Rosenritter
New member
Your mis-understanding of the substance of "earnest" given the new born son of God which it signifies as being a Relationship with God by faith receiving into my soul, His own 'DNA' as being the seal of His being a Father to me.. ". . . . by faith "I" stand." 2 Corinthians 1:24 (KJV)
Question: While on Earth and before the cross, did Jesus experience eternal life?
Here's a clue: ". . . whosoever lives [now] and believes in me shall never die." John 11:26 (KJV)
THe "earnest" of the Spirit began on the day of Pentecost. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:5 (KJV) . . The "Promise of the Father"; the "Comforter" Who is standing in for Jesus while He makes intercession for us at the Throne of God in Heaven..
The earnest of the spirit would be the Holy Spirit, as evidenced by that eventful Pentecost in Acts. Given your wording I am not sure if you agree with this (would you please clarify?) And would you also agree that the Spirit can be both given and taken away, as David alludes in this Psalm?
Psa 51:11 KJV
(11) Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
To straightly answer your question, I will ask that you please read carefully, as I am making sure to answer carefully. I do not think I could call Jesus's life on Earth before the cross as eternal life... for reason that he tasted death for every man (Hebrews 2:9). Eternal life means a life that does not end, and for death to have any meaning in this context, eternal life would take application upon his quickening by the Spirit with his resurrection. Essentially, on this potentially tricky question I'm looking at the meaning of "death" vs. "eternal life" which are opposites.
Spoiler
If you were to ask if Jesus experienced eternal life before he was born of the Holy Spirit and begotten of the Father, I would say yes, as per John 17:5 he shared the glory of the Father before the world was. If this seems confusing that touches more on the nature of the incarnation which is itself a subject that bears some discussion. And if you were to ask me if he experienced eternal life upon his resurrection and ascension to glory, I would also say yes. But that was not your question.
If I may ask you to look at the immediate context of John 11:26 you will see that this passage provides no contradiction to my position, but rather reinforces it:
Joh 11:25-26 KJV
(25) Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
(26) And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
As for the proclamation that those that live in him shall never die, when does this go into effect? He has already acknowledged that this life is in the resurrection, and for resurrection to have any application one must first die. "Thou he were dead, yet shall he live." If one dies, one does not literally possess eternal life. The promise of eternal life "shall never die" takes effect at a later date.
The promise is currently in our possession, the fulfillment of that promise is in the resurrection. The proof that it is not yet fulfilled is in that in Adam all men die, it is appointed unto men once to die. If you can still die then by definition eternal life has not yet been bestowed.
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