Sunday, May 26, 2019

This Is Eternal Life

When Jesus came down from heaven, and became a man, he turned religious paradigms upside down. Praying to the Father before he was crucified, he said, "This is eternal life that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3¹ my emphasis²). Jesus was sent by the Father. But why? "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10 NKJV). The life that Jesus was sent to share with us, is the life of God. According to Jesus, knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, is eternal life. 

So we need to clarify two things. What does it mean to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, and secondly, who is this true God that Jesus refers to? 

Let's look at those who know the only true God, and then we can decipher what "know" means. 

In the parable of the Good Shepherd, Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me, even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father; (John 10:14-15). Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows his own, and his own know him. The Father knows Jesus, and Jesus knows the Father. We have a parallel relationship between Jesus, and those who know him, and Jesus and the Father. Jesus is distinct from the Father. Jesus goes on to say, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of my hand (John 10:27-28). Again, Jesus knows the sheep. In addition, the sheep follow Jesus. So knowing is more than a mind thing. Knowing is responding to Jesus. So we can conclude that the sheep know the true God of John 17:3, because eternal life is knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ. 

The Jews are already confused, and frustrated with Jesus, and his teachings, when Jesus turns all their paradigms upside down by telling them, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). It's then that the Jews pick up stones to stone Jesus. They consider it blasphemy, that Jesus, being a man also makes himself out to be God (John 10:33).  So Jesus is distinct from the Father, but also one with the Father. So far this is what we know about the true God of John 17:3. Jesus goes on to say, "the Father is in me, and I in the Father" (John 10:38). Again the Jews were offended by what Jesus said, and  tried to capture him, but he eluded them. So Jesus and the Father mutually indwell one anther. Jesus and the Father are distinct from one another; at one with one another, and also mutually indwell one another. This is what we know thus far about the true God of John 17:3

In the next post I'll pick up where we left off. 



















¹All scripture references are New American Standard Bible, (NASB), except where noted. 
² Bold print is my emphasis throughout.