This is Life
By Alyssa Engel
On Monday night the ECU Arts/Creative Arts faculty group hosted their second Open Mic night at the UniBar. I didn’t manage to get along to this one, but if it was anything like the last one, there was a wide variety of acts and various interpretations of the night’s theme − This is Life.
You can easily imagine what kind of things the average person would put together with that theme, things we all want life on this earth to be like. A free life, a happy life, an easy life. But for Christians, I would hope the phrase triggers a completely, radically different association: namely, Jesus.
Jesus himself says in John 11:25 ‘I am the resurrection and the life’. This is a simple equation, Jesus = Life. It’s an equation that’s reiterated throughout the Bible, that’s been true since the very beginning. Genesis 2:7 tells us ‘the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being’. In other words, God is the source of life.
Furthermore, in Deuteronomy 30:20 we’re told ‘the Lord is your life’, and in 1 John 5:20, ‘[Jesus Christ] is the true God and eternal life’. So, clearly the Bible holds to the fact that Jesus = Life. Not only that, but it’s an exclusive relationship; nothing else is ever equated to life. Only Jesus can give us life. But what on earth is that supposed to mean?
Apart from what Genesis has already said − that he gave us this physical life we’re living now − it also has one other (connected) answer with several enormous consequences.
Jesus, only Jesus, gives us eternal life. John 3:36 sums it up clearly: ‘whoever believes in the Son has eternal life’. Life that doesn’t end with death. Life that goes on forever, with Him, in heaven. This will be true life, as it was meant to be.
In the 21st century we often get skewed pictures of what heaven will look like, and more often than not they’re of a place we don’t really want to end up. But in Revelation 21 there’s a wonderful description that counters such skewed pictures: ‘God himself will be with men and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’. That is life, and we can have it only through Jesus.
Not only that, but this life that only Christ can give us radically alters our life on earth. It gives us an eternal perspective, so that we see everyone not in terms of what their life is like now, but how it will be eternally.
John 3:36 says more than I previously quoted. It goes on to say ‘whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him’. Part of being given real life by Jesus is understanding this second half of John 3:36 – and acting on it. If we’ve received the gift of life, surely we’ll want others to get it as well, rather than God’s wrath. We’ll tell people what’s on offer! Jesus, in fact, commands this at the end of Matthew.
While eternal life gives us an eternal perspective, it also makes us re-centre our entire life − and, shock of all shocks, it’s not around you. Nope, the life given to us by Jesus revolves around God. Having seen ourselves for what we are, and God for how ridiculously amazing He is, our lives become about trying to glorify Him in everything.
One fantastic thing about these two consequences of real eternal life is that our time here on earth takes on so much more meaning than it ever held before. We’ve got eternity with God to look forward to, a job of utmost importance to do our best at on earth and an eternal purpose of glorifying God. This is life!
I urge you then, in light of this, to take hold of the life that is truly life (1 Tim 6:19) and keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life (Jude 21).
Alyssa is in her first year and studying an unusual mixture of Arts and Physics. As such she can’t decide which she likes the idea of studying more – quantum mechanics or Jane Austen.
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