Jesus had a knack for saying things to confound our simple minds. I’m beginning to understand there was a greater intent in His words than we often take the time to evaluate.

Let some of these statements resonate for a moment…

“Except you eat the flesh of the Son… Abide in Me… The Father in Me, I in you… I Am the life… I came to give abundant life…” and so on, suggests something much more fundamental than a morally good lifestyle… as in simply claiming to have made a profession of faith, and then trying to live by the principles of the Bible. Jesus is actually proclaiming He alone holds the empowerment to grant life where there is only death!

This is why it is so important to capture the entirety of Scripture! Feeding on a dab here and a pinch there opens the door for a missed message. It is crucial, because this is the message every person must grasp. We are dead people walking and we have no hope for life!

It wasn’t always that way. Way back there when the events recorded in Genesis chapter two were taking place, some pertinent information explaining who we are and who we were created to be is explained explicitly.

God created mankind in His own image. Then… He breathed the breath of life into us, and we became living beings. Once again, think about that for a moment.

We were alive! Yes, yes… there was a physical body created from the elements much like that of cats and dogs and so on, but to which of our dogs did God ever say, “I have breathed life into your nostrils?”

Then came the garden incident (Genesis 3). The serpent’s enticement came in the form of, “You can be like God!” It’s easy to understand why Jesus said Satan was a liar from the beginning. Friends, we were created in the image of God! We were already like God (not God; like God)! He created us in His image and breathed His own breath into us so that we might fellowship with Him… abide in Him!

So how did we choose? How else? We believed the lie, and rebelled. …and we died!

Many would argue at this point, “no, no… I’m still here living and breathing… here, take my pulse.” The death we died that day was much worse than physical death, but still, give it time and this physical body will die too. We are actually born with a decaying physical body, headed for death. Why? Because we are no longer attached to the source of life. Our God-breathed spirits died that day in the garden. Therefore, the physical body follows suit.

I should define true life at this point. True life is being able to fellowship with our Creator… it is why we were created. The biblical definition of death is to no longer have access to true life… our God, the giver of all life.

This is why Jesus could claim He came to give abundant life. He is God! By paying the penalty for our rebellion, our sin, He now offers to once again breathe the breath of life back into His children (hence, born again by His Holy Spirit).

This is the Good News! By simple faith, believing in Him (Jesus, according to the Scriptures), the life abundant is available to all who will call on the name of the Lord! Imagine what it would be like to truly live… you can! Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Related articles

• Abundant life in Christ (2 fold) (ptl2010.com)
• Free from the Stronghold of Anxiety (ptl2010.com)
• Grace And Truth For Nicodemus Part I (ptl2010.com)