ETERNAL LIFE: THE ERA AND THE VIRTUE

Scriptures reveal the truth that the righteous will inherit eternal life. Eternal life was understood as a coming age in which people of God will live only without death in His presence. This was the age or era of the establishment of the kingdom of Yahweh with the promised Christ as the ruler. It was known that even when the righteous physically died, they would physically resurrect to live again in that era (Daniel 12:2, Proverbs 14:32). Jesus Christ referred to that in Mark 10:30 and Matthew 8:11 to His audience. Jesus is that era and as the life-giving spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45), His kingdom is pervaded by the virtue of His being which is eternal life. Therefore, eternal life as the person of Jesus Christ, also describes the era of His kingdom and virtues of His being, that fill it.