Are You Abundantly Alive?
The brethren of the epistle of James, the scattered abroad, were very much alive. If not, there would have been no reason to write a letter to them. It is also readily apparent that they were ‘living’, as the only ones that can be tempted are those abiding in the flesh, (Jas 1:2). This is one of the reasons our Lord came in the flesh. We read of the temptations of Christ by the devil in Matt 4:1-10. And Heb 4:15 informs that the “high priest” of the church, Jesus the Christ, was tempted in all points, like as we are, yet, He did not sin. Then, if you’ll recall 1John 2:16, the ‘points’ in which Christ was, and we are tempted, are clearly delineated. They are, 1) the lust of the flesh, 2) the lust of the eyes, 3) the pride of life. Every one of these are physical.
In Jas 4:13ff, these Christians were warned against boasting of tomorrow. This is a lesson all need to hear and heed. This is because we don’t know if we have a tomorrow, as life (physical life) is fleeting. This has been observed for a very long time. Job, the suffering servant was recorded as having said during his misery, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. 2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.” (Job 14:1-2). Then, as we return to James, the brethren were admonished, “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” (Jas 4:15). In Job’s case the cessation of life by cause of death, was contemplated. In the case of the brethren in James, and for us as well, it is in anticipation of the Lord’s return, or the end of our lives in these bodies. In either situation, physical life will have been concluded.
Job was alive. The brethren to whom the Spirit had James write were also alive. Today, we also have been granted the pleasure to enjoy physical life on the earth with which God has so richly blessed all humanity. God created this world for the benefit of man. He intended that we live our lives and enjoy all wholesome things life has to offer. In Eccl 2:24, the Spirit had Salomon write, “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.”
Why then, did Jesus, in the latter part of John 10:10 say, ”I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”? Hearing what the Lord stated here should make us all ask “what is abundant life”? We may think we have, or are presently living “full lives”. We’re all busy and involved in various areas of life. Sometimes it seems that there is not time to accomplish all we set out to do. Some have commented that their lives were so full they couldn’t cram in another thing. One woman, when asked about Bible study, said, “I’m so busy with church work, I don’t really have time to study the Bible”. But I ask, is a ‘full life’ the same as an ‘abundant life’? It could be, but is it always the case? I suspect this depends on what one ‘fills’ a life with, such as the woman that made the foolish statement above.
Some, even in Jesus’ day were more worried about physical things rather than something of greater importance. Today, the same is true. Some worry too much about what physical inheritance they might receive, and some worry too much about what they might possibly leave behind to others. Sure, what’s left to another might in some way be beneficial, but can anything that one has left behind ensure that someone will have an abundant life? I think not. In Prov 20:21, we learn from olden times, “An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.” Or we might consider Eccl 2:18-19, in which Solomon discovered it to be vanity to worry about what one ‘leaves to’ another, not knowing if the one that has rule over it afterward shall be a wise man or a fool. Jesus addressed this issue once and for all in Luke 12:15 when one man requested Him to intercede and have the man’s brother split the inheritance with him. Christ said, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
So, just what is “abundant life”? If it depends not on possessions, and the physical, it must be spiritual. From what Jesus said in John 6:63 in the context of the ‘hard saying’, and some of His disciples murmuring at it, we have inspired confirmation. He said, “. . . the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Sadly, from that time on, many of His disciples no longer followed, or walked with Him. When the Lord asked the twelve if they would also go away, Simon Peter’s response for all of the apostles was given. He said, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. (John 6:68). This is where abundant life comes from and none can be abundantly alive unless or until they follow the gospel.
God ‘abundantly’ offers this abundant life to humanity in N.T. times as can be seen in Heb 6:17. He promised it and confirmed it by an oath, and God, who cannot lie, presented the ‘hope’ of abundant life through the sending of His Son, to live a sinless life on earth, die a cruel death on the cross of Calvary, be buried in a borrowed tomb, and to be resurrected to die no more. After Christ came forth from the grave, He ascended to the right hand of God to rule and reign over the church which He purchased with His own blood.
God, per 2Pet 1:3 has provided all things we need to live physically and also abundantly. If one desires to be abundantly alive, they will obey the gospel and follow the inspired instructions of 2Peter 1:5-8, always growing and striving to fruitful in the knowledge of Christ. Doing these things, one shall never fall, but will have “life more abundantly”. 2Pet 1:11 tells us, For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Seek abundant life today. Obey the gospel and remain diligently faithful until death.
Dennis Strickland – Mooresville church of Christ
