Christ the Life.
The broadest and most impressive distinction in nature is that between what is inanimate and what lives. Beautiful as are earth's landscapes, grand as is the rolling sea, awful' as is the storm, still there is an interest in life far deeper than can be found in the passive and the non-sentient creation. The power which living things possess of taking into themselves, and of making their own, the matter of which their own structure is composed—the growth of framework and of organs, the exercise of function, the obvious working out in the individual of an end appointed; the reaction of living things upon the lifeless world, and the mysterious connection of life with feeling, and in its higher forms with mind; above all, the union between the living being, man, and the rational, accountable, immortal spirit;—all these render life intensely and imperishably interesting. It is not, as at first sight may seem to be the case, a fall in dignity when Jesus, having asserted himself to be "the Truth," goes on to claim that he is also "the Life." In fact, the true is the theoretical, and the living is the practical, in which latter the former finds its true expression, interpretation, and end. In a universe governed by infinite reason and righteousness, the highest truth and the noblest life must be for ever linked in perfect union.
I. CHRIST IS IN HIMSELF THE POSSESSOR OF PERFECT SPIRITUAL LIFE, Such was the testimony of evangelists and apostles. "In him was life;" "The life which was with the Father was manifested unto us," etc. The same witness was borne by the Lord himself. "I am the Resurrection and the Life;" "I live." Such language declares the independence of the eternal Word, his underived authority, his supremacy over all who live by and through him. No man can dare to say, "I am the life;" a creature of Divine power, born but yesterday, and every moment depending upon providential care, he cannot but shrink from a claim which would be as absurd as it would be profane. But Jesus could say, "As the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself."
II. CHRIST IS THE PRINCIPLE OF SPIRITUAL LIFE TO MEN. As far as we can trace it, life always comes from life. A mysterious principle, in its origin of lineal derivation, enables the living being to appropriate to itself its appointed nourishment, to discharge its proper functions, to do the work assigned to it in the economy of nature. Without this principle the lifeless matter is powerless. Now, the spirit of man is the breath of the Almighty. Informed by this Divine energy man lives, spiritually as well as naturally. But there is a life which is distinctively Christian; and this is always traceable to Christ himself. He communicates the life which he possesses. Imagine the earth as it is in the chill, hard grasp of winter; and in your fancy watch the change which takes place when that grasp is relaxed. The sun shines more warmly, the breezes play softly over the fields and the forests, and radiant spring smiles upon the earth, which beneath that smile begins to live. The corn springs up, the flowers bloom, the leaves burst into greenness, the grove lately still and silent echoes with the songs of birds, and all creation flushes, blossoms, murmurs into life. Such is the change which the coming of Christ brings to the soul, brings to the world. "Newness of life," life "more abundantly," the movement of emancipated energies, the chorus of newborn joy, the brightness and the smile of a glorious hope,—these all tell that Christ, "the Life," has come. His advent, his sacrifice, his resurrection, his Divine outpouring of blessing, were the means by which his spiritual vitality was communicated. The same Christ who gave the life at first, sustains, enriches, and develops it, and will in his own time also perfect it. It is his work to slay death itself, and to pour the vitality which streams from the bosom of the Eternal through all the channels of the spiritual organism. It must not be overlooked that it is not the mere bodily presence of the Savior upon earth that ensured this result. It is his spiritual presence which secures the fullness of Divine life to humanity. From the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit, i.e. the Spirit of Christ, was poured out from on high, life has entered human souls in new measure and with new fruits, and in many a spot the desert has rejoiced and blossomed as the rose.
III. CHRIST IS THUS TO MAN THE AUTHOR OF AN IMMORTALITY OF BLESSEDNESS. The life of created organisms, both vegetable and animal, is perishable and brief. The life even of a species, a race, is but for a season. There are good reasons for regarding the spiritual life as above the action of this scientific law. To that law the body, a part of nature, is subject; from its action the spirit is exempt. There are those who hold that endless continuance of being is the purchase of the Savior's redemption. But certain it is, that what makes life good and desirable is due to the Spirit of the living Redeemer. He has "brought life and immortality to light by the gospel." He has said, "Because I live, ye shall live also." A mere enduring sentiency is valueless; eternal progress in the knowledge and fellowship of God himself,—this is life indeed. It is in this sense that he who liveth and believeth on Christ shall never die.
IV. THAT CHRIST IS THE LIFE OF MEN IS PRECIOUS TIDINGS WORTHY OF ALL ACCEPTATION. Spiritual death is indeed dreadful to contemplate; to experience it is the most awful doom that man can know. Yet the Scriptures represent sinful men as spiritually dead—"dead in trespasses and sins." To those in such a state it seems, if they know themselves and know not Christ, that existence is a curse. With what sweetness must the gospel come to such! To them it is the bringer of hope; for to them Christ is the Bringer of life. The welcome message is, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light!"—T.