Jesus brought eternal life to you and to me. If you would like to receive eternal life, believe in His name and you will be saved. For more about receiving God’s free gift of salvation, click here. Read on for more answers to your questions about Jesus and His great gift of eternal life to those who call upon His name.
Primary Importance
The Apostle Paul identified two of Jesus’ triumphs as of first (primary) gospel importance:
(1) That Christ died for our sins
(2) That He rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Necessary Truths
To save us, Jesus had to be God and man, sent by the Father, and achieve eternal redemption so He could save us by faith alone. However, besides those truths of primary importance, other factors were necessary, or Jesus couldn’t save us. The following are examples;
He had to:
Be born of a virgin (Matthew 1:22-23; Luke 1:27; 34).
Be descended from Adam and therefore related to everyone who has, does, and will live (Luke 3:23-38).
Live a sinless life (defeat the devil and temptation) (Hebrews 2:14-15; 4:15).
Bring the new birth and eternal life (John 3:1-18).
Jesus Brought Eternal Life
“Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews … came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:1-2).
New Birth
In Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, He taught about the new birth and eternal life.
“Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
We could also translate “born again” as “born from above,” indicating a birth from God or heaven.
Jesus’ Metaphor
“Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4).
To help Nicodemus understand heavenly truths, Jesus needed to communicate concepts that Nicodemus was unfamiliar with. To illustrate our need for a spiritual rebirth, Jesus used the metaphor of physical birth.
Jesus’ Heavenly Experience
When Jesus taught spiritual truths using metaphors, such as referring to eating His flesh or describing Himself as the heavenly bread (manna, representing the act of receiving Him), people struggled to understand. As a result, they lamented, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60)
When the people stumbled over Jesus’ bread metaphor, He asked, “Does this (metaphor) offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before” (John 6:61-62)?
Jesus’ Heavenly Teaching
Jesus taught spiritual truths, but instead of understanding these teachings, the people took Him literally. Like Nicodemus, they needed to realize that as the Son of God, Jesus taught heavenly truths unfamiliar to their experiences. Consequently, they misunderstood these concepts in a strictly earthly sense.
Jesus continued to explain the metaphor regarding what one needs to enter “the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). A person must be “born of water,” which refers to natural birth, to be physically alive, and “born of the (Holy) Spirit,” indicating the necessity of spiritual birth (John 3:5).
Like the Wind
While our physical birth is important, it is only the beginning; we must also be “born of the Spirit” for our heavenly birth (John 3:6). The spiritual birth is akin to the wind—we cannot see it, but we know it is present (John 3:7-8).
Jesus called Nicodemus THE teacher of Israel and marveled how he didn’t understand ‘these things’ (John 3:9-10).
Rejecting the Heavenly
Jesus explained to Nicodemus that his lack of understanding was because he wasn’t accepting the heavenly truths Jesus shared (John 3:11). Nicodemus was only familiar with earthly concepts.
Jesus illustrated spiritual truths using earthly experiences to connect with people (John 3:12). He came down from heaven to teach these truths (John 3:13).
A Familiar Story
Since Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus’ metaphor, Jesus referred to what “THE teacher” in Israel was familiar with: the teachings of the Old Testament. He stated:
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).
Parallel Salvation
Because the Jews had sinned, God sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they were dying from their bites. However, God had Moses make a bronze serpent; when the people looked at it, God healed (saved) them.
Similarly, God sent His only Son, Jesus, to save those who turn to Him for salvation and eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Summary
We need the ‘new birth’ to enter the kingdom of God.
We need the ‘new birth’ to receive eternal life.
Jesus used earthly metaphors to teach heavenly truths.
Only Jesus has come from heaven to teach us about eternal life.
Whoever believes in Jesus is born again and has eternal life.
