IS THE LIFE AFTER BIRTH?
Even though we were dead in our sins God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, gave us life together with Christ. Eph. 2:4, 5, Phillips.
As you push your way toward the checkout counter at most supermarkets, your eye is caught by the headlines of the pulp press as it hawks its latest piece of "earthshaking" trivia. At regular intervals you see minor variations on the theme: "Scientist Finds Shocking New Evidence for Life After Death!" If you venture to read the overstated stories, you find thirdhand reports of "out-of-body experiences" or other supposed sensations of those on the brink of death.
It is interesting that so many Christians are caught up in this concern about life after death when many of them have yet to figure out whether there is indeed life after birth! In other words, should it matter what happens when one dies unless one is certain that, as Christ had promised, eternal life has definitely begun at the new birth? If eternal life isn't genuine while we are alive, it doesn't offer much promise beyond the grave.
Jesus, Paul, and John all spoke repeatedly of the new birth. How else can you describe a change of values and life patterns and attitudes that is so radical that it seems as though life has begun all over again? Outside of Jesus Christ, one can be said to "live" only in the most basic, primitive sense. It is not much more than a biological existence, cut off from all the great issues and purposes of life. It is a narrow, self-centered, fear-ridden shuffle from the womb to the tomb.
But attachment to Christ changes everything! We receive new capacities for knowing and understanding spiritual truths. In place of scrambling to protect ourselves, we reach out to care about others. The cheap and temporary pleasures and treasures of this world are seen for the sham that they are. Greater themes and higher goals occupy our minds. Even our personalities, perhaps either flat or bluntly barbed outside of Christ, begin to reflect Christlike qualities of tenderness and poise.
"New life" means more than simply good behavior, for the sin problem is far greater than just bad behavior. Since the sin problem centers on alienation from Christ, then new life is, most fundamentally, an absorbing, spontaneous devotion to Christ as the natural focus of our life.
Even though we were dead in our sins God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, gave us life together with Christ. Eph. 2:4, 5, Phillips.
As you push your way toward the checkout counter at most supermarkets, your eye is caught by the headlines of the pulp press as it hawks its latest piece of "earthshaking" trivia. At regular intervals you see minor variations on the theme: "Scientist Finds Shocking New Evidence for Life After Death!" If you venture to read the overstated stories, you find thirdhand reports of "out-of-body experiences" or other supposed sensations of those on the brink of death.
It is interesting that so many Christians are caught up in this concern about life after death when many of them have yet to figure out whether there is indeed life after birth! In other words, should it matter what happens when one dies unless one is certain that, as Christ had promised, eternal life has definitely begun at the new birth? If eternal life isn't genuine while we are alive, it doesn't offer much promise beyond the grave.
Jesus, Paul, and John all spoke repeatedly of the new birth. How else can you describe a change of values and life patterns and attitudes that is so radical that it seems as though life has begun all over again? Outside of Jesus Christ, one can be said to "live" only in the most basic, primitive sense. It is not much more than a biological existence, cut off from all the great issues and purposes of life. It is a narrow, self-centered, fear-ridden shuffle from the womb to the tomb.
But attachment to Christ changes everything! We receive new capacities for knowing and understanding spiritual truths. In place of scrambling to protect ourselves, we reach out to care about others. The cheap and temporary pleasures and treasures of this world are seen for the sham that they are. Greater themes and higher goals occupy our minds. Even our personalities, perhaps either flat or bluntly barbed outside of Christ, begin to reflect Christlike qualities of tenderness and poise.
"New life" means more than simply good behavior, for the sin problem is far greater than just bad behavior. Since the sin problem centers on alienation from Christ, then new life is, most fundamentally, an absorbing, spontaneous devotion to Christ as the natural focus of our life.
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