Greetings in Christ,
What is life as we know it? We may think of life as we live it from day to day going through the experiences we have during our daily encounters. We may think of life as being able to breath, having a heartbeat, or other bodily functions that are necessary for our existence here on earth. We may think of it as the time we are born till the time we die. Whatever terminology we apply to our thinking in regards to life, we probably think too small in terms about what life really should be for us.
Webster’s Dictionary defines life as; the general condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, a means of reproduction, and internal regulation in response to the environment.
We sometimes let the environment of the world dictate to us just how life should be for us here on earth. We let the world form us to the point we do not feel as if we have any real life, and we let the world rob us of what real life should be for us as we live here on earth. It may make us feel we are dead inside making us feel we are just a body filling space here on earth.
John gives us a glimpse of what he thought would help the people in his time as he writes about Jesus coming to earth. “All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines into the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John was determined to shed a different point of view of what life should really be like for mankind here on earth.
John’s point he was trying to get across is without Jesus there is no life. Jesus brings the life which lights up the soul of mankind. He fills the spot which needs to be filled so we can understand what life should really be like for us here on earth, but John did not realize this until after Jesus died on the cross.
John did not grasp the meaning of what Jesus was trying to teach him while He was still alive on earth. It took the death of Jesus on the cross for him to understand what life was really supposed to be like on earth. John had to see Jesus hanging on the cross offering His life so mankind can have life. It took Jesus hanging on the cross to show John it is giving up your life to God before he can experience real life here on earth. It took Jesus to show John it is in the giving up one’s life he gains real life. It is giving up what is considered to be life here on earth to gain the light which brings real life to the heart and soul to him.
Webster goes on to give another meaning to the word life; a corresponding state, existence, or principle of existence conceived as belonging to the soul: eternal life. The light Jesus gives to life brings with it eternal life, but He also gives us another gift to ensure the light shines within.
When Jesus visited the disciples after His resurrection, He spoke these words, “So Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.”
It took Jesus to die on the cross before the real meaning of life could be understood. He showed what it meant to hang on the cross giving up what was considered life here on earth for life in heaven for eternity. It was through Him giving up His life the light became brighter for the heart and soul of mankind, and it was through the power of the Holy Spirit we can have this light which shines for eternity.
“Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, Who is enthroned on high, Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of His people. He makes the barren woman abide in the house as a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 113
“When Israel went forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became His sanctuary, Israel, His dominion. The sea looked and fled; the Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills, like lambs. What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs? Tremble, O earth, before the Lord, before the God of Jacob, Who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of water.” Psalm 114
Lord may we live life in the light You give us, and may we let it shine bright for You. Amen
Blessings,