"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
One of the greatest gifts that flows from the cross of Jesus Christ to us is eternal life.
"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." John 3:36
Question 1. According to John 3:36 above, what is the condition of those who do not believe and obey Jesus Christ?
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Because we know our sins were against God, Who is eternal, the punishment for them should be eternal as well. Our sin is worthy of hell. And indeed, there is a lake of fire awaiting those who die, refusing to believe in Christ. God’s wrath remains on them throughout all eternity. While believers have endless hope, unbelievers have a hopeless end.
God has demonstrated His wrath against wickedness in various ways throughout history. God destroyed the world by flood in Noah’s day. He executed judgment on Pharaoh and the nation of Egypt when He took the life of every firstborn son and then buried Pharaoh and his officers alive in the Red Sea. Later God rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah for their unrelenting wickedness. And these stories of God pouring out His wrath on unbelievers are examples for all who will not repent and believe today:
“...just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.” Jude 1:7
The "eternal fire" is the destination of all who will not turn from sin and embrace Jesus Christ.
Some unbelievers may say, "You're just preaching that old hell-fire and brimstone message, trying to scare me into becoming a Christian." My response is that if you are not a Christian, you should be scared; in fact, you should be terrified.
Consider the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and see in it the "example" of the eternal future of all who refuse Christ. Look at the cross where God poured out His wrath on His own Son Jesus, and see the hatred of God against sin and know that unbelievers will face that wrath if they do not take shelter in Jesus. The day is coming when unbelievers will flee to the mountains and beg the rocks to fall on them to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, for it would be much preferred to be smashed and killed by a natural disaster than to face God's wrath. And yet the reality is that even if unbelievers could be killed by the rocks falling on them, they would still have to face the wrath of the Lamb, for "it is appointed for man to die once and then the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).
“Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." Revelation 6:15-16
It is so challenging for me to write these words, and I do so with a broken heart and tears in my eyes, but if we refuse God’s grace and the gift of eternal life, our future, our eternal future, is horrible. We will be separated from God and cast into eternal flames.
But the good news is that on the cross, God saw fit to transfer the sins of all who do believe, to His Son. God chose to accept Jesus’ death in our place as full payment for the sins of all who repent and believe. And for all who are now in Christ by faith, there is no more wrath of God left for us for God exhausted it all at the cross. Now, it is a most comforting and stabilizing and joy-producing truth, to know that when Jesus died on the cross, He paid our debt of sin and secured our eternal life with Him.
So not only did Jesus’ death put us to death in Him and bring us abundant life, as we have noted in the previous lessons, but it also brought us eternal life.
Let us examine some Scriptures that teach this:
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:22-23
Question 2. According to Romans 6:22, what change had happened in the life of those to whom Paul was writing?
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Question 3. In Romans 6:23, what is death called? What is eternal life called?
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