The eternal life that was released from within Christ through His death has been imparted into the believers through His resurrection. Concerning this, 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead.”
The eternal life that has been released through Christ’s death and imparted through His resurrection has been received by the believers through their believing in the Son. According to John 3:15-16 and 36, everyone who believes in the Son has eternal life.
After the believers receive eternal life, this life becomes their life (Col. 3:4). This is the purpose of God’s salvation, that is, to make His life our life so that we may become His children, partaking of His divine nature to enjoy all that He is and to live a life that expresses Him.
In Romans 5:10 Paul says, “For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved in His life.” Reconciliation to God through Christ has been accomplished already, but being saved in His life from so many negative things is still a daily matter. Day by day we may be saved in the eternal life.
In Romans 5:17 Paul goes on to say, “For if by the offense of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” Having the divine life within us, we may be saved by this life and also reign in it. We can be kings ruling in the divine life over all negative things. For example, it may be difficult for us to rule our temper. Many of us would say, “Instead of ruling like a king over my temper, my temper has been ruling me.” The reason many saints cannot rule their temper is that they do not enjoy eternal life. Do not make up your mind and strongly decide that from now on you will never lose your temper. That way does not work. Instead, forget about your temper and feast on this life. I would encourage you to mingle the calling on the name of the Lord with the pray-reading of the Word. If you do this, you will enjoy the Lord. As you enjoy Him, He will be the One reigning over all the negative things. Then as He reigns within you, you will reign in His reigning. This is the proper way to reign in life over your temper.
You cannot reign over your temper simply by learning the doctrines and teachings of the Bible. When some hear this, they may say, “You ignore Bible doctrine and uplift calling on the Lord and eating the Word. According to you, we can be overcomers by this calling and eating.” I would reply by asking these ones how much they have been helped by doctrines and teachings to overcome their temper. Many of those who know the doctrines of the Bible still lose their temper again and again.
I would ask you to consider the situation among many of today’s Christians. They may not be short of doctrine or Bible knowledge, but they are short of the calling on the name of the Lord and of the eating of the Word. We can testify that we are saved by calling on the Lord’s name, and we are nourished by eating the Word.
When you are tempted to lose your temper, call on the name of the Lord. Say to Him, “O Lord Jesus, save me from losing my temper!” It is even better to call on the Lord and pray-read the Word before you are tempted to lose your temper. If you are nourished through pray-reading the Word, the eternal life in you will reign as a king over negative things. In many cases this will even keep your temper from being stirred up. When you experience the reigning of the eternal life within you, your temper is put to death.
As believers, we should lay hold on eternal life. In 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul charges us to “lay hold on the eternal life to which you were called.” In 1 Timothy 6:19 he urges us to “lay hold on that which is really life.” This life is the eternal life. To lay hold on eternal life means that in everything—in our daily life, in our ministry, and in our jobs—we need to attach ourselves to the divine life and to apply the divine life to every situation, not trusting in our human life.
In Matthew 19:29 the Lord Jesus speaks of inheriting eternal life. To inherit eternal life is to be rewarded in the coming age with the enjoyment of the divine life in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. Certain believers who have received eternal life enjoy it to some extent; however, they do not enjoy it to the proper extent. As a result, when the Lord Jesus comes back at the time of the manifestation of the kingdom, they will miss the enjoyment of the millennial kingdom. To miss the enjoyment of the divine life in the coming kingdom is to miss the enjoyment of eternal life during that dispensation.
In eternity all believers will fully enjoy eternal life. According to Revelation 22:1 and 2, in the New Jerusalem all the believers will enjoy the divine life as the flowing river and as the growing tree. Both the river and the tree are for our eternal enjoyment. For eternity, we shall enjoy this divine life (Rev. 22:14, 17, 19).
Eternal life is related to the present age, to the coming age of the kingdom, and to the eternal age. In the present age we receive the divine life and live the divine life. If we live this life according to the Lord’s desire, we shall also enjoy the divine life in the coming age of the kingdom. Eventually, all believers will enjoy eternal life to the uttermost in the eternal age. However, if those who receive eternal life in this age do not live it properly but instead neglect it, then in the coming age, the age of the kingdom, they will miss the enjoyment of the divine life. By missing the enjoyment of eternal life in the kingdom age, they will learn certain lessons and be trained. Eventually they will be restored to the enjoyment of the eternal life. Then ultimately, in the eternal age, all believers will have the full enjoyment of the divine life.