Our faith, and the building up thereof, is what constitutes our trust that God will deliver us from this world into eternal life. We do not have any store receipts telling us that we have eternal life. The assurance we have comes from our faith. That is why Jude (brother of the apostle James) said, “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life” (Jude 20-21). Faith constitutes and is the receipt for eternal life. Jesus tried to reason with the Jewish leaders by saying these words, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24; see also 1 Timothy 1:16, 1 John 2:25, and John 3:14-15). There is a direct parallel between our faith that Christ forgives us of our sins when we come humbly to Him and the realization of our guaranteed state of eternal life with Him.
Eternity with God, from the perspective of His Word, is synonymous with enjoying the fruit from the tree of life. The first mention of the tree of life is in Genesis 3:22. Adam and Eve already committed sin against God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden which God told them not to do. However, after they sinned, God did not want Adam and Eve to also eat from the tree of life because they would live forever in their sinful state – separated from God. Therefore, he banished them from the garden and placed cherubim (angels) and a “flaming sword flashing back and forth” to guard the entrance to the Garden (Genesis 3:24). Jesus Christ much later on had some encouragement (and admonishment) for the churches. To those in the church of Ephesus, He gave these words, “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7). The victory that Christ was talking about is the victory over sin. That is, repentance and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. The tree of life is a biblical symbol for eternity with God. That was God’s design in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. However, Jesus Christ had to reinstate that opportunity by dying on the cross for our sins so that we can enjoy the fruit from the tree of life and live with Him forever.
In the book of Revelation, Christ gave this assurance to the church at Smyrna: “The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death” (Revelation 2:11).[1] Christ, because of His crucifixion on the cross and resurrection from the dead, is the Victor – He conquered sin and death. This means that not only is He victorious, but because we also have humbly come to Christ for mercy and forgiveness of sin, we too share in Christ’s victory. God’s plan for all people is that they would all come to Him for mercy and forgiveness for their sin. His plan is one of absolute, divine love. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God wants everyone to have eternal life. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the sins of everyone who would come to Him. It doesn’t matter what type of sin a person has, what their background is, or anything else that they might perceive gets in their way of coming to Christ. God’s love is so powerful and supreme that it can reach down into the spirits of any human being and restore their relationship with Him.
[1] The first death refers to the passing of our spirits from these physical bodies in this life into the presence of Christ. Spirits that do not have a relationship with Christ will go to a waiting place for final judgment. The second death is the final judgment for the spirits that do not have a relationship with Christ i.e. eternal separation from God.