From Death to Life
John 10:10 Jesus came to give us life, and life to the full!
So I just planted my garden! (actually I watched as my father-in-law planted most of it). I can not wait to taste the huge red tomatoes and the cherry tomatoes and the cucumbers when I pick them off the vine! They will taste so good. It is amazing how God has made it so that you plant a seed into the ground so that it dies and then out of the death of that seed comes the new life of a plant - a tomato vine or a cucumber vine. Death brings life, and life brings fruit - tomatoes and cucumbers. And so you can not have life without death. You can not enjoy the fruit that comes from life, unless there is death.
Salvation is the same way. We could not have eternal life unless God died for us. He was planted in a tomb for three days only to rise from the dead and bring life into the world - but not just any life - eternal life.” I came to give life and give life to the full,” Jesus said. And boy did He give it to the full - eternal full! And He did that by first dying for us.
Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we live with the sure and certain hope of eternal life, and thus we carry a posture of constant openness…ready to be used by God to plant seeds of the Savior to others. God desires Full Life for all of his creation, and He will not rest until all have come to a knowledge of the truth - a knowledge of their perfect Savior! What an awesome, life-giving God we serve!
Lord God, you alone can bring life from death, and you certainly have done so with the life, death, and resurrection of your Son! Create in our hearts a full assurance that in your Son Jesus, we have the full, eternal life that you’ve promised. And may the joy of eternal life spread from us to others, as your Great Commission most certainly continues. Amen!
Today’s devotion was prepared by Pastor Mark Hoehner, the lead Pastor of Chapel of the Cross Lutheran Church in St. Peters, Missouri. Visit their website by clicking here.