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(Note: I have discussed the possibility of foregoing, for the
present time, the devotional series on Death and Dying since it is a bit of a
morbid subject during the season of Life (Spring). Though it is not truly
morbid to those who trust in Christ, it can never rise to the importance of
pure and undefiled life in Christ. So, today’s devotion is not of the sleep of
death, but of the awakening glory of LIFE. The respondent agrees.)
When I
was a child – quite a very long time ago, I admit – it seemed that night came
with cold abandon and was both unwelcomed and uninvited. This was especially so
in Autumn season as the shadows lengthened earlier day by day. Saturday nights
were especially short-lived since we played hide and seek, kick the can, red
rover, and made homemade ice cream, until mother called us indoors with
increasing tones of impatience. It was hard to surrender the joys of the
closing day. As we (one brother and FIVE sisters) begrudgingly went into the
house, it seemed our happiness had just ended forever. Mother usually provided
a late-night snack (late night being 9:00pm), and sent us off to bed after
washing up. The cool, fresh sheets smelled of sunshine; and it was only a few
seconds, or minutes, before we were so sound asleep that we knew not the
passing of the hours of darkness and sleep. Suddenly, we opened our eyes and
were blinded by the morning sun peering through our window. It seemed that we
had simply blinked our eyes and a night had mysteriously vanished into the
ether of dreams. As Longfellow says:
And
the night shall be filled with music,
And
the cares, that infest the day,
Shall
fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And
as silently steal away.
I believe this fleeting of night
during our sound sleep is representative of life itself. Life is full symbolic
nights, and wonderful sunlit days. We dread saying goodbye to the beauty of the
day, but it is essential for the darkness of night to bring to us the rest and
refreshment that is essential for our joy in life come the morning. Life, and
especially the FULLNESS of Life, is a gift of God. We were not created by a
chain of accidental combinations of atoms and molecules. Our bodies were
created from the dust of the earth. The body of Adam was not a living body when
God formed it from that dust, but merely a clump of inorganic clay. But God
breathed the breath of life into those cold, insensitive nostrils, and Adam
became a living soul. Regardless the braggadocio of modern science that claims
it has discovered the ‘secret of life’ – they have not. They cannot even define
life. They know that a human body ceases to live at death, but they can
determine no chemical, organic, or physical answer for what changed in the body
– except that it ceases to evidence life. God tells us that the life is in the
blood, and indeed it is for God has placed every property in the blood to
support life.
God says: For the life of the flesh is in
the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for
your souls: for it is the blood that maketh
an atonement for the soul. (Lev 17:11) God also says: And almost
all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is
no remission. (Heb 9:22) We all know that under the
Law of Moses an innocent animal must be sacrificed to remit sins. This
remission was actually a partial and temporary remission for it symbolized the
more perfect sacrifice to come of the Lamb of God. Our Lord proclaimed, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life
in you. (John 6:53) It is only by the righteous and sinless blood of Christ that our
sins are remitted. That Old Testament model pointed to Christ alone.
So, life is dear and costly. It is a
gift of God to us, but the eternal life made available by grace through the
sacrifice of His dearly beloved Son is the greatest gift of all for it is life
eternal. But wait, have we defined what we mean by life? Does a living body
live? Not really, it is the life that is in the blood that exhibits the
properties of life and relates them to the facility provided by the body (which
has no real life without the blood). Even blood itself has no life, but life is
IN the blood. So, when we take the blood from a lifeless corpse, the physical
properties remain intact, but that blood is lifeless. Where did the life go?
Can you answer that simple question? NO! Could Einstein, Newton, or Copernicus
have answered that question? NO! So much for science and its gilded parchments.
Life belongs to God. It has no earthly properties. Life is a spirit, in a
sense. It is what returns to God when the body returns to the dust of the
earth. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit
shall return unto God who gave it. Eccl 12:7 (KJV) This spirit somehow
defines the property of life, and a spirit never dies. When the spirit of life
is graced by the election and calling of the Holy Spirit, it becomes an imperishable
entity. It is this spirit that never dies, as Christ has told us. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (John 6:47) This life is not interrupted,
even momentarily, by physical death; but immediately returns to the Keeper of
Souls in Heaven.
Remarkably, our bodies, blood and
physical attributes are fashioned for the soul and spirit that God imparts to
us. Our DNA is a spiritual blueprint for our being. It determines our racial
makeup, our eye color, our hair, our body size and type, our talents, our
physical attributes, etc. It is a complete plan for our lives imparted, before
conception, as to who we shall be before we were ever conceived. How amazing
and how un-evolutionary!
4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Before I formed thee in
the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I
sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the
nations. (Jer 1:4-5)
God knew Jeremiah before he was conceived. He knew YOU before you
were conceived. He knew His only Begotten Son before Mary conceived. And God
named and anointed Cyrus the Great before his conception. 24 Thus saith the LORD, thy
redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the
LORD that maketh all things; that
stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; 25 That frustrateth the
tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward,
and maketh their knowledge foolish; 26 That confirmeth the word
of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to
Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be
built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: 27 That saith to the deep,
Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: 28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my
pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy
foundation shall be laid. (Isaiah 44:24-28) Two hundred years after this
prophecy came forth Cyrus out of Elam and Persia to conquer Babylon and return
the Jews to Jerusalem.
If the redeemed of the Lord never die, what of those who willfully
reject His atoning sacrifice? They will die the second death (eternal
separation from God) that follows Judgment, yet, if it can be so called, they
continue to in an eternal existence, but not in the bliss and presence of our
Lord, but among the damned and irreverent inmates of the forlorn gates of Hell.
God made you and me. He fashioned us according to His will and
plan; and He did so with great care. The next time you ponder, or hear
questioned, the legitimacy or righteousness of abortion, ask yourself if it is
not an abomination in the face of a Holy God to destroy the very works of His
hands in the womb: 11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night
shall be light about me. 12 Yea, the darkness hideth
not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both
alike to thee. 13 For thou hast possessed
my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. 14 I will praise thee; for
I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy
works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid
from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts
of the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my
substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:11-16)
Tennyson wrote, in his Idylls
of the King, the model for the Knight’s Pledge: Live pure, speak truth,
right the wrong, follow the king; else wherefore born? This is a grand
model for the Christian life that has been given us freely and without merit of
our own. The pure life is a Holy life; the Christian must speak the truth and
do all in his power to right the wrongs waged not only against himself, but all
others within his power to right. But above all else, the Christian must follow
the King – our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Author and Finisher of our Faith,
and the Bishop of our Souls.
Life is a precious gift of God. Guard it with Holy zeal. Protect
all life from those who would mercilessly waste it. Remember that we were
purchased at an awful and terrible price. We owe our Lord not only our being
and life, but every good gift we have ever possessed.
