THE LIFE

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.  And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." (1 John 1:1-4).

The great doctrine of the Christian faith, and the thing that sets it apart from other religions, is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  Jesus was very plain and deliberate in teaching the necessity of both life and death.  Without a death, there can be no resurrection; and without a resurrection, there can be no life.  At one point in His ministry, He told His disciples, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." (John 12:24, 25).  Jesus wanted it to be understood that our lives – this human flesh - is this grain of wheat.  We have the germ of life - the seed of spirituality - within each of us; but it remains dormant as long as we ignore God and pursue a life that omits Him from the equation.  We each must come to the place where we genuinely hate where our selfish choices have brought us, and be willing to accept the death and resurrection of the Son of God as the only key to our ultimate happiness and deliverance.  Then, and only then, can we experience the life that God intended for us.  A new life - an ETERNAL life - then emerges, and we are born again.  When I am willing to die to myself, and my selfish pursuits, then Christ is free to manifest His life in and through me by the power of the Holy Spirit.  “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). 

God's definition of life and ours are worlds apart.  To most people, life is that phenomenon which begins when we take our first breath and ends when we take our last.  Jesus described it much differently, though.  He said, "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent." (John 17:3).  REAL life is being awakened to a consciousness of the Creator, and to a oneness with the Savior.  It is the most intimate of all relationships.  By accepting the gift of salvation, and believing that Jesus Christ was sent from the Father to be our Deliverer and Redeemer, we can now receive and know the life that is in the Son.  Jesus also said, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." (John 11:25).  And again, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6).  This life can only be found in and through Jesus Christ.  It's not about doctrines, or church memberships, or knowledge of the mysteries of God - it's about having the life of Christ activated within us by faith in the Son of God.  Testifying of Christ, the Apostle John said, "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4). 

Modern man has little appetite for this truth, but the fact is that sin is the thing that alienates us from God.  Sin exacts a heavy toll on those who practice it.  It robs us of the very life that God intended us to have from the very beginning when He formed man.  "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23).  When the first man and woman chose to ignore God's command, and eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, death came upon them just as God had said it would.  They were immediately separated from the relationship that they once enjoyed with their Maker.  Also, they were now forbidden access to the Tree of Life which would have given them endless lives.  Those who believe that they can consciously commit sin and yet maintain a healthy relationship with God are only fooling themselves.  "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:6, 7).  A true child of God will be grieved inwardly when they sin.  He/she will feel a sense of death that accompanies their bad choices.  In order to repair this breach, they must acknowledge their sin to the Father and turn from it with all their heart.  Then God's rich mercy and grace can restore the closeness of the relationship between Him and His child.  "But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)" (Ephesians 2:4, 5). 

As the Christian world prepares to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, we must ask ourselves if we truly understand the significance of His death and resurrection.  Experiencing the new life in Christ is something that we can have here and now before we die.  It is not just the promise of eternal life after we have laid aside these earthly bodies, it is the promise of a full and meaningful life right now.  “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10). 

Adam and Eve brought death upon mankind because of their disobedience.  Jesus Christ has come to bring life to the world through His obedience.  He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:24).  "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (1 John 5:12). 

Wouldn't you like to know the fullness of a relationship with your heavenly Father this Easter?  Wouldn't you like to know that your sins have been washed away by the sacrifice of the Son of God, and that you can start experiencing the new life that He promises to those who believe?  Or if you have known the Savior, but have allowed sin and disobedience to breed spiritual death in your walk with the Lord and you no longer feel the closeness that you once knew, wouldn't you like to return to the place you once knew before you left Him?  Above everything else, God is love.  He is only waiting for us to own our sins, and turn from them.  Like the father of the prodigal son, God is patiently watching to see if we will get tired of our choices and their consequences, and will come back home to our Father and the security of His love.  When we do, He will come running to meet us, and take us up in His embrace.  Repentance isn't a difficult concept.  When our own children do wrong and we correct them, we want to hear them acknowledge that what they did was wrong.  If their regret is heartfelt, then we know that they will learn and grow from the experience; but when they are belligerent, or insincere, we know that we will have to deal with them again because they have not learned a thing.  Our heavenly Father is no different.

The words that God spoke to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14 hold the keys to a right relationship with God.  He said that we, His people, should:

 

1.        Humble ourselves;

2.       Pray to God;

3.       Seek His face (actively get to know Him);

4.      And turn from our wicked ways.

 

If we do these things, He promises to hear us, forgive our sins, and bring healing all around us.  Let us come to really know this awesome life that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." (1 John 5:20).