A Christian Guidebook: What Is Eternal Life? (2)

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17.3

What do you know?
A more concise definition of eternal life could hardly be found: Eternal life—the gift of God—is to know God and Jesus Christ, Whom God has sent.

To know God and Jesus Christ. What does this mean? After all, we use the word “know” in a wide variety of ways. For example, we talk about “knowing” another person as an acquaintance or friend. We recognize their face and voice, are acquainted with some of their background and present circumstances, and spend time with them, mostly in work or diversions. We know them, and, in varying degrees, they are part of our lives.

We also use the word “know” to indicate familiarity with certain facts or situations. We know which season of the year it is and therefore how to dress appropriately. We know when we’re hungry and what to do about it. We might even know how long it’s been since our last oil change and so arrange to get one. We know where the remote is (usually) and how to work it.

To “know” is also to understand certain matters, even to prefer them—the requirements of our job, for example; which authors or podcasters resonate with our views; what the Bible teaches about this or that subject; and so forth.

All these uses of “know” can be found in the Scriptures, and they are all valid. To some extent at least, each of them is bound up in Jesus’ teaching about eternal life. We must know God for Who He is, prefer Him and His Word, understand what He requires, and count Him as our Savior and friend.

But these uses of “know” are subordinate to the larger, more intimate sense in which Jesus describes the true nature of eternal life.

To know the Lord
To know God and Jesus Christ. This is eternal life. But we cannot know God unless He first knows us (Gal. 4.9). And here is a key to understanding the true meaning of eternal life as knowing God and Christ. How does God know us? Are we merely bits of factual data or familiar faces in His infinite mind? Is there more to His “knowing” us than this.

Indeed, there is. Jesus said that God “so loved” the world that He sent His beloved Son to die for the sins of the world and the salvation of all who believe in Him. God’s knowing us is another way of describing His love for us. He knows that we are sinners in need of salvation, and He loves us in the midst of our lostness. He knows that we have made false gods of this, that, or some other foolish idol, and yet He draws near to us in the Gospel and offers Himself as our rightful inheritance. He knows that we will often fail Him, sometimes stray from His path, frequently neglect His company and His Word, and offer a pitiable rather than plenteous harvest of glad spiritual fruit. He knows all this, and yet He loves us with an everlasting and unfailing love. He has called us by our names, and we are His. He will never fail us nor forsake us because He knows our frailties and loves us nonetheless.

God loved—knew—us so that we might know—love—Him. To have eternal life is to love God as the only proper and defining response to His loving us, and likewise to love Jesus Who by His life, death, resurrection, and outpoured Spirit makes the knowledge of God a reality in our lives.

The proof that we have eternal life is found not in church attendance, good works, reading the Bible, or being nice to our fellow Christians. We have to look deeper than these. The proof of eternal life is that we know—we love with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—the God Who made and saved us, the Savior Who redeemed and bought us, and the Spirit Who indwells and transforms us. We love this Three-in-One God supremely, increasingly, unreservedly, intimately, and despite the indifference or hostility of the world.

Loving this God we delight in His Presence and seek intimacy with Him increasingly. Loving this God, we delight in His Word and feed on it with joy and rejoicing. Loving this God, we discover all that we can about what pleases Him, what He has determined is best for us in this life, and we follow His counsel and instruction with glad hearts. Loving this God, we cannot help but talk about Him at every opportunity, sharing freely what He has done for us, extoling His many virtues and gifts, remarking His works, and encouraging others to taste and see that He is good.

Growing in the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ
They who know God and Jesus Christ with this kind of loving intimacy and attention rejoice to know Him more and more. Peter commands us to grow in the grace and knowledge of—in love for—Jesus Christ. The more we grow in the knowledge of Jesus the more He will bring us into the knowledge of God, for He is the exact representation of the Father (Heb. 1.3).

“Delight yourself also in the LORD,” the psalmist tells us, “and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37.4). If our delight—our love—is wholly in the Lord, He will be what we most earnestly desire. And when that it is the case, we will seek Him more and more, pray more earnestly for His Presence, and delight to be found pleasing to Him in all our ways. And as our love for Him thus unfolds, God Who first loved us will show us more of Himself, grant us more of His love, and in every facet and aspect of our lives fill us out with the gift of eternal life.

As we know and love God, He brings more of His “then and there” to fill and transform all the “here and now” of our lives. For this is life eternal.

Search the Scriptures
1. Why is eternal life best described as knowing God and Jesus Christ? How should you expect to see this knowledge manifested in your life (cite some Scripture to support your answer)?

2. Read John 21.15-19. Why did Jesus ask Peter three times if he loved Him? Did Peter “know” Jesus when he denied him? Would he “know” Jesus better in the days to come? Why?

3. What are the greatest hindrances to your loving God and Jesus Christ more than you do?

Next steps—Preparation: Review the various meanings of “know” mentioned in this article. How many of them apply to you? In which of these might you need to improve? What will you do to get started?

T. M. Moore

Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

For a more complete study of this subject, order the workbook, The Landscape of Unseen Things, by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from theNew King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.