THE LIFE

By Rick Mathes

John 14:6 (NASB77) ⁶  Jesus •said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.

I watched an open heart operation on the television one night and saw the surgeon remove the man’s heart and put it into a pan as a variety of machines kept the patient’s body operational. I was astonished when the doctor reattached the heart and it resumed beating and the machines were shut down so his body would return to life.

It occurred to me that every organ he had could likewise be separated from the body and returned. So I wondered, “Where is life?” It sure wasn’t of this world nor was life any more visible than love, gravity, electricity, etc.

I concluded that we are just animated dust, well composed mud that encompasses a life that is indivisible but with Godly vision can be observed to the image and likeness of God our creator.

We all have a distinguishable form; our facial features, height, weight, skin tone, etc. that is visible and differentiates us one from another. Our essence that is the life of Jesus within us is indistinguishable one from another. In other words, when our dust returns to dust, we all look identically alike. You can’t tell us apart becaue the image and likeness of God is the same for all of us; there is only one God and His image and likeness does not change. He is the unchangeable “I AM.”

In service and adoration to Him we distinguish ourselves one from another by our actions: the effects of our common cause. As we walk in humble obedience to Him we become lesser and He becomes greater until we don’t exist and He dominates our entire being. Now this won’t happen until His glorious return.

In the meantime we must accept that the only life we have is in Him. We owe every heartbeat to His stooping grace and selfless sacrifice on that death stake of redemption. Our overcoming countenance gives us the unmatchable authority to keep the faith, fight the good fight and finish the course of life laid out before us as more than conquerors of the life within us!