The Life
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10). In my opinion, I do not believe this verse to distinctly apply to longevity of life or the abundance of material possessions of this life, but to be sealed in Christ. To have life more abundantly means to have eternal life.
When Jesus speaks, He speaks through eternity. He speaks on spiritual matters so when He speaks, we must examine his words and speech through that same context. To possess eternal life is to commit to bringing forth God’s Will here on the earth. In the book of John, Jesus famously declares, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” As previously mentioned, Jesus addresses earthly matters, but it must ultimately be hinged on a spiritual reality. How do we really know that our life has meaning? Jesus was born through a virgin. Scripture says that Joseph did not know his wife until after the birth of Jesus, and that before the two had came together, she had had already been found with child of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18). So, the Scriptures make it abundantly clear that Jesus was born in a most unusual yet miraculous manner. Now, unlike Adam and Eve who enter the Garden of Eden as adults, Jesus is first introduced to us as a baby. Scripture talks in depth about children and what they mean and symbolize to the Lord. Psalm 127:3 says, Behold, children are a heritage from God. Some translations, instead of heritage, use gift. James 1:17 says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights. God has passed down a portion of Himself to us in the form of children. When reading the Scriptures, one could interpret and conclude humans to be sinful creatures. But being in sin is different from sin being born in us. You see when Adam and Eve were created, they were already created in His image but enemy who is the “ruler of this world,” came in and deceived them into sin. That is why scripture tells us to endure temptation because when desire for sin is conceived, it grows and brings forth death. (James 1:15). Children belong to and come from God. If I created a piece of jewelry for you and you received it through a friend or retailer, I still created it. Much like us. Though our parents “received” us, they did not create us. God did. We were that “perfect gift.” That’s why it was possible for Jesus to be conceived like He was. God planted Jesus in the womb of Mary. The Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of truth breathed the breath of life and called Him forth in His earthly call to be the first fruit of all those who would believe that He was the Son of God; Immanuel, God with us.
God is calling us back to Him. Parents have the responsibility of training a child in the way he should go. To train anything or anybody denotes an inherent ability to do so. To restore anything, it must be brought back to its original purpose or image. EVERY child born has a call on his/her life because that child has been born of the Holy Spirit or Spirit of truth. It is the responsibility of those parents to raise, pay attention, and nurture the spiritual gifts and call of that child.
