128 The Promises of God - Talk 9 - The Promise of Eternal Life - a podcast by Dr David Petts - Pentecostal preacher, former AoG Bible College Principal

from 2021-04-09T06:00

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Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 128

The Promises of God Talk 9

The Promise of Eternal Life

In our last talk we looked at the wonderful promise of victory over death. We concentrated our attention mainly on 1 Corinthians 15 and saw that Christ’s resurrection guarantees ours. Today our subject is the promise of eternal life, which is clearly closely related. Since victory over death is guaranteed, it must surely follow that we have eternal life. This is confirmed in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:

 

  1. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
  2. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

 

But, of course, the return of Christ is still a future event - notice how often the word will occurs in the verses we’ve just quoted - so does this mean that we will have to wait until then before we receive eternal life? The fact that verses like 1 John 2:25 and James 1:12 use the word promise might well be seen as suggesting this.

 

1 John 2:25

And this is the promise that he made to us - eternal life

 

James 1:12

...the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

 

However, although these and other NT verses speak of eternal life as something we will receive, several other verses seem to indicate that we already have it.

 

John 3:36

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

 

John 5:24

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

 

John 6:54

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

 

1 John 5:11-13, 20

  1. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
  2. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
  3. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

 

So eternal life is present already and yet it’s still in the future. How do we explain this? This is just another aspect of the already/not yet of our salvation. The NT expresses our salvation in three tenses - past, present, and future:

 

I have been saved (from the penalty of sin)

I am still being saved (from the power of sin)

I will be saved (from the presence of sin, when Jesus comes again).

 

But how does this apply to eternal life? If I already have eternal life, in what sense have I yet to receive it? The answer lies in something we were looking at in our last talk. Since the Fall (as a result of Adam’s disobedience) all humanity has been subject to death. Our bodies are mortal. To make matters worse, because of our own disobedience (not just Adam’s) we are all spiritually dead - unless we accept God’s gracious gift of eternal life by receiving Jesus as our Saviour. When we do, our sins are forgiven, we are no longer ‘in Adam’ but ‘in Christ’. And to be in Christ is to have eternal life:

 

God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son (1 John 5:11).

 

So in what sense is our eternal life still in the future? We need to understand that although we have eternal life now, our bodies are still mortal. The passages which refer to eternal life as future are to do with the resurrection of our bodies. Spiritually we’re already born again, but we’re waiting for the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23). When Jesus comes again our salvation will be complete. Our mortal bodies will put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53-54). Jesus did all that was necessary for our salvation when he died on the cross and rose again three days later. But the final outworking of the victory he won at Calvary will not be seen until he comes again. It is then that eternal life in all its fulness will begin.

 

But what about after we die, but before Jesus returns? And what about now?

 

 

 

The Intermediate State

The situation with regard to Christians who have died before Jesus returns is sometimes referred to as ‘the intermediate state’. The New Testament in particular is very clear that death is not the end of human existence. In Matthew 22:32 the Lord Jesus made clear to the doubting Sadducees not only that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would one day rise from the dead, but that they were even ‘living’ at that very moment. To the repentant thief on the cross Jesus said, Today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43).

 

Some have suggested that the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) is simply a case of Jesus using current Jewish thought and not intended to be taken literally. But if that were so Jesus’ teaching would be extremely misleading, to say the least! What is clear is that both the rich man and Lazarus were alive after death, but that they were both in very different separate places.

 

So there is life after death for everyone. Those who have not received Jesus as their Saviour have good reason to fear death for it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Christians, on the other hand, have  no need to fear death. Consider the following scriptures:

 

Psalm 23:4-6

  1. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
  2. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
  3. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 

Hebrews 2:14-15

  1. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
  2. and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

 

Revelation 14:13

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them!”

 

Romans 8:35-39

  1. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
  2. As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
  3. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
  4. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth,
  5. nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

2 Corinthians 5:6-8

  1. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,
  2. for we walk by faith, not by sight.
  3. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

 

Philippians 1:21-23

  1. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
  2. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
  3. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

 

These scriptures show that not only do we have no reason to fear death, but they also give an indication of what our eternal life will be like before we receive our new bodies when Jesus comes again.

 

It will be far better than life here on earth

We will be at rest

We will be blessed

We will dwell in the house of the Lord

We will be at home with the Lord

We will be with Christ

 

Eternal life now

As we have seen, several verses in the NT teach that we already have eternal life. Yet it’s clearly very different from the dimension of eternal life that we will experience once Jesus comes again. We’re still waiting for the redemption of our bodies and we’re still living in a fallen world. We still get sick and we still die. Note the contrast between present suffering and future glory in the following passage.

 

 

 

Romans 8:18-25

  1. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
  2. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
  3. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
  4. that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
  5. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
  6. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
  7. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
  8. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

 

So our experience of eternal life now is manifested in the midst of suffering, in the confident assurance of a glorious future for which we are patiently waiting. We may be groaning inwardly as we are eagerly awaiting our adoption, but we already have the firstfruits of the Spirit. It will by the power of the Spirit that our bodies will be raised from the dead when Jesus returns and that Spirit lives within us now (Romans 8:11). Through the Spirit we are already enjoying a taste of the powers of the age to come (Hebrews 6:4-5). We are experiencing already many of the blessings of eternal life. We know Jesus and to know him is eternal life (John 17:3). But how much better will we know him in the future! As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:12, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

 

Finally, let me ask you a question. Are you sure that you have eternal life? It’s available to you right now as a free gift. Romans 6:23 says:

 

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And you receive it by putting your trust in Jesus as your Saviour:

 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

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