Life

Short answers to three questions:

• What is life?
• What is it to be human?
• What is our purpose?

What is life? Life is a mystery!

No-one has been able to create any form of life in spite of countless attempts. In my opinion much more faith is required to believe that life originated spontaneously than to believe there was an intelligent designer. I recently heard a talk by a doctor who used the phrase: “Mother Nature is clever”. I have also heard people say: “Evolution is clever”. Really! What does that mean? I rather agree with Andrea Bocelli, the Italian tenor, who says: “My faith comes from extremely simple reasoning: I do not believe in a clock without a clockmaker”. That is in agreement with one of Einstein’s mottos: “Out of clutter, find simplicity”. Einstein discovered one of the simplest equations of Physics which is at the same time one of the most profound: E = mc2.

But on issues such as life and death I would rather rely on Bible doctrine than anyone else’s opinion. What do we read about life in the Bible?  About animal life we read the life is in the blood!  Every part of an animal’s body is kept alive by blood. If any organ of an animal is deprived of blood that organ dies.

After the flood the Lord made a covenant with Noah, his family and their descendants, the so-called the Noahic covenant which is binding on all mankind. It includes the command: “flesh with its life, that is, its blood, you shall not eat.” The command is also among the laws God gave Moses for the Israelites. That’s why religious Jews are careful about the meat they consume. They want to be sure all the blood was drained from it. At the first Jerusalem Council, mentioned in Acts 15, the ban on the eating of blood was made applicable to non-Jewish believers as well.

Why are we not supposed to eat blood? Is it “unclean” in the same way as pork or shellfish is regarded as not Kosher? I don’t think so. It contains all sorts of essential nutrients. But we don’t eat blood out of respect for the blood of Jesus. He gave his blood and the life which was in his blood for our salvation. We celebrate that fact every time we drink the cup of holy communion.

The life we have in our blood is similar to the life of animals. But human life is certainly much more than animal life. It is very different from the life of animals in many respects. If you think apes are close to humans, here is something to think about. I have read this claim in more than one place, namely: “It has been proven that the animal that can feel the most empathy with humans is the dog”.

What is it to be human? We are created in the image of God!

God created the animals by simply saying: “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind”. But he used a different method to create us. He made a sculpture and breathed into it. God as it were poured his own spirit into Adam. He could look at Adam and see an image of himself. But the word “image” here implies much more than appearance. It has much more to do with character and personality. We are not just clever animals.

After Adam the Lord could have made many more humans but he chose to make only one more, namely Eve. The image of God in man was incomplete before Eve came along. The only time in the creation narrative when God said “It is not good” was when he was planning to create Eve. Her existence made human relationships possible. After this he intended all new humans to be created by a man and a woman in a loving relationship with each other.

Even after sin entered the world every human being still carries an image of God – not a perfect image but an image nevertheless. We were fearfully and wonderfully made in our our mothers’ wombs. Every time a baby is born without serious defects I see in it a miracle. The life God breathed into Adam was passed on through the generations to everyone of us. In that sense God is our father and we are his offspring. Every human being can say: “It’s your breath in our lungs”. 

The online powerthesaurus lists 54 synonyms for the phrase “divine spark”. According to Wikipedia the divine spark is regarded by many religions as “the portion of God that resides within each human being”. The life we are born with can be thought of as the breath of God. But God is eager to breathe into each one of us for a second time. 

After Adam had sinned the Lord went to him and called out to him. But Adam and Eve hid themselves from their Creator. The human tendency is to turn away from God. After the miraculous catch of fish Peter said: “Go away from me Lord; I am sinful man”. But after Peter had spent time with Jesus and God had revealed to him that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah he was a changed man. When many of Jesus’ followers left he asked the twelve if they would also rather leave. Peter said: “Where would we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Just like Peter, everyone who wants to be close to God must say so. God doesn’t force himself onto anyone.

Did you know that a fertilised seed is alive? Next time you eat a nut you may remember that if it was planted, that nut could grow into a tree. But the bulk of the nut would be destroyed in the process, becoming food for the kernel which becomes the new tree. In the same way every human being carries the potential to attain eternal life. Jesus said “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed, but if it dies, it produces many seeds”. He also said “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life”.

What is our purpose? We were created to populate the earth and take care of it!

God gave Adam the responsibility to multiply, fill the earth and rule over it. He meant Adam’s descendants to spread over the whole earth, not to fight each other for territory. He repeated this command to Noah after the flood. Neither Adam nor Noah was going to fill the earth with their descendants in their lifetimes. Filling the earth and ruling it was left to the generations to come. Today it would seem as if the very first command given to humans is close to its fulfilment.

After God had given the earth to Adam the human race became its rightful owner. God had given it to Adam unconditionally. He did not take it back when Adam sinned. It is ours although we are well on our way to destroy it. That is because humans are generally motivated by greed, pride and a desire to have the last say; a formula that does not work in our favour. Because of our sinful nature the devil manages to manipulate human government. He has usurped the authority of human beings to such an extent that Jesus called him the ruler of this world. 

It is not clear how Adam was supposed to rule over the earth. But since the day Cain killed his brother humans have not ceased to fight over which man should be the supreme ruler. The world needs a super hero who will have the well-being of all people at heart. The Jews are still waiting for this person. We believe he came 2000 years ago and is coming again very soon.

The author of Psalm 8 was overawed by creation and also the role man was to play in it, saying:

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels 

    and crowned them with glory and honour.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

    you put everything under their feet.”

This passage from Psalm 8 is quoted in the book of Hebrews. The writer of Hebrews commented on the state of mankind saying:

“Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

The angel Gabriel told Mary to name her first-born child Jesus because he would save his people from their sins. Their sins were destroying them. In reading the Old Testament with an open mind one cannot avoid the conclusion that human nature rebels against the rule of God. Paul said “God handed them over to a corrupted mind to do things that should never be done”. John wrote that God’s anger remains on those who reject his Son.

He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah who is also the Lamb of God. He is worthy to inherit the title deeds of the earth. After he was raised from the dead all authority in heaven and on earth was given to him. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His citizens love him because he paid the penalty for their sins.

You cannot buy your way into this kingdom. You don’t need any qualifications to become a citizen. But you do have to swear allegiance to the king. When you do, he will breathe new life into you and you are born from above. The Greek word for spirit, pneuma, is also the Greek word for breath. Jesus said we must be born of the Spirit to see the kingdom of God.

The command given to Adam: “Multiply and rule over the earth” will finally be realised when Jesus returns. In the meantime God gave Israel the command: “You must love the LORD your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”. He could demand this from the Israelites because he had saved them from slavery in Egypt. How much more can he demand that kind of love from us because he saved us from our sins. John the apostle heard the twenty four elders in heaven sing a new song: 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

    and to open its seals,

because you were slain,

    and with your blood you purchased for God

    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

    and they will reign on the earth.”