“Everlasting life” should be understood in contrast to “perishing.” “Perishing” is translated from the same Greek word as “destroy” in Matthew 10.28: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." “Kill” in the Greek is a different word than destroy. Man can "kill" the body but not the soul, but God can "destroy" both in Hell. Everlasting life is not destruction. Those who do not have that "Life" will experience destruction, yet that destruction is not a cessation of existence, but an existence in Hell. Everlasting life is to be seen in contrast to perishing, and this contrast is between two differing kinds of existence.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”—Jesus, John 3.3
In John 3.1-6, we see that by a new birth by the Spirit of God, one will enter the kingdom of God. To be made fit for and to exist in the kingdom of God is everlasting life. Those who are not made fit for the Kingdom, by new birth, are destined for Hell, and this is the place of destruction, for existence apart from God is destruction of both soul and body. If one passes from perishing to having everlasting life, by believing in the Son of God as savior from sin and its penalty, then it is this belief by which the new birth takes place.
In John 4.7-15, we have the account of the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well and her conversation with Jesus. Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, `Give Me a drink ,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water ... Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
Jesus made use of the situation to draw an analogy between water from the well and the gift of God, being everlasting life by a new birth, which He metaphorically identified as (living) water. The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."
She could drink of the water Jesus had if she had known 2 things: 1) what is the gift of God; and 2) who it was who spoke to her. The gift of God is everlasting life through the new birth. The one who spoke to her was the son of God: He has the authority to give her everlasting life. She did understand that to receive this water would require only a one time reception. Drinking water from the well would only temporarily satisfy one’s thirst, but the water Jesus would give would forever satisfy one’s thirst. Believing is like drinking. By believing in Christ for everlasting life through him, one receives that life.
All people by natural birth are perishing because of the effects of sin, which is destruction of soul and body, ultimately in a place called Hell, but by a new birth, one receives everlasting life, which is a quality of existence in relationship with God, which is ultimately in the kingdom of God.
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