Eternal life is not what many Christians think it is. It is not yet given to us.

 
Many in Christendom have this belief that on receiving the Lord Jesus as their savior, they immediately receive eternal life.But that is not what is in your bible.

The problem is the meaning many pastors and teachers read to the scriptures.They give their personal interpretation and thus erroneously say or teach what  the Lord did not say in His word.

Apostle Peter told us that no scriptures is of private interpretation.But Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy scriptures.This is telling us that we don't have the prerogative to give our own interpretation or meaning to any part of the bible.

In the books of John 17 vs. 2-3.It says:

"As thou hast 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."

I want you to pay close attention to these verses.For many had quoted this and said that we have been given eternal life. Alright,let me give you the definition of eternal life,so that we can understand any further explanation on this subject matter.

Eternal life can also be called everlasting life as you see in some bible versions.From the world everlasting, we can easily deduce that this means a life without an end. A life that continues as long as it can.Living forever.

However,life here is not a biological one.It is not about flesh and blood.It is a spiritual one.It is the very life that makes God,God.

I hope you can begin to understand what eternal life is.If we say this life is the very life of God and that is continues without end,that clearly tells us that it can not be given in the our present state of flesh and blood.

Now back to John 17 vs 2-3.In verse 2,Jesus was praying to His father about the assignment He was given.And the assignment is that Christ was given power over all human being and by this power He was to give eternal life to as many that had believed  and accepted His work.

Note carefully, that the eternal life Christ will give is not something that he had already given but that he should give.There you have a futuristic statement.In our English grammar, we know 'shall or should 'point to something that will happen later in time. So, you see that eternal life has not be given by Christ.

Again,in that same verse,that this eternal life should be given to many that had been given to Christ.

Who have been given to Christ?

In verse 6 of the same John 17.

"I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou
gavest them me; and they have kept thy word."

Here you have it. They are the people who believed Him and kept His words.They are christians.

It is not when they become followers of Christ that they were given eternal life, but they were already christian and they would be given eternal life later.

Verse 3 of John 17 says that eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.The knowing the true God and Jesus Christ that is being spoken of here is an intimacy that any man had never had before.It is knowing the fullness of the nature of God and Christ.

This is what John meant in his first epistle chapter 3 vs. 1-3.

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

..but we know that.."what knowledge is this talking about,the next statement,.." when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

There  you have it. The knowledge that is being referred to.Becoming like Christ and seeing Him in His glorified person.That is , we will be given immortal body just like Christ had when He rose from the dead.That is the life eternal.

The beauty of becoming sons of God is incomprehensible to any human mind. That the reason for Paul telling the Corinthian church that what the eyes has not seen nor the ear heard neither has it entered any human mind, these things had the Lord prepared for us.

We need to know that our son-ship is in its embryonic stage.What we have now is the Holy Spirit that makes us a member of the God family.Little do we know that God is a family.His plan from the beginning is for human he created to be born into His family.

Let me leave that for another day. But the point is that nobody has received eternal life here and now.Since we now realized that eternal life is a never dying life beyond this flesh and blood,thus it is not given to us when we accept the sacrificial work of Christ for reconciling us with God.

In the books of Romans 6 vs. 23

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Our sin brought the death albatross upon all man.What sins had done to us is to kill eventually,sooner or later. But thanks to God through Christ,that he gave us the gift of eternal life.

This eternal life is a gift. It can not be earned by works or anything. It is God that give to people He deemed fit.When God gives us this gift in His time,then this will be fulfilled;

"So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptible, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."