September 5 I Thursday

Psalms 146-147

1 Corinthians 15:1-28

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life.’”

—John 11:25

We may know the way to God is through Jesus Christ. He is the truth about God and a true demonstration of what life lived in union with God is like, but there is something missing. It is the one essential ingredient Adam and Eve lost in the Garden of Eden.

God said to Adam, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Enticed by Satan, Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree and gave some to Adam. God then withdrew His Spirit from them. They did not die physically, but spiritually-—they lost the life of God He had breathed into them.

We are all born into this state of being spiritually dead and we lack the life of God, which is our empowering to live the way God intended. But God had His plan in place for the redemption of humankind. John says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His One and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus is the life that restores God back into the human experience. He is the life that indwells, empowers and equips us to live as God created us to live. He is the life through which we receive the ultimate gift of living forever in union with God.

The question we should be asking ourselves, after discovering and accepting Christ as the Way to God and the Truth that demonstrates union with God, is are we seeing evidence of the Life of God within us? Are we hungering for righteousness? Do we have a desire to serve God and an appetite for His Word? Are we more loving, patient, kind and compassionate than we were, maybe a year ago?

Christ works in us to produce the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. This is not the fruit of the Christian, but the fruit of the Spirit, derived from the life of Christ in us. Jesus says, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6). This is essentially a panoramic statement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: the Way being about reconciliation to God; the Truth about revelation of God and our union with Him; and the Life about regeneration, which is a new indestructible gift of life born in us by the Spirit of God, a divine gift because we believe in Jesus.

Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for reconciling me to God and for your indwelling Spirit, that empowers me to live a godly life, and to be in union with You and the Father forever. Praise You!