This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 

                                                                                                            John 17:3 

Today: Read John 17

The Bible is full of examples, illustrations, promises, and even definitions of the key concepts that we need to understand, claim, and enjoy. We are given a wonderful definition for faith in Hebrews 11:1. The characteristics of agape love are found in 1 Corinthians 13. And the evidence of a Spirit-filled life is neatly organized for us in Galatians 5:22-23. Today’s passage is not unlike these as it defines the amazing concept of eternal life.

For some believers, the security of knowing that they possess eternal life eludes them. My life experience leads me to believe that some of this insecurity comes from bad doctrine and faulty thinking. For some, it may simply be a misunderstanding of the gospel and what was accomplished through the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Works-based religion and similar theological philosophies have left many with a sense of unworthiness and a lack of belonging. Jesus’ words should bring an end to these insecurities as He defines what it means to have eternal life.

Eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ. In order to better understand what Jesus is declaring we must delineate between knowing as possessing intellectual knowledge from that of personally knowing someone. Consider the prayer of Paul in which he uses both meanings in the same passage:

Paul is praying that we would know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:19a).

The first usage of knowing in this passage is to know someone or something intimately. It is actually a Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. It is the highest form of knowledge in that it is only known through relationship and experience. This is what Paul meant when he prays that we will “know the love of Christ.”

The second usage of knowing is knowledge derived from general intelligence such as having a general understanding of the Christian religion. In other words, it is knowledge that can be achieved through cognitive study alone. In essence it means to be “book smart.”

We can read a book about marriage or we can enter into a marriage relationship. The former is general knowledge while the latter is experience. Likewise, we can read a manual on how to drive a car or we can get behind the wheel and actually drive. I think we get the point!

When Jesus says that eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ, He is referring to the personal, intimate, and experiential knowledge of God and Christ. He is pointing us to a personal relationship with God.

I have been thinking a lot lately about why some believers seem to be so bitter, critical, and altogether lacking joy. I have concluded that for many of them, they have a good (perhaps superior) working knowledge of a doctrinal system but lack that intimate, personal knowledge of the love of Jesus in their lives. To clarify, I am not at all suggesting that they are outside of Christ or not saved rather I believe that they have simply fallen victim to a well organized, systematic, and seemingly sound set of beliefs that lead away from the good news and the finished work of Christ. In short, they are operating out of their head and not their heart. In these doctrines, the simplistic yet powerful message of the good news of Jesus is clouded by demands, burdens, and bondage. Claiming to deliver freedom and security, these faulty concepts leave even the most secure hearer with doubts, insecurities, and a sense of unworthiness. What a tragedy.

Paul prayed for the church to intimately know the love of Christ, which he states surpasses intellectual knowledge. In other words, we can never arrive at an intimate knowledge of God through doctrinal and theological training alone. I am an educator and a life-long learner so I am not diminishing the need and importance of study. But when our thinking leads us away from a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus, we have fallen victim to religious bondage (Galatians 5:1).

How do we know that we have eternal life? When we are operating out of a vibrant, joyful, and victorious existence granted us by the power of the cross, we not only know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, but we also know the love of God in our lives and as a result we have spiritual freedom and security. This security brings with it confidence as we live our lives in the power of the Spirit. Consider the following passages on the confidence that believers in Jesus are to exemplify and enjoy:

This was in accordance with the eternal purpose, which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.                                               

                                                                                                            Ephesians 3:11-12 

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

                                                                                                            Hebrews 4:15-16 

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

                                                                                                            2 Corinthians 3:4-6 

And by the way…another byproduct of this intimate knowledge of Christ is that sin cannot defeat us. We will sin. We will have times in which we do not live up to the standard by which we ought. But when we understand that even in those times, our position in Christ and our standing with God are eternally unaffected, that silences the accuser and leaves his tactics powerless over our lives. This intimate knowledge of the love of Christ gives us the power to live the next day in victory and power and to go on to do even greater works than we have ever done before. This is the power of the cross!

Believers, walk in the intimate knowledge, power, and strength of God today!