The Miracles of Life

Seeing that it is Easter, it's appropriate to discuss the miracles of life. At Easter, we Christians celebrate the miracle of resurrection life. All four gospels have an account of Christ's resurrection - here is the account from Matthew 28:1-10 (NIV, emphasis is mine):

¹After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

²There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

⁸So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

First Corinthians 15:3-5 (NIV) gives a good summary of the gospel story:

³For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

The bodily resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead is a crucial truth of the Christian doctrine. Without it, the world would be without hope. In 1 Corinthians 15:12-28 (NIV), Paul continues his discourse on the importance of the resurrection of Christ.

¹²But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ¹⁵More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. ¹⁹If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

²⁰But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²²For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. ²⁴Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. ²⁸When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

Praise be to God, for Christ has risen indeed! Because Christ led the way (as the firstfruits), we who believe in Him have the hope of the miracle of resurrection life. One day we will be given resurrection life (with a new body) and will reign with the Author and Giver of Life, who is the Supreme Authority, to the praise of His glorious name!

Resurrection life is a wonderful miracle of God. Let's move on and consider another miracle of life - the miracle of physical life. This miracle begins it all for us humans. The conception, development and birth of a new, precious human being. This past week, I read this passage in Job 10:8-12 (NIV):

⁸ Your hands shaped me and made me.
Will you now turn and destroy me?

⁹ Remember that you molded me like clay.
Will you now turn me to dust again?

¹⁰ Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese,

¹¹ clothe me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews?

¹² You gave me life and showed me kindness,
and in your providence watched over my spirit.

This reminded me of the passage in Psalm 139:13-16 (NIV):

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

Both of these passages talk about the miracle that we humans are, of how special we are in all of God's creation. We are each a beautiful and unique work of art, crafted by the Creator. God has a plan for each one of us, even before we were born. Wow!

As amazing, wonderful and beautiful as our human bodies are, with their vast number of parts, systems, etc., what is more amazing to me, and what separates us from the rest of God's magnificent creation, is the fact that with each human being conceived two things are created - a body and a spirit. One is mortal and the other is immortal. The body will some day die and decay but the spirit of a person will live forever, either in eternal death or in eternal life, depending on the relationship of that person with God.

Every time I think about this, it blows my mind. Science has studied, documented and filmed the physiological process by which male and female DNA combine to create a new human being. Yet they are only dealing with and observing half the miracle, that is the creation of a physical body. What they cannot study or observe is that somehow, somewhere in the conception process, God creates a brand new spirit out of nothing to go with that body, and that spirit, again created from nothing, will last for all of eternity! Wow! What a miracle! Praise be to a wondrous God!

Before I move on the the third and last miracle of life in this post, this seems to be a fitting place to officially announce that my wife and I are expecting our fourth little miracle to join us in the world toward the end of October. You can see the first bullet item of her post here.

The third miracle of life bridges the gap between the conception and birth of a human and the resurrection life that a Christian will receive upon death - it is the miracle of eternal life. Eternal life is closely related to resurrection life but must proceed it and is experienced by a person from the moment of belief in Christ, not being delayed until the death of the physical body. Romans 6:23 (NIV) says,

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

To have a better idea of what a miracle eternal life is, let's look at some Scripture passages.

Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV):

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

1 John 4:10 (NIV):

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

John 1:12-13 (NIV):

¹²Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The miracle of eternal life is that God so loved us that He sent Jesus to die for our sins and offers it to us free, without charge. Once the offer is taken by faith in Jesus, eternal life begins immediately! We become children of God and have a personal relationship with Him that will last for an eternity. Wow!

What an awesome God we have! He works the miracles of life:

• The miracle of the creation of a wonderfully made physical body with an eternal spirit to go with it which accompanies each new person conceived.
• The miracle of eternal life (as opposed to eternal death, which we deserve due to our sin) which grants us peace with God, purchased by the bloody and painful death of Christ on the cross.
• The miracle of resurrection life, in which we will reign with our conquering Lord in heaven, made possible by His miraculous resurrection from the dead on a Sunday morning long ago.

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST FOR CHRIST HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD!

A blessed Easter to all my brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.