God of Death?

People can only offer what they have. If someone offers you something they do not have, it is not theirs to offer in the first place. If someone offers you something they don't have but hope to acquire soon, it is a scam. If someone offers you someone else's belongings, they are a thief. So what about Jesus?

Jesus offered us life; "I have come that you might have life," "I am the way the truth and the life." These are powerful claims. But does Jesus really possess this gift to be able to give it? Jesus' claims could be a scam or a thief; but how can we know if it is this or the real thing. How can someone know if they are being part of a spiritual scheme or if Jesus really possess life in order to give it away? The answer: the resurrection.

Matthew chapter 28 tells the account of some of Jesus closest friends coming to visit his tomb. These ladies had come bearing oils and spices to place upon the deceased to help cover the smell of decay. When arriving at the grave, the tomb was open and the tomb was empty. Their curiosity was eased by an angel that was sent to explain what they were seeing. The angel told them that this was not crime scene, rather it was the scene of fulfilled prophecy; "[Jesus] had risen, just as he said."

Jesus is the only person who has died and brought himself back to life by his own power. How could this be done? Because he is God in the flesh, the God of life. If he were the God of death he could not have done this; but since he is the God of life he could honestly say, "I lay it [his life]down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10.18). But this still is no declaration that we can have life just because Jesus did this. Well, John 18.18 may not declare it, but John 11.25-26 sure does, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die." You can't get more plainly spoken then that.

The bottom line is that Jesus is God's Son, God in the flesh, and has come to give us life. If we do not accept this life we are accepting death. If we do not claim His blessings upon this life we are only accepting life when we could have abundant life (John 10.10). If you are not living a holy life, then you are being content with life stopping with you and not interesting or concerned is spreading life to others.

Romans 6.23 says that "the gift of God is eternal life through [by means of] Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus, God in the flesh, possesses all power of life and will share it with anyone who asks. Don't live a life of death, when God laid down his life so you could have yours.