Life is amazing. If you don’t believe me, just consider this interesting fact. There is a NASA funded institute called SETI, which stands for “Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.” This institute is dedicated to using some of the most advanced technologies mankind has ever developed to listen to radio waves coming from space with the hopes of hearing from aliens. This search, in one form or another, has been going on since the late 1890s, and yet, not once have we received any legitimate alien communication. Consider also that since the 1990s, NASA has launched five separate unmanned missions to Mars, costing around 1.1 Billion dollars, all with the hopes of finding signs of life. With each mission, they’ve sent new, more advanced probes hoping to find the skeleton of a bacteria here or signs of an ancient river there, but all they have found so far is red dirt.
It seems as though life on earth is rather unique. There are millions upon millions of planets in this universe, and yet we seem to be the only one with life. And this life seems to persist, through catastrophe and war and famine. Beyond that, this life seems to mean something. There is beauty and love and commitment. All of that points towards life that is valuable and eternal.
In the Bible passage I read earlier from John 1, John tells us that there was this Word of God who was in the beginning with God and was one with God. One of the characteristics of this Word who was with God and was God is that he was “life.” That’s a powerful statement, and I don’t want you to miss it. What John draws out here harkens back to the creation story of Genesis 1. There, God spoke the world into existence. He said, “let there be light”, and there was light. “Let there be seas and sky and land and stars and sun and moon”, and all those things came to be. But, in day 5, God’s speech changes. As he creates living things, he says something TO them. In Genesis 1:22, it says “And God blessed them, saying, ‘be fruitful and multiply…’”. He does the same thing in day 6 with the creation of man: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘be fruitful and multiply…’”. Now, you need to catch this: throughout the rest of the Bible, God’s blessing brings life, while his curses bring death. In order for life to flourish, God must bless it. We see this in the life of Abraham, as he and Sarah were barren until God blessed them and caused Isaac to be born from the impossible. We see it in Hannah, who begged the Lord to give her a son, and God heard her prayer and she brought forth the great prophet Samuel. So, God didn’t just create life. He sustains it and enables it to prosper.
So, when John says that this Word is life, he means that the Word of God is the source and sustaining force behind each and every life. Your life came to be because of the power and will of the Word of God. Your life is sustained, this very instant, because of the power and will of the Word of God. So, you might ask, why do we then die? If the Word of God sustains our lives, then why does he not just go on sustaining us, that we might live forever? Well, remember, I said earlier that when God blesses, life prospers, but when he curses, it dies. In Genesis 3, we find out that our first parents, Adam and Eve, were warned not to eat of the forbidden fruit, because “On the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” But, they ate, and then they hid from God in shame. When God found them, he pronounced curses on the serpent, the woman, and the man. The final curse is found in Genesis 3:19 – “You will return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Then, God drove them out of the Garden of Eden, where they had enjoyed direct access to a life-giving relationship with God. After their sin, Adam and Eve and all of their children were forbidden from receiving the life-giving blessing of God. We don’t live forever because we are under the curse of sin. We don’t live forever because, like our father, Adam, we love darkness rather than light.
But all hope is not lost. At the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, we find this young virgin woman named Mary. An angel comes to Mary and tells her that she is going to conceive through the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, much like God, during creation, took the empty vessel of the world and from it made life through his Word, so now he is going to take the empty vessel of Mary’s womb and from it bring the miracle of life through the Word of God. Mary is so overwhelmed by this promise that she sings “for behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.” This child, Jesus, would do wonderful things. He would cause the lame to walk, give sight to the blind, and even cause the dead to rise. In all of his miracles, he brought blessing where there had only been curse. He would announce that he is the bread of life, the resurrection and the life, and the way, truth, and life.
Yet, the religious leaders of his day despised the life that he brought. So, they plotted with the Roman authorities to snuff out his life. They nailed him to a cross so that he could not breathe and then mocked him as he suffocated to death. Then, some of his followers took his lifeless body and laid it in a tomb. This man, who claimed that anyone who believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life, was buried, just like every other human who has ever lived.
But that is not the end of this story. On the third day, Jesus rose again from the dead, bringing eternal life with him. In his resurrection, Jesus makes eternal life possible for all who believe in him. Outside of Jesus, you have no hope of escaping the curse of death, but in Jesus, you have hope of resurrection. Jesus has promised that he will return to make all things new, and on that day, he will give life to our mortal bodies. Not only that, but Jesus brings eternal life right now through the presence of his Holy Spirit. In Jesus, you can be blessed. In Jesus, your life can have meaning. In Jesus, you can have the wisdom of God. And that brings a joy and peace to this life that goes beyond all human understanding. You might wonder, how is it that Christians can be so joyful, even when they receive a cancer diagnosis? How is it that Christians can keep the faith, even when they face persecution? It’s because we have the eternal life of Jesus dwelling with us. This joy and peace and life only comes through faith in Christ. Today, won’t you trust in Christ as your savior and lord, follow him in baptism, and receive the gift of eternal life through him.
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