Life Spark: Jesus came to help you and me experience deep, unending life. (John 10:10)
The gospel of John is full of signs of life. John 10:10 is the spinal cord of the book: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10, NIV)
The thief comes to steal. He pickpockets aliveness. The thief comes to kill and destroy. He strangles aliveness. The thief is anti-aliveness. Christ is pro-aliveness.
Jesus equated evil with destroying life. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” (Luke 6:9, NIV) See that? Doing good is saving life. Doing evil is destroying life.
What is true in the second part of the Bible is true in the first part: “Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people.” (Genesis 50:20, MSG)
Jesus came to do good, to give us deep, unending aliveness. “I have come that they may have life, …”
There are many dimensions of good and evil. Good is light, evil is darkness. Good is truth, evil is deception. Good is pure, evil is corrupt. Good is life. Evil is death. The second half of John 10:10 speaks of good. The first half speaks of evil. All through the Bible, ‘good’ is anything that helps people connect with God’s aliveness. ‘Evil’ is anything that disconnects people from God’s aliveness.
“… and have it to the full.” What is this full life that Jesus spoke of? The New Living Testament calls it “a rich and satisfying life.” The Living Bible calls it “life in all its fullness.” The King James translation calls it “abundant life.” The Message paraphrase calls it “more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” Plentiful, rich, vital, lavish life.
Interested?
Life-question: Set your mind to do one ‘good’ thing today – one thing that helps someone become a bit more alive.