John 17:2

John 17:2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

In that saying of our Lord we have an explanation of what he did by his redemption. There was a universal aspect of it: "Thou hast given him power over all flesh." There was a special design in it: "That he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." Sometimes, two views of the same thing may appear to contradict each other; but when we are taught of God, we soon discover that they do not really do so, and that a grand truth may be contained in the two descriptions of it. Christ had, by virtue of his death, power over all flesh; but it was for a distinct purpose: "that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him."