Today we will review the meaning of eternal life in Christ Jesus as it is taught in the Bible and reflected in the Odes of Solomon.
Happy New Year To ALL Bible Ascension Students!
My goal is to make 2010 the best year ever as we study and implement the Will of God in our lives.
I believe with all my heart that God’s will for us is to manifest the Glory of God in and through our spirit, soul and body, as we demonstrate the supernatural power of God upon the earth… the definition of Bible Ascension. This is the result of being born again by faith into this new species of Divine Beings.
Abundant Life In Christ!
The Bible states that Jesus came to earth to bring us life and more abundant life. In John 6, Jesus states that he is the Bread of Life that came down from heaven to give life to the world.
“I am the Bread of Life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
John 6: 48-51
“This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
John 6:58
When the Jews asked Jesus what they should do that they might work the works of God, Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent.” John 6:28-29
Why were they so interested in knowing how to work the works of God? Because they had just seen Jesus feed the multitude from only 5 barley loaves and two small fish!
Understanding Eternal Life
The Bible is filled with references to eternal life and the promise of doing the miraculous works that Jesus did and even greater.
These promises are not just about heaven and hell. They are offering humanity so much more! The mysteries of the new birth have been hidden in plain sight.
Most traditional Bible students have not been able to see past what their human consciousness could understand. They fastened on to the concept of heaven and hell because they misunderstand the meaning of eternal life. Their minds could only understand the concept of chronological time. They mistook the word eternal as meaning a never ending life. And obviously if you are going to live forever you must have someone to live after you die.
Eternal life is a never ending life… a deathless life. But it is so much more than where you reside after you die. To me the Bible is very clear about the depth and width of this new life in Christ. But unless you have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation knowledge it is easy to get caught up in the traditional teachings of Christianity.
When many of his followers left him because they did not understand how they could eat his flesh and drink his blood, Jesus explained the confusion and fear of these followers in this way…
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe…. Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
John 6: 63-65
On the last night Jesus would be with His disciples before his death, he explained the true meaning of eternal life to them. Notice the reference once again to the fact that those to whom he gives eternal life are only as many as God has given to him.
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that your Son also may glorify You, as you have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
John 17: 1-3
So what is eternal life? Eternal Life is that we may know God and Jesus Christ whom God sent to earth on a very important mission. This mission was to give life to the world… the Divine Life. This is very life and knowledge of God and of Jesus, the first born of many.
And all who believe in this promise, apply their faith to the promise will be born into this new kingdom… born of God, born of the Spirit of God and of Christ.
This is a new birth. It is not achieved through an evolution of consciousness although we will have the mind of Christ in this new birth. It is a spiritual birth that comes through faith. Faith in the promise. Faith in the Word. Faith in the gift of God through Christ Jesus and his redemptive work. You can not earn it. You can not simply grow into it. It is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!
Eternal Life Described in the Odes of Solomon
Here are a few verses from the Odes of Solomon that reflect Solomon of the Odes experiences with the concept of eternal life and the Will of God.
Ode 9
2. The word of the Lord and His good pleasures, the holy thought which He devised concerning His Messiah.
3. For in the will of the Lord is your salvation, and His thought is everlasting life; and your end is immortality.
4. Be enriched in God the Father, and receive the thought of the Most High.
5. Be strong and be redeemed by His Grace.
Ode 10
1. The Lord hath directed my mouth by His word: and He has opened my heart by His light: and He has caused to dwell in me His deathless life.
Ode 15
8. I have put on incorruption through His name: and have put off corruption by His Grace.
9. Death has been destroyed before my face: and Sheol (the place of death) has been abolished by my word:
10. And there has gone up deathless life in the Lord’s land,
11. And it has been made known to His faithful ones, and it has been given without stint to all those that trust in Him. Hallelujah
Ode 17
1. I was crowned by my God: my crown is living:
2. And I was justified in my Lord: my incorruptible salvation is He.
3. I was loosed from vanity, and I was not condemned:
4. The choking bonds were cut off by her hands: I received the face and fashion of a new person: and I walked in it and was saved.
Ode 25
8. And I was clothed with the covering of Your Spirit, and You removed from me my raiment of skin:
9. For Your right hand lifted me up and removed sickness from me.
10. I became mighty in truth, and holy by Your righteousness and all my adversaries were afraid of me.
11. And I became admirable by the name of the Lord, and was justified by His gentleness, and His rest is for ever and ever. Hallelujah.
Ode 28
4. I believed; therefore I was at rest; for faithful is He in whom I have believed.
5. He has richly blessed me and my head is with Him and the sword shall not divide me from Him, nor the scimitar;
6. For I am ready before the destruction comes; and I have been set on His immortal pinions;
7. And He showed me His sign; forth and given me to drink and from that life is the spirit within me and it cannot die for it lives.
There are many more references in the Odes of Solomon to the deathless life and salvation through faith in the Lord. Look for them in your copy of the Odes of Solomon.
Have a great day and be blessed!
Marty Dow
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