If you are anything like me, you’ve probably spent quite a lot of time thinking about eternal life. Sermons are preached about it, books are written on the topic, and it regularly pops up in Bible studies and group discussions.<\/p>\n
Questions like “What is it? Where is it? How is it? Will I get bored?<\/em>” are the basic fodder of the topic. People jokingly say “Please don’t let me be a cherub playing a harp on a fluffy cloud”, but behind that comment there is an underlying uncertainly. What if the renaissance artists were right? Surely there will be more than that.<\/p>\n The phrase ‘eternal life’ appears 41 times<\/strong> in the Bible, primarily in the New Testament.\u00a0\u00a0Overall, the terms related to eternal life can be found\u00a048 times<\/strong> throughout the Bible, indicating its importance in Christian doctrine. However, there’s a big “but” here; nowhere does it say that eternal life is everlasting life or life without end, so what is it?<\/p>\n Let me say up front that I don’t know the answer to that question. It is way beyond my pay grade. We do know that Jesus is the only person who had died and reappeared in a resurrected body. Given that the invisible God chose to appear in human form and live as a human, it is equally possible that Jesus reappeared as a human to show us that God had broken the power of Sin and Death.<\/p>\n As a starting point we should look at the biblical passages that refer to eternal life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In each of these verses and throughout the New Testament, the Greek word used for ‘eternal life’ is ‘ai\u014dnios’ drawn from the root word ‘ai\u014dn<\/em>‘, which more specifically means ‘age’ or ‘era’ as in Bronze age, Iron age, or computer age, all of which are eras that are distinctly different from what previously existed. Greek had other terms like ‘aidios’ for something more strictly eternal\/timeless. The preference for ai\u014dnios suggests the biblical authors often had the “age” framework in mind (this age vs. the age to come).<\/p>\n Given this information, it is worth considering the possibility that the NT writers had something different in mind when they referred to eternal life. Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven has come to earth, and in the Lord’s Prayer he told us to pray that God’s kingdom come to earth and that God’s will be done on earth. These are paradigm shifts, different eras, if you wish. They are not something in the future that we hope for.<\/p>\n The Gospel writer, John indicates that there is something about eternal life that is not about where we go after death. He writes “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) and “Whoever believes has eternal life” (John 6:47). In both passages, John is quoting Jesus, lending significant authority to the statements.<\/p>\n Earlier I said that Jesus’ death defeated Sin and Death which I believe is true, but it raises the question about the nature of the death referred to in this claim. It is probably fair to say that we all agree that Sin is not a physical entity, but it is a breach in our relationship with God. Sin is prioritising self over others and God; it is the unwillingness to see the nature of God in the people around us and in the natural world in which we live. In and of ourselves, we cannot break Sin’s power over us, but Jesus did this on the cross. So what about the death of Death? If Jesus broke the power of Death on the cross, what might that look like?<\/p>\n The immediate assumption is that the event refers to physical death because there is biblical reference to graves opening and the bodies of the dead appearing in the city when Jesus died (Matthew 27:52-53), and of course, the main event: Jesus’ resurrection from death on the third day. What if the resurrection itself points beyond restored physical life to something even greater\u2014the arrival of God’s Kingdom among humanity?<\/p>\n Getting back to the meaning of ‘eternal life’. I would like to suggest that believers transition into a different age (or eon) of spiritual state of awareness. I’ve heard many people say that the world seems brighter after accepting Christ. As if everything is seen through new lenses. This makes sense to me as it aligns with my belief that Jesus’ death on the cross fully accomplished everything that he came to do.<\/p>\n Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus contrasts two kinds of existence.\u00a0Not physical life vs immortal life\u00a0but life apart from God\u00a0versus\u00a0participation in God’s own life.\u00a0That would explain why Jesus can say, “Whoever believes has<\/strong> eternal life.”\u00a0The life isn’t postponed until after death.\u00a0The believer has entered God’s life already. It is a life lived in awareness of God’s presence.<\/p>\n I believe the defining characteristic of eternal life is not its duration but its relationship. It is not time-based existence but awareness-based experience. If we were to measure eternity at all, perhaps we should measure it in the depth of our experience of God rather than the length of time spent with God.<\/p>\n Post your thoughts in the Comments below.<\/p>\n\n\nKey Verses on Eternal Life<\/h5>\n
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