I. INTRODUCTION
A. Self-preservation is a basic instinct for every living creature.
1. “Fight or flight” is the principle that a creature will fight to defend its life or else run from danger.
2. Man is also subject to this principle, for everyone in his right mind wants to live.
B. However, man’s power to preserve himself is limited.
1. Despite every advance in medical technology and knowledge, the best anyone can do is to extend his life a few years, and that is only by the grace of God.
2. The inescapable fact is that our physical bodies are built for a short-term existence. They are not made to last forever. “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19).
C. Yet the Bible speaks of our eternal existence beyond the physical body.
1. Upon reading the Scriptures, we find that in fact every soul will exist forever.
2. This should pique our interest, for man has always sought the secret of eternal life. However, the Bible tells us that while every soul will exist, not every soul will live forever. How can this be?
II. TWO POSSIBILITIES FOR ETERNITY
A. While we can grasp the concept of eternity, our only true knowledge of eternity comes from knowing God.
1. For something to be eternal, it must be without end, unaffected by time, unchanging, imperishable, immortal, and/or lasting forever. Nothing on earth matches this description.
2. However, we can know the eternal God of heaven, who never changes. “Before the mountains were born or Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God” (Ps. 90:2).
B. God has revealed to us our prospects for eternity through His Son Jesus Christ.
1. As part of the Godhead, Christ Himself is eternal: “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty’” (Rev. 1:8).
2. The eternal Christ has taught that there are two possibilities for each soul in eternity (see John 5:28-29; Matt. 25:21, 30, 41). The options are stated plainly in Matthew 25:46: eternal life or eternal punishment.
C. What is eternal life?
1. It is more than simply existing forever.
a. Matthew 25:46 shows two states of eternal existence, but only one of them is called life.
b. Jesus taught a lesson about a rich man, who was evil, and a poor man, Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Both of them continued to exist after physical death, but the rich man’s agonized existence is certainly not the life promised by our Lord.
2. Eternal life is everlasting fellowship in the presence of God, who is the source of all life.
a. This fellowship with God comes only by knowing God through Jesus Christ.
i. Jesus prayed to the Father, “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3).
ii. Likewise, John wrote, “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1John 5:20).
iii. “No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten of God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” (John 1:18)
iv. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” (John 14:6)
b. In figures we can understand, eternal life is described in Revelation 22:1-5. Notice the blessings of life given to the bond-servants of Christ.
i. A river of the water of life flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. (v. 1).
ii. The tree of life and its fruit grow alongside the river (v. 2).
iii. The bond-servants of Christ shall be in His presence and see His face (vv. 3-4).
iv. The Lord God shall illumine His bond-servants (v. 5).
v. The bond-servants of Christ shall reign with Him forever and ever (v. 5).
D. What is eternal punishment?
1. Eternal punishment is opposite to eternal life, which means it is to be cut off from the presence of God forever.
a. To be separated from God is to be removed from the source of everything that is good (Jas. 1:17). No comfort will be found for the soul who is cast into eternal punishment.
b. The Scriptures show that this punishment is attended by darkness (Matt. 25:30), pain (Matt. 24:51; 25:30, 41; Rev. 21:8), and solitude away from God (Matt. 25:41).
2. Just as eternal life is found in knowing God, eternal punishment is the just reward for those who have refused to know Him.
a. “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” (2Thess. 1:6-9)
b. For those who have resisted the Lord’s will and resented His presence, He will ultimately grant their foolish desires to be apart from Him forever. Then they will understand that He was the source of every good thing they had ever known, but it will be too late.
III. “WHAT SHALL I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?”
A. This was the question asked of Jesus by the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17, and it is a question for which every soul needs the answer.
B. To inherit eternal life, the Scriptures advise these things.
1. Listen to Jesus.
a. As we have seen already, knowing God is to have eternal life. We can only know God through Jesus Christ, who has declared God to us.
b. “Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have word of eternal life?’” (John 6:68)
2. Believe in Jesus.
a. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
b. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.” (John 6:47)
3. Follow Jesus.
a. This is the essence of the answer that Jesus gave to the rich young ruler (Mark 10:18-21).
b. “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)
c. “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” (John 12:25-26)
4. Obey Jesus. “And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.” (Heb. 5:9)
IV. “WHAT SHALL I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL PUNISHMENT?”
A. No one seeks eternal punishment, but many follow a course that seems intended to pursue it. They are providing the answers whether intentionally or not.
B. The answers to this question are many according to the Scriptures.
1. Be stubborn and unrepentant, resisting God until He gives you up (
2. Refuse to obey the gospel (2Thess. 2:8).
3. Try to determine your own way to eternal life (Matt. 7:21-23).
V. DO YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE?
A. “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:11-13)
B. “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9)