John 10:10 (Amplified) says, "The thief comes in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that you may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."
When Jesus spoke these words, was He speaking to people who were already alive or not? I'm the sure His listeners were perplexed by what He said. Having no understanding of death in the spirit, they must not have understood what Jesus was saying. Today, we don't seem to have much more revelation about this statement than they did.
Why would Jesus address a live crowd with the statement, "I came that you may have and enjoy life?" They must have all thought they already had life and were, for the most part, enjoying that life. What was Jesus talking about? He came to "give," "that we may have life." Today, if we were talking to the unsaved, then they wouldn't have any idea what we were talking about if we said that "we came that they might have life." It's even sadder, that even the Church might would think we're talking about heaven if we said they have new life and more abundant life than they had before.
This "life" doesn't begin when we get to heaven, but begins when you receive Christ as your Savior. This life is the "Zoe, time, spirit or the God kind of life. Death no longer dwells in our spirit, but God's very Own life is now there. We've never really understood what this life has made available to us here, in this world. Jesus used this "Life" to allow God to make His love available to mankind. Jesus knew how to live this God kind of life to the full advantage and enjoyment that pleases the Father.
When Jesus said He'd give us life to the full, He meant that not only would we have the life that we now live in our own body, but God's life and ability in our spirit to govern our body. We now need to learn how to live this God kind of life.
We watched Jesus as He walked in this God life. We see that it raised Him above all the natural things of this world. Jesus was not only never sick, but sickness couldn't remain even on others around Him as He dismissed it. He knew the power of spoken words in this "life" that He possessed and was very respectful of how He spoke. He could speak death to a tree and life to a dead man and then calm a storm with His words. He had authority over all the elements and the laws of physics that govern the natural world.
We find that knowing how to live this full life was the power of this new life. Jesus knew what to say and how to say it. Demonic spirits were subject to this new life along with everything else. This new, abundant life, didn't just mean a way to gain wealth or things, but was actually the source of wealth and things. When Jesus needed food for the people, this life produced enough and twelve baskets were left over. When Jesus needed money, this life produced money from the fish's mouth. Whatever Jesus needed and whenever He needed it, life produced it for Him. This is life more abundantly.
One version of this verse says that Jesus came to bring "more life than we will ever need." Because Jesus had this life living in Him and flowing through Him, when He came into contact with death or sickness (which is a form of death in itself), this full, abundant, Zoe kind of life drove out demons, death, and disease. This is the same kind of life Jesus gave to those Who receive Him at the new birth.
Our problem has been, that we have never learned how to live in this new life. We watch some who were learning to live this new life. We see in the Word, how Peter and John were at the Gates of the Beautiful Garden and learned the power of words in this new life. They didn't pray, they didn't lead the crippled man in prayer. They simply said, "In the Name of Jesus, rise up and walk" and then life came into the man's crippled feet and legs and he rose up leaping and praising God.
We watched Paul begin to learn how this "life" work. He shook a poisonous viper off from his hand into the fire and had no adverse reactions to the poison. We see throughout the Word how this "life" was used to cast out demons that were tormenting people. They were learning how to live!
We see in the Book of Genesis how this God kind of life was given to Adam. This God life was above all other things on earth. God walked with Adam, talked with Adam and even allowed him to name all the animals on the planet. God showed him how to live.
Only the Holy Spirit can teach us how to live this new life and all that it encompasses. Without the Holy Spirit to teach us, we would be like we were before life came. Our problem isn't that we don't have this "new life," but we have never learned how to live it. Today, what we call "Christianity" comes from dead men trying to teach us life and it hasn't worked very well. They've tried teaching abundant life through dead regulations. Rather than pursuing abundant life, we've reverted back to dead regulations. All the supernatural power that this life has given has been removed and made of no effect in our lives.
Every newborn has potential, but must be taught how to live. A new baby must have someone to teach him everything about life. They don't know how to talk, walk , distinguish between persons, colors and animals. They don't know how to eat or what to eat. They don't know the difference between things that will harm them or bless them. They have to learn how to live.
1Peter 2:2 (Amplified) says, "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow onto (completed) salvation." The Word instructs us to grow in this knowledge of this new life and to live it to His glory.
We took this new life and chose to keep it bound through rituals, by behavior modification, by religion and by sheer willpower not to sin. We fought against sin by our own power and didn't allow life to swallow death, like it's supposed to do. We reduced this life by enforcing dress codes, denominations and by searching for others to group together with us. We became like the dumb television show of the living dead. We became life wrapped up with dead rituals and customs. It actually smells as badly as the walking dead smell. It smells like manna that was held onto for the next day.
The Holy Spirit was sent when Jesus returned to the Father. His job it to lead, guide, reveal, direct and teach the Church how to live this new life. Unless those teaching the Church are actually being left by the Holy Spirit, we are still like the "blind leading the blind." Jesus told the young man to "Come, follow Me." The young man asked if he could first bury his dead father. Without this life that Jesus came to give us, the man with the shovel was as dead as the one being buried.
How do we learn how to live? We were born unto death. We have conducted all of our affairs governed by death. Every decision we've ever made, was instructed from death. When we were born again, we continued allowing death to govern our life because we were never taught how to live in the abundant life of God that lifted us back into His life. We never understood what the Bible was actually saying to us. We've never really seen ourselves as new creatures in Christ and having new life here on earth. We've never allowed life to reign here on earth and deliver this abundant life to bear on a sick and dead world, like Jesus instructed us.
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