Living God of the living: To live

ζάω Zaō

ζάω Zaō (VERB) simply means to live, to be alive, or to continue living.

Creator:	All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life [zoe], and the life was the light of men. -- John 1: 3-4. 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 Corinthians 8:6. In Him (God) we live \| are alive [zao], and move, and have our being; For we are also his offspring. -- Acts 17:28.
Creature:	To be alive [zao] forever is to be immortal, but after the sin of Adam, the LORD God said, "Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (Genesis 3:22). Solomon wrote that when the creature is no longer living \| alive [zao], *"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:*
Creator:	and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."-- Ecclesiastes 12:7.
Creator life given IN Christ:	For as the Father has life [zoe] in Himself, so He has given to the Son to have life [zoe] within Himself. -- John 5:26 (He became flesh). And this is the record, that God has given to us everlasting life, [zoe aionios] - and this life [zoe] is IN His Son. - He who has the Son has (everlasting) life [zoe); he who does not have the Son of God does not have (everlasting) life [zoe]. - 1 John 5:11-12

God did not create human beings "to die and then go to heaven when they die" - but the living [zao] God alone has life [zoe] in Himself.

The two gifts given by God to human beings through Christ, are:

1. Eternal Life [zoe aionios] IN Christ (who alone possesses eternal life in Himself).

2. The promise of being alive [zao] forever (immortal) following the resurrection of our bodies from the dead THROUGH Christ's bodily resurrection

- which cannot happen unless the dead body is 'quickened' (made alive again).

To be 'quickened' is to be placed in Christ through new birth (being born of the Spirit of God).

THE BIBLE EXPLICITLY GIVES THE REASON WHY

CHRIST DIED FOR US AND ROSE AGAIN

In 1 Corinthians 15:26 we read that death is the enemy of God.

In Ezekiel 18:32 God says, "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."

God "made not death: neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living. For he created all things, (in order) that they might have their being." (Wisdom 1:13-14).

Romans 14:9

--- "For this reason Christ died [apothnesko] and rose again from the dead [anistemi], and lived again [anazao], so that he may be the Lord of both the dead [nekros] and living [zao: those who are alive, not dead]." ---

"Fear not; I am the first and the last:

I am he that is alive / that liveth [zao],

and was dead;

and, behold, I am alive [zao] to the ages of the ages, Amen;

and I have the keys of hades and of death."

(Revelation 1:17-18 - the words of the Lord Jesus Christ)

Eternal life and resurrection power are found alone in the last Adam, who became flesh (1 Corinthians 15:45), because:

He IS the Word of God in whom is life [zoe] (John 1:4)
He became flesh (John 1:14)
He died for our sins, and
rose again bodily from the dead; and
as the Father has life [zoe] in Himself, so He has given to the Son to have life [zoe] in Himself (John 5:26); and
He IS the resurrection of the body from the dead [o' anastasis] AND
the life [zoe] (John 11:25),
who alone possesses immortality (1 Timothy 6:16),

so that "whoever believes in Him, though he dies, yet he will live [zao]" (following the resurrection from the dead)

- but due to an aspect of main-stream Christian theology taught in many churches, they have conflated zoe with zao in certain passages of scripture and replaced the word zao with the word zoe, changing the meaning of the passages.

Breath of Life [zoe]	To live \| to be Alive [zao]
List of verses (each verse quoted)	List of verses (each verse quoted) THE LIVING [ZAO] GOD

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To live | to be alive [zao]