CHRISTIANS APOLOGETICS: Defending The Christian Faith By JOSHUA NAABU

ETERNAL LIFE

"Eternal life is to know the only true God and His Christ, Jesus whom He has sent.” (John 17:3).

Okay, let me break this down for y’all! Oh Yeah! “Know” as used here refers to an intimate relationship as also used in Gen 4:1 “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain , and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD." So eternal life is to have an intimate relationship with the true God and His Christ, Jesus whom He has sent. God the Father praises His Son by calling Him God, Lord, eternal King and for being the Creator and Sustainer of all creation in Hebrews chapter 1. But let me start quoting from verse 8;

"But about the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.’ He also says, ‘In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.’" Hebrews 1:8-12

The “He” as used here according to the context of the chapter is God the Father. Now does this mean that the Father is not God, sovereign Master, Lord, and the Creator of the heavens and the earth? The answer is obvious. The Father, according to the Holy Bible, is just as much God, Master, Lord, and just as responsible for creating and sustaining the universe as the Son is. Look at it this way. Let’s say you did something very nice for me and I tell you out of excitement for what you have done, “Herh! You are the only friend I have oo!” Does it necessarily mean I don’t have any other friends apart from you? No. It is just a statement of praise. In a similar way, the Son glorifying or praising His Father as the only true God doesn’t mean that Christ was denying that He is God as well. Look at these scriptures;

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20

“For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10)

From here we know the Bible is talking of God the Father as the true God since the Bible continued to speak of the true God’s Son, Jesus. It follows from 1 John 5: 20 and 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 that, God, the Father and the Son is the true God. Jesus usually spoke in the third person. So in 1 John 17:3, when Jesus was glorifying or praising the Father, He said, “Eternal life is to know the only true God and His Christ, Jesus whom He has sent.” Voila! You just got served!

The only way to have eternal life is to believe in the true God, and that Jesus is the Christ, whom He sent to redeem mankind by His blood (John 4:42, John 1:29 & 1 John2:2). This kind of belief, faith or trust in Jesus Christ is the one that is only due God and not any mere creature. When you believe in the Son of God and keep His Word, you have eternal life as the scriptures say in John 20:31, John 3:16,18, John 6:40, John 5:24 and John 8:51. In other words, Jesus is the way to the true God (John 14:6). Jesus Christ is the One sent by the true God to reveal who the true God is, to mankind. Jesus revealed this true God as God the Father, in John 8:54, 17:1-6 and 20:17 and God the Father referred to Jesus during His baptism, as His beloved Son Matt 3:17, Mark 1:11 and Luke 9:35. To believe in (the name of) Jesus Christ is to believe in the person and authority of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel and history. It is to believe in all that is revealed in the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ in respect to His person, deity, offices and atoning work. When you believe in His name or in Him, He will give you the power to become a child of God as John 1:12-13 says.

Anyone who confesses with his mouth the Lord Jesus and believes in his heart that God has raised Him from the dead has eternal life. Rom 10:9

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