“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my
sake will find it.” Matthew
10:39
From the
moment we are born we are dying. This life here on earth is temporal yet we
tend to cling to it like it was the most important thing we have on earth, and
I guess it kind of is, in a way. We are created with a self-preservation
instinct and a desire to fight for life but I am understanding more and more
how we are clinging to and fighting for the wrong “life”! When we don’t
understand “God’s” definition of life we can be devastated when a loved one
passes away, becoming hurt and angry at God for taking a life that was so
important to us. For the young who have passed, we tend to go down the thought
processes of “They had so much more life to live!” and we grieve the loss of
their impact in our own lives. And that isn’t necessarily ‘wrong’ in our
temporal perspective.
When Jesus talks
about giving us “life” it is mostly life “eternal” and not the temporal. He
knows that this life will quickly pass away, in a blink of an eye, a vapor in
the wind, and like grass that is here today and gone tomorrow (Luke 12:28). But,
when we
talk about life, it is all about the here and now, like this life is all
that we have… We are not looking any further than this moment and this life
time. And we can so easily think that this is the life that Jesus is talking
about too.
I decided to
look into the scriptures and see when God talks about temporal life (psuche)
and spiritual life (Zoe). And there is a third life that means things that
sustain life, resources, wealth and goods, food and clothing (bios) but I won't go there today. So, in the scriptures I find, I will
change the word from life to the Greek word for life for more clarity:
Zoe = “God-life”;
Spirit (Strong’s definition: …The
Lord intimately shares His gift of life with people,
creating each in His image which gives all the capacity to
know His eternal life.)
“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to Zoë, and only a few find it.”
Matthew 7:14
“Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all
kinds of greed; a man's Zoë does not
consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal Zoë.” John 3:16
“…but
whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give
him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal Zoë." John 4:14
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent
me has eternal Zoë and will
not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to Zoë.” John
5:24 (did you catch that!? Even He referred to this life as “death”)
“For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives Zoë to the world." John 6:33
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come
that they may have Zoë, and have it
to the full” (more abundantly) John 10:10
“Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the Zoë. 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?" John 11:25-26
“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the Zoë. No one comes to the Father
except through me.” John
14:6
“Now this is eternal Zoë:
that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have
sent.” John 17:3
In looking at these scriptures, Jesus IS this LIFE that He is offering. He
died to give it and it is to be greatly desired and sought after… Here are the
scriptures for the other, temporal life:
Psuche =
Physical life; soul (Lexicon definition: breath; the breath of life; the vital force which animates the body and
shows itself in breathing):
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother,
his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own Psuche --he cannot be my
disciple.” Luke 14:26
“The man who loves his Psuche
will lose it, while the man who hates his Psuche in this world will
keep it for eternal Zoë.” John
12:25
“…just
as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his Psuche as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28
“…just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down
my Psuche for the sheep”
John 10:15
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his Psuche for his friends.”
John 15:13
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his Psuche for us. And we ought to lay down
our Psuche for our brothers.”
1 John 3:16
In these scriptures we are instructed to lay our temporal life down, to
hate it… give it up for others!
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we
are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
2 Corinthians 4:16
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving
for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians
4:17
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is
unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:18
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer
live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians
2:20
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from
this body of death?” Romans 7:24
So… what am I trying to say here? I guess I want to ask myself and you,
which life are we embracing and hanging on to? And why are we embracing it? Is
it the temporal, desiring physical healing, wealth, riches and creature
comforts? Or is it the Life of God in us? Nurturing His eternal life, dying to
ourselves, and laying down our lives for Him and others?
Are we clinging to life, living to die? Or are we dying to live?
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and
dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
John 12:24