- Christ is the Life-giving Word of God

5. Christ is the Life-giving Word of God

Christ, the Word of Life repeatedly speaks of Himself as the Life and the Life-giver. Here are some examples of His declarations.
a. John 6:33 “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world”.
b. John 6:48. “I am that bread of life.”
c. John 10:28. “And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”
d. John 11:25 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life”.
e. John 14:6 “Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
f. John 17:2-3 “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Please note carefully the word “THAT”. Christ Himself declares that the eternal life that He should give is the cause and prerequisite of any saving knowledge. The eternal life which Christ gives is absolutely necessary in order that - in order that - in order that they might ‘know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.’ Without the prior giving of eternal life, there can be no knowing ‘thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.’ Without the knowing, there could be no believing. This should make a sane man think hard, if he should insist that eternal life is a result of or obtained by his believing.

It is true indeed that there is a life that is saved when one believes. But the life that is being and will be saved as a result of faith in Christ cannot possibly be the same as the eternal life bestowed by free grace before there is faith in Christ. Eternal life is the cause of faith. A life lived by faith in Christ is indeed the saving of that redeemed life already eternally saved by God’s grace through the faith of Christ. To fail to make this distinction has caused untold confusion, e.g. John 20:31. The life I am born with (regeneration) and the abundant life I will experience as a result of living wisely (faith in Christ) are not the same life. One is the cause; the other is the effect. An elect needs to be given eternal life to experience the abundance of life in Christ here.

As pointed out at the beginning, the context of 1689.10.1 is effectual calling unto life. It is inconceivable, in my humble opinion, that in the effectual calling of the elect out of that state of sin and death unto eternal life, to grace and salvation by Christ, that the Word – i.e., Christ, the eternal Logos, the one who is the Word of Life, and who laid down His life to secure eternal life for His sheep – is not Personally involved in that momentous event of bestowing eternal life to His redeemed at effectual calling. I am convinced that ALL the three Persons of the Holy Trinity – God, His Word and His Spirit – are actively and harmoniously involved in the effectual calling of the elect out of that state of sin and death to eternal life, i.e., to grace and salvation by Christ Jesus – when faith was not even possible.

Christ, the eternal life-giving Logos, the Word of Life, participates actively in the giving of life to His redeemed people at effectual calling. To knowingly exclude Him, and substitute Him with the preached word, in this momentous act of redemption is injurious to Christ, and His honour. It is possible that there are sincere folks who believe they are co-labourers with God in bestowing eternal life to the elect by their preaching. But the Great Commission says, ‘Go therefore and make disciples…’ Disciples can only be made out of those whom God has effectually called to life. There are passages that might seem to support such an idea. They can be raised and we can study them together, for the advancement of the gospel truth. There are some giddy-headed midwives who sincerely think that they aided in the conception of the babies whom they so graciously helped to deliver. We won’t dispute with such lovely and tenderhearted folks! But for preachers who claim that their ministry of the word is the necessary instrumental means or aid for God to effectually call His elect unto eternal life is injurious to God’s sovereignty, honour and glory. Such a misguided notion must be exposed and reproved.

6. Christ Gives Life Directly to His Elect

Someone may say, ‘Yes, it is true that Christ is the giver of life, BUT He chooses to give life through the preachers who preach the gospel.’ But did He choose to do that? Is that a truthful claim? What do the Scriptures say about that common and popular man-centered notion? Let us look at a passage of Scriptures found in John 5:25-29. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Here we have in the most explicit terms in the Bible how we are born again to eternal life in Christ. It is by the life-giving, all-powerful, sovereign voice of the Son of God. It is not the voice of preachers about the Son of God; it is the voice of the Son of God that brings spiritually dead elect to spiritual life. The most eloquent and persuasive voice of a preacher is foolishness to one still spiritually dead in sins. The way God will raise the dead bodies of the just and the wicked at the last day is the very same means by which He raises spiritually dead sinners to eternal life in Christ. God will not need any preacher to resurrect the dead; neither does He need any preacher to bring the spiritually dead elect to spiritual life. To believe otherwise is to be greatly deceived! Read John 5:25-29 several times and see this incredibly powerful comparison. This resurrection to life by the voice of Christ is the call that was issued to Lazarus (John 12:17) and the first resurrection of Revelation 20:6. Please remember that it was the life-giving voice that brought Lazarus from the tomb (who was entirely passive in the event), but it was the servants standing nearby that stripped away the grave clothes from Lazarus who has been made alive (just as gospel preachers do to this day in freeing the regenerated man to serve in newness of life). Christ, God’s Word, is actively involved the new creation.