Are You Existing or Living?

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

In him was life . . . . John 1:3-4

 I’ve always found these two statements to be intriguing, especially when viewed back-to-back.

In the first, John identifies Jesus as the source of all creation. He basically says that everything we can see, feel and measure, and even those things we can’t, have their origins in Jesus.

But then he says that Jesus is also the source of all life. That in him is life. On the surface, the two statements sound redundant:

Jesus is the source of all creation.

Jesus is the source of all life.

But as you look deeper, and especially as you track the theme of life through John, you find that John is speaking of two entirely different things.

Existence is standard. Everyone and everything has it, because God made everything. We exist because God graciously created us. But life is different. It’s optional. And it’s only found in him.

That’s why Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that he needed to be born again. Nicodemus—the devout religious leader—had existence, but he didn’t have life.

And the difference is huge.

Are you existing or living? Let me ask the question differently: Are you in him? In Jesus?

The degree to which you find your life summed up by those two words—in him—is the degree to which you’re really living. There is not true life outside of Jesus.

Today, choose to live. Choose to be in Christ. Let him permeate every aspect of your life. Don’t settle for mere existence.

Choose life. Choose Jesus.

 

*I’m teaching through John’s Gospel at Austin Christian Fellowship. To watch or listen to the messages, Click Here. 

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