The
Gift of God is Life!
"This
is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom You have sent!"
John 17:3. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!"
Romans 6:23.
God's
gift of eternal life is amazing and yet the gift of God is
much more than just eternal life in the future. It is also
the life that we live in the present! Life is a gift to every
living soul every minute of every single day.
Don't
take my word for it. It is the message that has been shared
with us through the ages from prophets of old, even before
there was a written language.
Consider
just a few messages our Creator has shared with us. May the
Lord open our eyes that we may see some of the real values
He shares with us daily.
In
the beginning…
"Then
God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our
likeness…' So God created man in His own image; in the
image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful
and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion
over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over
every living thing that moves on the earth'" Genesis
1:26, 27, 28.
"And
the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living
being" Genesis 2:7.
Testimonies
from Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles…
Enoch's
blessing, "Enoch lived sixty-five years and begot Methuselah.
After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred
years, and had sons and daughters. So all of the days of Enoch
were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked
with God; and he was not, for God took him" Geneses 5:21-24.
"By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see
death, 'and was not found, because God had taken him'"
Hebrews 11:5.
Abraham's
message, "Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham
and said; …In your seed all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice" Geneses
22:15, 18. "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called
to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.
And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith
he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling
in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise" Hebrews 11:8-10.
Elijah's
whirlwind experience, "Then it happened, as they (Elijah
and Elisha) continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot
of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two
of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven"
2 Kings 2:11.
David's
praise, "Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust…
You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness
of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore"
Psalm 16:1, 11.
Job's
testimony, "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath
of the Almighty gives me life!" Job 33:4.
John's
testimony, "All things were made through Him and without
Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the
life was the light of men" John 1:3-4.
Peter's
witness, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us
again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled
and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who
are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready
to be revealed in the last time… Peace to you all who
are in Christ Jesus, Amen" 1 Peter 1:2-5; 5:14.
Christ's
comments on life…
Jesus
said, "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.
"I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me" John 14:6.
"I
am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me, though
he may die, he shall live!" John 11:25.
Consider
the instances in the life of Jesus who returned the breath
of life to those who had lost it; Lazarus, John 11:41-44;
Jairus' daughter, Mark 5:35-43; the son of the widow of Nain,
Luke 7:11-15.
"'I
am the resurrection, and the life.' These words could be spoken
only by Deity. All created beings live by the will and power
of God. They are dependent recipients of the life of God.
From the highest seraph to the humblest animate being, all
are replenished from the Source of life. Only He who is one
with God could say, I have power to lay down My life, and
I have power to take it again (John 10:18). In His divinity,
Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death."
Desire of Ages, page 785.
"He
gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made
from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face
of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times
and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should
seek the Lord, in the hope that they might… find Him,
though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live
and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets
have said, 'For we are also His offspring'" Acts 17:25-28.
Christ's
messages to His "offspring" includes the following,
"I have come that they may have life, and that they may
have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd gives His life for the sheep" John 10:10, 11.
Do you
think the Creator knows how to share "more abundant"
living with His followers? You bet He does!
Paul
wrote, "Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain
from every form of evil" 1 Thessalonians 5:21, 22.
God has
given us instructions on how to live "more abundantly"
from the very beginning of our creation. Jesus said it succinctly
when confronted by the devil in the wilderness, "It is
written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God'" Matthew 4:4
and Deuteronomy 8:3.
God's
promises and blessings are for those who put their faith and
trust in Him and who live according to His Word! Making friends
for Jesus is making friends for eternity. I look forward to
spending time with my family and friends, and with our brothers
and sisters of all generations, forever.
May God
wonderfully bless you this week!
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