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We all heard the saying everyone wants to go
to heaven and but no one wants to die. Well
why does it have to be one or the other?
How about having both, heaven and life without
death? Only, we’re talking about “Eternal Life, Do
We Get It Now or Later?
The comfort and assurance of Christianity is
that it provides positive proof that life continues
beyond death.
Jesus’ resurrection, tested by the skeptics who sought to discredit the inspiration of the Bible, stands the test of time and is a testimonial for the truth of Christianity.
Imagine having an apologetic argument built into the faith so strong that God says if Christ has not been raised, then don’t bother with Christianity. The infidels accepted the challenge but “found no fault with God” on this matter.
Christ’s Resurrection Assures Us of Eternal Life
I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me, (John 14:6). Jesus includes all the saved and excludes all those who seek another way to approach God. Spirituality which leaves out divine revelation is a formula for death.
I am the resurrection and the life, John 11:26. The life of which Christ speaks is the life of the eternal age or resurrection. It is that with which God blesses those who have faith in Christ.
This life was the hope of Christianity, Tit. 1:2, a hope that must be realized in an eschatology of realization, versus one of anticipation and repeated failure for ongoing centuries.
A Relationship With Life
Eternal life is the result of a relationship with the One who is Life. “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20).
This relationship stands over against a life with idols. (1 John 5:21). Some today deny that eternal life is our present blessing because it is spoken of as “hope.”
“And this is the promise that he has promised us-eternal life.” (1 John 2:25)
Eternal Life, Do We Get It Now or Later?
While this life is spoken of as that which one hoped for, the time and context of the statement must be understood. John wrote that in the first century. It was written prior to the Lord’s return in A.D. 70.
The message of Christ presented the coming of the kingdom in connection with the overthrow of Old Covenant Israel. One reason for it’s demise, was that the law of Moses and the Levitical priesthood upon which it was based could not give life.
“For if there could have been a law which could have given life, verily righteousness would have been by the law,” (Gal. 3:21). For that reason, God declared the law unprofitable in that it made nothing perfect regarding the conscious of man in forgiving sins. (Heb. 7:18, 19). See also Heb. 10:1–4.
Since the law was based upon the Levitical priesthood, a system which fell short of atoning for sins through animal sacrifices, God opted to change that system for its inadequacy of obtaining the desired end, -life.
“For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.” (Heb. 7:12). Thus, it is actually the Levitical priesthood which required a change of the Law of Moses. Law is based on priesthood.
The Levitical gave way to the priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchizedek, (Heb. 7:17, 21) and a new covenant in which forgiveness is realized, (Heb. 8:10–12).
The Old Covenant World Has Passed Away
Now that the Old Covenant world passed, (the bigger picture behind Christ’s coming in the first century) forgiveness and blotting out of sins is completed once for all time.
That means we are living in the age of life, an age where eternal life is possible and present through the gift and reign of God’s Son and King of kings, and Lord of lords, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Learn more about the blessings made possible by Christ’s return at the end of the Jewish age in the A Study of the Lord’s Second Coming, Re-Examination book.
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