Joh 17:3 | KingComments | STEP | The eternal life that every sinner who comes to faith in the Lord Jesus receives is a new life within him. It is a new birth, a new nature. It is life within the believer, life given to him ( ; ), it is life that he has ( ; ). He has that life because the Son is his life ( ; ). But here the Lord Jesus speaks about eternal life in a different sense. He is not talking about eternal life within the believer, but about eternal life as the sphere of life into which the believer enters . We hear the Son talking about eternal life as an environment, a sphere of life, a life in which is lived. So there is a difference between the life that is within someone and the life in which someone lives. On the one hand we talk about plant life, animal life, human life. By this we mean that something or someone lives as a plant or an animal or a human being. But we also speak, for example, of city life, outdoor life, a difficult life. By this we mean the state of life, a way of life, an environment in which people live. It is the same with eternal life. It is both a principle of life within us, a life through which we live, and a way of life in which we have entered, a life in which we live. This second is what the Lord Jesus indicates when He says here: “This is eternal life.” Eternal life is knowing Him Who is addressed by the Son as Father ( ) and knowing the Son as sent by the Father. He is the only true God. In that way He was also known in the Old Testament. What is new now – and that is also eternal life – is to know that one true God personally as Father through a living connection with Him and to know Jesus Christ as sent by Him, through which the Father can be known. The Son speaks of Himself as “Jesus Christ”. ”Jesus” is the name of His humiliation. ”Christ” is His name as the Chosen One by God and of His glorification. This goes far beyond knowing Him as the Messiah. It is to know Him as the Father knows Him through a personal relationship with Him. Knowing eternal life is about a living relationship with Divine Persons. This knowledge brings us into the atmosphere of eternal life, the atmosphere in which eternal life is enjoyed. In short, perhaps we can say that eternal life is this: fellowship with the Father and the Son, i.e. enjoying the same part as the Father and the Son, together with Them.

‏ John 17:3

This Is Eternal Life

The eternal life that every sinner who comes to faith in the Lord Jesus receives is a new life within him. It is a new birth, a new nature. It is life within the believer, life given to him (Jn 10:28; 1Jn 5:11), it is life that he has (Jn 3:16 ; Jn 5:24 ; Jn 6:47 ; 54; 1Jn 5:13). He has that life because the Son is his life (1Jn 5:11; Col 3:3-4). But here the Lord Jesus speaks about eternal life in a different sense. He is not talking about eternal life within the believer, but about eternal life as the sphere of life into which the believer enters. We hear the Son talking about eternal life as an environment, a sphere of life, a life in which is lived.

So there is a difference between the life that is within someone and the life in which someone lives. On the one hand we talk about plant life, animal life, human life. By this we mean that something or someone lives as a plant or an animal or a human being. But we also speak, for example, of city life, outdoor life, a difficult life. By this we mean the state of life, a way of life, an environment in which people live. It is the same with eternal life. It is both a principle of life within us, a life through which we live, and a way of life in which we have entered, a life in which we live. This second is what the Lord Jesus indicates when He says here: “This is eternal life.”

Eternal life is knowing Him Who is addressed by the Son as Father (Jn 17:1) and knowing the Son as sent by the Father. He is the only true God. In that way He was also known in the Old Testament. What is new now – and that is also eternal life – is to know that one true God personally as Father through a living connection with Him and to know Jesus Christ as sent by Him, through which the Father can be known.

The Son speaks of Himself as “Jesus Christ”. ”Jesus” is the name of His humiliation. ”Christ” is His name as the Chosen One by God and of His glorification. This goes far beyond knowing Him as the Messiah. It is to know Him as the Father knows Him through a personal relationship with Him. Knowing eternal life is about a living relationship with Divine Persons. This knowledge brings us into the atmosphere of eternal life, the atmosphere in which eternal life is enjoyed.

In short, perhaps we can say that eternal life is this: fellowship with the Father and the Son, i.e. enjoying the same part as the Father and the Son, together with Them.