God throughout the Bible is consistently associated with life. He is referred to as a “living God”. His word is a “living word”. He offers “living water”. He calls Himself the “living bread”. And His reward is a Tree of Life. Obviously, this means a number of things. It means that unlike the lifeless false gods that man creates in the hope of soothing the spiritual need of his spirit, the God of the Bible actually exists. It also means that God is a God of the living. Life begets life. And so those that follow a living God ought to have some life in them as well.
In Genesis 2:7 it says, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
The original King James says, “…a living soul”. The warning given in the Garden to Adam and Eve was that if they partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would surely die. When they ate, they didn’t fall over dead right there on the spot. That time would come… but in the moment, what died was the spiritual man.
Romans 5:12 tells us, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned – ” It goes on to say in verse 14, “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses…” Not only did spiritual death become a reality, it became the dominant factor in human life. It’s now the factory default. It reigns. This is why mankind’s natural bent is toward evil. It’s also why after man’s creation, it only takes four chapters for mankind to reach such a low point that God, in Genesis 6:5 & 6 says, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”
Let’s face it, we’re quick studies. And left to ourselves, the end result will always be disaster. This is why God cries out through history for man to look to Him for hope. A great example is Amos 5:4, “For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek Me and live;”
The wages of sin is death… and all sin. This is what Jesus came to save us from. This is why it’s called being “born again”. New birth. Newness of life. Only a living God can right humanity’s wrongs. Only a living God can turn lives around. Only a living God can change a spirit so that sin no longer has dominion.
Matthew 22:32 says, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” But let’s be honest, that’s one thing to know… but quite another to put into practice in our day to day lives. We claim to serve a living God. The living God. But how does that translate into our daily routine? How does that affect our attitudes? Our dispositions? Our interactions with those around us? Or does it? It should.
Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” What’s the impression you leave with those around you. Those you come into contact with each day? When they see you do they see Christ in you? Food for thought.