In Him Is Life: part one
John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
- Jesus Came to Give You Life
I looked up life in the dictionary online. They had 20 definitions. None of them were appropriate to what John means here when he says that life is in the Word.
This life that is in Christ relates to living in the purpose for which we are created, by the power by which we were created and for the glory for which we were created.
And so, to exist, but not fulfill these created purposes is to not have life. So, the question is for us,
- Are you alive or dead?
Ephesians 2:1-4
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
Dead in transgressions and sins. Is this an unusual state? No, this is the state of every human being at birth. What is sin? It is to miss the mark of God’s way of living. And sin produces a terrible process. Sin is a cancer that leads to death, the long term wasting away of all of the qualities in our lives that would make them good. All people are infected.
James 1: 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
We have desires that are evil, call them unhealthy if you want. They prevent you from reaching your potential in life by getting you sidetracked from what is really good. The problem that we have is that our desires point us into negative pathways. And then those pathways compound. They spiral.
There are many different types of examples:
Pride/Insecurity that leads to competition and broken relationships and unforgiveness that then pollutes more and more.
Sensual pursuits, like eating for pleasure that leads to the destruction of the body. Sure a little sugar is ok. Sure a little wine is ok. Sure a little fat is ok. Sure a little snack every once in a while is ok. Sure a feast is ok.
Or maybe shopping for pleasure. Joy in the acquisition of things. This is a natural thing. But when we give into that for our life, we become enslaved to having stuff. Hording messes a life that is too complicated. It is easy for our things to own us. Is it ok if we suffer a loss, if a loved one ruins the joy of a possession?
My grandmother spilled a gallon of milk over my moms head one thanksgiving during the preparation of the meal. It became a family story of joy. It didn’t become a source of bitterness and the spoiling of the meal.
Or maybe you like the opposite sex, and are drawn to the pursuit of them for psychological reasons other than love… Once they declare their attachment, the joy is gone. It’s the chase that is fun. It’s the new that we love, not the person.
- Decision making process of death
v.2 of Ephesians 2: following the ways of this world.
If it feels good, you should do it.
If it makes you look good, you should do it.
If you can get more, you should do it.
The promotion of self is success.
Proverbs 16: 25 There is a way that appears to be right,
but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 21: 2 A person may think their own ways are right,
but the Lord weighs the heart.
Ephesians 4: 17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
- This is the natural state of man
Following the ways of the world in death.
Romans 3: Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless;
Romans 3: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death,
So, I asked the question: Are you alive or dead? If you have never figured out personally that you are dead, not living as God intended, then you are not yet alive.
- God Gives Life Because of His Love
Ephesians 2: 4-5
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
- This is the key to your motivation to change
Obligation
Gratitude
Peace and safety
Your only hope
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning.
The movie Groundhog Day. Every day starts new. In that case every day was the same until the lesson of love was learned. It’s a profound metaphor. In our case, every day is different, bug God is patient, merciful, available and righteous all at the same time.
- Great Verses of the Bible
Ephesians 2: 4-5
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Romans 6:23 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 3: 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
John 3:16 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
III. Life is in Christ Alone
- Because only Jesus represents us all
The purpose of the virgin birth
Romans 5:
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
II Cor 15: 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
- Because only Jesus is perfect
II Cor 5: 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
I Cor 5: For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
Hebrews 4: 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
- Great Verses of the Bible
Acts 4: 11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
John 14: 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Hebrews 10: The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.
4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
God has gone to great lengths to bring life to us! Jesus is our opportunity. He is the Word of God, He communicated God’s message of life to us. He presents us to God as truly righteous because of His gift of righteousness. He has purchased us at the cost of His own life. He came that we might have life!
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