The final part of the Apostles’ Creed teaches the Christian hope of everlasting life. Christianity affirms not only eternal life but also eternal death. Both come after the resurrection of the dead. Eternal life is God’s promise to His people, those who believe and put their faith in Him. But those who reject Christ and live without faith will face everlasting destruction.
Everlasting life is the fulfillment of the Feast of Booths in the Old Testament.
The Feast of Booths was established by God after He brought the Israelites out of Egypt. It commemorates His redemption of His people from slavery and His faithfulness in leading them into the Promised Land.
“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the LORD. ‘On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work of any kind. … ‘You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'”
(Lev 23:34-43 NAS)
God vowed to lead His people into the Promised Land, where He would be their God and they would be His people.
“Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ‘And I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the LORD.'”
(Exo 6:7-8 NAS)
The Promised Land, which God gave to His people as a sanctuary, was meant to be theirs forever.
“My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. ‘And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.’”
(Eze 37:27-28 NAS)
God’s promise was for His people: He declared that He would establish a new covenant, placing His Law within their hearts, and they would truly be His people.
“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
(Jer 31:33-34 NAS)
The Apostles proclaimed that Jesus Christ fulfilled the promise of the new covenant.
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them upon their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”
(Heb 8:10 NAS)
The Feast of Booths finds its ultimate fulfillment in the promise of Christ’s return, when He will bring His people to their eternal dwelling places in heaven. Jesus assured His disciples that He would come again to receive them into His Father’s house.
“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
(John 14:2-3 NAS)
All those found in the Book of Life have eternal life.
Eternal life belongs only to those whose names are written in the Book of Life.
“Indeed, true comrade, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. ”
(Phil 4:3)
“And nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
(Rev 21:27)
The Book of Life was “written from the foundation of the world.” Eternal life is portrayed as an everlasting paradise, where God’s people dwell in the house of the Lord, surrounded by myriads of angels singing in the New Jerusalem. In that place, there will be no more pain, sorrow, or death. In eternity, there will be no more suffering, death, or sorrow, for God’s people will dwell in paradise forever.
“And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
(Rev 21:4 NAS)
In the house of the Lord there will be no death or decay, only joy and songs of praise.
In heaven, God’s people and the angels will continually lift their voices in song and music.
“And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”
(Rev 4:8)
“And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth.”
(Rev 14:3)
The house of the Lord will be filled with joy and songs of praise. In God’s house are many dwelling places, prepared for His people.
“Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. “And you know the way where I am going.”
(John 14:1-4)
Only those who remain steadfast to the end will enter the house of God.
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. ”
(Rev 3:12 NAS)
God’s people will dwell forever in the presence of God and His angels.
The Bible teaches God’s people will live in the New Jerusalem.
God’s people will have eternal life in the “New Jerusalem” in heaven.
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels.”
(Heb 12:22)
“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.”
(Rev 21:10-12 NAS)
“And the material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone.”
(Rev 21:18-19 NAS)
“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.”
(Rev 21:21-22 NAS)
“And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed.”
(Rev 21:25 NAS)
The New Jerusalem is a glorious sight, far surpassing anything we could ever experience on earth.
In the New Jerusalem is the Tree of Life.
God’s paradise will be full of life and beauty, with trees, flowing water, and everlasting abundance. In the New Jerusalem, the Tree of Life will grow, and God’s people will eat from its fruit.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.”
(Rev 2:7)
“And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ”
(Rev 22:1-2)
Those who are not found in the Book of Life will suffer eternal destruction.
Those who do not believe in the gospel of Christ will suffer everlasting destruction. God’s wrath will be poured out on the wicked according to their deeds, and His judgment will fall upon the unrepentant.
“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds:”
(Rom 2:4-6 NAS)
At the final judgment, those not found in the Book of Life, who reject God and are condemned by their deeds, will suffer the second death.
The wicked will be cast into the lake of fire which is the Second Death.
Immoral unbelievers who hate God and have no regard for His commandments will suffer eternal death in the Lake of Fire.
“And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. ”
(Matt 18:8 NAS)
“And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
(Rev 20:14-15)
“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
(Rev 21:8 NAS)
The Lake of Fire is a place of eternal torment, where some will suffer in the very presence of God. The most defiant unbelievers will endure everlasting judgment before the Lord.
“He also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
(Rev 14:10-11 NAS)
The Lake of Fire will never be extinguished or come to an end. All who are cast into it will face eternal destruction forever.
“Then they shall go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm shall not die, And their fire shall not be quenched; And they shall be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
(Isa 66:24 NAS)
“And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”
(Mark 9:43-48 NAS)
The Apostles’ Creed closes with the promise of “life everlasting. Amen.” For the believer, this is the blessed hope, eternal life in the presence of God, dwelling in the New Jerusalem, where there is no more pain, sorrow, or death, but only joy, peace, and unending fellowship with the Lord. Yet for those who reject Christ and have no regard for His commandments, the final judgment brings everlasting destruction in the Lake of Fire. The Creed ends with both a comfort and a call: everlasting life is the inheritance of all who persevere in faith, trusting in the One who conquered death and prepares a place for His people forever. It also condemns those who are wicked, enemies of Christ, and have no repentance or faith.