In Him Was Life
Introduction
Sometimes it is only when you stop to think about it that you realise how strange a statement is. What on earth did John mean when he said of Jesus “In him was life”? It is not the sort of thing we generally say is it? Picture the scene, someone collapses in the street, the first aider / paramedic arrives, feels for a pulse, looks for signs of breathing and the bystanders ask “Is he dead?” They are not likely to reply “No, in him there is life”! John is saying here much more than simply Jesus became a living, breathing human being. This becomes clear when we read on “In Him was life and that life was the light of men (human beings)” John 1:4.
In declaring that Jesus is both life and light John cleverly looks firstly back to creation (Let there be light) where as we saw last week Jesus brought all things into being then ahead to the saving work of Jesus on the cross. This can be seen if one reads through John’s gospel highlighting the themes of light and life.
Today I want to focus on what does this statement mean for us? In what way does the life-giving nature of Jesus impact on my life? At our church away day just over a week ago we started to explore our centenary theme: “Learning from the past, living in the present, looking to the future”. Today I want us to focus on living in the present?
Fullness of life
One of my favourite verses from the Bible is John 10:10 where Jesus says “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”. Many of us have full diaries but do we have full lives? What is it that distinguishes between a full life and a busy life? The key is found in the previous statement “In him was life”. If Jesus is the source of life then our fullness of life is found through our relationship with Him. As Paul says in Col.2:10 “You have been given fullness in Christ”.
This passage in Colossians is worth a closer look, starting at v.6 “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness”. This fullness of life starts when we “receive Christ Jesus as Lord” or as Paul puts it later on “having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” Col.2:12. Many of us can recall vividly what this was like, as we embarked on a new life in Jesus, with him as our saviour and Lord. The joy of sins forgiven, the renewed sense of purpose, the overwhelming awareness of God’s love for us. However Paul urges us to carry on living in this way. He uses four verbs to convey something of the richness of this life in Christ:
Rooted we are to be rooted in Christ. The other week when I was on retreat I was observing trees growing by a river. I sensed God asking me “Where are your roots and what is your river?”. Roots not only give a plant stability they are also the means by which a plant receives nourishment. In these uncertain times is our stability found in Jesus? Are we being nourished by Him?
Built up ever one to mix his metaphors Paul switches from plants to buildings. Coming to faith in Jesus as saviour and Lord is like laying the foundations of a building. Just imagine what it was like 100 years ago here as they started to lay the foundations of this wonderful building. What a tragedy if they had stopped then and not persevered to complete the building. Many Christians seem to do precisely this. They receive Jesus as saviour and Lord but don’t persevere, building in faith. Mixing the metaphors again Jesus speaks of this in the parable of the sower.
Strengthened in the faith as you were taught. Carrying on with the building image Peter says “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house” 1Peter 2:5 This strengthening which Paul speaks of comes about as we are cemented together in the household of God. The faith which we are taught we learn from one another as together we seek to be disciples of Jesus.
Overflowing with thankfulness. This for me is the acid test of fullness versus busyness. A full life overflows with thankfulness, a busy one overflows with tiredness and irritability. At the end of the day are we thankful or simply exhausted?
Conclusion
This experience of fullness of life is not based on some complex theological theory but on the person and work of Jesus. It is through His rising to new life from the grave that we experience life in all its fullness now. Life that will outlast these mortal bodies. Allelujah!