Lesson for March 22, 2026
Our Spiritual Assets
Lesson 2
Eternal Life
Eternal life is God’s gift to every person who puts their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. We receive eternal life the very moment we trust Christ as Savior. Eternal life creates the potential capacity to receive and appreciate eternal rewards. Since it is God Who gives us eternal life, it is a matter of His grace. Therefore, eternal life is not deserved, nor can it be earned. This means that anyone that has believed in Christ for salvation (regardless of their current spiritual status) possesses eternal life. It also means that believers are secure in Christ forever. (John 5:25-26; 11:25-26; 14:6; I John 5:11-13)
Another result of the gift of eternal life is the guarantee of a resurrection/glorified body. Theologically, we call this Ultimate Sanctification, and it will occur at the Rapture of the Church. Our resurrection body is said to be like that of Christ’s resurrection body. This means believers will no longer possess a sin nature. In our resurrection bodies, we will be able to continue to produce divine good. The imputation of eternal life assures believers of an eternal relationship with God. (Philippians 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; I Corinthians 15:51-57; I John 3:2)
In eternity, all believers will have eternal life, but there will be certain inequalities among believers with regard to eternal rewards. Since God blesses believers on the basis of capacity, it is easy to understand how there will be inequality in Heaven. Not all believers develop capacity for blessing, nor do they all share the same degree of capacity. The more a believer learns and applies from the Word of God, the greater their capacity to receive rewards both now and in eternity. This does not, of course, mean that anyone will be unhappy or remorseful in Heaven.
God in His matchless grace sees to it that no believer spends eternity in any condition other than perfect happiness. Remember, a believer’s sin nature no longer exists in eternity. Jealousy and envy will no longer exist, as well.
The giving of rewards by God is much easier in the eternal state since the sin nature of believers has been left behind in the human body (at either death or the Rapture). In a believer’s glorified state, God is able to pour out blessings that will be so far above our thinking that no analogy we can think of would adequately describe them. Not only is our sin nature gone, so is our negative volition, both of which hinder our receiving blessings on earth. And satanic influence will be gone in eternity, with its negative impact on a believer’s life.
Eternal life means living in a state of eternal peace and happiness for every believer. Some believers will reign over cities, and some will not, but we all will live in magnificent mansions. Though our motivation for living the Christian Way of Life should always be our personal love for God, knowing that there are degrees of reward should also motivate our advance to spiritual maturity. In God’s system of reward and blessing, believers must never forget that proper motivation and proper protocol are the keys to successfully appropriating them. A right thing must always be done in a right way in order to be right.
When John wrote Revelation in 96 A.D, the city of Jerusalem had laid in ruins for twenty-six years (destroyed by Titus in 70 A.D.). Therefore, he must have been excited to see the new Jerusalem and realize that it would be restored for all eternity.
The city itself, that comes down from Heaven, will be the dwelling place of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. (Revelation 22:3) An angel from God showed John the new city of Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem will have supernatural light, Jesus Christ, the Shekinah glory. The New Jerusalem will have no Temple. Revelation 21:11 says her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. This will be very unusual translucent stone, much like a diamond and will be the foundation for the new city. The foundation will represent the glory of the presence of Jesus Christ, the Shekinah glory.
The walls of the city will be 200 feet high with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates. The gates will be named after the tribes of Israel, as follows: Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, Gad, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. (Numbers 2),
The walls of the city will have twelve foundation stones, and on them will be the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Christ). On these stones will be the names of Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon and Paul. (I Corinthians 15:7-10)
The material of the wall will be flawless diamonds, and the city will be pure gold like translucent glass. So, it is not the gold of today, it is the gold of the future. The gold of the future will be so pure that it will be translucent. The decorations on the walls will be gems of the future. All these materials will reflect the glory of Jesus Christ Who is the only light in the city.
The Light of the World, Jesus Christ will be the only light needed for the New Jerusalem. The brilliance of His deity and glorified body will illuminate the city. (John 8:12) In the New Jerusalem, believers will be in glorified bodies without a sin nature, enjoying the blessings of the new heavens and the new earth. Exactly what we will be doing for all eternity is not stated in the Word of God. Whatever God has in store for us will be above and beyond all that we could ask or think. Whatever our roles in Heaven or on the New Earth, they will certainly be all to the praise and glory of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 3:20-21,”Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”