Life is More Than Physical

Life is more than physical. It is spiritual. Even so, our physical bodies can go on living long after we have become spiritually dead. Consider these verses:

Genesis 2:15-17
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

Later on…

Genesis 3:6-8
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden……

I was going through these verses the other night with Sam. After we read through them I said, “Sam, God told Adam and Eve that if they ate from this certain tree in the garden, they would die. Later on we see that they did eat from the tree, but afterwards they were still walking around and talking with one another.” Then I said, “Did Adam and Eve physically die after they ate from the tree?”

Sam’s answer was, “No.”

I said, “But, God told them that if they ate from the tree they would die, and we know that God does not lie. He stands true to His word. So, if Adam and Eve didn’t physically die, how then did they die?”

Sam responded with, “They died from heaven.”

In 10-year old terms, this is a great answer. Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God’s clear command in the garden was the first sin that ever entered our world. In fact, from their example we can understand the definition of sin….not obeying God. God had explained to them that if they ate from the tree they would die….and he was talking about a SPIRITUAL death. As Sam put it, Adam & Eve ‘died from heaven’, or in other words they died from eternal life with God. Our sin separates us from God. And we can feel this separation in our hearts. Adam and Eve’s response after their sin was to hide from God because of their shame and fear.

But God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. After all, He did create us for Himself and in His image. And He created heaven for His followers to dwell with Him forever in a place where there is no sorrow and no tears, a beautiful place beyond even the best of our imaginations. But in these verses and in many others throughout the Bible we see that our relationship with God is ruined because of our sin. What then are we to do? Jesus gives us the answer.

John 3:3
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

The person Jesus is talking to then asks the logical question in the next verse.

John 3:4
“How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

Like Nicodemus said, we obviously cannot possibly imagine crawling back into our mother’s womb at the age of 28 or 17 or 40 or 82 or 10 (or whatever age) and be born again. No, again we see that Jesus is not talking in physical terms. He is talking spiritually.

There are MANY verses that shed light on to what exactly this act of being ‘born again’ entails. My mind expresses things clearer through list form, so I will share some things in that way:

To be born again-

1) Acknowledge we are sinners, and that our sin cuts us off from God.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

2) Repent - or turn away from - our sin.
Acts 3:19-20 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

3) Confess our sins to God – not to a friend or a priest/pastor or a confidant – confess them to GOD and ask for forgiveness.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

4) Believe that when Jesus died on the cross for us, he paid the full price for every sin that we have ever committed, and every future sin that we will ashamedly commit. If we truly believe this with a repentant heart, our sins are wiped out and we receive the gift of eternal life.
Romans 10:9-10 If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 6:40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Until we have a spirit that has been born again, we may just find that we are wandering around aimlessly in this world, with no sense of purpose. No understanding of why on earth we are here. Have you been asking yourself “What is the meaning of life?” or “What is the point of my life?” If you have, then this is a sign to you that your spirit is dead. Your spirit is searching for an answer.

John 6:35
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

We all have a spiritual hunger inside of us that is wanting to be filled. Many will try to satisfy this hunger with things other than Jesus. I know because I was one of them. Some will try to get this fulfillment for their life through their job, or through living in a certain place, or through their husband or wife, or through having children or grandchildren, or through material possessions….having that car you always wanted, or finally saving up enough to buy those jet skis, or the lake house where your family can spend vacations, or building that addition onto the house. Some will turn to drugs or alcohol to try and fill the hunger. The mentality is that getting these things will bring happiness, because we think that is what we are missing. And, indeed, these things may fill the void for a time, but in the end hunger will come again. These sort of fillers can so easily be here today and then gone tomorrow. A loved one could die, relationships can fail and disappoint us, material possessions can break down in an instant. Our spirit needs more. Fulfillment that is constant, unchanging, and that will never disappoint. An answer that will not leave us empty or searching for more. This fulfillment that we seek is found only through a relationship with Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son. Once you have this, God will transform your life into something new that you have never, ever, ever experienced before.

John 5:23-25
He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

John 14:6
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"