Jesus Is the Life

Listen carefully as you talk with people and you will soon understand how they view life. Listen carefully and you will discover that many people have no real understanding of life at all. Far too many people don't realize that without Christ you cannot understand what life is all about, because true life is found only in Christ.

John tells us that true life existed from the beginning in Christ: "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). To that Jesus adds, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12).

Until you understand this basic truth, you have no way of understanding life. Ephesians 2:1 says that apart from Christ you are "dead in trespasses and sins." Being "dead in sins" results in living life "according to the course of this world" (v. 2). That means living under the influence of evil, in disobedience to God. Such a lifestyle amounts to living "in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind" (v. 3a). It is not a life pleasing in God’s sight, nor will it be fulfilling in any way. It only brings the wrath of God upon you in the end. Paul said that we all "were by nature children of wrath" (v. 3b).

That is the key. None of us are any different. No one is by nature perfect and righteous. That is why Christ, who is perfect, had to die on the cross for us. The penalty we deserved, He paid. "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). He gave His life that we might experience life in Him. Life as it was meant to be.

In Ephesians 2:4-5 Paul adds, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ." He further explains, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (vs. 8-9). Christ died on the cross and rose again from the dead so that you could be forgiven of your sins. The end result is having life, both abundant and eternal, in Him.

God made us. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (v. 10). We were created for a purpose: to live life in the way God meant for it to be. We are to be what God wants us to be. We are to live life after the example of Jesus Himself as found in Scripture. We are to be doing the "works" that He has prepared for us to do. We are not saved by our works. Salvation comes only by God’s grace through our faith in Christ. The works follow faith. The works are life as it was designed by God.

Paul goes on to say that "without Christ" you are "aliens" from God’s people and "strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God" (v. 12). However, "in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ" (v. 13). If you believe in God and you have placed your trust, your faith, in Jesus and His cross, you are no longer a stranger to God living in a distant land. You are His and you will begin to experience life as He meant it to be. Follow Jesus and you will have life abundant, as well as life eternal. Amen.