Do you have eternal life?

For the fifth and final week in a row, the lectionary invites us to ponder a passage from chapter 6 of the gospel of John. Today’s reading is John 6:56-69. The English Standard Version supplies it the title “The Words of Eternal Life.”[1]

What do the words “eternal life” mean?

For the majority of people, the meaning seems to be that eternal life is something everyone has. Something which continues after we die. Except that some go to a place of joy and others go to a place of torture.[2]

The answer to the question “what happens to us when we die” is important to many people. In fact, many people become Christians in order to “go to heaven” when they die. And the passion of many preachers springs from what they believe happens when people die.

Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) is perhaps the best-known Christian missionary to China. He powerfully used his experience of the drowning at sea of an unconverted man in China to persuade Christians in Britain to go out and preach the gospel, to save souls from drowning.[3]

William Booth (1829-1912), founder of the Salvation Army, urged Christians to

“… hear [God] bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. … Go stand by the gates of hell and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there.”[4]

People are afraid of death. Often, Christian children of non-Christian parents pay for medical care to prolong the lives of their elderly parents. Because they want their parents to bow their knees to Jesus before they die. Because they want to be sure their parents won’t go to hell.

I often say that I didn’t know about heaven and hell when I chose to become a follower of Jesus. The gospel was not presented to me as a choice between heaven and hell. The gospel was presented to me as a question of whether I believed Jesus’ claims about himself.

The Bible has no answers for many of our questions about heaven.[5] We don’t know what age a person will be in heaven – will Mum have wrinkles? We know there are “banquets” in heaven but are there are toilets? In heaven, can we enjoy coffee without suffering sleep disruption?

I also love to say that I have eternal life: not according to the majority view, but according to a Christian view. What is that view?

That view is what I’ve been discussing in this series of articles on key thoughts found in chapter 6 of the gospel according to John.

It’s the view that eternal life is living out of the knowledge of who Jesus is. It’s the view that eternal life is doing what we see Jesus doing. It’s the view that we must serve one of the limbs of the Lord’s prayer, “[God’s] will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Eternal life is the rejection of the belief that science – or some tradition or teacher – has the answers to all the questions of life. Eternal life is the acceptance that there is a God and that there is sin and punishment. Eternal life is acceptance of mystery and of God’s sovereignty.

Take the account of the feeding of the 5,000 – which is really the feeding of about 20,000, since 5,000 was only the count of men.

Accepting that account as true means accepting miracles. Means accepting Moses and the account of manna, heavenly bread, which God showered on the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness. Means accepting Jesus as a worker of miracles.

Means accepting Jesus’ as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Means accepting Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God. Means being drawn into the mystery of God. Means singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and being drawn into ecstatic depths and heights of joy.

Means accepting that we must join Jesus’ band of followers and stand up against workers of injustice. Means accepting Jesus as the bread of life. Means accepting that we are to eat and drink the body and blood of Jesus. Means embodying Jesus is the primary purpose of our lives.

It’s a hard teaching. Because it’s a call to live a life of challenging the status quo. Often a life of rejecting traditions. We read in verse 66:

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

Whose side are you on? Do you have eternal life?

Peace be with you.

Image source: https://medium.com/@CalvaryofNeosho/eternal-life-doesnt-start-at-the-grave-416c4d337afc

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[1] To verses 60-71.

[2] The duration of existence of the place of torture is debated. The renowned British Evangelical, John Stott, argued for annihilationism. In this 3-page article, Stott rightly raises an alarm about how Christians speak of hell. He also pleads for tentativeness, against dogmatism.

[3] How Hudson Taylor Shocked People out of Indifference about Missions. Andrew M Davis, September 19, 2019, Crossway.

[4] https://christianity201.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/william-booth-quotations/. The story behind the gates of hell is found in Jesus account of the rich man and Lazarus, found in Luke 16:19-31.

[5] If you’d like to read extended Christian commentary about heaven, you can check out the website of Randy Alcorn’s Eternal Perspectives Ministries.