Eternal Life – Teach Inmates to be Thankful For It

This message is primarily for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve as a Chaplain or a gospel minister in a jail, prison or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue mission – in the United States.

All Scripture quotes are usually taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a text, any deviation from the NKJV text is placed within parenthesis signs (). These usually occur as direct translations from the original languages, or as notes from the original setting to help apply the text to today’s culture.

ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize words in a text, or to make a comment about a biblical text, or emphasize a statement.

One of the things biblical Christians, including true inmate followers of Jesus Christ, continually ought to thank God for is ETERNAL LIFE. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle John asserts that Jesus is Himself, Eternal Life.

Note this fact in 1 John 1:1-2 and I John 5:20

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the word of life –
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness, and declare to you THAT ETERNAL LIFE WHICH WAS WITH THE FATHER and was manifested to us –

Hear it again in 1 John 5:20.

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This (His Son Jesus Christ) is the true God and ETERNAL LIFE.

The same Apostle tells us that THIS KIND OF LIFE is IN God - the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This fact is stated in 1 John 5:11-12. It says there:

11 And this is the testimony; that God has given us ETERNAL LIFE, and THIS LIFE is IN HIS SON.
12 He who has the Son HAS LIFE (Eternal Life); he who does not have the Son of God does not have LIFE (Eternal).

Jesus is Himself life eternal and the giver of that life to true believers. As you speak of eternal life to inmates, MAKE SURE they understand you and the Bible are talking about a DIFFERENT KIND OF LIFE than what they generally know.

Eternal life does not mean the same kind of existence they as unsaved persons, as rebellious sinners have known – just continued on and on forever.

I have had inmates tell me if THAT is what God wants for them they would rather not have it! Their existence, their biological living apart from Christ is a miserable existence. It is spiritual death, separated from this special life of God. Jesus said it best in His prayer to the Father in John 17:3

“…this IS eternal life, that they may KNOW You, the only true God, and (know) Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

So, always explain eternal life is a RELATIONSHIP with God. It is KNOWING Him personally.

This now brings me to the main text I want to speak about this month as we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. It is in Titus 1:1-3, where the inspired Apostle wrote –

1 Paul a bond-servant (literally, a slave) of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, …
2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, (literally, “before times eternal”)
3 but has in due time manifested (the fulfillment of His promise through) His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;

Wow! What a wonderful, mind-boggling passage! God made Paul His messenger (apostle) to proclaim the message of ETERNAL LIFE, which has a future as well as a present reality.

The use of the word “hope” in verse 2, points to the future aspect of this kind of life. It applies to an eternal experience of sharing life with God in heaven. BUT note it: - there are four other things related to ETERNAL LIFE that this passage mentions.

In logical order they are:

1. The fact that God Himself, PROMISED IT. (V. 2)
2. Furthermore, the promise of eternal life came from a God who CANNOT LIE. (V. 2)
3. Furthermore, furthermore, He promised this future eternal life to believers, BEFORE TIME BAGAN! (V. 2)
and
4. Eternal life is made available THROUGH the PROCLAMATION of HIS WORD. (V.3)

FIRST, In considering the fact that God Himself promised eternal life, it is good to point people to the truth that whatever God promises, HE ALSO HAS THE POWER TO MAKE HAPPEN. You see an example of this in Romans 4:18-21. There, speaking of the FAITH that Abraham had in God’s prior PROMISE to give him a son and make a great nation from him, it says:

18 who (a reference to Abraham), contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”
19 And NOT being WEAK IN FAITH, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20 He did not waver at the PROMISE of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
21 and being fully convinced that what He HAD PROMISED HE WAS ALSO ABLE (or, had the “power”) TO PERFORM.

Abraham believed God because He understood what God promised, no matter how seemingly impossible, God also had the power to bring into reality!

SECONDLY, the promise to believers of a future eternal life also comes from a God WHO CANNOT LIE! He is always FAITHFUL to His word. Tell them to think about that. Since God cannot lie, because He is always faithful to what He has said, His promises will always be realized - eventually.

This aspect of God’s nature also is a great aide to believing Him. Consider and teach this from Sarah’s side of receiving the fulfillment of God’s promise to her husband Abraham in Hebrews 11:11-12, which says:

11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him FAITHFUL WHO HAD PROMISED.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

The THIRD truth brought out in Titus 1:2 is that God’s promise of a future eternal life for believers was made BEFORE eternity past, literally “before times eternal.” This statement is truly beyond our full comprehension.

It is one thing to realize that an all powerful God made a promise and can therefore bring it to reality. It is even greater to know that the One making the promise is incapable of ever lying, BUT to now be told an eternal God made a promise BEFORE ETERNITY BEGAN stresses the eternal aspect of an eternal promise of eternal life from an Eternal God.

God has always existed outside of time. So we learn from Titus 1:2, that His plan to share His life with us was always outside of time. As long as God has existed, so has His PROMISED PLAN to grant believing humans His eternal life ALWAYS EXISTED.

God has always existed. He has always sought to give His life to the crown of His creation – believing mankind. This incomprehensible truth is in accord with Isaiah 55:8-9, which says –

8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 “ For as THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My THOUGHTS (higher) THAN YOUR THOUGHTS. “

Listen again to our text in Titus 1:1-3

1 Paul a bond-servant (literally, a slave) of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, …
2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, (lit. before times eternal)
3 but has in DUE TIME manifested His word through PREACHING, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;

The FOURTH AND FINAL thing about eternal life, brought to focus in verse 3, is that in human time and history His Eternal Life is NOW made available THROUGH the PROCLAMATION of HIS WORD.

Of course, the “preaching” (v. 3) the Apostle Paul was referring to was (and is) the announcing of the gospel of Jesus Christ. People are saved from spiritual and eventual eternal death through a proper response to the word of God being proclaimed to them. They must hear the message, believe and obey it to be granted eternal life.

Another Apostle, Peter, said the following words to true believers in 1 Peter 1:18-23

18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Those two verses contain the central kernel of the gospel message – the substitutionary death of Christ in the believing sinners place.

20 He (Christ) indeed was foreordained BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (note the eternal theme), but was manifest in these last times for you
21 who THROUGH HIM (Christ) BELIEVE in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth (by believing) through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
23 having been BORN AGAIN, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD which lives and abides forever,

Those that are born again, or regenerated, are made possessors of eternal life as soon as they have obedient saving faith in Christ. Note Jesus’ words in John 5:24 (NASB Translation).

24 Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears MY WORD, AND BELIEVES Him who sent Me, HAS (present tense, right now) ETERNAL LIFE, and does not come into judgment (which would relate to the future), but has passed (lit. has already been passed) out of death into life.

So eternal life is the present possession of true Christians, BUT future eternal life will be in heaven and those that have it now will have it then and NOT BE JUDGED FOR THEIR SIN, because Christ already bore their judgment at the cross.

That is a LOT TO BR THANKFUL FOR! In thinking about being thankful and the possibility of obtaining eternal life, God urges sinners to repent and believe in His provision of mercy.

Again, THIS provision of forgiveness of sin and eternal life is connected to hearing and responding obediently in faith to the life-giving word of God. Note it in Isaiah 55:6-11

6 Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked FORSAKE his way, and the unrighteous man (forsake) his thoughts; let him RETURN to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and (return) to our God, for He will ABUNDANTLY PARDON.
8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts (higher) than your thoughts.
10 “ For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 SO SHALL MY WORD BE THAT GOES FORTH FROM MY MOUTH; it shall not return to Me void, but IT SHALL ACCOMPLISH what I please, and it shall PROSPER in the thing for which I sent it.

So teach inmates to seek Eternal Life in Christ, and to be THANKFUL for the provision of it from God.

In closing, I want to suggest that you challenge professing believers to come up with an acrostic of the English alphabet for at least 26 things they should be thankful to God in Christ for. BELOW IS A SAMPLE OF WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT.

A Christian’s Thanksgiving Alphabet: Jesus, Our God is -

ALMIGHTY - Revelation 19:6
BEAUTIFUL beyond imagination - Ezekiel 1:26-28, Revelation 1:12-18
CREATOR and COMPASSIONATE - Ps.103:22 see also Genesis 1:1, John 1:1-3 and Colossians 1:16 / compassionate - Psalm 103:1

DELIVERER from sin, Savior - Ps.103:12 and see Matthew 1:22
ETERNAL, with no beginning or end - the word LORD includes this concept and see Ps.103:17, John 8:58

FAITHFUL and FORGIVING - Numbers 23:19, see also Heb.11:11 and Rev.3:14, 19:11 forgiving - Ps.103:3,12

GOOD and GRACIOUS - Ps.103:2,4,5,8

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY (set apart by moral perfection) Ps.103:1 and see Isa.6:3
IMMUTABLE – meaning He never changes, see Hebrews 1:12 and James 1:17; also IMMENSE, beyond infinity yet INTIMATELY INVOLVED with His creation - Jer.23:23,24
JUST and fair, will JUDGE rightly - Psalm 103:6, Psalm 96:10 with Acts 17:31
KING over everything - sovereign in control and KNOWS everything - in the word LORD, Ps. 18,19,22 and Ps.103:14 and LOVING - Ps.103:4 see also 1 John 4:8
MERCIFUL - Ps.103:8,17 and Ps.103:13
NEVER TIRED, (He cannot be depleted in strength after exerting Himself) - Isaiah 40:28, Heb.

OMNIPRESENT, always present everywhere (by His Spirit) - Psalm 139:7-12
PATIENT, longsuffering with us - Ps.103:8,9
the QUENCHER of our spiritual thirst - John 4:13,14 and John 7:37,38
RIGHTEOUS and REDEEMER (the One who pays to set us free from sin)- and Ps.103:4,6

SELF-REVEALING and the only SUSTAINER - Ps.103:7 and Ps.103:3,5
TRUTH, ultimate reality - John 14:6
UNCHANGING, always the same - Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8 and James 1:17
VICTORIOUS over His enemies, over sin and death - 1 Cor. 15:26,55-57
WEALTHY - Psalm 24:1, Philippians 4:19
the X-RAYer of hearts - John 2:24,25 and Hebrews 4:12,13
One who YEARNS for our fellowship - Luke 19:10
One who ZEROS in on the smallest details in our life - Matthew 10:29-31

Rich Hines
Aurora Ministries – Minister to Chaplains
Chaplain Help Ministry