Jesus Is Life

Let’s start at the beginning. Let’s remind ourselves where life comes from: life comes from God…

KJV Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

NAS 1 Timothy 6:13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things,

God is the source of life; Jesus is God; Jesus is, therefore, the source of life. You could also rightly say Jesus is life.

Jesus is many things. He is the Word; He is the Son; He is the Bread; He is the Door; He is the Good Shepherd; He is Savior and He is Lord. But I would like us to consider Him in this study as life. Jesus is life.

You are an astronaut. You are good. As a matter of fact, you are the head of your class. People say you are maybe the best astronaut there has ever been. There is an emergency in outer space concerning the space station.  A perilous repair must be made.  You are selected for the mission. You are pleased. You are confident of your ability. Your face in on Time magazine. You will save the day. You and your crew blast off and journey to the space station. The world is watching. The moment arrives for you. Attached to a tether which supplies your air, you step out of your ship into space.  You are supremely confident in your abilities.  You can feel the eyes of the world on you. You will fix the problem and be proclaimed a hero. But then, suddenly, inexplicably, the tether snaps. You have only the air that is in your space suit.  In a few moments you will die for lack of air. You forget about your abilities. You forget about the applause of the world. You haven’t been thinking much of God these successful years and you don’t think of Him now, though you unconsciously call out to Him, your frantic, breathless voice beamed through space to millions watching horrified on television. All you can think of is air.  Air is life.  Without air you will die. And then, as suddenly and inexplicably as the breaking of your lifeline, you feel helpful hands grabbing you. Within seconds fresh air begins to course through your helmet. Two of your teammates have come to your rescue.  They fixed the tether. You can breathe. You are saved!

We are like the astronaut. Instead of being called to repair a space station we have been called to share the gospel.  Jesus is our lifeline.  Jesus is our air.  Jesus is our life…

Jesus Christ is life. By that statement I am saying that Jesus is the source of life itself. Life does not exist apart from Jesus.  Without Jesus there would be no life.  Jesus is life.

NAS John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

I wonder if our awareness of this fact is as prominent it our daily thoughts as it deserves to be. For if it were, I doubt if we would complain as we do about the events of our life. The person who truly maintains an awareness of the fact that Jesus is life will thank God for his life, regardless of circumstances.

I think we all would agree Jesus is the source of spiritual, but how many are aware He is the source of our physical life as well? Jesus is the creator and sustainer of all life.

NAS John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

“In Him was life.” Can you imagine that statement being about anyone else but Jesus? On the keyboard of my computer the H key is right next to the J key. When I first typed out this message and came to the line “In Him was life,” I inadvertently hit the J key instead of the H key: “In Jim was life.” That, of course – all apologizes to all the Jims – would be ridiculous. No other name but the name of Jesus would fit in this clause.

NAS Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created by Him and for Him.

Note the next verse (in the New American Standard)…

NAS Colossians 1:17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Think of that last clause: “and in Him all things hold together.”

Jesus is not only the Creator but the sustainer of life; He is this very moment holding all things together…

NAS Hebrews 1:3 And He is the radiance of (God’s) glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.

Our lives come from Him and our lives are sustained by Him. Consider that thought in these terms…

NAS John 15:4-5 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

When we recognize Jesus is life, we should be more responsive to Him. He is the Vine; we are the branches growing out of Him. It is His life that is flowing through our veins, nourishing us, enabling us to bear much fruit…

KJV John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

NAS John 5:26 “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;

The apostle John used the word “life” more than any other writer of the Bible. Therefore, the majority of the Scripture references in this particular blog come from the Gospel of John.

Consider the word “life” from the pens of famous worldly writers: I looked up these quotes from

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations…

• “Life is a jest, and all things show it” – John Gay (1685-1732)
• “Life is a joke that’s just begun” – W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911)
• “Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale” – William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
• “Life is one long process of getting tired” – Samuel Butler (1835-1902)
• “Life is but an empty dream” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
• “Life is a desert; life the solitude” – Edward Young (1683-1765)
• “The basic fact about life is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore. It is not that it is so predominantly painful, but that it is lacking in any sense.” – H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)
• “Most men in this world live out their lives in quiet desperation” – Henry David Thoreau (1817- 1862)
• Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating” – O. Henry (1862- 1910)

Most quotes I found about “life” were sad and negative. And there is, of course, truth in these worldly words:

“Peanuts” – Maybe you’re reading these words and saying that’s the way I feel. I hope not. Or maybe you’re like Charlie Brown. In one of Charles Schultz’s famous Peanuts cartoons, Lucy is philosophizing and Charlie is listening. The are on a cruise ship. “Charlie Brown,” she begins, “life is a lot like a deck chair. Some place theirs so they can see where they’ve been. And some place theirs where they can see where they’re going.” Charlie thinks for a moment and sighs, “I can’t seem to even get mine unfolded.”

One more:

“Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.” – Forrest Gump

But there are numerous positive quotes about life as well…

• “Sweet, sweet is this human life” – William Cory (1823-1892)

• “How good is man’s life, the mere living!” – Robert Browning (1812-1889)
• “There is no wealth but life” – John Ruskin (1819-1900)

Life in the Bible is associated with light, gladness, fullness, order, and active being. As is to be expected, it is starkly contrasted with death and death’s connection with darkness, sorrow, emptiness, chaos, and silence.

Consequently, it may be deduced that Christians are to be lively people characterized by light, gladness, fullness, order, and active being. Inherent in “life” is the idea of activity. Life, in great part, is that which moves…

KJV Genesis 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

KJV Genesis 7:21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

The things that God created and instilled with life moved. So keep moving.

WHAT IS LIFE? “Professor!” you say, “everyone knows what life is! Life is the opposite of death.” Yes, that’s true; that’s probably the main definition. But the proper complete definition is more complex that you may think – much more. If you don’t believe me, get on the internet some time and search for “Life – Definition,” and see what you get into. You will find yourself wading through such terms as Algorithmic Theories, Human Genome Project, Anthropic Cosmological Principle, and various degrees of Evolutionary Theories. The Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary I have list no less than 35 different connotations for life.  Let me read you a few:  1. the condition (life is a condition) that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects. 2. the sum of the distinguishing phenomena of organisms, esp. metabolism, growth, reproduction, and adaptation to environment (life, we might say then, is evidence of activity). 4. a corresponding state, existence, or principle of existence conceived of as belonging to the soul: eternal life (here, life is a state or principle). 5. the general or universal condition of human existence: Life is like that (condition again). 6. any specified period of animate existence (life is also a period of time): He lived a long life. 10. a particular aspect of existence: She enjoys an active physical life.  The car had a short life. 15.the force that makes or keeps something alive (life is a force). 18. a prison sentence: The judge gave him life.

In addition to these definitions, think of how we use the word in daily conversation: “Not on your

life!” “As large as life.”  “Get a life.”…

Think for a moment of all of these definitions as they may be applied to Jesus. Although we do not always define biblical words by English dictionaries, sometimes we do. In this case the English is not far from the Hebrew or Greek. From the dictionary we have seen that life is 1.) a condition – Jesus is a condition.  2.) evidence of activity or existence – Jesus is evidence of existence.  3.) a state or principle – Jesus is a state in which we exist, a principle that rules our life. 4.) a period of time – this one doesn’t really apply, thankfully; we have Jesus forever. 5.) finally, a force – Jesus is a force.  Better, Jesus is the force…

I hope you agree that was a helpful exercise. Life means more than just the opposite of death.

l’chaim! is the age old toast the Jews say when they drink wine. It is often translated “to your health,” but it literally means in Hebrew, “to life.”

la dolce vita is Italian for “the sweet life” (there is a movie entitled “La Dolce Vita”). This is life to the unbeliever: “the good life,” a life marked by self-indulgence, a life that seeks pleasure and avoids anything negative.  The life of the TV commercial.  The life of our world today.

Let’s look at the Greek words for”life.” In English as in Latin (vite) there is but one word – life. Because of this inadequacy often conceal important distinctions. In Greek, however, as often is the case, there are three. Briefly, they are…

ψυχή (soo-kay) – life, breath, spirit, heart, mind, soul – it refers to the vitality of life, to physical life.

NIV Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

KJV John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

βίος (bee-os) – life, existence; by implication the means of livelihood (Mark 12:44). We get our English word biology from the Greek root. Biology is the science of life. It also refers to physical life, and the livelihood that supports life…

KJV Luke 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

KJV 1 Timothy 2:2 (pray) For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

ζωή (zo-a) – life, essential and ethical life; this is the word that the NT uses to describe our spiritual existence…

ESV John 6:48 I am the bread of life.

Basically the distinction in the N.T. is between βίος and ζωή. Essentially βίος refers to physical life and ζωή refers to spiritual life. βίος refers to the quantity of physical life while ζωή refers to the quality of spiritual life…

That’s an important note for us to consider. Eternal life, as described in the Bible, has much more to do with quality of life than the duration of life…

KJV John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

That’s ζωή, eternal life, spiritual life, the life we are most concerned with today…

Our lives are really but a manifestation of what we think about God…

• “God asks no man whether he will accept (physical) life. That is not the choice. You must take it. The only choice is how you take it” – Henry Ward
• “No man is living at his best who is not living at his best spiritually (in obedience to God).” W. Marshall Craig

• “I count all that part of my life lost which I spent not in communion with God or in doing good for Him.” – John Donne

Our lives when considered from adolescence to death may be seen as a picture of what we think about God.

If you have physical life, you have the common grace of Jesus. But if you will allow me to be blunt, you may be breathing and moving, but if you are you are an unbeliever, you are really but a “dead man walking.”  It is only by the loving grace of God that you have life.

If you have spiritual life, you have the saving grace of Jesus. You have both βίος and ζωή.

KJV 1 John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life (ζωή); and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

The most precious thing in life is life itself. If Jesus is life, as we have clearly demonstrated from Scripture, then Jesus is the most precious thing in life…

KJV Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Life is but a means to an end, and that end is Jesus. The reason we have life this very moment is to manifest His life……

NAS 2 Corinthians 4:11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

KJV Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ,

KJV Acts 17:28 For in Him we live, and move, and have our being;

JESUS IS LIFE… Straightforwardly, if you do not see Him this way, there is something wrong with your relationship with Him. Or – I pray this is not the case – maybe you have no relationship. If you are a believer, allow me to tell you that your Christianity will never really work for you until you see Him as life itself. And if you are an unbeliever, life – both physical and spiritual – will never work for you, period…

NAS John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life (ζωή); no one comes to the Father, but through Me.

JESUS IS LIFE!

– Professor Thomas A. Rohm