Eternal Life Scriptures
The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life John 4:14 nrsv
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life 1 John 5:13 nrsv
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life John 3:16 nrsv
I call my blog Hope in Jesus, but what is the hope that Jesus offers us?
The hope we have in Jesus is life eternal, as recorded in the teachings of Jesus in the scriptures above.
But what does eternal life mean, and what does it look like?
Well, it is undoubtedly going to be amazing.
Revelations 21-22 tell us that we will dwell with Jesus in heaven, and there will be no more pain or suffering, only peace, joy, and praise.
Everything will be adorned with precious gemstones, the streets will be paved with gold, and pearl gates will be placed at the entrance.
This imagery is not supposed to be taken literally, though; the writer described the most beautiful things that he could imagine to present a vision of heaven.
It sounds glorious, though, like the Garden of Eden was very beautiful.
St Peter tells us that the current heavens and earth will be destroyed and replaced with new heavens and a new earth; he said the righteous would dwell there. 2 Peter Ch.3 v.13
No one knows for sure what the eternal life Jesus promised will lead the faithful to, but the imagery in Revelations 21—22 seems to point to beautiful Eden-like conditions.
So, there is every reason to consider that the people of God might eventually inherit eternal life in a new Garden of Eden on the new earth.
Perhaps to continue the work Adam and Eve started before the fall of tending the garden and subduing the earth?
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2, And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelations 21:1-2 (NRSV)