What does John teach about eternal life in his gospel?

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (Jn 3:16)

'Eternal life' is one of John's most frequently used phrases in his gospel, as he seeks to explain the nature of the salvation which Jesus Christ came to bring. Jn 3:16, in many ways a summary of the gospel message, explains that eternal life is given to anyone who believes in Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus Himself taught Nicodemus this truth using an Old Testament incident as a picture: 'as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.' (Jn 3:14-15) In the wilderness, the people were punished for their grumbling and disobedience with poisonous snakes. After Moses' intervention, God provided a solution in the form of a bronze serpent. Anyone bitten by a snake who looked on the bronze serpent would live. Jesus uses this as an analogy for how He would be lifted up on the cross, and anyone looking to Him for salvation would therefore receive eternal life. John wants to show throughout his gospel that the reason Jesus came was to die, so that men could obtain eternal life through faith in Him.

'Eternal life' perhaps seems a rather abstract concept. It isn't present in the Old Testament in this particular phraseology, and yet it makes sense that an eternal God offers a salvation to His people that is eternal. "His love endures forever" is repeated twenty-six times in Psalm 136 alone (Robert Yarbrough). Psalm 16 shows David prophesying that God won't leave His 'holy one' in the grave. As Peter's sermon in Acts 2 explains, this refers to Jesus being the holy, loved one of God who is raised from death in resurrection power. But Ps 16:11 can therefore be the song of the Christian believer: 'You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.' Jesus' resurrection gives us the hope of our future resurrection, and it gives us certainty that He is able to save us from the power of death, because He Himself defeated it.

This is ultimately where John's gospel takes us; Jesus' raising of Lazarus from the dead pre-figures His own resurrection. His statement 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live' (Jn 11:25) emphasises that it is only through Him that we can find eternal life. John explains this further:

'Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.' (Jn 3:36)

If we don't believe in Jesus as the Son of God, He cannot bear our sin for us. Thus the 'wrath of God' remains on us and we have to bear our sin for ourselves. The wonderful truth of John's gospel is that Jesus came to freely offer salvation to anyone who wants to receive it. In Chapter 4, He speaks to a Samaritan woman with a morally dubious background, and offers her living water: 'whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (Jn 4:14) Rather than being embroiled in a discussion of where to worship, Jesus clearly explains to the woman that He is the centre of worship; He is the long-awaited Messiah. He ultimately replaces any temple made by human hands, because He is the way we can connect with God.

The salvation Jesus offers in John's gospel is a present reality as well as a future experience. Jesus says, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.' (Jn 5:24) The verb tense makes it clear that those who trust in Christ can know that they are no longer under God's wrath and condemnation. Time and again Jesus urges people to think about their eternity, rather than getting distracted by temporal things: 'Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (Jn 6:27) Jesus makes certain and definite promises about His ability to offer eternal life to those who believe in Him: 'everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (Jn 6:40); 'Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.' (Jn 6:54). Although Jesus' teachings are difficult and many abandon following Him, Simon Peter recognises that He has 'the words of eternal life' (Jn 6:68), though it is not until the disciples' encounters with the risen Christ that they fully understand what this means.

In John's gospel, Christ's resurrection validates all of His claims. After all, how can someone say 'I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.' (Jn 10:28), if he dies and is buried like any other human being? Jesus' resurrection shows his 'authority over all flesh' (Jn 17:2), which enables Him to 'give eternal life' to all the Father has given Him. It is in Jesus' great intercessory prayer that John finally gives his readers a clear definition of 'eternal life': 'And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.' (Jn 17:3) Eternal life is not some static state of being after death; it is the reality of knowing the living, eternal God, and worshipping Him forever. That is the salvation which we can look forward to as Christians.

Jesus the Hero -1 Peter 2

Who is your hero? And why?

It's an interesting question. Ask a child, and they'll probably think of at least three examples (okay so some of their examples will probably be comic book characters). Ask an adult, and you're more likely to run into problems. You see, as we grow up, people let us down. We learn not to idolise others, because we realise (the hard way) that they are human and make mistakes. Sure, there are some fantastic inspirational people out there, but in the grind of daily life at the office, there are slim pickings for heroic models.

That's why it's so awesome reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus better. The more you read about Him, the more you have to respect, love... and worship Him. Not even His enemies could accuse Him of sin (see John 8). And the Bible is pretty blunt about people who sin, telling us all about David's mistakes with Bathsheba for just one example.

Jesus stood out as being different, and this chapter in 1 Peter really highlights these differences, and show us why Jesus is a true hero.

He is infinitely worthy, and yet suffered rejection.

Have you seen Batman: The Dark Knight? Batman takes the blame for some crimes he did not commit, in order to preserve the people's hope in their hero (who is not Batman). He is turned into an enemy of the people, when really he is donning his suit, jumping off buildings and facing angry rotweilers to save those people of Gotham.

Now Jesus is INFINITELY GREATER than Batman. He's divine, and He never makes mistakes. But I'm drawing a parallel to emphasise the situation. We've all heard the story before: Jesus comes and is crucified. The impact gets lost. This passage reminds us that Jesus is PRECIOUS! He is 'chosen by God and precious to Him' (4); He is the 'chosen and precious cornerstone' (6). And this precious One suffered for US to be saved:
'He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might de to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.' (24)

Jesus is the most precious thing to cling to in this life. He is the means by which we are God's people, because He is the means by which we receive mercy (10). By Christ, we can leave darkness and enter light (9).

If we're ever going to value Jesus for His true, heroic worth, we need to focus on Him: His life, death, resurrection and all they achieve for us. Jesus is to be our great example to whom we can turn and imitate in all situations (21).

One final comment on the Batman analogy: the real tragedy of the film is that there are no heroes. The one the people honour (I'm trying not to spoil the story) turns into an anti-hero, Batman struggles with his human limitations, and the closest thing that comes to hope is the fact that the population make some surprisingly noble decisions. But look at verse 6: 'the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame'. Isn't it awesome, that Jesus will never let you down? He will never break a promise, and He has promised to give eternal life to all who come to Him. He is our true hero.

Why we should love Jesus -1 Peter 1

We, as God's people, have been 'chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father... for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood' (2). We have been chosen to be forgiven, by Jesus Christ's perfect offering and precious blood. The key for loving Jesus more has to be found in understanding more our sinful depravity, His holiness, and the enormity of what happened on the cross for our redemption. We have been redeemed 'with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect' (19). A lamb willingly slaughtered for our salvation.

The second key to loving Jesus more in this chapter is found in the resurrection. God has 'given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade' (3-4). The risen Jesus gives us hope, certain hope, of eternal life and an amazing future in heaven. When Jesus returns those who trust in Him will have praise, glory and honour for their love for Him (7). And that puts us now into a state of 'inexpressible and glorious joy' (8), for we are receiving salvation (9) and eagerly anticipate the 'grace to be given... when Jesus Christ is revealed' (13). The triumph of the resurrection helps us to love Jesus more as we focus on our eternal home and the final victory over Satan, the day when all trials will end.