From Death to Life

Adam lived for 930 years. Abraham died at the age of 175 and Moses lived to be 120. Life on earth appears to be getting shorter, and the trend is continuing. ‘Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away‘ (Psalm 90:10). Job cried out, ‘Let me alone, for my days are but a breath’ (Job 7:16).

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3).

We were all born into sin, ‘for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 6:23). There is a way off this path which leads only to death. God shows us the way, through Jesus, ‘that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:15). The question is, how do we make the transition from death to life?

If we have believed and received the assurance of the cross, that Christ died for our sins, we’ve already passed from death to life. ‘You were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession’ (Ephesians 1:13-14). “Whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life”(John 5:24).

The Apostle Paul recognised the implications of this when he said ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me’ (Galatians 2:20).

It was never God’s plan that anyone should perish, but His desire is that all should come to salvation (2 Peter 3:9). ‘..You, who once were alienated.. by wicked works.. He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless.. in His sight’(Colossians 1:21-22).

We have a choice: We can tramp the troublesome road of life, unsure of where we’re going - or where it will all end. Or we can personally receive the promise of an eternal life in Jesus. Death no longer has to be an option. ‘This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses.. that I have set before you life and death.. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live’ (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Jesus said, ‘I have come that they may have life.. abundantly’ (John 10:10).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You are the source of all life, which You created for Your pleasure. And You sent Your Son to die, so that death would be destroyed. Please help me to hold on to this truth, and quicken my spirit to know Your life within me, and that it will never die. In Jesus` name, Amen.