ETER AL LIFE

M.A. Woodward
Article excerpt from The Restitution Herald - June 9, 1931

WHAT IS IT? Who can define it? Certainly not the scientist, for he does not know even what this present life is. The Lord Jesus defines it for us in the words recorded in John 17 :3: " This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." That is eternal life! Can you get it anywhere else ? No, never ! It is a gift, not a natural possession. God would not offer a man what he already possesses. If a man had the temerity to look up into the face of God and say, '' I already have eternal life; it is mine by right of inheritance", he would cease to give God any glory at all. He would put himself in the position of those in Romans 1:23, who '' changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man". Surely that text is enough for those who love their Bibles and think seriously. God so loved man that He made provision for him that he should not perish but have eternal life. That is the best news the Book containsthat man can live forever, and that life is made possible only through Him who died and rose again, according to the Scriptures. We believe it carries with it the guarantee of perpetual youth. Surely it is worth having! Do you not think so ? Moody was a wonderful preacher. If ever there was a man who believed in the "life" question, it was D. L. Moody. Addressing a meeting on one occasion, he held up a beautiful book bound in leather, with gold edges. He wanted to show how simple was the acceptance of the gift of eternal life. So he said, "I will give this book to the first person who will accept it as a free gift." There was a pause, and then a working man crept up gently, as if he had stolen something and was ashamed of it, and Moody gave him the book, and he took it back to his seat. Now, said Moody, "that is an illustration of how God gives eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ.''

WHOSE IS IT? The Scriptures are explicit here, for it is he that "believeth". Therefore it is conditional, and that is what we hold so strongly. We find God's blessings are attended with conditions, hence the little word "if" so often used in the gospels. Let me give one instance, an important one. In Romans 10:9 we read, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Why? "Because with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation". The Savior is the Life-giver. He offers the free gift of eternal life on the condition of belief in the only begotten Son of God. "He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son hath not life". That is plain. Here we have both the positive and the negative. "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." John 3:15.

WHE ? Your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Col. 3:3, 4. That word "glory" is not a place, but a condition, which I think you will find if you analyze the word correctly. Listen to these sublime statements. "But now .... ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." Rom. 6 :22. "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." Titus 1:3. "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Rev. 2 :10. Life as a crown? By hope! "But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." Rom. 8:25. We are saved by hope, that is, hope of eternal life. It is all in Christ, for without Him nothing can be received. So we come back to Him. In Christ is our faith, our hope, our promise. "In him was life, and the life was the light of men."Selected from Words of Life by J. Tripman. I want to add just a little to this splendid article. Why will people who want to believe God and be true to Him still persist in believing that they are immortal ? The Bible says so plainly, "Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see".1 Tim. 6:15, 16. If God only hath this wonderful holding power, it is not ours to have until He gives it us at the resurrection, when Jesus bestows it to the faithful ones. Again, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever".1 Tim. 1:17. Once more, "Who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life." Rom. 2:6, 7. If we have to seek for it, we surely do not have it in our possession now. We must seek for it by patiently working for it in God's way, not man's way. Let us stand with Paul on Mars' Hill just a few minutes, and hear him plead with those Athenians, showing them the difference between their worship of God, "The Unknown God", and our blessed, all powerful God, who is waiting to give us, if faithful in Christ Jesus, life eternal, when He raises the dead, not at death. Oh, the blessedness of the thought of quiet rest, until Jesus calls us, and we awaken to meet our King. What joy to be where He will be! The unspeakable pleasure of asking Him so many things we do not know now! Oh, be patient, dear saints of God, it will pay to gird up the loins of our minds and patiently wait with prayer and faith. May God help us to be faithful and true is my prayer.