"...that as sin has reigned unto death even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord" Romans 5v21.
Here, then is the startling climax to Paul's exposition of the gospel. Human beings are faced with a stark choice, that, as we shall see, will have eternal consequences. It is either "sin unto death" or "grace unto eternal life". We have therefor to determine what the bible means by the terms death and life; this is not to be understood in terms of physical life and physical death only, and to properly understand what the divine communication is, when using these terms, we have to go back to the very beginning.
In Genesis chapter 2 v 17 God declared to Adam prior to the fall " in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." In the event Adam disobeyed God, but did not die physically on that day, instead he lived over 900 years afterwards; but he did die spiritually, that is he died to God because sin and God just will not mix. The construction of the warning given to Adam is literally " in dying thou shalt die." The meaning of that is that in dying spiritually immediately, the process of physical death would begin which would culminate in bodily death. When the scriptures speak about death, it is speaking of separation from fellowship with God.
Conversely eternal life means their restoration of fellowship with God, reconciliation to God, where sin has brought a breakdown in communication and a distance between man and God, grace does the opposite; it deals with the offending sin and restores fellowship with God. We should be amazed that an offended God wants anything to do with us, but that is the grace of God!
The concept of eternal life is referred to over 80 times in the New Testament and it is important that we understand it. Jesus Himself gave a definition of it in John chapter 17. In addressing His Father just before going to the cross, He said these words " Father the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify Thee: as thou has given Him power over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." John 17 v 2-3 Here then is the definition of eternal life; it is not merely that life will go on forever, because if we take in the whole of bible revelation, the truth is that everyone will live consciously forever Again we go back to the beginning, to the statement in Genesis 2v7 where it says " the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground (that is his body) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (that is his spirit) and man became a living soul (that is his soul). We are not just physical beings we are also spiritual beings and we have within us something that the animal creation and the inanimate creation does not have: we have within us the eternal spirit of an eternal God and nothing can ever destroy that. We are eternal beings, all of us and we will live forever. The question therefor is not simply to do with the duration of life, but the quality of life. Death is separation from God, life is reconciliation to God. The latter end of living in sin is eternal separation from God; the latter end of living under grace is eternal reconciliation to God. That is the clear biblical truth.
Jesus therefor describes eternal life as knowing God and knowing Himself, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Man, created by God, can only be satisfied with full restoration and full communion and full fellowship with the God that made them. This is why the bible presents Jesus as our bread and water. Our eternal spirits and souls can be satisfied with nothing less. The bible speaks of hungering and thirsting after divine things because God knows that only unbroken communion with Him will satisfy our eternal souls. We may substitute them for other lesser desires and pursuits, but it will all be in vain. There is no real life without God and Jesus Christ. In Jeremiah chapter 1v 13 the prophet speaks of this very thing " my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water." At the final feast before Jesus was crucified He cried appealing to the public " if any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink." In the last chapter of the bible it says this " let him that is athirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely." Revelation 22v17
Why does the bible put it like this? because the truth is this, God is not only our Creator He is our food and drink and we will be satisfied with nothing less. Therefore eternal life is knowing God.
Tomorrow d.v. we commence chapter 6
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