Knowing God – Eternal Life

What is “Eternal Life”?

Eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death, as outlined in Christian eschatology. The Apostles’ Creed testifies: “I believe… the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.”

In that phrase, “life everlasting”, we find the basis for the Christian concept of eternal life. Life without end. There is debate among sincere Christians as to when this everlasting life begins; whether at Christ’s return to gather the faithful into heaven, or at one’s conversion into Christianity by repenting of sin and asking Jesus to be your Lord and Master.

John’s Gospel in particular goes beyond the concept of eternal life as a future experience and places emphasis on the present experience. John says that this is the very reason why Jesus came to earth.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 5:24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

In John, those who accept Christ can possess life “here and now” as well as in eternity, for they have “passed from death to life.

However, John goes even further in Chapter 17 by defining “eternal life” as more than merely hearing and believing (it has been said that even the demons do that).

John 17:3  Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (emphasis mine)

Eternal life is knowing God. You may be disappointed with that definition. You think you know God and you still aren’t satisfied.

Eternal life, by definition, is knowing the Triune God personally. It is knowing and having fellowship with the God who watches us every moment. It is real communion with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. What a gift. It is companionship with one’s Creator. It is friendship with the Almighty. It is heart of devotion to our Saviour and Lord. It is interaction between the infinite Person (God) and a finite person (me).

So, since “knowing God” is part of the definition of “eternal life”, HOW do we know God rather than know about God?

God delights in those who understand and know Him. To know God is to recognise His voice, be well-acquainted with His ways, be able to discern His sovereign will, and be fully assured of His perfect character. The more we know God as our Lord and Best Friend, the more we can live with spiritual authority, hope, joy, and peace. We enter into a full-time empowering relationship with Him. This is very different from knowing about God.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.

The apostles spent years living with and observing Jesus. Despite their close physical proximity to God, they had difficulty truly understanding God. Jesus even said to the apostle Philip, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me?” Many of us may have spent years in church but find ourselves in the same shoes as Philip – struggling to “get” God on a deeply personal level.

John 14:6-10 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will knowmy Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”

Even if we could see God with our own eyes and observe Him for years, we still may not really know God. Moreover, the Bible states that we won’t get to know God through wisdom either. It appears that we do not get to know God simply by the power of observation or our intellect.

1 Corinthians 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

The only way we can truly know God and have the “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16) is by being baptised and inviting His Holy Spirit to take permanent residence in us, just like Jesus showed us by His own example. Who better to acquaint us with God than His Spirit?

It also takes dying to (or crucifying) our identity as we know it now, and putting on a new one that is led by the Holy Spirit. Outwardly we may look the same, but inwardly, we are transformed. We no longer rely on limited human mechanisms to try to reach God but are now connected directly to Him through His Holy Spirit, the guarantee of our relationship. We will overflow with God’s hope, joy, and peace. 

As with any relationship, we need to be intentional about setting time aside to get to know someone. It is the same with knowing God. Here are some suggestions from the Bible about knowing Him.

• Quiet down and make time for God | Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
• Call upon God, our good Father | Jeremiah 29:12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” says the LORD…
• Repent and turn away from idolatry | 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
• Invite God to give us a new spirit and heart through His Holy Spirit | Jeremiah 24:7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
• Enjoy God’s love | Romans 5:5  God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
• Choose to obey the Holy Spirit | 1 John 2:3-4 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
• Mature in our knowledge and understanding by studying the Bible | Ephesians 4:13-14 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

In parting, there is one detail we must never forget; the human spirit (our soul) is designed to never die, to live on into eternity (eternal life). The real crux of the matter is with whom we will spend that eternal life. If we “know God”, we will spend eternity with Him in the place He has prepared for us. If we don’t “know God”, we will spend eternity with Satan in the place prepared for him and his demons.