The Eternal Life Series offers a look at eternal life based on John 17:3 and related New Testament scriptures.
Most or all of the New Testament was written in Greek, so Bible students often dissect scripture by minutely examining Greek words and philosophies. This is natural for Americans because the American education and culture is based on Greek ways of thought.
However, Jesus probably taught mostly in Hebrew, with some of his teachings in Aramaic. Jesus and his followers were well educated in the Hebrew Old Testament. For the first couple of decades after his death, the followers of Jesus were mostly practicing Jews. It seems likely that a better understanding of the teachings of Jesus can be attained by looking at them through a Jewish cultural viewpoint and a better understanding of Hebrew words.
The impetus for this series were some of the episodes of the Bema Discipleship podcast, along with personal study times with Hebrew experts Elle Grove Fricks and Brad H. Young. Working with them, we developed a dictionary of some Hebrew words that you can find in Reference 7 of the Reference section of this website.
Although each episode in this series can be approached individually, the Eternal Life Series is written for viewers to watch all of the episodes in the order in which they are presented.
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A.W. Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
For many, the first thing that comes to mind about God is his stern nature. Others might first think God loves them, while others might first think God needs to save them from their sins.
One Hebrew word speaking to the character of God is “hesed” or “chesed.” This word doesn’t have an exact equivalent in English. Bible translators often use the made-up term “lovingkindness” as the best English description. Other terms or words used to translate “hesed” are: steadfast love, mercy, kindness, goodness, love in action, loyalty, consideration, and faithfulness.
“Hesed” is not an abstract idea, but is something that is actively done. Hesed is one of God’s chief characteristics. It is unconditional because it is a characteristic of God, not something that can be earned through human action or goodness.
