Perhaps the strangest and most foolish question one can ask a person is, ‘Are you alive?’ Strange as it may sound, this is precisely what I think and reflect on least of all. It does not even occur to me to ask what life is, although many people want to know what its meaning is.
But if I ask, ‘Are you eternally alive?’ many will stop and think, realizing that I am speaking of another kind of life. Very often, even believers answer that they do not know, and that sounds very strange coming from them.
The next brick in my little house of happiness is called ‘I live.’ This stone is strong, but it can contain different things.
We were born and live where wickedness reigns. When God established this world, He knew that the Fall was possible, and He understood where sin would lead. But the originator of evil—Satan—did not. When he sinned, he could not understand what would result from that first, seemingly harmless state of mind: pride, envy, and indignation. Lucifer began spreading these attitudes widely among his fellow angels, and he succeeded. Some angels turned against the Creator and supported Satan in his rebellion without understanding the consequences. From the Bible we know where all this led. Then the enemy of souls seduced sinless humanity as well; as a result, the Earth was filled with suffering, and death entered the world.
When God created human beings, He did not create sinners, for the wages of sin is death. But through disobedience, people chose this fate for themselves. The very existence and approach of death brings joy to few people; and when one also realizes that sin will exact a severe price, life itself loses its appeal.
Happiness and sin are two incompatible concepts.
Look at any advertisement: happy people, happy children—everyone is smiling. All they supposedly lack for complete happiness is laundry detergent or toothpaste, while some even manage to offer happiness in alcohol and tobacco. Sadly, this is how the world deceives itself, showing such trash to others. Amazingly, it works. People see an advertisement and go buy the familiar product—not the one that may be better, but the very one they saw, because cheerful people were promoting it. Yet happiness does not come with the purchase, while the need for it is built into the human heart. We want to smile, rejoice, and be delighted continually. We human beings were created for love, and we want to be happy. We search for it.
Yet not everyone who is physically alive is alive to God. There are two kinds of life: physical life and Eternal life. There are also two kinds of birth: birth into this world as a human being and birth of the Holy Spirit as a son or daughter of God. To be born the second time, one must first experience the first birth.
The Lord Jesus gives life, and life more abundantly; by believing in Him, I begin to live eternally. I receive this Gift. I am born into it. Even if I die, I will live again. This Eternal life within me is a source of joy and inspiration. I live. God has saved me from the power of sin so that I may live forever, and God gives me everything needed to make me fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. He teaches me the eternal laws of life. Through faith in Jesus, I receive the right to be born again. This faith changes my earthly existence and invites Christ into my heart. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. He works within me to accomplish what pleases Him, and through my invitation and choice, I give Him full authority to do so.
‘I live for the world’ and ‘I live for God’ are very similar bricks of happiness. Yet one is suitable only for earthly life, while the other, soaked in the blood of Christ, will withstand every trial and adorn my little house forever. Both bring happiness, because the dead cannot appreciate life, much less rejoice in it. As long as a person is alive, there is hope of receiving the Gift of Eternal life. Only the living can appreciate what took place at Calvary for their salvation. The dead know nothing, and in the grave there is neither wisdom, nor knowledge, nor happiness.
I live. How good it is for me always to remember this! I am alive!!! Glory to God!
The brick called ‘I live for God’ is eternal. It always gladdens the heart. It must pass from the state of ‘I live’ through the process of being washed in the blood of Christ and endure the refining fire in order to become golden.
I live! What happiness this is!
A living person has more possibilities. He can grow, think, dream, create, and enjoy life. Long years lie ahead of him, and he is able to accomplish much.
Life is a Gift from the Author of life, a Gift from the Creator to humanity. The breath of life unites soul and body, and a person begins to live.
At times I do not think about life. I simply live, and that is all.
Yet life was given to us for a special purpose: that we might be happy and reflect in our lives the character of the One in Whom we move and have our being.
I live for God. This is life within life. It is a second birth during this life for Eternal life. The Lord says to some people, ‘thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead,’ making it clear that spiritual birth must distinguish us from merely earthly existence.
In the spiritual life of a person born again, spiritual transformation and training begin. God Himself is the Teacher in the school of life. He instructs us, continually making the lessons more challenging and sending greater light.
The purpose of this education is to reveal God’s image and character to a person and to restore that image and character within the person.
How joyful it is to live according to the truth, to see the difference between light and darkness, to understand God’s will, and to submit to it.
Life is given on the condition of obedience to the laws of life, and it is well with me if I know and keep them.
Eternal life has already begun in those who have believed in Jesus and have been born of the Holy Spirit. Even if these people die, to God they are alive, like sleeping children who will awaken on that glorious morning when their Lord comes to wake them.
What is Eternal life, or Eternity?
It is something like this:
Once every million years, a seagull from another planet flies to the ocean, takes a beakful of water for its needs, and flies away. When it has drunk the entire ocean, one second of Eternity will have passed. And we are invited to live that long!
I live for God! This is an enormous advantage over those who do not possess life. My spirit is nourished from a Source that will never run dry. My life is under special protection, and I give thanks for everything.
A living person can do anything!
What happiness it is to live—and to live forever!
To live in order to love; to live in order to do good; to live in order to gladden everyone through my presence, individuality, and uniqueness.
There is no one else anywhere exactly like me. Every one of us is special.
The living are drawn to the living, so that by their own lives they may inspire others to live life to the fullest.
Life receives the seed of life from the Creator and goes into the world to sow it, so that its shoots may find good soil and give life to those who do not yet possess it.
The finest adornment of any life is love. It fills life with light. I know living people who have no love and do not know its taste, and I feel deeply sorry for them. Like salt, love gives life a special flavor and fills it with meaning. Life without love is merely a temporary stay in a sinful world, and without love I am nothing. Through faith in Jesus, we give God authority to teach us to love and to live in order to love—to live forever and to love forever with everlasting love.
Bible verses for this chapter:
Luke 20:38; Revelation 3:1; Ecclesiastes 9:4–6, 10; John 5:21, 25; 3:3–8; 10:10; 11:25–26; Romans 6:7–8; 8:10–11; Ephesians 2:5–6; Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Corinthians 2:14–15