Mensa Otabil - Eternal Life
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1 John 2:25 — «And this is the promise that He has promised us: eternal life». Eternal life is at the heart of Christianity; that’s what our life with God is all about. Jesus came to give us eternal life, and a person can exist, be sustained, eat food, survive, and still not have eternal life. So, eternal life is not just talk about living life; it doesn’t even talk about just endless life, but it’s talking about a quality of life that is in relationship with God. Your parents cannot give you eternal life; they can give you life. Your church cannot give you eternal life; the pastor cannot give you eternal life.
Eternal life is only given through Christ Jesus; He is the source of eternal life. There are some aspects of eternal life we want to look at. There are four of them that we want to examine. First, eternal life is salvation from sin. As nice as our parents are and as nice as our churches are, no church can take away your sins. Only Christ forgives us of our sins, and God knew that the power of sin was so strong that human beings could not save themselves and could not get rid of their own sin. That’s why God Himself became man; He came in the form of a man, Jesus Christ, to save us from something we couldn’t save ourselves from.
So, at the heart of eternal life is salvation from sin, and the one who gives us salvation from sin is the Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God With Us. Eternal life does not end with salvation from sin; it also means deliverance from the control of Satan. When we say that a person has eternal life, it means that Satan does not control the person any longer. The person has been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light. A person who has eternal life is not under Satan’s control in any form. Satan does not govern our lives; he’s not the Lord of our lives; he’s not the master of our lives. We don’t live to please him; we live to please God. Because we have power in Christ, we are not under Satan’s control; that is what eternal life is: deliverance from the power of darkness.
Thirdly, eternal life is the grace God gives us, the power He gives us to live righteously. Living a righteous life is not just about self- effort and self-discipline, but it is a Spirit- controlled life. It’s a life that is controlled by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit guiding you, leading you, and you’re responding to His guidance. That is how we overcome sin; you don’t overcome sin by just being tough and saying, «I will not sin, I will not sin.» That’s not how you do it. You do it by saying, «Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, lead me, guide me; I submit to You.» Just going into the Bible, reading the words of Jesus Christ, and endeavoring to do the words of Jesus Christ- that is how we overcome sin, because His grace is our sufficiency over every power of sin.
Finally, eternal life is deliverance from eternal damnation or eternal punishment. This means that a person with eternal life is guaranteed that when they die, they are not going to hell. Remember, there is a resurrection at the end of this age, but not all resurrected go to everlasting life; some go to everlasting damnation. I pray that is not the end for any person who is listening to me, as it is not God’s desire that anyone should perish. May God grant us the gift of eternal life, and you receive it basically by asking Him to come into your heart and forgive you of your sins.
Let’s pray together. Say with me: Heavenly Father, I receive forgiveness of sin and the gift of salvation from You in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.