April 4, 2017

Life

Searching for Life

• Powerful telescopes search far out into space looking for signs of life.
• Powerful microscopes peer into the smallest of spaces looking for the mysteries of life.
• Here on earth scientists scrape the surface and probe the depths of this globe for clues of how things and people lived and died before our time.
• Secular prophets study current trends and
• pagan fortune tellers read palms to try and see how life will be lived in the future.

For the follower of Christ the search is simple—life is a gift from God.
The breath in our bodies came from the Spirit of God, giving us a life that is unique in all of creation—one that lasts for all time.  This life must not be lived as an animal lives, following instinct:

• the will to survive, and
• the avoidance of pain.

Neither is our life like that of plants: thoughtless, responding to wind and rain and sunlight only to perish with the passing of time.

Ruach— Hebrew for the Breath of God
The breath of God in us, first given to Adam and now passed through the generations to each of us, gives purpose to the life we live.  We are not the center of our world.  As the solar system revolves around the sun, the believer’s life revolves around the Son of God.  His will is our highest goal, not our survival and pleasure.  Wealth and prominence are not the measures of the life we are called to live for Jesus.  Jesus’ approval is the reward we seek.

The life we are called to live for Jesus is one of joy, an unusual joy that gives strength.  We have a guaranteed eternal destination and s daily walk with God to take us there.  We share a community with others who follow Jesus, and we are noted for the love we share together.  This life is more than physical systems: air coming and going through us, blood coursing in us, and the systematic transformation of food into energy.

It is even more than the sum total of our thoughts and words spoken each day.

• Our real nourishment comes from the Bread of Heaven.
• Our wisdom is from the Living Word.
• The animating spirit within us is itself animated by the Holy Spirit.
• According to scripture, we have the mind of Christ.
• The life we live we live by faith in the Son of God.
• Our innocence before men, healing through time, and justification before God are ours the through the power of the Blood of Jesus.

We have no need of telescopes or microscopes to find the life we enjoy.  We simply inhale the Breath of God, gaze into our hearts, and find Jesus there.

Scriptures

Romans 6:23 NKJV
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Luke 12:15
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Genesis 2:6-7
…the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Psalm 16:11
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Matthew 10:39; 19:17
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
… If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”
Luke  21:19
By standing firm you will gain life.

Prayer of Confession:
John’s Testimony of Christ
John 1:1-5; 1 John 1:1-3; John 1:10-14
(from The Book of Daily Worship, adapted SRP)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Song:
My Life Is In You
Words and Music: Daniel Gardner

My life is in You, Lord,
My strength is in You, Lord
My hope is in You, Lord
In You, it’s in You. (Repeat)

I will praise You with all of my heart.
I will praise You with all of my hope.
With all of my life, and all of my strength.
All of my hope is in You.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved