We Can Benefit From Eternal Life Every Day

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting (eternal) life,…..  John 3:36

John 3:36 along with John 5:24 which says, “Verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting (eternal) life,….” shows us that eternal life is a present tense possession of the believer. The eternal life mentioned by Jesus is speaking of the Life of God that is resident within us and is meant to have a profound effect on our life each and every day.

In John 5:26 we’re told, “For as the Father has Life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have Life in Himself.” Also, in John 10:10, Jesus said, “I am come to give you Life and have it more abundantly.” The Word Life mentioned these several times are all a reference to the Life of God that came into the believer at the new birth.

We are to live our lives drawing DAILY from the Life of God. This Life will empower and enhance our lives in ways we could never imagine. It’s what gives us the ability to live our lives aligned with the Word. In other words, we don’t just get to read about all the wonderful happenings and miracles in the Bible, we can actually live them out DAILY in our own lives.

In John 15:2, Jesus defines eternal life as knowing God the Father and Jesus Christ. For us to fully understand what eternal life is, it actually helps to understand what it is not, Eternal life is not living forever. Everyone is going to live forever, believer and unbeliever alike, either in heaven or hell. Also, eternal life is not living forever in the blessings of heaven as opposed to being tormented in hell.

Again, Jesus showed us in John 3:36 and John 5:24 that eternal life is a PRESENCE TENSE possession of the believer. In John 15:2, the word “know” is speaking of intimacy instead of mere intellectual knowledge. Therefore, eternal life is having an intimate, personal relationship with God the Father and Jesus the Son. According to John 3:16, this intimacy with God is what salvation is all about.

Forgiveness of our sins is not the point of salvation, intimacy with the Father is. Now, of course Jesus did die to purchase forgiveness for sins because unforgiven sins block us from intimacy with God. Sin was an obstacle that stood between us and God. It had to be dealt with and it was. Anyone who views salvation as only forgiveness of their sins and stops there, is missing out on the awesome benefits of eternal life.

Salvation is intended to be the way to come into harmony with God. Instead, it is often presented as the way to escape the problems of this life and the judgement of hell later. Most non believers are so occupied with their “hell on earth” that they don’t really think or care about their eternal future. They are fed up with religion and are looking for something that will fill the emptiness inside. But, only an intimate relationship (eternal life) with our Father can do that.