Eternal Life: The Outcome of Our Faith

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian is a man who lives in the City of Destruction. He is plagued with fear after reading about his sin and the wrath of God that will destroy the city. So he flees from the city while crying the famous words, “Life! life! eternal life!” The book then tells of his arduous pilgrimage to the Celestial City.

This beloved Christian classic has bolstered my faith for many years, and I am sure it will continue to. I wish to be as faithful a follower of Christ as Christian. His deep yearning for eternal life is one that I and all those in the Church can relate to.

Yet through my time in the Scriptures I have found a question that Bunyan’s tale does not seem to answer: What exactly is eternal life?

Before addressing that question directly, I am going to explain the gospel—the good news of Jesus Christ. Paul says the gospel is "of first importance" (1 Corinthians 15:3). A thorough explanation of it is not only the most important message for those outside of Christ, for it is the only one that can save them; it is also of incredible benefit to those in Christ, deepening our faith and encouraging our hearts. It is even beneficial to the angels, as it is what they long to look into (1 Peter 1:12).

The Good News of Jesus Christ

God is the Creator of everything (Genesis 1:1). He made the heavens, the earth, the plants, and the animals. Then, He made man and woman, Adam and Eve, in His own image to rule over all of creation.

The only thing God prohibited them from was to eat the fruit of one specific tree. God told them that if they ate from it, they would die. Yet a serpent, Satan, told them that God was lying to them. Despite being given everything, Adam and Eve listened to Satan and disobeyed God. They ate the fruit, bringing sin and death into the world.

This sin and death has afflicted humanity ever since. Not only do humans now physically die, but they are spiritually dead as well. It is not that Adam created the possibility for his offspring to sin, but his offspring would now be born in sin.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

– Romans 5:12

From generation to generation, humanity is spiritually dead in their sins and unknowingly following Satan. We inherit Adam's sin nature—our natural desires and passions are against God and aligned with the devil (Ephesians 2:1-3). No one has to be taught how to disobey God.

Now God is good, which means He is holy and just. He loves His image bearers, but cannot ignore their sin. He is merciful, gracious, and abounding in steadfast love; but He "will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation" (Exodus 34:7).

Under Adam, all the human race is dead in sin and deserving of God's righteous wrath. Since man’s sin is against the infinite and holy God, the just punishment would be eternally severe. We are under a just condemnation that we have no ability to change on our own. God says the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and we have earned those wages.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us…

– Ephesians 2:4

Our just and merciful Creator did not leave us under condemnation. Even when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God already began to reveal a plan to save His image bearers: a salvation that would come from the offspring of the woman. After Satan deceived Adam and Eve, God said to him,

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.

– Genesis 3:15

This was the first glimpse of the gospel.

Thousands of years passed and a miracle happened in a small town in the Middle East: a virgin woman gave birth to a Child, Jesus Christ. He was not born of Adam’s line since she was a virgin, so He did not inherit Adam’s sinful nature.

He lived a sinless life.

He faced the serpent’s temptation, but He triumphed over Satan.

Instead of living as a child of wrath, God declared that He was His beloved Son.

Jesus Christ was the Son of God, fully God and fully human (John 1:1,14), born of a woman and yet one with God the Father. Despite being completely guiltless, He willingly laid down His life and was crucified on a cross.

When Jesus allowed Himself to be killed, He endured the wrath we deserved. He died for our sin, bearing our consequences on His own shoulders.

Yet His death did even more than pay for our sin:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

– 2 Corinthians 5:21

Christ bore the sins of those who trust in Him in such a profound way that He was made to be sin. Not only that, but He exchanged their sinful record for His righteous one. The perfect life He lived is now attributed to us who place our faith and trust in Christ. Where we were once dead in our sin, we are now alive in right standing with God. Where we were children of wrath, we are now given the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

But Jesus did not stay dead. After lying dead in a sealed tomb for three days, the Lord rose from the dead.

This message is what Paul says is "of first importance":

That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

– 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

God offers humanity full payment for our sin—the opportunity to exchange our sinful record for the perfect record of His beloved Son, and therefore be saved from the eternal punishment we deserve. He offers to adopt us as His children in love. Not only that, but He offers to give us His Holy Spirit, who conforms us to the image of Christ. Where Adam marred the image of God, the Spirit of God within us grows us to bear the new family resemblance of Christ (Romans 8:11).

Finally, instead of facing the eternal punishment we deserve, God has promised to bring those who trust Christ into eternal joy with Him, where sin and every result of it, everything dark we see in the world, will be wiped away—and we will be in perfect peace and communion with God forever (Revelation 21:4).

So, how do we personally receive this?

God offers salvation as a free gift. There is nothing we can do to earn it. The only way to receive what God has offered is to believe, cast our trust upon Jesus Christ as our only hope of salvation, and accept Him as the Lord of our lives.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

– Romans 10:9-10

For those who are in Christ, our continual repentance of sin and the good works we do as His children are not done in order to receive His love and kindness. They are a response to the infinity of love and kindness we have already received eternally from Him (Ephesians 2:8-10).

So, if you do not yet know Christ, consider these truths for yourself. May the Spirit open your eyes.

If you are in Christ, take heart, and be encouraged. May your faith be bolstered and deepened by constant reminders of the gospel.

What Is Eternal Life?

So, what is eternal life?

In Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian is well aware of being dead in sin and under the wrath of God. He receives forgiveness for his sin at the cross and journeys toward the Celestial City. Yet there is a dynamic of the Christian life that I feel is missing in the story: The fact that, for those who are in Christ, eternal life begins when we trust in Christ.

Jesus defines what eternal life is in His high priestly prayer:

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

– John 17:3

Knowing God is eternal life. When someone receives the gospel and believes in Jesus, they are now called into fellowship—an intimate relationship—with Him (1 Corinthians 1:9). Eternal life does not begin after death when we go to heaven, or when we are resurrected and reign in the new heavens and new earth. For those in Christ, eternal life begins now.

Christ did not die so that we would have to wait till our deaths to commune with Him. He has revealed Himself in His word through His Spirit so that we can lovingly live with Him now. And as we experience eternal life now, the words of Peter can become more and more of a reality in our lives:

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:8–9