Summary: Eternal LifePage 1
Christian Churches of God
No. 133z
Summary:
Eternal Life
(Edition 2.0 19950902-20000422)
The concept of eternal life is examined here with the assertion of the co-eternality of Messiah with God being examined from the biblical texts. The concepts of Time and Immortality are examined and the assumptions of the Trinitarian structure are examined.
Christian Churches of God
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(Copyright ©1995, 2000 Wade Cox)
(Summary by Diane Flanagan, ed. Wade Cox)
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Eternal Life
Summary: Eternal LifePage 1
A basic step in understanding the Godhead is in understanding what is meant by the biblical terms that relate to eternal life. There are various terms for eternal life that relate to different entities.
One term that holds multiple meanings by various people is co-eternal. Binitarians and Trinitarians often use this to term to mean that both Christ and God were present before time. They believe both God the Father and Christ are immortal. A Unitarian rejects this concept based on Scripture.
The aspects of immortality and eternal life are inherent in the Father and allocated to the Sons of God, which are plural. (Gen. 6:2.4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 39:4-7; Hos. 1:10; Rom. 8:14, 19, Gal. 4:5-6; Phil. 2:15; Heb. 12:7; 1Jn. 3:1-20). The elect are chosen by Christ (Jn. 6:70; 15:16,19) under the direction of God (1Pet. 2:4), who appointed them through the Holy Spirit (Acts 22:14).
There are three essential concepts for eternal life:
1)Belief and knowledge of the One True God (Deut. 6:4; Mal. 2:10; Eph. 4:6; 1Cor. 8:4-7). We must know Jesus Christ whom He sent (John 17:3; 1Tim. 2:5; 1Cor. 8:46).
2)We must have Faith in Christ Jesus through the knowledge of the One True God (Jn. 17:3). That understanding leads to repentance and baptism and the receipt of the gift of the Holy Spirit from our faith that God raised Christ from the dead (Rom. 10:9). We must also believe on Christ Jesus (Jn. 6:40).
3)We must obey and participate in the Lord’s Supper in footwashing (Jn. 13:6-17), and eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ (Jn. 6:53-55; 1Cor. 6:14).
These are the prerequisites for the retention of the Holy Spirit. Without God’s Spirit we cannot enter the Kingdom of God and have eternal life in the first resurrection. The Spirit is the means by which we worship God (Phil. 3:3). From these points we obey the commandments of God and keep the testimony of Christ Jesus (Rev. 12:17; 14:2).
Christ is given the power to raise the dead who are baptized into his body in the first resurrection, which is a better resurrection (Heb. 11:35). This is the resurrection to life (Jn. 5:29).
Those who do not believe that God the Father existed alone in immortality (1Tim. 6:16) are consigned to the second resurrection. The second resurrection is a resurrection to judgement (Jn. 5:29). The actual word for judgement is (krieseoos) which means correction.
Time and Immortality
Time can only occur when there is a relationship between two objects. Since God the Father existed before time, and He alone is immortal (1Tim. 6:16), time began with the creation. Christ was the first of the generation of the elohim (Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:15).
God the Father is the Alpha the Omega of Revelation 1:8. He is becoming all in all (Eph. 4:6; 1Cor. 15:28).
Christ is given authority over all things so the Church might come into its inheritance through Christ, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily (Col. 2:9). Christ is the image of the Father (Eph. 4:13). Christ fills us in the image of the Father (Eph. 3:9). We become co-heirs with Christ in the Kingdom of God (Rom. 8:17; Jas. 2:5). The Son of God in turn becomes an Everlasting Father (Isa. 9:6) being the head of the fatherhood of the human host, taking its place alongside the heavenly Host (Eph. 3:14).
The elohim are the morning stars that are before God (Job 1:6; 2:1). They are part of the council of God (Ps. 89:6-8; Rev. chapters 3 and 4). Christ was anointed above his partners (Heb. 1:8-9; Ps. 45:6-7). Though Christ was created with these elohim he was advanced to High Priest by his obedient sacrifice to reconcile man and Host to the Father. Therefore, Christ was not always in a superior position to the other Sons of God and he was certainly not co-equal with God the Father.
God the Father gave life to Jesus Christ. Christ retains immortality through willing obedience to the Father. We too must put on immortality (1Cor. 15:53-54). We also would only retain immortality through obeying the One True God and His laws. God gives the Host aionion life (1Jn. 5:11), which He promised to send to us (1Jn. 2:25).
Through disobedience man and the elohim both face the loss of eternal life. That is what is being referred to in Ezekiel 28:16. For the details of how man and the fallen host will be dealt with in the second resurrection see the paper The Judgment of the Demons (No. 80).
The end result of the Law is love of God and love of man. He who does not love his brother will forfeit his eternal life (1Jn. 3:14-15). Thus we must know that there is One True God and that Jesus Christ is His Son (1Jn. 4:15).