“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

If Jesus’ promise that He is the Life were not true, then we would all be doomed to death. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die—meaning that this life would be all we could ever look forward to. There is another word for this: Hopelessness.

This verse spells it out a little more clearly: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25). This statement is a paradox. It seems to contradict itself, but it actually reveals a great truth.

There is an assumption in this verse that death is inevitable, which is also true. Physical death is an inevitability as a result of the curse pronounced by God upon Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). “And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” (Genesis 3:22).

Throughout the Bible we see darkness, sin, and death together juxtaposed against light, goodness, and life. Satan represents darkness, sin, and death. Jesus is light, goodness, and life.

When we die, our bodies are separated from our souls. Our bodies return to the earth as ashes and dust. Our souls go to heaven or hell, depending on our relationship with Jesus. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

How does Jesus change this; how do we have eternal life through Him? Jesus is the fulfilment of the promise God made way back in Genesis chapter 3. After Adam and Eve’s disobedience and the resulting curse of death, God makes a stunning prophecy, or promise: that a descendent of Eve (Jesus) would ultimately defeat the serpent (Satan). Through Jesus’ birth, life, and death on the cross, he paid the penalty for our disobedience (atonement) so that we could go free. Through his resurrection, Jesus defeated death and made it possible for us to enjoy eternal life with Him.

God’s prophecy in Genesis 3:15 was fulfilled in Jesus. God made another prophecy which we read in Revelation 21:3-4 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” The curse will be overturned, and with the defeat of death, we will have life everlasting. The tree of life which God planted in the Garden of Eden, freely available to Adam and Eve until their sin and banishment from the Garden, we will experience in even greater magnitude in the New Heaven and New Earth. No more curse, no more darkness, no more night. Only light and life, eternal life.

“And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bondservants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:1-5).

In Christ,

Judy