From Death To Life

…God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling…according to his own purpose and grace…manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:8-10).

Blessed be God! Where in the world would you ever read something like what we just read in the latter part of our theme scripture?

Who would think that such a statement would ever be made on this earth? I want you to notice the tenses; it doesn’t say, “Who shall abolish death”; rather, it says, “Who hath abolished death.” When something is abolished, it means it’s eradicated, obliterated, ended, stopped, or eliminated!

Jesus put an end to death! And I don’t mean spiritual death; the concluding part of the statement shows that He’s referring to physical death, for it says, “…and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” This is supreme! He didn’t just abolish death; He brought life and immortality in its place.

What does it mean to be mortal? It means to be human; to be subject to death. But being born again, mortality has been swallowed up by immortality. Your humanity has been supplanted by the God-life; you’re now the God-man; a divine being that has passed from death to life.

You may ask, “If this is true, if Jesus has truly abolished death, why are people still dying then, including Christians?” God said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). We can choose to lay down our lives. Think about Paul: the one who, by the Spirit, wrote the verses we read; he left this world knowing he was ready to go. He laid his life down, like Jesus. Paul said, “I have finished my cause; I fought a good fight; I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). He completed his ministry and laid down his life during the great persecution.

The primary reason people die is because of the consciousness of death, and the fear of death. Don’t think death. Don’t fear death. Don’t talk death. Death is an enemy—a defeated enemy that has also been abolished! It has no power over you. Praise God!

Romans 1:16-17 “…I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.””

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is truly the power of God to bring any sinner out of sin into the life of righteousness. God’s righteousness is revealed in the Gospel. There’s no other way for anyone to be ushered into, learn about, receive, or understand the righteousness of God outside the Gospel. That’s why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Gospel of righteousness.

What is righteousness? It’s the nature of God, which you received at the New Birth, and it’s one of the cardinal gifts of God (Romans 5:17).

Additionally, the Bible tells us that through the Gospel, life and immortality have been brought to light (2 Timothy 1:10). What kind of life is it referring to? It’s eternal life, the God-life. 1 John 5:11-12 says, “…and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life….”

This transcendent life, with the gift of righteousness, was imparted to you in Christ, through the Gospel. According to the Scriptures, you’ve passed from death to life, from mortality into immortality, from age into agelessness.

This is deep!

Eternal life is the life with agelessness. Age makes the body grow old, weak and die, but because of eternal life, your strength is renewed day by day! You’re growing, but not ageing. It’s part of the glorious impact and blessings of the life of Christ in you.

Christianity is the Life of Christ in me. I explained to you the difference between eternal life and everlasting life, and I also told you that they are synonymous only after our life here on earth.

When I receive Christ I receive eternal life. I was given the very Christ life. John 5:26, 1:12-17, Luke 18:18, ‘what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ This is the first question.  Son of God means God in human flesh and that’s the reason for the Jews to pick up stones against Him. So when we say such, we making a personal declaration of His deity.

The second question is in first John 18:   , ‘what is truth?’

The third question is in John 14:5, ‘how can we know the way’ in the world right now that is filled with all sorts of religions, preachers, churches?

So, the questions are about eternal life, truth and way. And Jesus answered that by saying ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’ If only the man had known who Jesus is….  Jesus also responded to Martha by saying I am the Resurrection and the life. He didn’t say ‘I will resurrect him, rather I am the Resurrection and the life. Jesus once asked ‘do you believe this?’ On the occasion of Lazarus, He called out with a loud voice ‘Lazarus come forth!’

1 John 5:11, a lot of times we tell people of the promises of God, but eternal life is not a promise. I can see that verse for myself. You cannot get this life from any religion! Only from the Son of God! It’s important that I understand God’s word and how to use it. Look carefully at Hebrews 13:5-6, 5 Let your manner of living be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have.

For He hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”; 6 so that we may boldly say, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto Me.” conversation refers to your manner of life.  Verse 5 means that God said so that I may respond to Him, not to say the same thing but to agree with Him.

The powerful thing about the Word of God is my response. I have to say something that is consistent with what He says. So, Christianity is the response of the human spirit to the Word of God! That’s Faith.

-GSW-