Eternal Life
Eternal life is a key theme throughout John’s gospel. The kind of life John is presenting is the kind that begins in the present and will continue forever. It is life from God (1:13; 3:3, 5). Life that never ends sounds cool and all, but only if there is a certain quality to it. Eternal life according to John is marked by the love of God (3:16; 13:34-35; 1 John 4:8-12). So then we should say that eternal life is to know and enjoy God’s life and love. This should be incredibly appealing to us.
I suppose we could pull ourselves together physically and emotionally and we might enjoy a reasonable life; that is, until we die. We can follow health guidelines to the letter, but, in the end, cancer or a car will kill us. We can try to not be an emotional train wreck and we might get to enjoy some loving relationships, but there’s still a catch. There’s always the risk of that friend or spouse dying or walking out. Even the best life the world can offer is terribly flawed. Instead, Jesus offers us the life and love we’ve always wanted. Its life so long and love so deep it can never be exhausted. He offers us God’s own life and love.
Only Jesus can give us eternal life. I know to some of us that will sound painfully exclusive at best and intellectually bigoted at worst. However, if we consider Jesus closely we can see why eternal life is only through faith in Him. John 3:13-16 gives us three reasons.
Jesus is God (v. 13). Look at verse 13: “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” Here Jesus is emphasizing his authority to welcome people into Heaven’s life and love. Jesus is saying, “I can do this because heaven is my home in the first place.” Jesus is God with the Father and Spirit. As God in himself he has brought heaven to earth. Therefore, only He welcome us into the life and love of God.
Jesus gives us life (v. 14-15). Look at verses 14-15: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Jesus is using an event from the Old Testament to explain that he will give his life so that we can live.Anyone who looks to the crucified and risen Jesus will live forever.
Jesus share’s his love with us (v. 16). Verse 16 says, “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 explains that God sent Jesus to give eternal life to those who believe. Further, John explains that the Father sent the Son out of the overflow of his love. Through faith in Christ we can know and enjoy God’s love forever.
This is really good news for us. This means that we don’t have to pull ourselves together to enjoy God’s life and love. It also means that if our life is falling apart we can still enjoy God’s life and love. We can know and enjoy God’s life and love by helpless and humbly trusting Jesus.
