“As thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him” (John 17:2).

If we trust Jesus for salvation, we can take no credit ourselves. Eternal life is a gift from God. The Lord stood before the tomb of Lazarus and called a corpse to life. What followed was no credit to the one who came forward wrapped in grave clothes. Jesus alone imparts life.

The fact that God chooses to save a people is cause for much celebration, and He alone is to be praised. Dead people do not have the ability to choose life.

One problem is that we think of walking and talking people as being alive when in fact they are dead. Jesus spoke the following words to walking-and-talking people: “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life” (John 5:40). They may have thought they were alive, but life was missing, as far as Jesus was concerned. Millions know down deep that something very important is missing in their existence.

The apostle Paul described people prior to conversion as being “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). He underscored the implied truth in the prayer recorded in our text when he went on to write: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (v.8).

Another aspect of the text which should fill us with praise to Jesus is the part about “all flesh.” Jesus, the Creator and Sustainer of all life, has been given authority over “all flesh.” He owns us. The Father gave Him “power” (authority) over all. He is the One who keeps us alive. Doctors stitch together cuts, but Jesus heals and made the doctors.

It is one thing to give mental assent to these truths; it is something else to live them. May we praise God that salvation is a free gift, and rejoice that Jesus owns and cares for all who have eternal life. PGH