Eternal Life
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Stories about living forever
Fountain of youth, Spring of immunity
“I want to live forever”
Why these stories?
So love can last
So comfort can last
So health can last
So pleasures can last
Do death won’t come
Death is inevitable
Ecclesiastes 9:2 “2 It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked…”
People die. Their bodies return to the dirt, as ours will do in due time.
In light of this, man has sought for answers.
In medicine
In philosophy
In paganism… and to no avail. A life will still breathe its last in due time
The Biblical concept of eternal life, is not the same as the worldly concept of everlasting life.
Eternal life cannot be spent on earth
Eternal life cannot be attained by us alone
Eternal life involves no sin / pain
Simply put, eternal life is eternally more glorious, than anything our temporal minds could ever conceive.
If there be a life such as this out there, and it be as glorious as what we are about to read… may you lay down your idols and creeds, fall down at the feet of Almighty God this morning, and submit your life to him in faith, and baptism.
There are 3 predominant gifts / promises of the gospel
Forgiveness of sins
Gift of the HS
Eternal Life
It is this, that we wish to define and discuss this morning
1. What Is Eternal Life?
1. What Is Eternal Life?
Eternal life… first… is life
And what is life, but existence?
The path between your birth and your death
The substance between it
It could be a life of happiness or sadness
Fortune or poverty
Disable or well
Saved or unsaved
And if we have been given this “life”
And we understand its finitude
And we understand its limitations
And we understand its futility
We then can draw a faint sketch of what eternity might be like, without all these limitations
And even more, answer the question: “How is it that we live, with the the perception of ANOTHER life…called.. eternity?”
Well as we discussed last week, God is in eternity…
Isaiah 43:13 “13 “Even from eternity I am He.”
Genesis 1:1 “1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
But in the gospel accounts, a man named Jesus claimed authority to bestow something similar, called eternal life…
Interesting
Now none of us are eternal, in the sense that
1. We aren’t God
2. We are created beings.
But all of us will live past this existence (life) … John 11:25 “25 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,”
And we will live past this existence… in one of 2 eternal locales (places)
Eternal punishment… eternal life
46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
So beyond THIS life, there is, ANOTHER existence
Life… or Punishment
Notice… both are technically life after death!
But only one is described as life… why?
Because the term “life” in the Bible can refer, not only to existence… but to the QUALITY of one’s existence!
In fact, the eternal life that a Christian so longs for after he dies, is actually experienced right now in present time!
47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life…
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
But again I ask… what is this eternal life?
It is indeed, life
It is an everlasting existence beyond our earthly abode
It is a life in contrast to eternal punishment
It is a current possession of those faithful unto Christ
But what is it?
I believe to fully grasp it… or to grasp it in a way our limited minds can… we must look to THE life, Jesus Christ
John 1:4 “4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”
If life, is in Him… then there cannot be life, apart from Him… (whatever this life is)
1 John 5:11 “… God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”
An exclusive statement. Life… namely eternal life… is found ONLY, in Jesus Christ
And if it is only found in Jesus Christ… then if there be anyone here today who has not Christ? Then you have not eternal life.
And again I ask what is it?
And in the final analysis all I can muster from my insignificant wisdom… is that eternal life is the Christian’s gift. And the quality of that gift is greater than any man could ever put into words. But I know this… that without it I’d perish.
For God so loved the World…
2. How To Obtain Eternal Life?
2. How To Obtain Eternal Life?
It is promised
14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
3. Can Eternal Life Be Lost?
3. Can Eternal Life Be Lost?
A Christian can leave their faith/justification
Does that mean Jesus only gives temporal life? Jesus should’ve said: “I give you temporal life”
Doesn’t eternal life mean eternal?
Eternality — Unconditionality
The question is not, does Jesus give eternal life. He does! He says he does!
But Jesus gives it conditionally… you have to believe, you have to be living by faith.
… that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
… the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
We are justified by aith! So if you no longer have faith, you will no longer have eternal life bc it is conditional!
There will be a time where it is once saved always saved.
In heaven… no sin, no devil, no trial, temptations
But while we are on THIS earth… the reality is, we are still in these lowly bodies
The devil is still around us
Our faith is tested
21 After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Paul knew it was possible to leave the faith. Leave Christianity
Jesus gives eternal life, absolutely! But faith is the condition
If you leave the faith you leave your justification
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
…
29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Conclusion
Conclusion
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,
