Romans – God’s Timeline XXX: Eonian Life, Part 4

 

The Rest of John

There are a few more passages from John which beg our attention. Next is John 10:10–

Jesus, then, said to them again, “Verily, verily, I am saying to you that I am the Door of the sheep. All whoever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep do not hear them. I am the Door. Through Me if anyone should be entering, he shall be saved, and shall be entering and coming out and will be finding pasture. The thief is not coming except that he should be stealing and sacrificing and destroying. I came that they may have life eonian, and have it superabundantly.

Whenever Christ is figured as the “Shepherd,” Israel is always in view as “sheep” in the text (Matt. 10:6, 16, 15:24, Luke 15:6, 1 Pet. 2:25, and many, many Old Testament examples.) This aligns with the fact that Jesus is speaking during the sixth administration, to bring about the blessings of Israel. Thus in this brief example, Jesus refers to this figure in order to demonstrate who is receiving life eonian. Following from our dissection of John 6, “sheep” clearly do not “choose” their shepherd. They are led, and guided, are often straying from poor instinct, and are drawn back to safety by the shepherd alone. It is this crew – the helpless – that are being given life eonian at His command.

This is elaborated on later in John 10:28–

My sheep are hearing My voice, and I know them, and they are following Me. And I am giving them life eonian, and they should by no means be perishing for the eon, and no one shall be snatching them out of My hand.

Here the value of life eonian is yet again intimated – not only is life for the millennial kingdom intimated, but the certain safety of one with eonian life is established. There is no reason to fear if one has life eonian, for no immediate or future threat could remove them from the hand of Christ.

…What? No, I shouldn’t have to remind you yet again that “eternal life” couldn’t be in view, when the following clause literally notes when the “not perishing” takes place. Moving on!

John 12:25–

He who is fond of his soul is destroying it, and he who is hating his soul in this world, shall be guarding it for life eonian.

Many, many interpretations of this verse have been provided. I do not wish to belabor you with one of these interpretations at present. I only wish to provide the fact we can presently ascertain: “life eonian” is undoubtedly not for this soul, for this soul will vanish at our death (for a study proving this, I recommend The Soul, the Unseen, and the Gehenna of Fire by James Coram.) If there were ever a clearer passage to show that the expectation of “life eonian” is fulfilled in the future, it is this statement, here. No “everlasting” warranted.

This timing is asserted yet again by Jesus in the other use of “life eonian,” in John 12:50–

He who is repudiating Me and not getting My declarations, has that which is judging him; the word which I speak, that will be judging him in the last day, seeing that I speak not from Myself, but the Father Who sends Me, He has given Me the precept, what I may be saying and what I should be speaking. And I am aware that His precept is life eonian. What, then, I am speaking, according as the Father has declared it to Me, thus am I speaking.

Once again, the last day is the word which is spoken of Jesus. The precept, or direction, that His Father has given Him – explained as life eonian in verse 50 – juxtaposes the “judging” which will occur in the last day (cf. John 5:29.)

We may observe three more uses of “life eonian” in John. First, John 17:1-3–

These things speaks Jesus, and lifting His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, come has the hour. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son should be glorifying You, according as You give Him authority over all flesh, that everything which You have given to Him, He should be giving it to them, even life eonian. Now it is eonian life that they may know You – the only true God – and Him Whom You commission, Jesus Christ.

This is the beginning to that wonderful and intimate prayer of Christ, which essentially caps the four accounts. They bring us into the depths of the intimate relationship between God and His Image. Christ prays for that which He knows is predetermined – His greatest suffering, the cross, is the precursor His being glorified as the Son properly, beginning with those who witness His resurrection, as well as those of the evangel of the kingdom, yet in spirit by those who apprehend Paul’s evangel, who are in the body of the Christ.

The eonian life, at this point in John’s account, in tandem with Matthew, Mark, and Luke, has been fully expounded upon to the reader of a proper translation. It is a gift, expounded to the Israelites as an intimation of their permanent allotment in the kingdom of God. As with most topics in the New Testament, here we do not receive the definition of life eonian, but the purpose of life eonian: to know God and His Christ.

And, when you really think about it, what greater gift could truly be produced by God? What has been more of a catalyst for… anyone, really, to look into the text?

An expectation. Some news from God that we will not always be subject to this Matrix we’re snared in. For the Jews, this was manifest by the news of their coming kingdom, in which they will be established, and peace will reign – not with them personally in charge, but with their Messiah, the Christ, in charge.

During eonian life, hindsight will, again, be the Jews’ best friend. Recognizing the full scope of the story told will lead them into glorification of the One Who gave them such an allotment. Experience and fellowship with the Word of God will only deepen mankind’s grasp of Deity, bringing all into that intended goal of the universe.

This is capitalized for us in the final use of “eonian life” in this account, John 20:31, just after educating Thomas in trust–

Indeed then, many other signs also Jesus does, in the sight of His disciples, which are not written in this scroll. Yet these are written that you should be believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, believing, you may have life eonian in His name.

We get to read the final note on the matter from John. Through believing that Jesus is the Son of God, life eonian is imparted to the Jewish believer. It follows that this faith, with this expectation, brings one to a realization of their Messiah. This can only be accomplished by heeding the message within this account. The signs themselves concern blessing for the chosen nation of God, specifically. It is mistaken, by many today, that the sixth administration is the present administration, and through this, blessings which belong to Israel, which are still yet future, are mistaken for blessings which come to us while Israel is presently apostate.

This is a scary trajectory for religious institutions to look toward. It may be that because of this poor logic, when the man of lawlessness does return, few will recognize him for who he really is. Yet thankfully, the period of his rule is short and swift, and will be followed by the resurrection, in which those who were gifted eonian life shall finally experience it for the final two eons.

John’s Private Letter

Hold on, Johnny, I’m not finished with you, yet! The phrase “eonian life” appears six more times in 1 John specifically. Let’s point out each of them briefly, starting with 1 John 1:2–

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, at which we gaze and our hands handle, is concerned with the word of life. And the life was manifested, and we have seen and are testifying and reporting to you the life eonian which was toward the Father and was manifested to us.

At the beginning of John’s account, we had read of Christ as the divine Expression. He had become flesh for the Jews to perceive. In this Word was life (John 1:4) – eonian life, as John expounds throughout the account itself. His entire ministry, being based around perceiving this actual Visual demonstration with which we may apprehend an otherwise abstract concept, focuses on the fleshy aspects of the Christ, in the circumcision.

This thought is developed over the course of the epistle. In its next use, for example, John introduces it as a promise. Observe 1 John 2:25–

Let that which you hear from the beginning be remaining in you. If ever that which you hear from the beginning should be remaining in you, you, also, will be remaining in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise which He promises us: the life eonian.

It is only with the cross of Christ that the circumcision believer can truly appreciate the life eonian in view – one Example is given to show the rousing out from among the dead. The effectual promise is life eonian.

We read later, in 1 John 3:15–

Everyone who is hating his brother is a man-killer, and you are aware that no man-killer at all has life eonian remaining in him.

The believer in the circumcision evangel can rest assured that one who hates their brother, or kills men, has no life eonian in themselves. This is the negative “proof,” as it were, for whether or not a circumcision believer had the evangel in them.

We also read 1 John 5:11-13–

And this is the testimony, that God gives us life eonian, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who has not the Son of God has not the life. These things I write to you that you who are believing in the name of the son of God may be perceiving that you have life eonian.

The inverse here is the positive “proof” that one has life eonian – they are believing God’s testimony concerning His Son, for this life is in God’s Son.

Last but not least is 1 John 5:20–

Yet we are aware that the Son of God is arriving, and has given us a comprehension, that we know the True One, and we are in the True One, in His Son, Jesus Christ. This One is the true God and life eonian.

One final affirmation that life eonian is of the true God, and that this gift is in His Son.

It cannot truly be said that any of these points are “in favor” or “not in favor” of an “everlasting” view. It would be entirely circumstantial to say that these should be translated “everlasting,” when the vast majority of uses of the term could not possibly mean “never-ending.” Since John, too, is concerned with the Jewish blessings of the coming kingdom, there is more circumstantial evidence to note life eonian than otherwise.

One More…

We have four more uses of “eonian life” apart from Paul’s letters. We will be considering one here, considering the two in Acts along with Paul’s letters in the next article, and return to the final use when we are considering Matthew 25.

This use of “life eonian” is in Jude 1:21. As with 1 John, the use is circumstantial on its own, so we must rely on the rational evidence of each use of the word up until this point. Let us end this portion of the study, then, by simply resting in the word to the Jews.

Now you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in holy spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for life eonian.

- GerudoKing