Living In The Light

June 23, Christ, The Life-Giver

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
—John 1:4 LL 185.1

It is not physical life that is here specified, but immortality, the life which is exclusively the property of God. The Word, who was with God, and who was God, had this life. Physical life is something which each individual receives. It is not eternal or immortal; for God, the Lifegiver, takes it again. Human beings have no control over their life. But the life of Christ was unborrowed. No one can take this life from Him. “I lay it down of Myself,” He said. In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived. This life is not inherent in humanity. We can possess it only through Christ. We cannot earn it; it is given us as a free gift if we will believe in Christ as our personal Savior. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” This is the open fountain of life for the world. . . . LL 185.2

Human beings are only mortal, and while they feel themselves too wise to accept Jesus, they will remain only mortal. Men and women have done wonderful things in the intellectual world, but who gave them power to do this?—The Lord God of hosts. If in their fancied efficiency men and women triumph because of their own power, and glorify themselves, following the example of the antediluvian world, they will perish. . . . LL 185.3

Only the believer in Christ can receive life everlasting. Only by continually feeding on Christ’s flesh and blood can we have the assurance that we are partakers of the divine nature. No one should be indifferent on this subject, saying, If we are honest, it is no matter what we believe. You cannot with safety surrender any seed of vital truth in order to please yourself or anybody else. Do not seek to avoid the cross. If we receive no light from the Sun of Righteousness, we have no connection with the Source of all light; and if this life and light do not abide in us, we can never be saved. LL 185.4

God has made every provision that His purpose in the creation of human beings shall not be frustrated by Satan. After Adam and Eve brought death into the world by their disobedience, a costly sacrifice was provided for the human race. . . . By giving Christ, His only-begotten Son, as a ransom for the world, God gave all heaven.— Signs of the Times , April 8, 1897. LL 185.5

Further Reflection: Pray for a close relationship with Jesus, the true Life-Giver of your entire being. LL 185.6