God is alive [zao].
God is life [zoe].
God has life [zoe] in Himself.
(Greek word) zoe: Life | eternal life.
(Greek word) zao: To live | to be alive (not lifeless / not dead).
Start here, because this is where it starts:
Note: The God who is alive [zao], who has life [zoe] in Himself, created human beings to live | to be alive [zao] on the created earth in created bodies.
TO BE ALIVE [ZAO]
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [zao] and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive [zao] and remain (on the earth) shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." -- 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.
- Zao is not the same as zoe (which refers to life | eternal life, which is in the Word of God and only Christ has in Himself.)
Thayer's Greek Lexicon defines zaō firstly as meaning to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead).
- Throughout the New Testament, whenever the verses containing the word zao are referring to God, they are referring to the living [zao] God who has eternal life [zoe] in Himself, but
- Whenever the verses containing the word zao are referring to created humans who are alive | living [zao], they are referring to humans who are alive in their human bodies (not dead | lifeless), regardless of whether or not they have eternal life [zoe], for example,
"Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth [zao]? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth [zao]; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband." (Romans 7:1-2).
God is life [zoe]. Without God, there is no life [zoe]. Life exists in God and only because of God:
"For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." -- Acts 17:28
"There is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we IN HIM; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we BY him." 1 Cor.8:6.
The life of God is eternal life [zoe]. Therefore:
1. God breathing a spirit into flesh (Adam) means that the flesh becomes a living [zao] being; i.e the spirit which God breathes into flesh causes that flesh to be alive [zao], but that life (spirit) goes back to its source after the death of the same flesh - because the flesh is no longer alive.
2. A human being has life [zoe] (spirit) when it's born, but without also being born of the Spirit of God, a created human being does not also have life that is eternal [zoe] GIVEN to it,
and because a human being does not have life [zoe] IN ITSELF, when the body dies and the human being is no longer alive [zao], the life (spirit) goes back to its source.
Created human beings consist of body, soul, & spirit, but when we are born into the world we do not have life [zoe] that's eternal.
THE SECRET OF ETERNAL LIFE
In Him (the Word of God) is life [zōḗ],
and the life [zōḗ] is the light of men.
-- John 1:4.
THE WORD OF GOD
In the beginning the Word of God existed
The Word existed with God,
and the Word is God.
-- John 1:1.
The Word existed in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. -- John 1:2-3.
CIRCA THE YEAR 4 BC,
THE FOLLOWING THINGS TOOK PLACE:
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
The angel came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled by his words and began to wonder about the meaning of this greeting.
So the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God! Listen: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end."
Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?"
The angel replied,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God."
(Luke 1:26-35).
They named Him Jesus.
Jesus said,
"For as the Father has life [zōḗ] in himself;
so has he given to the Son (of God) to have life [zōḗ] in himself."
-- John 5:26;
and,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life [zoe]:
no man comes unto the Father, but by me."
-- John 14:6.
John wrote, "God has given to us eternal life [zoe],
and this (eternal) life [zōḗ] is in His Son;
and,
He that has the Son has this (eternal) life [zoe];
and he that has not the Son of God has not this (eternal) life [zōḗ]."
-- 1 John 5:11-12.
Eternal life [zoe] is given to created human beings (those who will receive it) through what the apostle Paul calls,
"the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints", which is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27).
THE NECESSITY OF BEING BORN OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD
It follows that if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ coming to dwell in him, he does not have eternal life; and without being born of the Spirit of God (just as we were born of the flesh), created human beings simply have no eternal life [zoe] in them.
Jesus said,
It follows also that "Christ in you, the hope of glory" is (eternal) life [zoe] in you (if Christ is in you).
Eternal life in you = the Kingdom of God in you = the Kingdom of God in this world, which Jesus said is not now, of this present time of this world (John 18:36).
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So it's important to understand is that only God has (possesses) life [zoe] in Himself. Created human beings do not, and never will possess life that is eternal in ourselves. Only Christ does, and He is not created - He is begotten of God the Father. The Son is the one whom John also called "the Word of God" saying,
In Him is life [zōḗ],
and the life [zōḗ] is the light of men.
-- John 1:4.
THE SECRET OF IMMORTALITY
One of the apostles appointed by Christ (Paul) tells us,
Immortality: To live | be alive [zao] forever (never dying).
Life: No created human being who does not have eternal life [zoe] in him can live | be alive [zao] forever, without dying.
Immortality: No created human being who does not possess his own eternal life [zoe] in himself can possesses his own immortality in himself. No created human beings possesses eternal life in himself. Only Christ possesses eternal life in Himself:
"For as the Father has life [zōḗ] in himself; so has he given to the Son (of God) to have life [zōḗ] in himself." -- John 5:26.
"He (Christ) alone possesses (His own) immortality (in Himself) and lives in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen."
God is life.
From eternity to eternity only God has life in Himself.
The Son of God has (eternal) life in Himself. *
* Created human beings do not have (eternal) life in ourselves. *
* Those who have been born of the Spirit (of God) are given eternal life in the Son, who alone has (eternal) life in Himself.
It follows from all the above statements in biblical scripture that:
"If a man abide not in me (Jesus), he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." (John 15:6).
There was no death before Adam's death. If created human beings who have immortality are incapable of dying, then Adam would not have died - but Adam believed the lie of the devil:
"You will not surely die"
-- Genesis 3:4.
Adam believed the lie despite the fact that the Word of God had said to him,
"You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it, dying you will die." (Genesis 2:17).
To believe something to be true is the same as believing in that thing or concept or word, as though it's fact. Therefore believing the lie is to believe in the lie, which is to believe in the word of the devil / Satan.
Sadly, many Christians who live | are alive [zao] today, don't believe either what Jesus says, or what the Bible says in this respect, many having been taught something very different to what the Bible says regarding eternal life and immortality.
"If a man abide not in me (Jesus), he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." (John 15:6).
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