When we preach the gospel, we tell others that we receive eternal life through believing in Jesus Christ. If a person believes in Him, he will have eternal life. Everyone who understands the Word of God knows that in the church age, as soon as a man believes, he has eternal life. This is our message. But the question now is this: When is this eternal life manifested, revealed, and enjoyed? Today our minds and spirits are constantly being harassed by death. Satan is still very strong. So when will the eternal life be fully manifested? Will it be in the new heaven and new earth? Or will it be in the kingdom? Let us read John 5:24-29. "Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, An hour is coming, and it is now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son to also have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth: those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have practiced evil, to the resurrection of judgment." Verse 24 says that as soon as a person believes, he has eternal life and will not come into judgment. He who hears the word of the Lord and believes the Father who sent the Lord has eternal life. But verse 29 says that those who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life, while those that have practiced evil will come forth to the resurrection of judgment. The word life (Gk. zoe) in verse 29 is the same word as in verse 24. Those that have done good will come forth to the resurrection of zoe, and those that have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. Verse 24 says clearly that we have eternal life already. But verse 29 says that some will not have eternal life until after the resurrection. Can you see the difference here?
Verse 25 is on the church age. It says that the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. We all are these dead people. We have heard the voice of the Son of God, and as a result, we live. Verses 28-29 say, "Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth." Verse 25 says that an hour is coming and it is now. Verse 28, however, omits the phrase "and it is now," saying only that an hour is coming. Hence, it refers to the future, not to the present. Also, the Lord Jesus says that in the future all the ones from the tombs will come forth from the tombs. In verse 25, He refers to "the dead." In verse 28 He refers to the dead who are in the tombs. Verse 25 talks about the dead, referring to those dead in trespasses and sins. When the Lord speaks of those dead in the tombs, He is not referring to the death of the soul in sin; rather, He is referring to those dead in the body. All those who are dead in their body, that is, those who are in the tombs, will hear the voice of the Son of God for the second time. Those who have done good will go into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil will go into the resurrection of judgment. This second time is the time when all those in the tombs will rise up.