ETERNAL LIFE

Wednesday 29 January

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages. [To all eternity they shall never by any means be destroyed.] And no one is able to snatch them out of My hand. My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all [else]; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of the Father’s hand.(John 10:28-29 (AMPC)

Eternal life. You can never lose it. It is everlasting life with a beginning. It has no end point. These are the 3 things that I want to encourage you with today. As always we must delve into the Word of God to see if these things are so.

The words of Jesus in John 10:28-29 should be a constant source of comfort and assurance to every believer in Christ. Jesus says point blank that nobody can lose eternal life once they have received it.

Hebrews 7:25 says ‘Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.’

The word ‘uttermost’ is ‘panteles’ in Greek and it means completely, perfectly and utterly. It is also all-complete, which tells us beyond all shadow of doubt that this refers to the finished work of salvation. The good news is there is nothing to be added because it was based on Jesus’ performance and He said ‘it is finished’ which means exactly that. These two verses alone should settle the matter. You couldn’t lose it even if you tried although I’m not encouraging you to try! The fact is you can’t undo what you never did. A child that is born can never be unborn.

As believers we are born of the immortal Word of God.

1 Peter 1:23 tells us ‘You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God.

Immortality means, incorruptible and indestructible; cannot be destroyed. How can a Christian ever face destruction in hell? They can’t!

Do you know why no Christian will experience the event called Hell? Because they could stand in the midst of the Lake of Fire and not be destroyed. Why? The indestructibility of eternal life. You may think that this is a stretch but the Bible says,

‘When you walk through the fire you shall not be burned’.

Those who never receive eternal life are the only ones who can be destroyed because they are ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ as the Bible says. That’s why Matthew 10:28 talks about the destruction of body and soul in Gehenna which was a place outside Jerusalem where refuse was burned up. This is why we need to preach the message of grace.

Lastly, eternal life is everlasting life with a beginning point.

‘Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. ‘ (Isaiah 40:2)

This is God who is the uncreated Creator. He was never born but He always has been. He is the one who created time but is not subject to time because He lives outside of time. He is timeless.

When Jesus stepped into time and through His death, burial and resurrection brought salvation to the world; those who accepted received eternal life which is everlasting life with a beginning.

‘I give them eternal life’ Jesus said in John 10:28a . Eternal life for the child of God is an endless life and an endless world.

‘who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.’ Hebrews 7:16

‘Endless’ means indissoluble, not subject to destruction and ‘life’ means absolute fulness of life.

‘Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.’ Ephesians 3:21 ‘world without end’ means an unbroken age.

This is just a brief glimpse into the eternal life we have in the here and now, not in the sweet by and by.

APPLICATION

Be convinced that when Jesus said ‘I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)’, that this the reality of eternal life in the now.