Word of Salvation – Vol. 31 No. 30 – August 1986

Eternal Life – What Is It?

Sermon by Rev. H. W. Pennings on Lord's Day 22, Q & A 58.

Reading: John 6:25-59

Eternal life what is it?  For a start we can note that the promise of eternal life is the final promise which is given to every believer.  The grave, Scripture tells us, is not the "final resting place" as some have called it.  Jesus once said, as John 5:28 records, "...a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear the voice of the Son of Man and come out, those who have done good will rise TO LIVE, and those who have done evil will be CONDEMNED."  That is probably the first portion of Scripture which we should quote when speaking about this subject of eternal life.  The bodies of all people will not stay in the grave.  It is only a resting place for the body for a certain time.  But if we want to speak more specifically about ETERNAL LIFE rather than the RESURRECTION OF THE BODY, there are also a number of other portions of Scripture which we can add.  There is, for instance, what Jesus said when He was nearing the end of His earthly ministry in the flesh.  Matt.25:46 records, "Then (those who did not feed me when I was hungry, or gave me to drink when I was thirsty, or welcome me when I was a stranger, or clothe me when I was naked, or visit me when I was in prison or when I was sick, and who did not do these things for the least of these brothers of mine) – then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

The Scriptures teach us that, when we have forsaken all that would hinder us from following Jesus, in order to be better disciples, we will receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come, eternal life (Luke 18:30).  Then we should also listen carefully to what Jesus said as He was instructing the Pharisee Nicodemus, the man who came at night time to Jesus so that he might learn more about heavenly things.  Jesus told him, "No-one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man.  Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man will be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life," John 3:13-16.

Then the following verse in that chapter tells us that "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  Again a few verses further on in that chapter, verse 36, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."  Jesus promises those who believe – those who have true faith – that He will raise them up at the last day to live with Him.

Eternal life – what is it?  A thing that strikes me very forcibly is that eternal life is always linked to Jesus' work for us.  In a sense, eternal life is for everyone; for the good and the bad, the believing and the unbelieving.  For, Jesus taught, all will be raised.  No-one remains eternally in the grave.  But for some that will mean eternal PUNISHMENT, and for others, eternal JOY.  Our Catechism uses this word JOY too.  It may even be the central experience which arises from believing in Jesus.  Many people live only to please themselves.  They do what they want, when they want, how they want.  But one thing they lack: JOY.  They reject Jesus, and have no joy!  But the eternal life which the Christian receives IS joy!  Even joy from day to day.  Even joy, when there are also some tears to shed.  It is the joy which Jesus merited for us.  It can be received in no other way, or be given by no other person.  If you and I long for that joy, we will live for Jesus from day to day.  We will follow in the light that He has come to give to sinful man so that he and she can again have fellowship with God.  Yes, for JOY is having fellowship with God!  Anything less than that is not joy.  If having fellowship with God, then, is not very important for you, it may well be the case that you will never experience it – this JOY.  There are many people who attend worship services to meet certain friends and, of course, to sing some hymns which they like, and to give a little bit of money to God and so on but the idea of having fellowship with God along with their friends is something which they have never considered.  Therefore I can only wonder if they have eternal life.  Who is Jesus Christ to you?

Eternal life what is it? Our catechism quite rightly points out that even now we can experience the beginning of eternal joy.  That can only mean that eternal life has already started.  Yes, it has.  For instance, Jesus said about Lazarus that he had fallen asleep.

Then he went on to say, as John 11 records, “...whoever lives and believes in me will never die."  When we have fellowship with God NOW, we have eternal life NOW.  For then the Holy Spirit of Christ lives in us and, even though we cannot speak with God and have fellowship with God as we will be able to when we are physically with him, it's still true what the apostle Paul writes in Rom.8:26, "...the Spirit helps us in our weakness... the Spirit Himself intercedes for the saints in accordance with groans that words cannot express... according to the will of God."  That's all part of the beginning of eternal joy which is Jesus' precious gift to us now.  It's all a result of the fact that Jesus has given us the desire and the ability to put off the old nature which takes us further away from God the longer we live, and to put on the new nature which leads us into greater fellowship with God.  Jesus prayed to the Father for us, John 17:3: "Now, this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Eternal life what is it really?  Our Catechism's answer implies that it is not just a sort of continuation of the life which Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden at the dawn of history.  That theory continues to be popular among certain Christian people.  But it can't be that.  For, remember, even before they sinned they had not eaten from the Tree of Life.  And our catechism also refers to the teaching which we find in 1Cor.2:9.  "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him."  Not even Adam and Eve, in the state of innocence, had the gift of eternal life as the Scriptures speak about it.  Although they did, of course, have a great fellowship with God.  It was a wonderful lifestyle.  But it was less than JOY!  They knew God as a perfect Father, but somehow this word JOY which is so important as we try to understand eternal life could not be applied to their way of life not even their sinless way of life.  For true Christian JOY comes only when we know our God as a heavenly FATHER and a heavenly Saviour who came to live among us.  Eternal life, and the joy which goes along with it, is a gift which we possess because Jesus Christ came into the world, took our sin upon Himself, suffered our hell, so that we might have true and eternal fellowship with God the beginning of which we have already now.  So what we have now and what we will have more abundantly after our resurrection from the dead is even more glorious than what Adam and Eve had when they lived harmoniously with God.  Maybe that's because, then, they could still fall into sin which, as you know, they did.  But when we have joy in all its completeness, that's not possible.  Sin will be something which we can't even remember anymore.  How glorious!  No sin at all.  No future sin.  No past sin.  Uninterrupted fellowship as a gift.

Eternal life what is it?  According to Scripture, it is what we will receive in its fullness the other side of physical death.  It is a part of the victory over death and over Satan (who will be no more) through faith in Jesus Christ.

Eternal life – what is it?  According to Scripture, it is definitely everlasting.  It cannot be lost again.  It is as everlasting as is the effect of Jesus' death and resurrection for our sin.  That confirms what our catechism tells us in its answer in another way – that those who believe in and follow Jesus can already start to enjoy it right now.  If our faith is true faith we will die in the body (although not as a punishment) but cannot die with regard to Jesus' gift of eternal life.

I hope and pray that you are experiencing this joy already today, congregation.  That is, this wonderful knowledge that you are "in Christ" and that He lives in you – this unity which we have with God through the Holy Spirit of Christ who lives in us.  Yes, do I hope that you experience it now.  And just as much I hope that you are content.  And that you can patiently await the greater glory which is to be revealed.  For I see around me in the Christian churches of our country more and more people who want to hurry God along a little bit.  They seem to want to see and hear NOW much more than just the BEGINNING OF ETERNAL JOY.  They want more from God than the hope of which our catechism speaks.  So they are looking for all sorts of experiences which give them the lift which they seem to need.  So they jump from one experience to the next.  We read in Scripture that in the greater part of eternal life which is to come, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away, Rev.21:4.  Yes, we'll experience all of that in eternal life.  But the thing which I notice is thousands and thousands of people who want all of this right away – right now.  No more tears.  No more death.  They ask God to take that away from them, and imagine that there is something defective about their faith when people get sick and there is no immediate spiritual healing.  They look for the gifts of the Spirit in such a way that the old order of things, which certainly WILL PASS AWAY, passes away already.

This is a sad and sorry road, this jumping from experience to experience.  And one of the saddest things which I notice in so many of these people is that they no longer patiently wait for the Lord.

What is eternal life? True enough, believers must already experience the JOY of belonging to God in this part of eternal life.  It saddens me, and it saddens God even more, when people hear the good news of Jesus, but there is little resultant JOY in their lives.  If they didn't tell you that they believed in God and went to church and so on, you'd never guess it.  They have no desire to relate any experience of JOY IN THE LORD to others because they seem not to have it for themselves.  Even among the many sad things which we experience in this life there are those special moments when we have a real awareness of the presence and power of God when in heart and soul we are drawn upwards to the Lord, and when in prayer we are hardly a part of the earth anymore.  All this is part of the eternal life which Jesus whom we love has given to us.  And it's so very sad when I hear believers tell me, "I never experience any of that."

Nevertheless this is still very different from jumping from one special experience to another all the time, and wondering, "What's the matter with me?" or "What's the matter with my faith; is it real?" when there are times of sorrow and sickness and even some depression.  The Bible tells us that we will have our spiritual struggles, and that out of these struggles we'll grow, and that they produce greater patience and more perseverance.  Only recently I was talking with a friend who is struggling with some of these matters.  I pointed out that in some of the churches where spiritual experiences, are very important, there are often hundreds and thousands of people who come forward to receive healing (spiritual healing, physical healing, mental healing) during the course of a year.  But so few of these people stay.  That's not my observation, but the observation of some of their leaders.  "But why is that?" they ask.

Eternal life I what is it? Those who possess it possess it because they have been touched by the power of God who is mighty to save.  Those who possess it know that in both life and death they are not their own, but belong to their faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.  Those who possess it know that in both times of sickness and health, and during good and lean years, their God is still always with them.  Those who possess eternal life love their Saviour, and have hope for today and tomorrow, and even greater hope for the greater joy which is to come.  There will come a time when God calls us out of our graves.  Everything that was sinful or sin-affected will be no more then.  At that time all the saints will have been gathered together, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth.  Everything will be church!  Everything will be completely joined to Jesus our Saviour.  Our fellowship with God will be perfect.  Our fellowship with each other will be perfect.  For then, you see, we will really know and understand our God.  And we will see Him face to face.  Of that glory we can hardly speak with human words.  Our language is inadequate.  Our minds are still too small.

What is eternal life?  If you have fellowship with God, you have it.  If you love your Saviour, you'll experience it.  But not yet perfectly!  You still have a greater JOY to hope for, such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no man has ever imagined; a blessedness in which to praise God eternally.  Therefore the prayer on the lips of all those who experience this joy in part right now, and for all those whose hope is the Lord even when there are sad times, and we experience adversities – yes, the prayer on our lips is not, "Lord, I want that now," for that will not be given us.  But our prayer should be, "Oh Lord Jesus, please come and come quickly."

AMEN.