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Scripture Reading: John 1:1, 4; 10:10; 1 John 5:12; John 6:63
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Verse 10 of chapter 10 says, “The thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly.” First John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” These verses show that life is a great matter in the universe and an important topic in the Bible.
If there were no life in the universe, the universe would have no meaning. However, there are many organisms in the universe, and each organism has its own life. This is true even in a family. If there is no life in a family, a family has no purpose or meaning. For a normal family to have the pleasure of life, it should be filled with many expressions of life. We should also consider the many kinds of plant life and animal life. With the plant life there are flowers, grass, and trees, and with the animal life there are cats and dogs. Besides these there is also the human life. What would be the meaning of a family without life? Life is very important. The meaning of human life lies entirely in life. The history and the meaning of the entire universe also lie in life.
Life is the most wonderful and mysterious thing. Scientists are able to make almost anything; however, they are not able to produce life. Scientists can make an artificial egg that looks exactly the same as a real egg in its shape and composition, but the artificial egg does not have life. There are also artificial flowers and trees, some of which are so skillfully made that it is difficult to tell whether or not they are real. However, no matter how skillful the work of scientists is, they cannot give life to artificial things. This is because life is in the hand of God.
I once asked several renowned doctors whether a person has fewer elements within him when he is dead than when he is alive, since when he is alive, he has life, and when he is dead, he has no life. They replied that the only thing missing in a dead person is life; all the elements that were in him when he was alive remain intact. However, they could not determine what life is. In the universe life truly exists, but even until today scientists are still not able to give an accurate definition of life. What is life? Even now, no one is able to clearly define life. Hence, life is a mystery.
The mystery of life can be illustrated by electricity. Although science has advanced, no one has ever seen electricity. The light that comes out of a lamp is not electricity. It is merely the expression of electricity. Electricity is used everywhere; however, no one has seen electricity. Although we can see only the expression of electricity, we are able to contact electricity. Electricity is a mysterious thing; it is powerful and useful and mysterious. Similarly, there is “electricity” within us. This “electricity” is life. Even though our existence lies in life and our meaning also lies in life, no one understands life or the mystery of life.
Every kind of life has an innate ability that enables it to have a certain kind of living. For example, a cat is able to catch mice, and a dog is able to bark, but they are not taught to do this. There are many other examples, such as fish swimming in water and birds flying in the air. These are spontaneous expressions of life. A fish that is kept out of water will not live; similarly, a bird that is put under the water will not live. We are human beings because we have the human life, which enables us to do human things and have a human living. This is an obvious law. Every kind of life has its kind of innate ability, which produces a certain kind of living.
What kind of life do we have from birth? We have the human life from birth. This life was created by God, and it has three areas of function: mind, emotion, and will. The mind is used for considering matters, the emotion is related to preferences, and the will is related to decisions. All three of these functions have two sides. For example, a person can have good thoughts as well as bad thoughts. With regard to his emotions, he may love good things and love bad things. With regard to his will, he may choose good things and choose bad things. From the standpoint of experience, a decent person may spend half of his time thinking about good things, loving good things, and choosing good things. The other half of his time might be spent thinking about bad things, loving bad things, and choosing bad things.
Let us consider further. What kind of life enables a person to do good things as well as bad things and to have good thoughts as well as bad thoughts? This kind of life cannot be the life that we have in the Lord after we are saved. It comes from the life that we have from before we were saved. All human beings have life, but this life has problems, because sometimes it leans toward good things and at other times toward bad things. Previously we said that a decent person spends half his time on good things and the other half on bad things, but this is not truly accurate. It is more accurate to say that a person spends ninety percent of his time on bad things and ten percent on good things. We are bad more often than we are good because we can appear to be good on the surface but not be good inwardly. Even when we are good, there is an element of bad in our good intentions.
For example, sometimes we love others, but there are pride, selfishness, greed, and self-interest in our love. In itself love is good; however, in our love there are pride, selfishness, greed, and self-interest, all of which are not good. Suppose you are a gentle person. Your gentleness is good, but in your gentleness there is a “worm” of pride that grows and surrounds your gentleness. Those who are very gentle are often the most proud. There is a hidden pride within them. They dislike and condemn others who are not as gentle as they are. Here is another example. Suppose you are a person who honors your parents. You always respect and obey them. This is good. However, even though you listen to your parents and honor them, in your honoring there is an impure element.
After considering these examples, it is easy to see that there is not much good in us. This can be compared to buying fruit. We are often deceived by the appearance of the fruit, because it may look very nice, but when we cut it open, we discover that half of the fruit is rotten or discolored. The discolored part may even have a worm in it. If we use a knife to cut out the rotten portion, the deeper we cut into the fruit, the more we need to throw away. Sometimes no part of the fruit is edible. Therefore, fruit may look good, but after all the cutting is done, nothing good is left, and the entire fruit has to be discarded. Similarly, you may appear to be a good person, but if you investigate, you will find that your so-called good part is not really good. You may live a life that is seemingly good, but if you examine yourself thoroughly, the Holy Spirit will speak to you and enlighten you concerning the impure elements in your love, gentleness, humility, and honoring and obeying of your parents. You may say that you are an honest person, but eventually, you will discover that there are problems in your honesty. You will also discover that in your living there are problems that cannot bear careful examination. You will see your mistakes and understand that you have stains and that you are not entirely good. The reason you are not good is that the life you have from birth is a sinful life.
We should never think the reason we are not good is simply that we were influenced by others or because we picked up a bad habit. We must realize that we can be influenced by others or pick up a bad habit because of the nature of our life. In my home we have a cat and a dog, and they get along well with each other. However, although they have lived together for a long time, the cat never barks, and the dog never chases after mice. When the dog sees a stranger coming, it barks incessantly. The cat has been watching the dog for many years, but the cat never barks. When the cat sees a mouse, it will immediately lunge after it. The dog has also been watching the cat for years, but it has never been influenced by the cat, nor has it picked up the habit of chasing after mice. This is because the dog and the cat have different lives; hence, the innate ability of their lives is also different.
If two lives are the same, they can influence each other. Consider your human life. If you live with a classmate for a period of time, whatever bad things he does can affect you. If he is good at taking advantage of others, you might become more skillful than he is in taking advantage of others. If he is capable of lying, you may become more capable than he is at lying. However, you should not blame your classmate; instead, you should realize that if your life and his life were not the same, neither life could influence the other. You are influenced because your life is the same as his life. His life is dark, and so is yours; his life is evil, and so is yours. Young people may not do too many bad things when they are apart. However, if two young people have evil intentions, when they come together, they will incite each other to do bad things.
You should never think it is only other people who affect you. Gradually, you will also affect others. After you are affected by others, you may become even more skilled at doing bad things. Then in another six months other people may become better than you at doing bad things. By competing in this way, you become more advanced in doing sinful things. This is the way many young people end up doing wicked things. Before a young man gets together with a classmate, he may not know too much, and he cannot do too many wicked things. After he meets an evil classmate, however, the wickedness within him is stirred up by this classmate. The wickedness that comes forth reinforces the wickedness in his evil friend. In this way they both become more skilled and advanced in doing sinful things.
You should never think that these sinful things are learned and passed on to you. None of these sinful things are an outward matter. They come out from within man. Every person has wicked and corrupted things in him. This is because man’s life is a wicked life; it is a life full of all kinds of evil, and it is capable of doing all kinds of evil. Do you consider yourself to be a good person or an evil person? This is not an easy question to answer. I would say that I am the most wicked person. Every wicked thing is in me, every deceitful thing is in me, and every evil thing is in me. Not only am I an evil and vile person with tens of thousands of sins in me, but my inward being can be likened to a warehouse of wicked things. We all must admit that nothing good dwells in us (Rom. 7:18).
According to the Old Testament, when God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses felt that he was not qualified and asked God to give him some signs. God asked Moses to put his hand into his bosom (Exo. 4:6). Many years ago when I read this portion, I had the concept that when Moses put his hand into his bosom, he should have pulled out something precious that would become a magic weapon for him to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. However, when Moses put his hand into his bosom and took it out again, his hand was leprous. Leprosy is a most unclean disease. Moses did not bring out anything good from within himself. God’s intention was for Moses to realize that there was nothing good in him.
Everyone who is called by God and wants to be used by God must know himself to the same extent; that is, he must know that there is nothing good in himself. Everything in him is evil, sinful, and leprous; therefore, he must not depend on himself. God seemed to tell Moses, “Do you want to be My servant? Do you want to be used by Me to deliver the Israelites? Then please remember this sign, this miracle, this evidence, this manifestation, so that you may know yourself and realize that you are corrupt. The more you realize your corruption, the more you will become a person in My hand. The more you realize your corruption, the more you will be used by Me. The more you realize your corruption, the more you will receive My grace.”
I was also a youth. I know that every young person is proud and considers himself to be good. However, let me tell you this: When you think that you are good, that is when you reject and lose the Lord’s grace. If you would receive His mercy and allow Him to enlighten you, in His light you will discover that you are entirely corrupt. Your corruption is not only outward in your conduct, but even more, it is inward in your life and nature. You must know that there is nothing good in human life; the inner being of every human being is full of deceit. There is even deceit in honesty, and there is pride in humility. There is evil in every human goodness.
Human life is not only sinful but also weak. For instance, if someone says something that is not pleasant, we are offended. This shows that human life is weak. Furthermore, if we are not careful, we may become sick. When the sickness is severe, it may end our life. Hence, the human life is weak and cannot endure trials, tests, or temptations. A little sin or a little temptation causes us to fall. In its morality and in its nature, human life is very weak.
Because human life is exceedingly corrupt, weak, and temporary, it is impossible for us to live a good human life with eternal value. Hence, this life must be replaced by another life in order for us to live a good human life with eternal value. This is the reason that we need to be regenerated. We need a higher life — the life of the Lord Jesus. We must realize that human life is the second best life in the universe. Human life is higher than the plant life and the animal life. However, such a higher life is still a corrupt life, a weak life, and a temporary life. It is an undependable life. For this reason we must have another life, a higher life, even the highest life. In the universe no life is higher than God’s life. This highest life is God Himself. This life is strong and altogether good. It is holy and distinct from all other lives. This life is also transcendent, high, and eternal.
This life is in the Lord Jesus. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then verse 4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” The higher life that we need is in the Word, in God, and in the Lord Jesus; this life is in Him. The Lord said that He came that we may have life and have it abundantly (10:10). First John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” Some people may ask, “How do I have the life of God?” We need to see that the life of God is in the Son of God. This transcendent, holy, and eternal life is in the Son of God. John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life;...the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” This life is now in the Spirit and in the words that the Lord speaks. How does the Lord cause this life to enter into us? This life enters into us through the Spirit and through the word. He is the Spirit, and the Spirit is life. At the same time, He is the word, and the word is life. This life is in the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is the Spirit, and the Lord Jesus is also the word. When we receive the word and touch the Spirit, we receive this life into us.
Therefore, we must realize that human life is corrupt and weak, that we need a higher life, and that this higher life is in the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is the Spirit, and He is also the word. When we believe in the word and receive this word, we will touch the Spirit. Once we touch this Spirit, we will have life. We need the Lord Jesus to be our life. He is the Spirit, and He is also the word. When we receive His word and touch Him as the Spirit, we have life in us.
