This Is Your Life

#1 · September 29, 2003, 8:26 am

Quote from Forum Archives on September 29, 2003, 8:26 am
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>

Forthright Magazine
www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross

----
The editor launches this week's theme, "What is
your life?" and refuses to apologize for exceeding
the word count for articles.
----

COLUMN: Final Phase

This Is Your Life
by J. Randal Matheny

In his practical letter, James entertains such a
philosophical question as, "What is your life?"
(Jas. 4:14, ESV). But his interest is not
philosophical. He demonstrates by the question/1
that life is short and we cannot assume we'll be
alive tomorrow. James questions our assumptions
about how life really works and of what it
actually consists.

The nature of the essence of life is a frequent
subject in the Bible, as we might expect. As Moses
winds down his series of farewell sermons, he too
addresses the issue.

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you
today, that I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse. So choose life in
order that you may live, you and your descendants,
by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice,
and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life
and the length of your days, that you may live in
the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them" (Deut.
30:19-20, NASU).

By his phrase, "this is your life," the embattled
leader points up at least three qualities that
make up what life is, or should be.

1. Your life is CHOOSING GOD.

The old adage, "Life is what you make it," is
close to being true. Life is, truly, as you choose
it.

God made man a being conscious of himself, his
surroundings, his social relationships, and the
invisible realities beyond his senses. He created
man with free will, with the ability to choose for
himself. With that, he became a creature capable
of love and righteousness, capable of true
interaction with his Creator.

The story of man is the history of his choices.
Recognizing that, Moses urges Israel to choose
rightly, wisely, godly. Their choice must be for
faithfulness, loyalty, constancy.

"The making of a decision, however, involved more
than simple affirmation; it involved a whole way
of life based upon that decision."/2

Choice is not God, but choice certainly brings one
to God and to life in and with God.

2. Your life is RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

To choose life is to choose God. The atheist is a
fool, says the Psalmist, because in his struggle
against God he admits by his negation that he is
overpowered by the existence of God.

The English Standard Version translates our key
phrase here as, "he is your life."/3 God is your
life. The NASU margin says that it is literally,
"that is your life," and P. C. Craigie so
translates it, apparently referring to the choice.

In the end, both translations are correct. The
choosing puts one in relationship with God, who
gives life and makes life what it ought to be.
Perhaps the ESV wanted to get away from the idea
of life depending upon any action of ours and
point directly to God as the source of life.

However that may be, Moses' phrases, "by loving
the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by
holding fast to Him" all point to our relationship
with God and to what must be its necessary basis.

In the New Testament, the same truth is evident.

John writes of Jesus, "In Him was life" (John
1:4a).

Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the
life" (John 14:6).

True life is surrendering to God and to being
found by him.

3. Your life is RECEIVING THE PROMISE OF GOD.

God had promised to make of Abraham a great people
and give him a special land in which to dwell.
Moses now reminds Israel that God is fulfilling
his promises, but their enjoyment of its
fulfillment depends upon their faithfulness.

The New Testament makes use of the language of
inheriting the land and spiritualizes it for the
church of God. "Blessed are the gentle, for they
shall inherit the earth," Jesus proclaimed.
Inheriting the earth in this beatitude is on the
same plane as receiving the kingdom of God, seeing
God, and being called the sons of God, among
others.

In Ephesians 6:3, Paul apparently reinterprets the
promise attached to honoring one's father and
mother, of living long on the earth, in spiritual
terms.

The land promise was restricted to Israel under
the Old Testament. Now, Christians await "new
heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness
dwells" (2 Pet. 3:13).

In Christ we have, says Peter, "precious and
magnificent promises" far greater than the
Israelites could ever imagine (2 Pet. 1:4). These
promises, the greatest of which is to "become
partakers of the divine nature," compel us to add
every divine quality to our faith (vv. 5-9). Thus,
the promises entail the very nature of what our
life is all about.

Summing Up

There seems to be a subtle difference between
saying "this brings life" and "this is life." The
latter might be well expressed by the popular
phrase, said perhaps by one out on the lake
fishing or stretched out in a hammock, "This is
the life!" The act engaged in supposedly expresses
what it means to truly live.

Similarly, we may say that, in the very act of
choosing God, of relating to God, and of receiving
the promises of God, this is the life. This is
what it means to be alive.

Choose life; choose God; choose his promises. This
is YOUR life.
__________
1/ The NASU text takes the question as part of a
statement: "Yet you do not know what your life
will be like tomorrow."

2/ P. C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, NIC-OT
(Eerdmans, 1976), p. 366.

3/ Also, ASV and AMP; NIV: "For the Lord is your
life;" RSV/NRSV: "for that means life to you."
Clyde M. Woods comments, "Less likely is the older
rendering, 'he is your life' (Living Way
Commentary, vol. II [Lambert Book House, 1974], p.
288).

----
You can help us get the word out. Here's how:
forthright.antville.org/stories/340415/

------Begin ad

Short, informative, entertaining, sometimes humorous.
That's what people say about "News From JADE,"
a weekly emailing from JADE Books. To subscribe:
Go to www.jadebooks.com and click on "Newsletter/Survey."
While you are there, browse through the books or
visit our inspirational site, Abigail's Album.

-----End ad

Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>

Forthright Magazine
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross

----
The editor launches this week's theme, "What is
your life?" and refuses to apologize for exceeding
the word count for articles.
----

COLUMN: Final Phase

This Is Your Life
by J. Randal Matheny

In his practical letter, James entertains such a
philosophical question as, "What is your life?"
(Jas. 4:14, ESV). But his interest is not
philosophical. He demonstrates by the question/1
that life is short and we cannot assume we'll be
alive tomorrow. James questions our assumptions
about how life really works and of what it
actually consists.

The nature of the essence of life is a frequent
subject in the Bible, as we might expect. As Moses
winds down his series of farewell sermons, he too
addresses the issue.

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you
today, that I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse. So choose life in
order that you may live, you and your descendants,
by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice,
and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life
and the length of your days, that you may live in
the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them" (Deut.
30:19-20, NASU).

By his phrase, "this is your life," the embattled
leader points up at least three qualities that
make up what life is, or should be.

1. Your life is CHOOSING GOD.

The old adage, "Life is what you make it," is
close to being true. Life is, truly, as you choose
it.

God made man a being conscious of himself, his
surroundings, his social relationships, and the
invisible realities beyond his senses. He created
man with free will, with the ability to choose for
himself. With that, he became a creature capable
of love and righteousness, capable of true
interaction with his Creator.

The story of man is the history of his choices.
Recognizing that, Moses urges Israel to choose
rightly, wisely, godly. Their choice must be for
faithfulness, loyalty, constancy.

"The making of a decision, however, involved more
than simple affirmation; it involved a whole way
of life based upon that decision."/2

Choice is not God, but choice certainly brings one
to God and to life in and with God.

2. Your life is RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

To choose life is to choose God. The atheist is a
fool, says the Psalmist, because in his struggle
against God he admits by his negation that he is
overpowered by the existence of God.

The English Standard Version translates our key
phrase here as, "he is your life."/3 God is your
life. The NASU margin says that it is literally,
"that is your life," and P. C. Craigie so
translates it, apparently referring to the choice.

In the end, both translations are correct. The
choosing puts one in relationship with God, who
gives life and makes life what it ought to be.
Perhaps the ESV wanted to get away from the idea
of life depending upon any action of ours and
point directly to God as the source of life.

However that may be, Moses' phrases, "by loving
the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by
holding fast to Him" all point to our relationship
with God and to what must be its necessary basis.

In the New Testament, the same truth is evident.

John writes of Jesus, "In Him was life" (John
1:4a).

Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the
life" (John 14:6).

True life is surrendering to God and to being
found by him.

3. Your life is RECEIVING THE PROMISE OF GOD.

God had promised to make of Abraham a great people
and give him a special land in which to dwell.
Moses now reminds Israel that God is fulfilling
his promises, but their enjoyment of its
fulfillment depends upon their faithfulness.

The New Testament makes use of the language of
inheriting the land and spiritualizes it for the
church of God. "Blessed are the gentle, for they
shall inherit the earth," Jesus proclaimed.
Inheriting the earth in this beatitude is on the
same plane as receiving the kingdom of God, seeing
God, and being called the sons of God, among
others.

In Ephesians 6:3, Paul apparently reinterprets the
promise attached to honoring one's father and
mother, of living long on the earth, in spiritual
terms.

The land promise was restricted to Israel under
the Old Testament. Now, Christians await "new
heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness
dwells" (2 Pet. 3:13).

In Christ we have, says Peter, "precious and
magnificent promises" far greater than the
Israelites could ever imagine (2 Pet. 1:4). These
promises, the greatest of which is to "become
partakers of the divine nature," compel us to add
every divine quality to our faith (vv. 5-9). Thus,
the promises entail the very nature of what our
life is all about.

Summing Up

There seems to be a subtle difference between
saying "this brings life" and "this is life." The
latter might be well expressed by the popular
phrase, said perhaps by one out on the lake
fishing or stretched out in a hammock, "This is
the life!" The act engaged in supposedly expresses
what it means to truly live.

Similarly, we may say that, in the very act of
choosing God, of relating to God, and of receiving
the promises of God, this is the life. This is
what it means to be alive.

Choose life; choose God; choose his promises. This
is YOUR life.
__________
1/ The NASU text takes the question as part of a
statement: "Yet you do not know what your life
will be like tomorrow."

2/ P. C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, NIC-OT
(Eerdmans, 1976), p. 366.

3/ Also, ASV and AMP; NIV: "For the Lord is your
life;" RSV/NRSV: "for that means life to you."
Clyde M. Woods comments, "Less likely is the older
rendering, 'he is your life' (Living Way
Commentary, vol. II [Lambert Book House, 1974], p.
288).

----
You can help us get the word out. Here's how:
forthright.antville.org/stories/340415/

------Begin ad

Short, informative, entertaining, sometimes humorous.
That's what people say about "News From JADE,"
a weekly emailing from JADE Books. To subscribe:
Go to http://www.jadebooks.com and click on "Newsletter/Survey."
While you are there, browse through the books or
visit our inspirational site, Abigail's Album.

-----End ad