H. Nunnerley
“GOD so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
This matchless gift is the great theme of the apostle John. We learn through him that God is a Giver, and, in the greatness of His love He gives life eternal, and He gives it in His Son.
It was ever the intention of God that man should have eternal life, it was promised in Christ Jesus before the world began (¤ Titus 1:2), and it was the end God had in view when He sent His only begotten Son into the world.
In its essence it was ever in the Son, with the Father. It was manifested in Him when Man down here, it is imparted by Him in resurrection, to those who believe; it is intelligently entered into now by the Spirit; and its end is glory with the Father and the Son.
John and Paul write of eternal life in different aspects. John views it manifested in Christ here. Paul who had never seen Jesus on earth, as far as we know, but who had seen Him in heaven, connects it with Christ in glory. John usually refers to it in its characteristics. Paul in its own proper condition and result before God. It is the same life with Paul, as John; both concur in fixing our gaze upon Christ. Holy Scripture, our sure and infallible guide has much to say on this subject, and a careful study of each occurrence of the expression will reveal its many-sidedness. There we learn that: —
Eternal Life Is a Gift.
The gift of God is eternal life in — not through — Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:23).
This gift can neither be earned nor purchased, the most earnest devotee could never merit it. It is God-given, and bestowed as freely as the air we breathe, and in giving it God expressed the “much more abounding” of His grace, for grace reigns, “through righteousness unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:21). Grace is love stooping to bless and enrich its object, without the imposition of any condition.
How It Is Obtained.
“He that heareth My word” (the Son of God is the speaker) “and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life” (John 5:24).
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” (John 3:16).
It is by hearing the voice of the Son of God, and believing on the One who sent Him, that men may possess it. Nothing can be more simple, clear, and emphatic than these scriptures. He who hears, and believes, hath eternal life.
Moreover it is God’s will that the believer should know that the gift which matchless love bestows, and which faith by the Spirit’s power appropriates, is truly his.
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that YE MAY KNOW that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
The Lord also adds in John 5:24 that those who hear and believe have already passed “out of death into life” (R.V.), and “We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren “(1 John 3:14). Life, divine life, expresses itself in love toward the whole family of God, for no less a circle than this is included in the words “the brethren.”
Until the actual communication of this new life by the quickening voice of the Son of God there could be no love for the children of God, for the world hates them (John 17:18), so that to love the brethren is an undoubted proof that we have passed out of death into life.
Faith in God through listening to the “sent One” gives life.
Love to all saints is proof of life possessed.
Much misapprehension has arisen as to eternal life by confining its meaning to the endless duration of existence, and the eternal security of those who possess this life.
It is an endless life, and all who have it are eternally secure; our Lord’s words in John 10:28 leave no room for doubt as to this, “I give unto My sheep eternal life and THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH.” None of Christ’s sheep shall be lost. Their eternal security is thus pledged. The Father and the Son hold them in their hands and none shall pluck them thence. Security is thus assured, but “never perish” refers to the sheep, not to the gift bestowed; the gift of life eternal is more than security, or an endless existence. Many rest satisfied with knowing that this gift is theirs and that they are eternally secure, without making themselves at all fully acquainted with its scope and meaning.
Eternal life has many aspects. If we would view it in its essence, beginning, fullness, and perfection, we must first of all contemplate.
Its Manifestation in Jesus.
The apostle John speaks of its manifestation in the world, “that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us)” (1 John 1-2).
The world looked upon Jesus and only saw in Him the “carpenter’s son,” but the eyes of the apostles were anointed by the Holy Spirit, and they saw a life that had come out of eternity into time, a life, the roots and springs of which were not of this world, but that found its joy and sustenance in the conscious knowledge of the blessed relationship that exists between the Father and the Son. While He was here on earth He was the eternal life with the Father as in ages that were passed. The disciples saw this life manifested here, His very words were the words of eternal life, for they were the revelation of the Father, “and this is life eternal that they should know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Thy sent One” (John 17:3 N.T.).
We cannot separate the manifestation of this life from the manhood of the. Lord, for it was in manhood that He manifested it.
The mystery of the person of the Son is inscrutable, for “no man knoweth the Son but the Father”; but we know that He was truly Man, born of the virgin, and He poured out His soul unto death (Isa. 53:12). He was, and is, the eternal life with the Father; He was, and is, “God over all blessed forever.”
In His Godhead none can share, man is not “absorbed” therein, nor is Deity communicated to us. In the essence of His being the Son ever dwells in unapproachable light, He is Jehovah’s equal, the “I am,” the self-existing One. He “is the true God, and Eternal Life.”
Let us then fix our gaze on Jesus, a Man moving about among men, and behold the “Eternal Life which was with the Father.” Let us contemplate the adorable Person, whom the apostles heard, saw, and handled; let us have fellowship with them, for their fellowship was with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Eternal life has been manifested, its full display is in the “Word of Life.” In the ways and words of the Son of Man, who was “in heaven” though on earth, the Son in the bosom of the Father, whilst declaring Him here.
Life Is Imparted to the Believer.
In His life here the Lord was the Corn of wheat that abode alone (John 12:24), and it was absolutely necessary that He should die in order that we might participate in eternal life. But we know Him now as the “last Adam” — Head of a new race. He is a life-giving Spirit, and the life that He gives is His own life, it is set forth in Him, the Second Man, once uplifted upon the cross of shame, now risen out of death. It is life in resurrection, a life not only clear of all condemnation and death, but capable of sharing all the holy intimacies of divine affection with the Father and the Son.
It is not Adam-life restored to innocence, or fallen nature improved; it is a life divine in its origin, heavenly in its character, holy in its nature, given to us in the Son.
“He that hath the Son hath life.” Life is never separated from the Son, it is ever in Him, though imparted to us. He is the source, spring, energy and power of it, and we live of His life subjectively; while He Himself is the object of it. He is our life. God “hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”
We do not wish for a moment to weaken the truth that there is an actual life communicated, individually, to every Christian. We only wish to emphasize the fact that eternal life is inseparable from the Son, Who is its Source and Giver, and that believers have it in association with Him.
Eternal life is a life of communion, a participation in divine relationships, an experimental knowledge of the Father and His sent One. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3).
Christ, in whom eternal life was manifested, ever had the Father as His object, hence this life is one of communion with the Father; it was a heavenly life in this world; it belonged to the home He had left, and He ever looked away from antagonistic surroundings, and found His life and joy in that home.
His life, lived before men in all the gracious activities of mercy, love, goodness, was, in its true origin and sphere, a life lived outside the world, a life of intimacy, affection and communion, He was ever “with the Father.”
To know the Father is to live, to know Jesus Christ whom He has sent is life indeed.
In ordinary language we speak of a life we have, and a life we live. Paul lived by the faith of the Son of God, who had loved him, and given Himself for him; henceforth the entrancing object of Paul’s life, was the “Son of God.” The world was not the place of his life and hopes, but that circle of divine affections in which the Son of God was at home.
The outward effect of this was a life of affection for the saints, the excellent of the earth-a life of self-denying love for man in his misery; but this was only the outcome: he knew the Father and the Son; he had “part” in the home circle; he lived in spirit “in life’s eternal home”; and so he acted like the Lord in a world of sin.
The Food of Eternal Life.
“Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood hath eternal life (John 6:54). This does not refer to the Eucharist:” eating My flesh is the daily, hourly, appropriation of Christ as the living Bread, the Bread of God, the Bread of Life, the living Bread which came down from heaven: a heavenly Man though in earthly surroundings. That men might have life, He gave up His. He gave up His life for the life of the world.
The meat is His flesh, the drink His blood; “My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed” (vs. 51).
“He that eateth, dwelleth in Me, and I in Him” (vs. 56).
“He that eateth me shall live by me” (vs. 57).
First, life forever; then a life of communion; next a life lived on account of Him, even as He lived on account of the Father. Thus Christ Himself, in life and death — the full declaration of the love and grace of God, is the food of this new and heavenly life.
Eternal Life As a Hope.
Scripture also presents eternal life as a hope: “In hope of eternal life” (Titus 1:2): and again as the object of desire, that which we are to covet beyond all riches, to “lay hold” of as 1 Timothy 6:8.
These, and similar scriptures, refer to the heavenly inheritance, the home or sphere, into which believers will actually enter at the coming of the Lord. It is the Father’s house, the true and proper place of the children of God, and all the glory connected therewith. Eternal life has been given to them here in this world, but when they reach the Father’s house they will live the life which is theirs in its suited environment, in its heavenly and natural element.
All Christians are heavenly by birth and association, but, in this world they are like a man in a diving bell, sustained by that which is above. Bring him to the surface and he will live in, as well as by, the air which sustained him below.
Our hope and glorious future is to live the life we have in the home to which that life belongs.
Carry your thoughts heavenward. The path of life through death led the Son of God, as Man, to a home where there is fullness of joy and where are pleasures for evermore. How different are the surroundings in which He is now found to those in which He moved here as the Man of Sorrows! The Father’s love to the Son, and the Son’s to the Father; the glory given to the Son, and the glory brought to the Father by the Son, are some of the elements of that holy and happy home. There all the children of God shall live together with the Son and the Father! They shall eat of the Tree of Life, feed upon the hidden Manna, walk with Him in white, in the paradise of God. Unhindered and uninterrupted communion with the Father and the Son will be theirs. Christ is ever their life; as much now as when they shall be with Him, but hope looks forward to the joys of that blessed place, where He now is.
When the Lord comes He will conduct them into the Father’s house; and they shall be in the cloudless enjoyment of eternal life, in company with the Source and Giver, and participate in the glorious and unhindered activities of life in spiritual and glorious bodies in perfect harmony and consonance therewith.
Eternal Life on Earth.
Eternal Life is also connected with blessing on the earth; in the millennial reign of Christ it is associated with Mount Zion; “there the Lord commanded the blessing even life for evermore” (Psa. 133:3). In the synoptic gospels life is usually spoken of as something to be entered into or inherited.
Those forsaking all for Christ “shall inherit everlasting life” (Matt. 19:29). “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life” (Mark 10:17; cf. also Luke 10:25; 18:18). Jerusalem will be the glorious center from whence the blessing will flow out world-wide during that glorious reign of Christ, and life will be known and enjoyed by His earthly people Israel in company with the Messiah. This is Israel’s portion, and will be the fulfillment of many promises of God to them. It is obvious that eternal life is spoken of in Scripture as life lived in a congenial scene, as well as life possessed by those who live there.
For a Christian, the Father’s house and the glory of it is the scene of life. But for redeemed Israel and the saved amongst the nations on earth during the millennium, Mount Zion (the earthly Jerusalem) will be its center.
We thus gather from Scripture that God has given eternal life to all who believe in the Son of God.
It is a free gift expressing the love of God.
We may know we possess it.
It has been manifested in Jesus.
It is imparted to the believer, but never separated from the Son. He that hath the Son hath life.
The knowledge of the Father and the Son is its privilege and characteristic.
The flesh and blood of Christ is its food.
The one who possesses it shall never perish.
The home of divine affections is its consummation.
“Who shall to me that joy
Of saint-thronged courts declare,
Tell of that constant sweet employ
My spirit longs to share.”
It will be participated in by the earthly saints on Mount Zion, as well as the heavenly ones in the New Jerusalem, where its full result will be found.
The term involves a life communicated, and a life lived, and also a suited sphere of life.