LIFE FROM DEATH
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” {Gen. 1:1,2}
We see in this primordial account of the disruption of God's original creation, a stark picture of DEATH. None of the figures of life are present in these opening verses of the Bible. Yet it is from this cold,... dark, formless emptiness, made such by the rebellion of Lucifer and his celestial followers, that The Spirit of God begins His transformative work to produce life in its fullness. This is always God’s modus operandi, FIRST Death, THEN Life. We are inclined to think the opposite order is true, i.e. - Life begets Death. But as we study the Scriptures, we are confronted with the inescapable principle that Life PROCEEDS OUT OF Death.
We see in this primordial account of the disruption of God's original creation, a stark picture of DEATH. None of the figures of life are present in these opening verses of the Bible. Yet it is from this cold,... dark, formless emptiness, made such by the rebellion of Lucifer and his celestial followers, that The Spirit of God begins His transformative work to produce life in its fullness. This is always God’s modus operandi, FIRST Death, THEN Life. We are inclined to think the opposite order is true, i.e. - Life begets Death. But as we study the Scriptures, we are confronted with the inescapable principle that Life PROCEEDS OUT OF Death.
Adam was the epitome of this biblical truth. The Creator formed him out of dead material... the elements of earth. Even when his formation was complete, he was dead. His lungs, heart, brain, and all other organs were perfectly formed within him... yet he was dead. His blood lay still within his arteries, awaiting the pulse of life to be given by the breath of his Father. Yes, Adam was DEAD before he received LIFE from God.
Death is not the end, but the beginning of God’s ways. As a matter of fact, Death is the essential state in order for Life to emerge! God Himself is LIFE. All His creatures must be made aware that their life is found ONLY IN HIM. It is impossible to enter the realm of Life, without first having passed through the dark corridor of Death. Death is God’s mandated pathway that is dark and fearful indeed, but by faith we can be assured that it leads to a better and higher state of resurrected Life.
We have a picture of this truth in the birth of a child. From the dark “grave” of the womb, the unborn child transforms into a more complex and higher form of life to prepare it for the new and brighter world it must enter at the end of the appointed days of gloomy darkness. The birth of a baby liberates it from the blackness of its entombment, bringing it into the freedom and light of this world.
We have a picture of this truth in the birth of a child. From the dark “grave” of the womb, the unborn child transforms into a more complex and higher form of life to prepare it for the new and brighter world it must enter at the end of the appointed days of gloomy darkness. The birth of a baby liberates it from the blackness of its entombment, bringing it into the freedom and light of this world.
The natural world echos this same principle. A caterpillar enters the sarcophagus it builds for itself, and must “die” there in order to be resurrected as a beautiful, transformed creature, in order to break the confines of earth, and to soar to new heights in the heavens. As an annual reminder of The Creator’s way, the stark and barren tree of winter without a sign of life, transforms into the lush and thriving shade tree of summer. The dry and shriveled corn seed, lying buried in the cold, dark earth, when the appointed season beckons, bursts forth in newness of life, rising high above the soil which held it, and bearing no resemblance of its former self, and producing multiple seeds of goodness in the ear it bears.
Our Savior used this very example to express the certainty of His resurrection from Death to Life:
“Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and DIES, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it PRODUCES MANY SEEDS. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates (loves less) their life in this world will keep it for eternal (eonian) LIFE.” {John 12:23-25}
There is a great truth in this passage for those that have eyes to see, and ears to hear. The death of an individual life brings life to many. While this is preeminently true of our wonderful Lord’s death and resurrection, there is truth here applicable to all. None of us “lives or dies to himself”, but we who have received Christ’s Spirit through faith in Him, are all vessels of blessing and life to others. It is when we die to self, that as members of His spiritual Body, we, by the operation of His Spirit at work within our lives, become channels of life and love to many!
Even that which we call ‘Life’ is really ‘Death’ in its various stages. We are born into this world dying, our bodies producing new cells to replace those that have reached their terminal stage. Even the replacement cells are themselves dying, and will need to be replaced by newly formed cells if the body is to remain "living". If this process in our bodies would stop at any point, our real state of death would become quickly apparent to all!
We are all existing in the realm of Death, which will finally claim each of us, some sooner, some later. Death is as near to a young man's back, as it is to an old man's face! Thankfully, The Son of God entered into our Death state, in order to impart His Life to us! Through faith, we enter into HIS DEATH and emerge into His RESURRECTED LIFE, believing that His death delivered mankind from a bondage we could never break free from ourselves. Through God's mandated pathway of FAITH, we receive His Spirit of grace, and are transformed incrementally into His likeness, as we grow in the knowledge and appreciation Him. For, "Without FAITH, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God." {Heb. 11:6}
BELIEVERS in Him and His Cross accomplishment, receive His Life BEFORE we finally experience our physical death! In this way we are united to Him in spirit and need not fear our coming physical death, knowing that we will be resurrected by Christ’s power over Death to live with Him always and bask in His Love and Grace! The Grave will give birth to its children of God's Kingdom of Light!
Believers in our Savior's defeat of mankind's Nemesis, enter into the enjoyment of His resurrected Life ahead of the remainder of Adam's race.
The apostle Paul explains:
“Now if we DIED with Christ (through faith), we believe that we will also LIVE with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin ONCE FOR ALL; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves DEAD to sin but ALIVE to God in Christ Jesus.” {Rom. 6:8-11}
Not only do believers in Jesus' sacrifice of Himself for all humanity, DIE to self, but through that same FAITH, are resurrected NOW, to walk with Him in newness of His LIFE!
Listen to our apostle:
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ (through faith), set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For YOU DIED, and your LIFE is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, WHO IS YOUR LIFE, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” {Col. 3:1-4}
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ (through faith), set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For YOU DIED, and your LIFE is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, WHO IS YOUR LIFE, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” {Col. 3:1-4}
Not only do we experience Jesus' life in our daily lives NOW, but we will live with Him in TRANSFORMED, VIVIFIED BODIES when He returns to resurrect His own:
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a Man. For as IN ADAM ALL DIE, so IN CHRIST ALL WILL BE MADE ALIVE (vivified). But each in turn: Christ, The Firstfruit; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him....” {1 Cor. 15:20-23}
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a Man. For as IN ADAM ALL DIE, so IN CHRIST ALL WILL BE MADE ALIVE (vivified). But each in turn: Christ, The Firstfruit; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him....” {1 Cor. 15:20-23}
Paul continues:
“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who SLEEP (IN DEATH), so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus DIED and ROSE again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have FALLEN ASLEEP in Him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have FALLEN ASLEEP. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and THE DEAD in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still ALIVE AND ARE LEFT will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord always. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” {1 Thes. 4:13-18}
“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who SLEEP (IN DEATH), so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus DIED and ROSE again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have FALLEN ASLEEP in Him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have FALLEN ASLEEP. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and THE DEAD in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still ALIVE AND ARE LEFT will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord always. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” {1 Thes. 4:13-18}
Let's rejoice together in the fact that Jesus Christ has been transformed from the earthly Man of flesh, into the glorified, vivified, celestial Man! He IS our LIFE! However it will require our metamorphosis at our resurrection or rapture, before we can join Him in our glorified body made to be like His. As we await that joyous Day, let us put off the DEATH of sinful living produced by the flesh, and live with Him BY FAITH in the celestial realm of LIFE at the right hand of His Father and ours! Come soon, Lord Jesus!
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