Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing."--Ephesians 2:1-10 The Message (MSG)