Life and Death
At first, Adam and Eve had life and just one commandment. The commandment was given to keep them from death, Gen 2:17. The devil was already here and he had the power of death. So God said, If you do this (eat from the forbidden tree), you will die.
After they disobeyed (the sin) then death came. And since then, death has reigned over every man, Rom 5:12-14.
When people are born, they are going to die. And death is an indiscriminate killer. It kills them any time and any way. Death was here and the commandments of God were given to keep them alive. Rom 10:5, Deut 6:24. If you do this (keep the commandments) you shall live.
With Adam and Eve the commandment was don’t do this or you will die. With their descendants the commandment was do this, or don’t do this, and you will live. Do you see the contrast?
But the commandments couldn’t give life, Gal 3:21. This is the limitation of all religions. They have commandments, but their commandments cannot give life. And you know this because “in Adam all die”, 1 Cor 15:22.
Jesus came that they might have life. He said, “I am come that they might have life”, Jn 10:10. “In Christ shall all be made alive”, 1 Cor 15:22.
This is why the Bible says that “the law and the prophets were until John”, Lk 16:16. The law is the schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, Gal 3:24.
Here’s a good example of this.
When the rich ruler came to Jesus and asked “what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life”, Matt 19:16, Jesus replied, “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments”, Matt 19:17. Why would he say this? The commandments cannot give life.
Yes, but the first commandment is “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”, Ex 20:3. And the tenth commandment is, “Thou shalt not covet…”, Ex 20:17. Covetousness is idolatry, Col 3:5, and a covetous man is an idolator, Eph 5:5.
This man’s god was his possessions. The law commanded him to turn from this god to the Lord God. So, Jesus said, first of all, “sell all that thou hast…”, Lk 18:22. Get rid of your god.
Then Jesus said, “and come, follow me”. If this man had kept the commandments, they would have led him to follow Jesus. He would have trusted Jesus rather than his riches. And Jesus would have given him eternal life.
How is this possible?
Jesus was a partaker of flesh and blood. He was born of Mary, yet he was conceived by the Holy Ghost. So he is the Son of man and he is the Son of God. As a partaker of flesh and blood, he was in Adam. And, as the Bible says, in Adam all die.
The remarkable thing is that through death, he destroyed the power of death, that is the devil, Heb 2:14. He rose from the dead. He is the first begotten of the dead, Rev 1:5.
And when we trust Jesus Christ, we are begotten by his resurrection unto life. 1 Pet 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”.
So, today you have death reigning in your mortal body and the Lord presents you with life to escape the bondage of death.
Therefore, every man has a choice, as in Deut 30:15-19. Life and death are presented before you and you choose one or the other.
There are two things to do with this knowledge.
First, if you have already received Jesus and you now have life, you must consider those who have not yet received him.
Prov 24:11-12, “If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works”?
Are you really going to keep this knowledge of life and death to yourself and let those who are dying die and go to hell? You cannot plead ignorance, now. And you really shouldn’t let them die without knowing that they have a choice to live for ever.
Second, if you have not already chosen life, you have a choice.
- To do nothing is to choose death.
- To reject Jesus is to choose death.
- To believe Jesus is to choose life.
What will you do? Will you choose life or death? If you will choose life, then receive Jesus today.