John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Perhaps one of the greatest reasons Christ came to earth as a human being 2,000 years ago was to bring life.
When we think of life, we usually think of the state where our heart is beating, we are breathing, we are thinking and interacting with the world around us. When God created humanity, this state was intended never to change. In other words, humans were never meant to know disease, decay and death. We thwarted God's perfect plan for the world and for humanity when we thought we could get a better deal from listening to Satan. It turns out we traded in perfection and peace for an empty lie that brought death and suffering into the world.
But the Bible tells us that while death entered the world through the first Adam, Christ came as a "new Adam" to restore the life we forfeited back in the Garden:
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
The Bible tells us repeatedly that Christ brings us life:
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
John 4:14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
John 5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
John 6:33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
John 6:47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
John 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;
John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
This life that Christ brings can be defined on three levels: a new living spirit, the eternal life of the soul, and the resurrection after death.
That first type of life that Christ brings to humans is a newly born spirit that provides a connection to God where none existed before. Jesus tells about this "born again" experience in talking to Nicodemus. Since we are all born children of fallen sinners, we are born with a fallen, sinful nature. It is not until we accept the truth of Christ that we are "born again" with this new spirit. Jesus says no one can see Heaven unless they experience this new birth.
The second kind of life Christ brings is eternal life. Our soul will live forever, regardless of whether we are "born again" or not. It will live forever with God, or it will live forever in eternal separation from God and eternal torment in Hell. While we usually think of death in terms of "non-existence," it actually has a different meaning. When Adam "died" after disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, in addition to the physical death that eventually overtook his physical body, he "died" to God in that Adam's soul no longer communed with God; his spiritual connection to God had died with that disobedience. So when we have eternal life through Christ, our souls live in eternal communion with God; if we are not born again, we exist in the eternal death/separation from God in Hell.
The third type of life that Christ brings is the resurrected life. The Bible tells us that those who were "born again" in spirit before their bodies died will be resurrected, just as Christ was resurrected after three days. That resurrection is still at some point in the future, and is perhaps the type of "life" that I least understand, but Christ followers will nevertheless experience a resurrected life, even after their bodies have died, through Christ.
Perhaps the most meaningful "life" (at least in the here-and-now) that Christ has brought is that "abundant life" that He gives us through our newly born spirit. It is a life that means we can talk to God and he communicates with us, though not through spoken word. Just as the person born blind cannot really understand what colors are like or what it means to see, so the person who has not been born again cannot truly understand what this new spirit is like. But it is as real to the Christian is sight is to a sighted person, even though a blind person cannot comprehend it.
God could have abandoned humanity after we thumbed our noses at him in the Garden of Eden, or he could have snuffed us out in an instant. But in His infinite love, He was not willing to abandon humanity to a lifeless, empty eternity.
The Father send His Son Jesus Christ to Earth 2,000 years ago to restore what was broken in the Garden of Eden. Christ came to live a perfect, sinless life to show us how we were meant to live, and to take the punishment for sin that we deserved on the cross. He, being sinless and not under the penalty of sin, was the only one with the "credit" to pay for someone elses sins.
On Christmas, 2,000 years ago, Jesus came to bring us life. This Christmas, if you haven't already done so, will you reach out and accept the rich, full, abundant life He has for you?
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