God is Eternal, the Source of Life
Day Eight
by Gini Crawford, MSW
www.BecauseOfGod.com
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The One True God is eternal
Since the One True God is the Creator and the LORD, I AM, the Self-Existent One, of course He would be eternal, timeless, everlasting, and without beginning or end.
Before the mountains were born, or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. / Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning... Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 46:9-10 NASB®
The Source of Life
Jesus Christ is the source of all life, and without Him there would be no life. Furthermore all things continue to exist because of Him (Hebrews 1:3). It's pretty obvious we wouldn't have life if God hadn't given us life. Even many people who don't believe that God is the Creator recognize something or someone gave us life. As Christians we just happen to know Who that Someone is.
All things came into being through Him (Jesus)... In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men... / Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." / ...in Him all things hold together. John 1:3-4, 14:6; Colossians 1:17 NASB®
Eternal life
It is clear God created Adam and Eve, as well as all of us, to have eternal life, but sin happened. In Genesis 2:16-17, God gave Adam and Eve just one command that they needed to obey, or lose eternal life. They were not to eat fruit from one tree in the garden that was full of other lovely fruit trees. As you know, they chose to eat from the tree that God had told them not to. A world-wide nuclear war would have had less life changing effects on all of us. Their disobedience against God brought sin into the world, followed by death. Humankind went from eternal life to death (Romans 5:12).
However, God wasn't going to allow the people He loved to remain in a state of eternal death, away from Him. So Jesus, the source of all life, took on death for us, so we could again have eternal life instead of eternal death. The key to gaining eternal life is belief in the One Who is the source of all life (Colossians 1:15-17).
Did you know we are created to be eternal? I think a lot of people believe that when we die, we just decay, or we become a part of some cosmic force in the universe. However, the Old and New Testaments teach something different. They teach death is a temporary separation of our soul and spirit from the body, not extinction of self; in the future, our soul and spirit will be reunited with our bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 49; James 2:26a). After we die physically, we are either with God in heaven or away from Him. Both existences are eternal. (Psalm 16:9-11; Matthew 22:31-32, also Exodus 3:15; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10).
The compassion of Jesus Christ brings us life
The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John chapter eleven is one of the most unbelievable but true stories in the Bible. This Bible passage shows us so clearly that God is the source of life. It also gives us a dynamic view of God's power - Jesus spoke and brought immediate life from death. John 11:17-45 is summarized below:
So when Jesus came, He found that he (Lazarus) had already been in the tomb four days... Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God..." Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?" So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. John 11:17-45 NASB®
As you see, this story also shows a beautiful picture of God's compassionate love for us, by His weeping over the people's suffering from the consequences of death. Remember, God doesn't like it when we suffer, and He certainly didn't want us to die. Why would anyone not want to believe in this God?
I have always loved this story about Jesus. It magnificently shows Jesus being our source of life through His life giving power, as well as gives us a wondrous view of His compassion for us. What are your thoughts about this story?
Life Application
Our resurrection
Read John 11:17-45 again from your Bible if you have time. Reflecting on John 11:17-45, describe Jesus from this passage.
First Corinthians chapter fifteen describes what Jesus Christ gave to us through His death and resurrection - the hope of eternal life with a heavenly resurrected body. Remember, Jesus said in John 11:25-26, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die." Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 20-23, 42-44, 49-58.
Describe a Christian's future from these verses.
What are your thoughts on being an eternal being?
The rapture of Christians. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 describe the rapture. I am sure some of you are thinking, "What in the heck is the rapture?" It is when Jesus Christ will descend from heaven with a shout. This will cause the dead (also called asleep) in Christ to immediately rise with their new resurrected bodies. After that the Christians who are alive will rise too; and then all of us will meet together with Jesus in the clouds. Exciting!
There are different views on when in the future the rapture will take place; but when it does, it will surely be a supernatural happening that will affect the world.
What are your thoughts on the rapture?
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