Ministering: Pastor Seyi Osanyinbi
People have tried to define eternal life and many have been confused about what to make of it. However we know that “Eternal life” is not living forever. Every man will live forever because we have a soul. Animals do not live forever because they do not have souls. Eternal life has nothing to do with the biological life either. Therefore, there is something beyond the biological life that we need to be conscious of. There are diversities of life in creation. Eternal life as used in the Bible is translated from “Zoe” which is the God-kind of life which differs from other kinds. There are conditions (a necessary condition and other sufficient conditions) to acquiring this life.
John 17:1-3
This is the original Lord’s Prayer. This prayer was important because Jesus was praying into the future. He prepared for the future before it arrived. The people that have been given to Jesus are those who answer to Him. God drew all men but not all responded. Eternal life is not gotten by doing just anything you like but through the knowledge of God. The knowledge God and Jesus Christ is necessary to acquiring eternal life. Please do not forget that you operating in the supernatural does not mean your lifestyle is approved of God. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and you must incorporate that into your life. You must know how He wants things done. Acts 13:43-48 – The people who are ordained are they who receive Jesus. Your ordination is as a result of how you respond to the word of the gospel. All men that are born have been ordained to eternal life. God had made provision of eternal life for all but only those who receives Jesus gets the provision. The prodigal son came back and was accepted as a part of the family. You must repent and return. Until you return you have not done anything. When you return, mercy will reach out to you. You must do what is necessary to merit grace.
Conditions for Acquiring Eternal Life
- There is a believing that brings eternal life (John 3:12-15): To believe, you must first understand. We form judgment based on things we have seen and heard and so we judge either righly or wrongly. Therefore, we must learn to act conscious of the realm that cannot be seen with assurance that God is with us. Our natural mind is trained to relate with what we see but the church should train us to relate with both the physical and spiritual realms. You must learn the reality of what happens in the spiritual and live by it. The teaching here is that the Son of man will be lifted up and that is what Nicodemus must believe. In the story of the Israelites, they had sinned and were attacked by snakes in the wilderness and Moses was to raise the bronze serpent. Those who look up to the raised serpent were healed. This was the story Jesus was referring to. The foundation of eternal life is that you look on Him that died in your place and daily live in the consciousness of it.
- 1 John 5:13 – The name of Jesus encapsulates all about Jesus. When we believe the name, we are saved. Jesus is the one who paid the price; He was the sacrifice. Some people have so much faith in their Christian walk and achievements and that is wrong. When you begin to have confidence in what you do, it is a subtle error. In Matthew 7:21-23, these people cast out devils, healed the sick and did mighty works that supposedly brought glory to God but Jesus warned us that He will deny knowing them. Why? Because they had shifted their focus from their first love. Don’t become too familiar with God. He is your father but he is also your Lord and Judge.
- There is a doing that brings eternal life (Mark 10: 17-22). When Jesus said to the young man “No one is good but God”, He simply meant that the young man does not understand what is good and so he cannot judge Him as good. The man does not have the correct understanding of what is good. We have a wrong judgment of what is good because we have taken the knowledge of good and evil from our culture. Only God can define good and He alone does good. Jesus died on the cross and people mourned but it pleased His father. To the people, evil happened but to God it was good that happened. The man would not have had a problem following Jesus with his possessions but he was sad that he will have to give up all his possessions. The commandment that causes you discomfort is “meat” and not what you cannot understand. For example, the commandment to pray for your enemy (Matthew 5:43-47) is a tough command to obey. That is meat and your ability to ‘digest’ and ‘internalize’ and obey is a sign of spiritual maturity. At that time, there was a prevailing teaching that riches is equivalent to righteousness. Therefore, the disciples were astonished that Jesus said it will be difficult for the rich to enter heaven. To acquire eternal life, you must be willing to give up your possessions to follow Jesus.
- You must love God and your neighbor (Luke 10:25-37): In Mark 10, the young man asked the question because he truly wanted to know what to do. Here, the lawyer wanted to test Jesus. However, this is the lesson from Jesus’ response, to inherit eternal life, you must love God and also love your neighbor.
- The Pharisees were in the habit of searching the scriptures (John 5:39) thinking it would guarantee them eternal life. Cramming scriptures will not give you eternal life. You must understand those things written in the scriptures and commit yourself to practising them!
- There is a need for an active engagement on our part (Romans 2:7). You are to have the consciousness of why you are living and you must not lose sight of that. Sin is pleasurable but brings death and you must do away with it. Seeking for eternal life will make you give up many unnecessary pleasures of life.
- You must be ready to fight (1 Timothy 6:12-19): There will be forces that will resist us and we must fight because of what we are looking for. Eternal life is given to those who can fight not just those who stroll through life. It must be conscious and continuous. You cannot give up if you will have this life.
- Keep yourself in the love of God (Jude 1:21). If you will make it, it will come by mercy. God does not owe you any obligation. Without mercy, you cannot obtain grace. Esther found mercy when she entered the king’s chamber uninvited and, the king stretched out the scepter and she could make her request. She received mercy to obtain grace.