Eternal Life

Summary Scripture: Luke 18:18

And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

These days, people have begun to brag on their own righteousness. However, in the scripture below, Jesus’ disposition was one of humility.

Luke 18:18-21

18. And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

19. And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

20. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.

21. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

In this scenario, Jesus was making himself of no reputation (Philippians 2: 7-9). We must always remember that it is God in us that makes us good. Without Him, there is none that’s good. In Luke 18, we see the rich young ruler asking about eternal life.

The rich young ruler had heard at some point that Jesus was ministering about eternal life, or living forever. So, he sought out Jesus to find out how to get access to that life.

The first thing Jesus did was to point to the small moral things that would prevent him from getting to heaven. He pointed to the law and the Ten Commandments. The Rich young ruler assured Jesus that he was clear in these matters.

But Jesus was the Word of God and the Word is a discerner - a living discerner. If even the words on the pages of the Bible are able to discern, how much more the Word that has become flesh?

The Word of God discerned the one thing that would hinder him from inheriting eternal life.

Luke 18:22

Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Notice that even the Bible called this man “rich” and “young”. He had acquired wealth and success, and he had acquired it early. This even speaks to his drive and his character in natural things. However, those were the things that made up his identity. He was faced with the dilemma

of giving up his identity for the Kingdom of God.

However, the rich young ruler is not alone. Many of us may give of our money, our time and so many other things that make us seem to be committed to God and to the Gospel, but our identity is off-limits to God. If the rich young ruler had obeyed Jesus, he would no longer be rich and he would no longer be a ruler; he would become common and just like everyone else. Jesus challenged him to give up all that gave him his image and his way of life.

The truth is, many of us are unwilling to give up our own lives but are still desirous of inheriting eternal life. Eternal life is a prize way more vast than we could ever conceive. It is bigger than our thoughts, and just thinking about it gives us mental fatigue.

Most of us see salvation as “when a man gets saved, his soul lives forever from now on.” But not only does he inherit life from that point on, he inherits the life that existed way before he came into the earth as well.

John supports this statement when he wrote the following:

1 John 1:1

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

The apostles are now testifying that the life which was in Christ is now in them too. This goes to show that those things that were ancient (from eternity past), have the ability to live within us by way of eternal life. Now, not only will a man live forever, but he will also encompass and embody

the time which was first lived out in eternity, long before the existence of this physical world.

When we entertain Jesus, we entertain a man that had the fullness of time dwelling in Him. This is why Jesus was able to testify about situations that transpired way before He ever came into the earth. Jesus even spoke at times referencing people that existed long before he was born into the world. How did he know these people?

Remember when He spoke about meeting Abraham who lived hundreds of years before Him? This is because the fullness of time was in Jesus. And this is the eternal life that Jesus offered to the rich young ruler and is now offering to us.

This is why a prophet can prophesy about things in the future. The Lord is allowing him/her to experience that which is in them: eternity.

Luke 18: 23

And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

When Jesus referred to the rich, he was talking about those that love prosperity and this love supersedes their desire for eternal life.

When we examine the lives of those around us, not everyone is ignorant of the wages of their sins. There are those that have accepted the fact that if they continue with the life that they are living, they will surely go to hell. These people love their lives so much that they will even sacrifice eternity for the pleasures of this world.

Luke 18:24

And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

Even though the rich young ruler requested eternal life, Jesus went on to minister about the Kingdom of God. This is because eternal life and the Kingdom of God are the same thing.

Essentially, the rich young ruler asked to enter into God’s world- in eternity: a world where there is no death and all that are in it live forever. In other words, what must I do to be saved?

Luke 18:25

For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Note here that Jesus speaks about the difficulty for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. But it is not an impossibility. The reality is that many times it is also hard for the poor to enter the Kingdom as well! The reason for this is that the poor often have the same mind and characteristics as the rich. It is not what you have physically, but what you have spiritually that determines if you will inherit eternal life or not.

During His years of ministry, the poor would follow Jesus because He was a source of food for them. But before he would feed them, He would teach them also. Jesus was making a point during the sermon on the mount: “Don’t pity the poor, because the Kingdom of God belongs to them”. This further debunks the doctrines of Faith and Prosperity because Jesus tells us plainly that even the poor qualify to enter the Kingdom.

Regardless of what we may lack in this world, the reality is that we who are saved have access to the entire Kingdom of God. This truth far outweighs the appeal of the wealth of this world.

Jesus had spiritual authority that gave Him power over diseases, devils and even the natural laws of physics and biology. On the other hand, the rich young ruler had the wealth of this world. Jesus’ appeal to him was simply to trust Him; because all of his riches were not enough to qualify

him for eternal life.

Luke 18:26 - 27

And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?

Who then can be saved? The things that are impossible with man are possible with God.

Luke 18:28 - 30

28. Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.

29. And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife,

or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,

30. Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

When we set our affections on these heavenly things, then our emotions are focused on matters of eternity. It is then that we will cease to be distracted by things happening in the earth. We have to come into a total trust in our eternal Father. All He wants is to know that we love and trust him.

On the other hand, the devil will dangle the things of this world before us. He will threaten and intimidate us with things that he will take away if we choose to serve God. He tells us that we will lose everything if we make that choice, but nothing here is worth our eternity.

Those who are in Hell now are already in their eternity. They will only get out one day, and that is to enter into the lake of fire. But God has thoroughly fulfilled us! There is nothing that we have lost for Him that we couldn’t live without. There is nothing that we don’t have that is worth complaining about; and there is nothing that we have given up for God that we should ever miss. It is not meet for us to regret the loss of those things we have given up for God. Remember, nothing is worth our eternity.