HE THAT LIVETH

The simplicity of these words might cause us to underestimate their sweeping implications. Think of some of the ways we may understand these words of our Lord.

1. He is the source of all life in the universe. There is no life outside of life given by Him. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made’, John 1. 3. Being the Maker, He is also heir of all.

2. He is the sustainer of all life in the universe. ‘By him all things consist’, Col. 1.17. The slow, steady breathing of the atheist slumbering in his bed is given to him, one breath at a time. Administered in grace, it keeps him another day out of hell and provides one more opportunity for him to repent.

3. He is the provider and giver of eternal life to those who believe, Matt. 20. 28; John 5. 40; 6. 27. He is the word of life, the water of life, the bread of life, and the light of life; He is the keeper of the tree of life, the giver of the crown of life, and the author of the book of life. He said, ‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly’, John 10. 10. He is given the interesting appellation, the ‘quickening (or life-giving) spirit’, 1 Cor. 15. 45.

4. He not only gives this life, He is the very life principle at work in His people. He declared, ‘I am … the life’, John 14. 6. And Paul adds, ‘If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life’, Rom. 5. 10. Thus Christ is presented to us as the Vine through which the fruit-producing sap flows, John 15; the Head from which every part of the body is supplied, Eph. 4; and the Bridegroom of the wounded side, concerning whom we affirm that we are bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh.

5. He will bring to life those asleep in Jesus. The words of our theme verse read: ‘I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore’. Blessed past tense! He was dead. He is the resurrection and the life. Because He lives, we shall live also. Compared with Christian living now, that life is ‘far better’, ‘not worthy to be compared’. I can hardly wait.