'Eternal Life

Eternal death is the absence of God.

The current definition ofeternal life is, "to die and go to Heaven to live in a mansion." Many Christian believers are unable to distinguish between gaining eternal life and going to Heaven.

The scriptural definition of eternal life is,the knowledge of God and of Christ —knowledge in the sense of Their entering the believer and the believer entering Them and dwelling in union with Them.

Union with God through Christis eternal life. Eternal life is in Christ and in those in whom Christ is abiding.

"Man" is created in two stages. The first stage is the forming of man from the dust of the ground. The second stage is the entering of the Personality of God into the dust that has become man.

To enter the eternal Kingdom of God an individual must be born twice. His first birth makes it possible for him to grow into an adult living soul. His second birth makes it possible for him to grow into an adult son of God, a life-giving spirit (I Corinthians 15:45).

The first man is only human. The second man has the Life of God in him.
What is born of the flesh is flesh. What is born of the Spirit is spirit.

In order for an individual to be transformed from a living soul to a life-giving spirit he must partake of the tree of life—not just once but continually.

A human being could not grow into an adult if he were conceived and then given no nourishment. He must have nourishment as he develops. So it is in the growth to maturity of a son of God. He is conceived when he first receives Christ. Then he must have nourishment continually if he is to grow into an adult son of God. If he is not nourished his new spiritual nature will die (Romans 8:13).

God realized when He created Adam and Eve that they must be born a second time. Until a person is born the second time he or she is little more than an intelligent animal. Heis different from an animal in that he is in God’s image and has the potential for being born again. But until he partakes of the Divine Life that is in Christ he cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.

Eternal life is Divine Substance. It is the creative love, joy, peace, energy, wisdom, knowledge, abilities, that God Is. All that any person could desire is found in the eternal Life that God Is. Apart from eternal life, man is a prisoner of the earth. He is bound by the chains of gravity and the vicissitudes of weather, sickness and health, fatigue and energy, insecurity and confidence, dread of the future and optimism, wretched, frantic grief and hilarity.

To die and enter the spirit realm is to be set free from the miserable prison of the flesh. This still is not eternal life. Entering the spirit Paradise, as marvelous as those surroundings are for the godly, is not entrance into eternal life.

Satan and his angels are not hindered by the pains and problems of life in the flesh. But they do not possess any love, joy, or peace. They are filled with darkness, rage, lust, bitterness, personal ambition, and other undesirable circumstances and bondages.

An individual who still is mere flesh and blood is an insignificant speck in an arena of spiritual titans. God knew from the beginning that He would create man in a flesh and blood form and at a later date man would receive the Life of God. Until this eternal Life of God enters a human being and begins to grow, the person is dead, spiritually speaking.

Man is, as we have stated, little more than an intelligent animal. The human eats, sleeps, works, plays, and reproduces, just as is true of a well-trained horse. But man alone of all the creatures of God has the potential for receiving God in Christ into himself, for commencing the long process of growing into the image of Christ—into a life-giving spirit.

Eternal life, which is the Presence of God in Christ in our personality, begins in us when we by faith lay hold on the blood atonement made by the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Most of our personality still is dead—void of the Presence of God. But a portion of eternal life has entered us.