Eternal life is defined not merely as endless existence but as a quality of life characterized by knowing God intimately, a concept Jesus preferred over the term "salvation." This profound knowledge, distinct from factual recall, involves a relational intimacy and fellowship with God, made possible through the new birth. While the full realization of eternal life awaits the age to come, believers possess this quality of life presently, finding contentment and joy in their relationship with God, which enables them to live abundantly even amidst trials. This present possession of eternal life, rooted in Christ's resurrection, offers a spring of joy and purpose that the world cannot provide.
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context from the Gospel by John. The first one is John chapter five and verse twenty-four. The second one is John chapter ten and verse ten. And the third one is John chapter seventeen and verse three. So John chapter five verse twenty-four says, Verily, verily I stand to you. He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath. everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation or judgment, but is passed from death unto life. John chapter ten, verse ten says, The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy.
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. And John chapter seventeen, and verse three says, And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only through God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sang. We're continuing our series on the subject of fulfillment themes. This is the third in this series. We did a series on God's purpose. And we looked at how the purpose of God centers upon our Lord Jesus Christ from Genesis chapter three and verse fifteen all through the word of God.
Now this is our third study on the subject of fulfillment themes. In the first one we looked at the difficult subject of this age and the age to come. And how that our blessed Lord has ushered in this age. And at his second coming, he is going to usher in the age to come. Then in our second message, we looked at the subject of resurrection as the hope of the child of God under the Old Testament economy. And how Christ has brought and raised to life the age to come.
by His own resurrection from the dead, and by our resurrection in Him. So that now we as believers, according to Romans six and verse four and other verses, we now walk in resurrection life, we walk now in newness of life, and that this life of the age to come is ours now. and it is our resource as believers for daily living. That's the essence of the doctrine of sanctification. God has made it available to us.
The very life of Christ is in us. Christ in us is the hope of glory. We read in Colossians three and verse three. And the resurrection life of Christ is our resource for daily living. We want to look at the theme of eternal life. Our Lord seldom used the term salvation. We use it very much. Our Lord very seldom used the term salvation. Now, in comparison to us, he hardly used it at all. But we're on safe ground because the Apostle Paul used it.
He used it regularly. Now is, he said, the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with a heart man believe us unto righteousness and with a mouth confession he's made unto salvation. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. But we have to ask the question, what terminology did the Lord Jesus use? If he didn't use the term salvation, because that was his purpose in coming.
You see, what term did he use? It's a very good question to ask because his purpose for coming was his mission of salvation. From the New Testament, we find that our Lord's preference was for the term life or eternal life. The Gospel by John and in the epistles of John, the words life and eternal life abound. Now, we want to seek tonight in this study to determine why Jesus preferred this term, life and eternal life.
I believe it is a glorious New Testament concept. and one that should bless the heart of the people of God. Now the first instance of eternal life, the expression in the Word of God, is found in the Old Testament in the prophecy of Daniel. And I want you to turn to Daniel chapter twelve and verse two. This is the first time that the expression eternal life appears. Daniel twelve. and verse two. And you'll notice it says in this verse, and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life.
There's the expression, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. It's very clear that in this passage one is centered on the last days. In fact, in particular, He's speaking of the day of the resurrection of the body, which is going to take place at the return of the Lord. For he says, And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, and some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Now this same truth is carried over by our Lord into the New Testament.
And I invite you now to turn to Matthew chapter twenty-five. Matthew twenty five and in Matthew chapter twenty five we're dealing with a subject that our word brought in his teaching on the judgment of the sheep and the goats and in verse forty six we read this Matthew twenty five and verse forty six and these shall go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into life eternal. Here the concept is that of the judgment at the return of the Lord.
Eternal punishment and eternal life in this passage are contrasted. Now I want you to turn to Mark chapter nine and verse forty three. Mark nine and verse forty three. where we read, And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into a life named than having two hands to go into hell, where the fire is never, into the fire that never shall be cleansed. Verse forty-five, And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off, for it is better for thee to enter halt into life than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.
Here, eternal life is contrasted with eternal condemnation, the lake of fire. In John chapter five and verse twenty nine, a few verses from the verse that we had in our opening reading tonight, John chapter five and verse twenty nine, where our Lord is speaking of resurrection again. we read, and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. And you'll notice that that verse, John five, verse twenty nine, closely resembles the first usage of the term eternal life in Daniel chapter twelve and verse two.
But in the twelfth chapter of John, and the twenty-fifth verse, Here, life in this world is contrasted to eternal life. And in the contrast, in John chapter twelve and verse twenty-five, it says, He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hath his life in this world shall keep it until life eternal. Here, life in this world is contrasted to the eternal life of the age to come. The focus in John five, twenty-nine, and John five, twelve, and verse twenty-five, both of these passages deal with the age to come, the life that is going to be ours in the age to come, in a most blessed way, as we sang about tonight, face to face, with Christ my Savior, face to face, what shall it be?
Now, the verses that we read together tonight, John chapter five, John chapter ten, and John chapter seventeen, these verses really tell us something concerning eternal life. In these verses, we learn the necessity for the new birth. To enjoy eternal life, we must have that quality of life because entrance into the kingdom of God as we learn in John chapter three, demands a new principle of life. And that new principle of life is to be born from above.
And that's what that passage means. Born again means to be born from above, to have a spiritual new birth. In John seventeen, where our Lord Jesus prays, and he tells a father concerning his disciples, that they are not of this world, even as he is not of this world, he means something. And we know what he means. He means that the life that we now possess, they are not of this world, even as I am not of this world, is not explainable in terms of anything that is natural.
If you try to explain the new birth on the basis of the natural, and if you try to talk about eternal life on the basis of the natural, you can't do it. Eternal life is a quality of life that is received supernaturally by the new birth. Life, as he's taught in the New Testament by our Lord, is more than existence. is far more than existence. Eternal life is more than endless existence. The wicked are going to exist forever. The wicked exist now.
And they're going to exist forever. This is what the word of God means when it speaks of eternal death. It speaks of an existence wherein man is eternally separated from God. So eternal life means something far greater than existence. In other words, all men exist forever. But existence outside of Christ is not life. In other words, the new must be aware that we do not speak of quantities.
we speak of quality of life. It's not simply that we'll never die, but eternal life is a quality, a quality that has to do with the age to come and is available in the age that now is. That's why when Paul wrote to Timothy, he said to him, bodily exercise profiteth little. But loveliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and that which is to come.
Now, we have to ask a question. What is the quality of life that Jesus gives? Usually, when you speak to people and you ask them, what is eternal life? They usually say eternal life is life that never ends. Well, that's partly true. But it's much, much more than that. It is an equality of life. In John chapter seventeen and verse three, we learn something there. Our word in his prayer says, this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God.
and Jesus Christ whom none has sent. So as we've been dealing on Lord's Day mornings with the knowledge of God, our Lord Jesus equates the knowledge of God in John seventeen as with eternal life. This is life eternal, that they might know these. And when we began that series on the knowing God, can we know God was the question. We started in Jeremiah nine. Remember, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches.
But he's a glory of letting glory in this that he knows me, that he knows me. And that is translated by Paul in first Corinthians chapter one, when the apostle says, but of him are he in Christ Jesus. who of God is made unto us wisdom, even righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. Now then, John seventeen and verse three refers to eternal life as a quality of life, and that quality of life is we know God, our knowledge of God.
Now that word know in the word of God is very important. I believe more centers upon that word than we ever consider. Because the word to know doesn't mean that we have basically a recollection of facts. Oh, I know, two and two are four. Four and four are eight, etc. That's facts. But the word know, it speaks of relationship. It speaks of intimacy. It speaks of fellowship. It speaks of favor. When it speaks of intimacy, the first time the word is used in Scripture, it is used concerning Adam, and Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bear a son.
An intimate relationship with. To know God is to have an intimate relationship with Him. And God says that of us in Amos chapter... In verse two he says to Israel, you only have I known of all the families of the earth. Didn't God know there were other Gentile families? He knew every one of them. He knows all things. But when he uses the word know there, he's speaking of a relationship that he had with Israel that he didn't have with anybody else. And when the word of God says who he did for, no, he also did predestinate. He's talking about an intimate relationship with his elect people that God doesn't have with those who are not in the family of God and with those who have not believed.
You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Now, with that in mind, I'd like you to turn to Jeremiah chapter nine and verse twenty-four. I just quoted it, but we're going to turn to it. I want you to notice what it says. Jeremiah chapter nine and verse twenty-four. We begin at verse twenty-three. Thus saith the Lord. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Neither let the mighty man glory in his might. And let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this.
That he understandeth and knoweth. that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight saith the Lord. Here you see the word know in the greatness of its meaning. Look over at Jeremiah chapter thirty-one. Jeremiah chapter thirty-one. and we want verse thirty four but we read and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more here we find that to know is far more than just a knowledge of facts.
You see, outside of Christ, a man does not know God. He can't know Him. Notice John chapter seventeen and verse twenty-five. The last verse of that great prayer of the Lord in John seventeen where our Lord says, O Father, The world hath not known thee. It's verse, yes, it's the second last verse. O righteous father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou has sent me.
The man outside of Christ does not know God. He does not know eternal life. And with that in mind, go back to John eight. and verse seventeen in John chapter eight our Lord is speaking in the temple and the Pharisees are arguing with him and it's a continual argument to the eighth chapter of John on the subject of knowing John chapter eight verse nineteen we read then said they unto him where is thy father Jesus answered ye neither know me nor my father did they know Christ in a natural way when they saw him yes they knew him but he says they didn't know him if he had known me you should have known my father also now we move on and we look over at verse fifty four same chapter and he our word said Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing.
It is my Father that honoreth me of whom ye say that he is your God, that ye have not known him, but I know him. And if I should say I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you, but I know him and keep him safe. Oh, that word no. In our Sunday school lesson this morning in Galatians chapter four, where the apostle says to the Galatians, After that ye have known God, but rather are known of God. Ah, that speaks of the intimate relationship that we have with him.
Look at John chapter sixteen and verse three. John sixteen and verse three, where we read. And these things they will do unto you because they have not known the Father nor me. And our Lord here is speaking of the quality of life that Jesus gives. And that quality of life is a genuine knowledge of God. Now, man is on a continual pursuit of trivia. Because he cannot find satisfaction, he cannot find contentment, and he cannot find real meaning to life.
In fact, man, apart from Christ, cannot find the purpose for which he was created. And the purpose for which he was created was that he might have fellowship with God. And only the Lord through the new birth can provide that. Now we come to the crux of the matter. Believers now possess that eternal quality of life. We possess it now. Now.
That's why when I mentioned in that first sermon on fulfilled themes that our word ushered in this age and the age to come, it links the first advent and the second advent of Christ together. And while in the first usage of the term eternal life and in our words usage of the term eternal life, It carries us right into the resurrection, and it carries us into the judgment, the final judgment, and it carries us right into the eternal ages with our Lord.
However, eternal life, beloved, is a present possession. Why? While the quality of eternal life can never be known by those who are outside of Christ, because they know not God and they know not Christ. They are constantly in the business of continual searching for trivia. They're never content. We have found contentment in whatever state we are. That's what Paul said to Philippians, to the Philippians. In Philippians four, verse eleven, I have found I have learned, he says, that in whatsoever state I am, there will to be content.
Why is a believer content? A believer is content because he has found contentment, and he has found contentment in the person of our Lord Jesus. What does it mean to be content? It means, according to Romans chapter five, verse five, that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us. And that enables us to do something. And Paul tells us there in Romans five what it is. We glory in tribulation also. Aren't we a strange bunch in comparison to the world?
We glory in tribulation also. Why? we have found contentment in the knowledge of God. And that contentment in the knowledge of God goes all the way back to being born from above. And the contentment is in this life. That's why Paul, when he wrote to the Hebrews, for I believe he wrote the book of Hebrews in chapter thirteen, He says, let your life be without covetousness. And be content with such things as you have, for he has promised, I will never leave thee.
I will never, never, never forsake thee. See, our greatest joy as believers is to boast that we know God. He that boasts of, let him boast in the Lord. He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And that's the essence. of Jeremiah chapter nine verse twenty in knowing God we have a spring of joy and gladness that far exceeds anything that this world ever dreamed of for we have found life we have found the one who says and means what he says I am come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly a number of years ago we had a Christmas banquet at the country club and John Mike Thomas from Chapel Hill spoke on that text in John ten I am come the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy but I am come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly and what a message he had that night I
know you all remember it but anyway He lifted us into the presence of God to show how Satan robs. The thief cometh to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But I am come, he says, that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly. And we have found a fountain of youth. We have found a spring of joy that the world knows nothing of. We boast. in our knowledge of God. Now, beloved, in the final analysis, this is a blessing that we hold out to men and to women, to boys and girls on the basis of the gospel.
We have something to offer. We have the universal offer of the gospel to give to the world. We can save in the Samuel. We found him of whom Moses and the land of prophets did right. We have found life, and we have found life eternal. In Christ, we have found life, yea, we have found abundant life. In all, this is a glorious truth. We have it when, right now.
The age to come, and the power of the age to come, is ours now, because Christ has arisen from the dead. And to bring a future study into this present one on this age of fulfillment, because you and I are linked to the head of the church, the body has to go where the head is. We can't miss it, friends. We can't miss it.
And it's ours to enjoy now. You know, I believe that one of the greatest tests that we possess, among other believers, is to spread that contagious joy that should radiate from every one of us as we learn to know God better. For the gospel is not only getting people saved, the gospel is seeing people develop into that full man in Christ Jesus. Now it begins with being saved, and we long for that, but it's that full development.
And I'll be honest with you. I'm encouraged when I study these portions of the Word of God. In fact, they thrill me through and through. But I wonder how long the church can live on the legacy of the past. I wonder how long. For the Lord said, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith in the earth? Are we excited as possessors of eternal life in Christ?
Now let's pray together. Our Father, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we bow to give you thanks. We give you thanks for the riches of your grace, for your kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. We thank you for a knowledge of yourself.