Update on Zoe



We made a foundation last week that eternal life is not only talking about a glorious afterlife or a life that lasts forever, but it's about God's life. We also mentioned that living this life starts the moment we believe in Jesus' death, burial and resurrection.

Looking at the verse we concluded with in part A, it talks about the attribute of God's life:
Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

We're to let our light shine.

What light if I may ask? The answer is still in the same verse of the scripture:
"Let your light so shine before men, ......... and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Men can only glorify the source of a thing. From this verse, they'll see your light and glorify your Source, which is God. This light is from God. Not only that, the light is God. I can put the verse as "Let God so shine before men..."

I had to analyze it this way so that we won't think it's a light borne out of being a good person that understands the calculations of life THROUGH SELF. You understand what I mean?
The light of God shines beyond just being good and it's from a pure heart.

N.B.: Understanding the calculations of life without the One Who formed life is disastrous. The way may seem right, but surely, the end is destruction (Proverbs 14:12)
Maybe if some see the verse as "Let God so shine..." they would drop pride and boastings. Or why do you think the verse didn't say men will glorify you, if the light was actually by your effort.

Having said that, let's move on.

The light mentioned there is God's light.

John 1:4 tells us more about this truth.
"In Him was Life; and the Life was the Light of men." This place talks about Jesus.
And we're being made God's Son through Christ Jesus (see Hebrew 2:10), therefore, it's talking about us as well. We can rephrase it as "in us is life (God's life) and this life is the light of men".

We don't have life of our own, neither do we have two lives as some think that God's life is an addition to one we had.

How do I know this? Let's quickly see Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; YET NOT I, BUT CHRIST LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." We have no life of our own, but God's.

Also, Matthew 9:16, "No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse." Thinking that God added a new life to an old life is a flawed way of seeing God's deeds, and this has made us to live our lives like those who perish. And of course, the rent is indeed made worse.

We don't have two lives, instead, God took that life away and gave us Himself. God's life (His Spirit) swallowed up that life.

The new life (i.e. God's life in us) is the light of men.

Glory!

We're told to let this light shine before men.

How?

The answer is still in the verse. (Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven).

It's by showing good works/deeds.

Let's learn of Abba.

From time immemorial, God has been the author of good works. The pages of the scriptures reflect this.

(I'll only chip in few things about His good works for now)

In the beginning, God saw that the earth was without form and void. He saw darkness upon the face of the deep. But God provided solutions to these issues.

The same God saw how the men He created was held by the grip of sin and came to our aid by giving us Jesus. And the Scripture recorded that Jesus went about DOING GOOD because God was with Him (see Acts 10:38).

Now, God is sending us.

And He is with us, we have His life, we should do good too.

Jesus also makes us to understand that we will do greater works (see John 14:12). Isn't that amazing?

The world can be made right and made better because of [God's life in] us.
Let's make God's light shine.

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