For God so love the world that
He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish
but have an everlasting life. –John 3:16
We
all know that John 3:16 is the heart of the Bible. It is one of the most quoted
verses during evangelism, but what we didn’t know is that it is more than just
salvation. Salvation is just the beginning of something that is much more. What
He promised is an everlasting life and to have that life abundantly (John
10:10). Inside that everlasting life, salvation comes. But what is this life
all about?
Let’s trace it back to the very beginning
In the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis
2:7) That breath of life is no other than Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way
the truth and the life (John 14:6). Holy Spirit on the other hand is river of
the living water that gives life to everything. Both God the Father and the
Holy Spirit are Creators, Jesus, one of the Godhead and equal to God, is the
creation (both God-man). When He came down to earth, He removed His identity of
a deity and He became 100% man (Hebrews 2:14; Philippians 2:6-8). That is the
trinity of God.
Man
is created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). When God breathed
us the breathe of life, what we received is the holy and divine life like God.
We are not God and we can never be God, but we have the same attributes as He
is.
A Conflict between Life and Death
Though
it is clear that God created us in His own image and likeness, man still didn’t
believe. Our Adamic nature listens to the deception of the enemy and then we
fall short. Because of the fall, that divine nature that God created on man
became conflicting. It is a conflict between life and death and a constant battle
between flesh and Spirit.
What God does
Because
of our Adamic nature, God knew from the very beginning that we will fall short.
That happens but because of love and His divine purpose to filled this earth
with His glory through us, He made a repercussion through the long awaited
promise of a Messiah. Meaning to say, even before the beginning of times, Jesus
is there already as the Lamb of God who will soon washed away the sins of the
world, bringing us back to God.
In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1). 2He
was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him
nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the
light of all people. (John 1:2-4). 14The
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.
(John 1:14) 16Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace
already given. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only, who is
himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
(John 1:16-18)
Jesus
is God himself, who became flesh. He is the begotten of the Father being
mentioned in John 3:16. He is also the life being mentioned in John 10:10.
For
God showed His great love to us that while we are still sinners, Christ died
for us (Romans 5:8). That is what God does for us out of love.
Our First Love
Our
first love is the eternal life in God. When we first love God, we cannot help
ourselves but to express our love that we received from God. Then we nurture it
with prayer, devotion and praise and worship only to Him and for Him.
We are also like Adam
We
are also like Adam for we loses our first love. When we first accepted Jesus as
our Lord and Savior on that altar call while we are kneeling down and welled-up
with tears of repentance, the life of Christ was being conceived in us.
However, things happened for sure, then you just find yourself losing God
again.
God wants us to have eternal life
God
wants us to have eternal life with Him and to have it more abundantly. In fact,
His divine purpose for us is to be conformed to the image of His Son and filled
this earth with His glory.
Romans
8:29 Says, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to
the image of His Son, in order that He might be the first born among many
brothers.”
God
already knew us even before our conception and birth on our mother’s womb, and
the good news is He also predestined us- meaning our journey is already
finished. All we have to do is to enforce that victory.
Is God meant for the reparation of our old life?
No.
What He give us is a new life- a life that is in the same class with the life
of Christ. For if anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Our
greatest need is to increase in our spiritual capacity, so let us grow in
faith. Let us grow in the life of Jesus Christ. Our destiny and faith is the
fullness of the life of Christ. This is progressive sanctification.
Sanctification is replacing life from another life. It is an exchanged life.
The
conflict between life and death is because of sin, but because of the sinless
life of Jesus, we are justified, as if we had never sin.
What is our response?
For we are God’s masterpieces, created in
Christ Jesus, to perform good works, which God intends for us to do. (Ephesians
2:10)
Do not conformed any longer to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds that ye may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)
18And we all, who with
unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his
image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
(2 Corinthians 3:18)
You are the light
of this world. A city on a hill that cannot be hidden. Let your light so shine
before men, that when they see your good works, they will glorify your Father,
who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14,16)
As
we are being transformed into the same image as Jesus, the same Spirit which is
in Him- once with us, is now also in us. That Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit,
will transformed our lives from one degree of glory to another. In performing
good works under the name of Jesus that we behold, people will see Jesus in us-
It is not us, but He is for we are being crucified with Him (Galatians 2:20). Being
so, we serves as light to this world.
Practical Questions
1. How
will you describe your first love for God?
2. Do
you find that first love as the greatest love of all?
3. Have
you lose your first love for God? Why?
4. How
does losing your first love for God affecting your Spiritual life? Emotional?
Material? Physical? Social?
5. What
steps have you taken to find your way back to God again?
Memory Verse
Do not conformed any longer to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds that ye may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)
Practical Application
What have you learned?
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