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1 John 5:12; 16, John 3:36; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Eph. 4:16b
I. Three Greek words for life
II. Only the life of God being life
А. The life of God being divine
B. The life of God being eternal
C. The life of God being indestructible
III. We have this life and can experience it every day
А. The experiences of this life
B. The issues of this life
C. The maintenance of this life
There are three Greek words denoting the English word life. One word is zoe, denoting the divine, eternal, uncreated and indestructible life of God. Every man should have this life in his God-created spirit. The second word is psuche denoting the God-created human soulish life. The third word for life is bios which is the God-created physical life of man. A saved person has all three kinds of life, but an unsaved person only has psuche and bios.
Although there are three types of life for man, yet only the life of God is really life. The other two lives, the psuche and bios, are merely created life. As such, they are weak and temporal. Only the life of God is divine, eternal and indestructible. It was there before all things and will be there after all things.
[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 3:36 also says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who disobeys the Son shall not see life.’’ These two scriptures tell us that unless man has the life of God, he does not have life. This shows us that in the eyes of God, only His life is life; beside that, no other life can be counted as life. Only the life of God is divine and eternal.]
Only the zoe life is divine. Both the psuche and bios life are not divine. [What does divine mean? Being divine means being of God, having the nature of God, or being transcendent and distinctive from all others. Only God is God, only God has the nature of God, and only God is transcendent and distinctive; therefore, only God is divine. The life of God is God Himself (later we shall consider this point), and since it is God Himself, it naturally has the nature of God.] Therefore, only the life of God is divine. When we have this life, we have the divine person of God.
This life is eternal, hence, many verses have the term eternal life (John 3:15-16). [What does eternal mean? Eternal means uncreated, without beginning or ending, existing by itself and ever, unchangeably existing. Only God is uncreated; only He is “from eternity to eternity’’ (Psa. 90:2, original text), that is, without beginning or ending.]
[A number of times the King James Version says everlasting life instead of eternal life, but this translation misses the mark.] The word “everlasting’’ may convey to people that a person’s original (fallen) life will last forever. [The word “eternal’’ denotes not only the duration of time, which is everlasting, without end, but also the quality, which is absolutely perfect and complete, without any shortage or defect. Such an expression emphasizes the eternal nature of the divine life, the life of the eternal God. This life is also eternal with respect to its sphere. Therefore, the word eternal denotes three things: time, space, and quality. As to the element of time, this life will last forever. As to space, to sphere, this life is vast, unlimited. As to quality, eternal life is perfect and complete, without defect or shortage. The sphere or field of eternal life encompasses the whole universe. Eternal life is so vast that it covers the entire field of life. Whatever is in the field of life is encompassed by this eternal life.]
This life is also indestructible. This life in Christ Jesus went through thirty-three and half years of suffering and mistreatment on the earth. It went into, through and out of death, which can destroy anyone. After that, it resurrected and ascended to the highest place of the universe. It not only is indestructible, it is victorious, conquering and glorious. This life is now in us. Hallelujah!
Although this life is divine and eternal, it has come to humanity in time. It came in Jesus Christ to be our life. He said in John 10:10b, “I came that they may have life and may have it abundantly.’’ Because of our sins, He had to die for our sins in order to obtain redemption for us. Then in resurrection, He became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) to give life to us who believe. From then on, we have this life in us and we may experience this life daily.
Our first experience of this life is regeneration. When we believe in the Lord through the hearing of the gospel, the life-giving Spirit begets us and regenerates us with this life in our spirit. This is a crucial fact related to us. We must see and not forget this fact. From this point, we have a life which is divine, eternal and indestructible. We may live a Christian life according to all God demands and fulfill God’s purpose, because this life is capable. The soul-life and the sinful flesh may still give us trouble every day, yet this life is able to overcome and express God in us every day all day. We must learn to experience this life every day to cause it to grow in us until maturity.
This life does not come into us merely to be in us. It issues in a Christian life that is godly, expressing all that God is, and is victorious over sin, the world, the flesh, the self, the natural life and individualism. It also bears fruit according to John 15, that is, to dispense this life into others through the preaching of the gospel. Then the church, according to God’s purpose and standard, will be built. Ultimately it will produce the New Jerusalem, the mingling of the processed Triune God and His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, transformed tripartite man. The New Jerusalem will be in life, full of life and expressing life for eternity. Hallelujah!
Since this life is so wonderful and crucial to us Christians, we must endeavor to maintain and preserve this life at all cost. We must deal with all the things that hinder us from growing in this life. We also must apply all the life practices such as calling on the Lord, reading the word, praying, pray-reading, singing, fellowshipping, etc. to enjoy this life every day from morning to evening. Then we will be strong to experience this life in our daily life, overcoming all the negative situations in school and at home, thereby becoming proper students and children. We do not need to wait until we grow up or until the Lord returns to experience this life and grow. We may grow by maintaining this life today. Thus God’s eternal purpose, the building of His church, will be fulfilled by us (Eph. 4:16b).
