"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."—John 14:6
What thought can grasp the full import of Life! It
animates the body, the soul, the spirit. It begins in time. It has being
throughout eternity. As to the earthly tenement, its limits may be brief. As
to the inner man, its expanse is limitless. Thus the analysis of Life is
food for boundless meditation.
Life may be considered as bodily, as mental, as
spiritual, as eternal. But whatever view be taken—whether of body, soul, or
spirit, whether of time, or timeless period—the truth is clear, Christ is
its essence.
We owe this knowledge not to speculation, or research, or
theory. No mortal power could devise a probable conjecture as to Life's
origin and continuance. But the infallible Word reveals it. The lips of
Jesus give authoritative announcement. His simple statement conveys the
intelligence: "I am the Life." Paul re-echoes, "When Christ, who is our
Life, shall appear, we also shall appear with Him in glory." (Col. 3:4)
I. Bodily Life. Where do we obtain these
living frames, so curiously, so exquisitely formed? Where springs this
animal activity? What is the origin of this marvelous mechanism? The reply
is before us. Christ is the Life.
The Spirit, in the records of creation, gives clear
information. In that history we are taught, that "the Lord God formed man of
the dust of the ground." (Gen. 2:7) But Jesus was co-partner with the Father
in this life-giving act. It is written, "By whom also He made the worlds."
(Heb. 1:2) And again, "One Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we
by Him." (1 Cor. 8:6) And again, "By Him were all things created, that are
in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities; or powers: all things were created
by Him, and for Him." (Col. 1:16)
Hence Jesus claims adoration as the author of all the
powers of the living frame. The composition, the arrangement, the vitality,
are the work of His celestial skill. On every part His hand of power is
inscribed. This truth receives but scanty recompense of gratitude.
When the eye revels in delightful contemplation of the
beauties and the wonders which on all sides gratify the gaze; when every
sense is refreshed with endless varieties of charms; when the pores open to
receive the genial warmth of summer, or the cool fanning of the vernal
breeze; when the limbs put forth their energies in exhilarating exercise—in
short, in every joy which results from Life in the body, the blessed Jesus
should be seen and adored as one with the Father in these gifts. It should
not be forgotten that in this sense He is our Life.
But Jesus not only calls these powers into being, their
preservation hangs on Him. The Spirit testifies that "He upholds all
things by the word of His power." (Heb. 1:3) And "He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist." (Col. 1:17) The world is crowded by barren
trees, and the stern voice of justice is ready to exclaim, "Cut it down, why
should it use up the soil!" But the destroying hand is stayed. An
interceding cry prevails, "Let it alone." (Luke 13:7, 8) If justice had
obtained its course, if mercy had not sweetly interposed, what child of man
would at this moment tread the earth! The checking voice proceeds from
Jesus. Continuance in Life results from His guardian care. Here again we
acknowledge Him to be our Life.
II. Mental Life. Bodily powers, vast and
wondrous, are shared by all the tribes of brute existence. Exquisite
construction and activity of motion belong to them all. They possess the
gift from Him who is our "Life."
But in man there is the separated gift of mental and
intellectual vitality. Endowed with this superiority, he can reason,
reflect, calculate, conclude, and put forth prodigious powers of speculation
and invention. On the wings of intellect he can scale the heights of the
skies above, and count the radiant orbs, and trace their course, and weigh
their magnitude. He can descend into the depths of earth, and mark the
various strata, and estimate their gradual formation. He can traverse the
surface of the globe from pole to pole, and scrutinize its multitudinous
produce, and examine the properties of all, from the lofty monarch of the
forest to the tiniest herb upon the wall. But far more than this. He can
unlock all the stores of learning, and write and read large volumes of
erudition. Here we pause to bless our God in Christ, who is our mental
"Life."
III. Spiritual Life. If bodily and mental
Life were alone imparted, the real worth would have but small endurance. A
living case is provided for a dead soul. The outside semblance may be very
fair, but within is misery, and filth, and death. "Whited sepulchers, may
indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones,
and of all uncleanness." (Matt. 23:27) There are fabled trees, whose fruit
presents a captivating show, promising delicious juice, but beneath this
inviting garb is rottenness and dust.
But to the heirs of promise, the soul, dead in sin, is
quickened to newness of Life. Such renovation consists in the entrance of
divine being into the desolate tenement. It is a heavenly work, which heaven
puts forth its energies to accomplish. It is display of the mighty acting
which restored Life to the body of Jesus sleeping in the tomb, and raised
Him to the throne of glory. Hear the Spirit's testimony. He ascribes this
quickening to "the exceeding greatness of God's power, according to the
working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him
from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far
above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name
that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come."
(Eph. 1:19-21) No inferior power could create afresh a dead soul. But Jesus
speaks, and the soul which was extinct revives, and puts forth spiritual
energies. Divine perceptions flourish. God, before utterly unknown, is now
intelligently seen and loved and served and honored. Christ is received in
all His power to redeem and save. Living comprehensions estimate His
everlasting love, His gift of Himself as an expiating ransom, His robe of
spotless righteousness, His sacrifice on the accursed tree, His conquest of
death and hell and Satan, His session at the right hand of the Majesty on
high, the constant prevalence of His unfailing intercession, the unceasing
outpouring of blessings on His people, the near approach of the millennial
reign, the final judgment, and the surrender of the kingdom to the Father,
"that God may be all in all." (1 Cor. 15:22)
Such is a brief and scanty summary of the light out of
darkness which shines throughout the soul when spiritual Life is restored.
The main employ is now in spiritual exercises. God is now the all pervading
Life. There is union to the Three Persons of the ever-blessed Trinity.
Heavenly communion is free, constant, and sweet. Prayer was once a cold and
formal drudgery, addressed to an unknown God, and never rising above this
earth's region; now it is an intelligent and warm delight. The soul flies up
to God as to a reconciled Father, it seeks and enjoys filial communion, it
is free and bold to tell out its every need and desire, it wrestles with
indomitable energy until answers come, it prevails because Life pleads
within.
Similarly it revels in the luxury of praise. What motives
urge! What an expanse of topics calls! It feels that if every breath should
extol the Lord, the debt of gratitude would be unpaid. In every circumstance
of time it finds occasion to give thanks. Thus spiritual Life is heaven
begun, and the eternal hallelujah will but perpetuate the hymns first sung
on earth.
Constant delight too is now gleaned from the study of the
Word. The sacred Book was once a maze of perplexity and darkness. Its
truths were enveloped in mists and obscurity. Its revelation revealed
nothing. Its teaching left the drowsy ponderer uninformed. The ignorant
read, and remained ignorant. Now how great the change! How charming are the
lessons! How delightful are the hours of perusal! Newborn spirits search the
page, and expand in growth.
In this school of Scripture spiritual Life thus
strengthens. "The sincere milk of the Word" gives invigorating nutriment.
Jesus is found to be the Bread of Life. "His flesh is food indeed, and His
blood is drink indeed." (John 6:55) By faith the gracious verities of all
His work are received as power and vigor unto salvation. Thus Christ
cherishes and maintains the spiritual Life which He has quickened.
At the beginning Adam was endowed with this Life, and the
preservation of it was entrusted to his own vigilance. But he was soon
dispossessed! The devil came. His crafty arts prevailed. Our first parent
yielded, and was bereft of this inestimable boon. This Life is no more left
to mortal custody. The second Adam undertakes to hold it in sure keeping.
"Our Life is hidden with Christ in God." (Col. 3:3) Thus His sheep shall
never perish, and none shall ever pluck them out of His hand. The believer
rejoices in Life nourished and securely guarded.
IV. Eternal Life. Let it here be added,
that the full blessedness of spiritual Life is its eternal duration. It has
the seed of never-ending being. What is grace, but glory in its birth! What
is glory, but grace in its consummation! The gifts differ, doubtless, but
they differ only in degree. The one is weak and tender as the bud; the other
is strong and expanded as the full-blown flower. The one puts forth the
slender ray of the morning dawn; the other is resplendent as the mid-day
sun. The one is a little rill issuing from a hidden spring; the other swells
into an illimitable sea. The one is as the gentle spring relaxing the
fetters of stern winter; the other is as the established summer, decking the
earth with verdure, the fields with golden produce, and filling the groves
with melody, and the meadows with rejoicing flocks. The one is as the infant
smiling in the mother's arms; the other is the stalwart man, mighty in
brawny strength. The one is as the outline-sketch of some great architect;
the other is as the glorious edifice which labor has industriously raised.
But where the first begins, the other surely follows. Life in the soul on
earth is Life in heaven forevermore. The redeemed are "born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which lives and
abides forever. (1 Pet. 1:23)
If spiritual Life could ever become extinct, if the arts
and malice of the devil, the seductions of this evil world, the teaching of
the unstable heart, or countless enemies could prevail, then heaven might at
last be devoid of inhabitants, and the precious blood of Christ might have
been shed in vain. The shadow of such thought is folly. A great multitude,
which no man can count, shall fill the many-mansioned home. All shall have
been renewed with spiritual Life on earth, and so inherit eternal Life
above.
Thought is weak to comprehend this blessedness. What will
it be to realize that time is no more—that all trials, temptations,
sufferings, conflicts, are behind, never again to harass or disturb—to feel
that heaven's portals are passed, and safety is obtained forever! The joy of
the saved is briefly expressed in the assurance, "They shall never again
leave it." (Rev. 3:12)
If the joys of salvation could ever reach an end—if
night, however distant, could ultimately extinguish light—the thought would
render heaven an abode of sad anticipation. Present happiness would be no
happiness, because of its contemplated cessation. But the realized delights
receive augmented ecstasy from the knowledge that rolling time brings no
conclusion. The present joys will be joys in the future days of an
inexhaustible eternity. And surely eternity will not be too long for all the
bliss of the redeemed.
The Life eternal which results from the knowledge of the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:3), will be
occupied in ever-deepening, ever-expanding, views of Deity. To know God,
even as we are known, to see Jesus as He is, will be employment which never
can find exhaustion, because the objects of study are lessons of infinity.
The happiness of time is to make progress in this school—the happiness of
eternity will still be to advance. It is sweet to sip these streams below.
What will it be to draw water without ceasing from the fountain-head!
Christ is this Life. He bought it. He procured it. He
bestows it. He maintains it. He preserves it. He consummates it. Sinners
never could have earned it. We easily destroy ourselves. He only is the
Author of renewal. While thoughts of our inability depresses us into the
very lowest dust of shame and humiliation, they should fill us with adoring
views of His love, His grace, His goodness, His super-abundant mercy, His
unfailing power. The Life bestowed by Him should be devoted to His praise,
His service, and His glory.
When we feel decay of spiritual life, how earnestly
should we cry, "Quicken us, good Lord! according to Your word." The prayer
would surely receive reply. Fresh grace would re-animate the inner man; and
redoubled efforts in Christ's cause would go forth in recruited strength.
Herein would Christ be glorified, that His people would "bear much fruit."
(John 15:8) Lively branches would prove union with the Tree of Life. Living
stones should shine a living structure cemented into the true foundation,
which is Christ our Life. He is "come that we might have Life, and that we
might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)