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graciousheaven · 11 months

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Life is in Christ the Lord and Saviour

There is no life without Christ. For He is the Word of life who inhabits eternity, the Light of those who sit in darkness, in the shadow of death. He alone guides our feet into the way of peace. “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:2-4). Christ is the second person of the Trinity, God the Creator, for “He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Rom. 11:36 says, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” Col. 1:16-17, “By Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

We exist because Christ made us; He made our body and gave us the breath of life. Gen. 2:7 reads, “The Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” It is Christ who gave us biological life, and He sustains us daily – Acts 17:28 reads, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” As the second person of the Trinity, Christ shares the same exact attributes with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, and is equal in essence with Them. The Lord declares in John 12:44-45, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.” Christ is the exact likeness of God, “For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9).

Christ the Lord is preeminent, He sovereign over all creation. For He is the Creator, not a created being. Col. 1:15 reads, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” The word ‘firstborn’ here in context refers to the pre-eminence of the Lord Jesus Christ, his supremacy over all creation, his divine right to rule over all that exists. For He is not part of creation, but the Creator. He is self-existent, the Ruler over all creation, the Supreme Being from Whom all created beings and all things draw their existence and sustenance, and to Whom they all belong – “without Him was not any thing made that was made”, and He is the rightful heir.

The Lord Jesus Christ is not only the Author of biological life, but He is also the Author of spiritual life. Col. 1:19-20, “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” In our natural state, we are all dead in trespasses and sin, alienated from God. And the truth of the matter is, no man can free himself from spiritual deadness by his own efforts, no one can be justified before God by his good works and merits. There is only one way to be justified before God, one way to pass from death to life: the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”, declares the Lord in John 14:6. Life is found in Christ alone. No one can be made alive, no one can be raised from spiritual death except by the Lord Jesus, the Author of life. Thus every sinner who turns to the Son of God in repentance and faith receives life in abundance. For He is the Good Shepherd, the Fountain of life – He laid down his life for his sheep. In John 10:10 the Lord declares, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

“There is salvation in no one else [but Christ], for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Acts 13:39 reads, “By Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses.” Because we are all inherently evil, no one is able to keep God's Law. Therefore, we are all guilty before God. Unless we are clothed with the righteousness of his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we will all be condemned. For no one can be justified before God apart from the righteousness of his Son, the only inherently righteous Man who has ever lived on earth. We all came into this world as slaves of sin. For, as natural men, we seek not after God; and the only person who can redeem us is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself affirms his exclusivity in John 8:34-36, saying, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

When sin entered the world through our first parents, we all inherited their sinful nature. To borrow the words of Paul, just as through one man sin entered the world and death spread to all men (for the wages of sin is death), so the gift of life has been given to us through the one Man, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He purchased redemption for his people by his active obedience and the shedding of his precious blood. Through Him all those who believe are forgiven and reconciled to God; they pass from death to life. For sin came into the world through Adam, and life through Christ. As Paul writes in 1 Cor. 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” That is, all those who repent of their sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, excluding unbelievers. Those who wear pride like a necklace and refuse to turn away from their evil ways will die in their sins and go to hell. Only those who die to self and to sin, and put their trust in the Lord are made alive; they are raised from spiritual deadness by the Spirit of Christ. 1 Pet. 2:24 reads, “He Himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness.”

2 Cor. 5:21 reads, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Christ is eternal life, the justification of sinners. Rom. 5:18 says, “As through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.” Christ is our salvation. Anyone who rejects Him remains spiritually dead, enslaved to sin. But for us who believe in Christ, “We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom.6:6). We are a new creation in Christ our Lord, indwelt by his Spirit who gives us life and works in us to produce fruit for God. And so Paul writes in Rom. 8:9-10, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” V.11, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

It is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that sinners are raised from the dead. We are justified before God by his Son’s work and merit. “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day”, declares the Son of God in John 6:40. 2 Pet. 1:3-4 reads, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

Christ is Life and the Light of men (cf. John 1:4). “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself” (John 5:26). In Christ is eternal life; for He “gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (Rom. 4:17). Christ gives life to those who are spiritually dead by graciously imputing to them his own righteousness and by baptizing them with his Spirit. For our sins were imputed to Him at the cross, and He conquered death on our behalf, being raised from the dead by the glorious power of God. Therefore, anyone who recognizes his spiritual deadness and turns to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith is granted a new life by Him.

Christ “was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Is. 53:5). In Christ we, his elect, have victory over sin, death, the world and Satan. “For it was fitting for Him, for Whom are all things and by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: “I will declare Your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.” And again: “I will put my trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.” Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:10-15).

In Christ, we are freed from the law of sin and death (cf. Rom. 8:2). “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (v.3-4). Paul also writes in Rom. 3:24, we “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” God has graciously given us life through his Son. And being baptized into the family of Christ by the Holy Spirit, we are dead to sin and alive in our Saviour. 1 John 5:11-12 reads, “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” That is to say, to be freed from the sting of death, we must put our trust in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Anyone who rejects Christ remains spiritually dead and cannot inherit eternal life. Such a person will die (physically) in his sins and go to hell, for he is spiritually dead. But he who embraces Christ passes from death into life and is given access into the Kingdom of God. John 3:36 reads, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Is. 26:3 gives this testimony concerning the Lord, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

Salvation is in the Lord Jesus alone. Without Him, no one would ever know God savingly, no one would ever be justified before God. We would all remain children of wrath. Christ is the Key that opens the door to the knowledge of God; He is the Light that shines in the darkness and sets free every soul held captive by sin and death. 1 John 5:20 reads, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” Tit. 2:11-14, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

As the Author of life and the Sovereign Ruler, the Lord Jesus also has power over physical death. The day is coming when He will raise all the dead: unbelievers for eternal condemnation and believers for glorification. On that day all the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth, either to be sent to hell or to be crowned with everlasting life. In the same manner the Lord “cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out”, and Lazarus came out of his tomb, all the dead on that day will hear the voice of the Lord and come forth to receive their eternal reward.

During his ministry on earth, on a Sabbath day near the pool of Bethesda, the Lord Jesus healed a certain man who for thirty-eight years had suffered from an infirmity. When the Jews sought to kill the Lord, He said to them in John 5:25-29, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”

When the Lord says, “is now here”, He is referring to the spiritual resurrection which is taking place in the present age: repentant sinners are being born of the Spirit, they are graciously freed by God from their bondage to moral corruption and its deadly consequences. As 1 Pet. 1:3-5 points it out, “According to his great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

But when He says, “an hour is coming”, He is referring to a future, physical resurrection. This is the resurrection of the bodies of all the dead at his second advent. First, there will be the resurrection of the righteous – they will come to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years. After the thousand years are ended, the rest of the dead, i.e., the ungodly, will be raised for condemnation (cf. Rev. 20:4-5). In that day, at the utterance of Christ’s command, all the dead will walk out their tombs to present themselves before the King of kings and Lord of lords. For Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, is Judge of all. “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years.” Says Rev. 20:6.

If you haven’t settled your account with God yet, I urge you to do so right now, lest you die in your sins and wake up one day in hell. The only way you can be made right with God is by turning to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. Lay down your pride and confess your sins to Christ. Admit that you do not possess a righteousness of your own; count all your supposed good works, virtues and merits as refuse, and embrace Christ as Lord and Saviour. Acknowledge his substitutionary death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. He alone can cleanse you from all your filthiness and give you life everlasting. So repent and believe in Christ our God and Saviour, and you will be saved from sin, judgement, wrath and hell.

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Ps. 103:8-14, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will He keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”

https://www.faithintheoneaboveall.com/post/to-live-one-must-die

#to live one must die #die to live #life is in Christ #Christ is life #I am the Life #eternal life #spiritual life #alive in Christ #the Word of Life #the Light of men

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