Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Eternal life, at its core, is the understanding of the One and Only true God—the Father of all creation and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The fall of man into sin in the Garden of Eden resulted in immediate spiritual death and eventually physical death. To be “dead” essentially means being separated from God. As Neil T. Anderson points out in "Bondage Breaker," being dead signifies the end of a relationship, not the absence of all relationships.
The separation from the divine plunges humanity into serious sin, worldliness, and materialism. However, the image and likeness of God within each person always yearns for its true identity—a void in the human heart that only God can fill. This longing often leads to a religious lifestyle. Essentially, human religion is a response to the profound desire for a relationship with a supernatural being.
Religious affairs can pose certain risks, as they involve the interplay between the natural and material worlds and various spiritual forces. Alongside the belief in God as the creator, there exists acknowledgment of opposing spiritual entities, such as Satan, often regarded as humanity's adversary. This viewpoint indicates that the realm of religion may be susceptible to deceptive forces that can lead individuals astray.
God revealed Himself to humanity in the Old Testament by choosing Abraham and ultimately working through Christ. Some people believe the eternal is simply an afterlife after this world. Eternal life in the context of the Bible is knowing the one true God. This requires breaking free from the deceptions of Satan and idolatry. To have eternal life means being reunited with God through Jesus Christ. God is the essence of both life and eternity; being united with Him grants us eternal life. Everlasting life begins the moment we come to know God through Jesus Christ, at which point He gives us His kind of life—the ability to live a holy and righteous life like Him. Anyone who is united with God cannot die, for the Spirit of God lives within them. Christ has overcome death, and His life transcends time.
