Word Study - Life of God (1)


	Word Study - The Life of God (1) A. Introduction God in His economy created man to be His vessel to contain His life. It was God's desire that this life would grow in man for God’s glory with His expression. To that end, He put the created man in a garden (Gen. 2:8-9) and set him before the tree of life (Gk. zoe, LXX) so that he would eat of the tree and take in God’s life represented by the tree. At the consummation of God’s economy (Rev. 22:1-2) is a city of life, the New Jerusalem, with a river of life (Gk. zoe) and a tree of life (Gk. zoe). Life is God Himself, and life is the way for God to fulfill His purpose. B. Works Of Theology Almost none of the standard works of theology, however, has recognized the significance in the Scriptures of life as an attribute of God and how that life relates to man. Cunningham (296), in his work on the Reformers, describes the work of the theologian when he says, "The greatest and best theologian…has most accurately apprehended the meaning of the statements of Scripture…to fully and correctly (bring) out the whole mind of God on all the topics on which the Scriptures give us information." Yet there is almost total silence on the matter of life (zoe) as a divine attribute and man as a vessel to contain this life. This is true of John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion as well as the writings of A. A. Hodge, Charles Hodge, William Burt Pope, Charles C. Ryrie, and Henry Clarence Thiessen. This is also the case with Herman Bavinck's The Doctrine of God, with works by Arthur W. Pink and A. W. Tozer devoted solely to the attributes of God, and with Stephen Charnock's Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God, which has been described by Moyer as "one of the greatest treatises on the subject in the English language." There are two exceptions. One is John Gill's Body of Divinity, in which he describes "Of the life of God" (1:71-76) in three ways: "God is life essentially, it is his nature and essence, it is himself, it is in and of himself," "God is life eternally," and "God is life efficiently, the source and spring, the author and giver of life to others." The other exception is Augustus Hopkins Strong's Systematic Theology in three volumes. Strong lists spirituality as the first category of the attributes of God, with life as the first attribute under this category (1:248-252). He defines life as "mental energy, or energy of intellect, affection, and will. God is the living God, as having in his own being a source of being and activity, both for himself and others." The eight-volume work, Systematic Theology, by Lewis Sperry Chafer, has only two pages (3:255; 7:227) given to a subject so widely covered in the Scriptures, but does not mention life as an attribute of God. J. Rodman Williams in his book, Renewal Theology, has a topic, "God is living" (48-50), but fails to mention how that life is related to man. C. New Testament Words For Life In the New Testament there are three different words for life: bios, psyche, and pneuma. 1. Bios denotes life in an outward and visible sense—as a period or course of life (Luke 8:14; 1 Tim. 2:2; 2 Tim. 2:4; 1 John 2:16) and as a means of living, of livelihood (Mark 12:44; Luke 8:43; 15:12, 30; 21:4; 1 John 3:17). 2. Psyche (from psycho, to breathe) means breath of life (Matt. 6:25; Mark 3:4; 10:45; Luke 12:22); the soul, that part of man that thinks, emotes, and wills (Matt. 26:38; Mark 12:30; 14:34; Luke 1:46; John 10:24; Acts 14:2; Phil. 1:27); the person or self (Matt. 11:29; Mark 8:36; Acts 2:41; Rom. 2:9; 1 Pet. 3:20); and the life laid down by Jesus for His people (1 John 3:16), that they should lay down for Him (Acts 15:26), or they for one another (Rom. 16:4; Phil. 2:30; 1 John 3:16). 3. Zoe (from zao, to live) means life as a divine attribute. "In the usage of the NT this zoe (life) or zoe aionios (eternal life) is first of all a Divine attribute... It inheres in God and belongs to His essential nature" (Lambert, 1:698). Zoe expresses "the highest and best which God can impart to his saints... Scripture know(s) of no higher word than zoe to set forth the blessedness of God, and the blessedness of the creature in communion with God" (Trench, 90-92). Zoe indicates the life that is "real and true, the very life of God himself" (Link, 2:481). a. John 1:4, "In Him was life"- Life "is the most characteristic quality of His being" (Lambert, 1:698). b. John 5:26, "The Father has life in Himself (and) gave to the Son to also have life in Himself"- Here "is the Father's communication of Divine attributes to the Incarnate Word" (Plummer, John, 130). c. Eph. 4:18, "Alienated from the life of God" - This does not mean alienation "from a life lived according to the will and commandment of God... Zoe never signifies this…but rather...men estranged from the one fountain of life" (Trench, 92). "The life of God is that life which answers to the nature of God and which He communicates to His children" (Westcott, Eph., 66). The life of God "cannot mean the godly life, the way of life approved by God. For zoe in the NT seems never to mean the course of life, but life itself... The Theou (of God) is best taken as the genitive of origin='the life that comes from God,' the spiritual life communicated by God. (Some think), the life thus imparted to us by God is His own life, the very life possessed by Himself, in the profoundest and most real sense 'the life of God' in us" (Salmond, 3:339). The life of God "is not a life according to God; a virtuous life or a life which God approves; the course or tenor of conduct, but (points) to the element…of Divine life within us... The genitive Theou is of origin... It is that life of God…which results from the operation and indwelling of the Holy Ghost" (Eadie, 330). It is "the Divine life communicated to man (and proclaimed as) the Gospel in Acts 5:20" (Robinson, 189). The life of God is "that life which God liveth in His own" (Beza quoted by Alford, 1234). d. John 1:2, "The eternal life is with the Father"- "Christ is the life which He brings, and which is realized by believers in Him... The term 'the life'…expresses one aspect of His Being and Working" (Westcott, 1 John, 8). e. 1 John 5:11-12, “God gave to us eternal life... He who has the Son has the life... “The life is in the Living Son…so that the possession of the Son is the possession of life... (Westcott, 1 John, 207). 4. Zoe aionios, eternal life, "John's zoe aionios has nothing to do with time, but depends on our relation to Jesus Christ... Excepting in Rev. 14:6, (John) never applies aionios to anything but zoe" (Plummer, 1 John, 17). "This 'eternal life' is seen in this passage (1 John 1:2) to be the divine life, the life that is and which was visibly shown in Christ, and not merely an unending continuance" (Westcott, 1 John, 9). "But 'eternal life' is beyond the limitations of time: it belongs to the being of God" (Ibid., 207). D. Aspects Of Life 1. Source Of Life "Life itself comes from God... The tree of life signifies a destiny of eternal life that was forfeited with the fall and expulsion from the garden" (von Rad, 291). "The Life which Christ communicates is the absolute, Divine Life" (Scott, 2:31). "Life inheres essentially in God" (Lambert, 1:699). a. John 1:4, "In Him was life" - "John adds one element of priceless value. He perceives that the new Life proclaimed by Jesus was bound up indissolubly with His living Person... Jesus Christ is not only the Life-giver, but is Himself the Life" (Scott, 2:32). b. John 4:14, "In him a fountain of water…unto eternal life" - "This doctrine of a mystical union with Christ in which He imparts His divine life to the believer, contains the central and characteristic thought of the Fourth Gospel" (Scott, 2:32). c. John 5:26, "The Father has life in Himself" - "The Father is the absolutely living One, the Fount of all Life" (Plummer, John, 130). d. John 6:33, "The bread of God is He who…gives life" - "The bread of Life is the life supply in the form of food" (Lee, John, 194). e. John 6:35, 48, “I am the bread of life" - "The Life which Christ communicates is the absolute Divine Life" (Scott 2:31). This "refers to the nature of the bread, which is life" (Lee, John, 197). f. John 6:51, "I am the living bread" - This "refers to the condition of the bread, which is living... He alone is the living One in resurrection" (Lee, John, 197). g. John 6:54, "He who eats my flesh…has eternal life" - "To eat His flesh is to receive by faith all that He did in giving His body for us" (Lee, John, 196). h. John 6:57, "He who eats Me…shall live (zao)" - "To eat the Lord Jesus is to receive Him to be assimilated by the regenerated new man in the way of life... (Lee, John, 197). i. John 6:63, "The Spirit gives life"- "The pre-existent Son of the eternal Father is sent into the world to give life to men both by his word and in his own person (John 6:63, 10:10; 1 John 4:9)" (Link, 2:482). j. John 8:12, "I am…the light of life" - "This light of life can set us free from the bondage of sin and deliver us out of the darkness of sin" (Lee, John, 240). k. John 10:10, "I have come that they may have life" - "The life which He gives is not and cannot be separated from Himself" (Westcott, 1 John, 206). l. John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life" - "Paul's view of life is deeply affected by the resurrection of Christ from the dead (1 Cor. 15:4), which, being an accomplished fact, has proved the power of divine life over death (Rom. 14:9)" (Link, 2:481). "He is that which men need. He does not procure the blessing for them... He does not say 'I promise,' or 'I bring,' but 'I am.'…Life (resurrection) is present, and this Life is in a Person" (Westcott, John, 168). m. John 14:6, "I am…the life" - "When the Lord is life to us, then we have reality. When the Lord is our reality, then we have the way for us to get into the Father" (Lee, John, 366). n. Rom. 5:10, "We will be saved in His life" - The Christians' "life is justified by Christ (Rom. 5:18), and by his life they will be saved" (Link, 2:481). o. Rom. 6:23, "The gift of God is eternal life" - "Eternal life is the very life of the Triune God Himself. This life has been imparted into us on the basis of our having been justified by God, and it is now spreading throughout our being through sanctification and transformation" (Lee, RcV, fn. 3). p. Rom. 8:2, "The Spirit of life" - "Life belongs to the Spirit and the Spirit is of life. These two are actually one (John 6:63). The way to experience the divine, uncreated life is by the Spirit of life" (Lee, RcV, fn. 2). q. 1 Cor. 15:45, "The last Adam became a life-giving (zoopoieo) Spirit" - "Through his resurrection Christ, the Last Adam, has become the author of a new life for mankind (Rom. 5:12ff.; 1 Cor. 15:20ff.). The life of Christians is not their own life but the life of Christ" (Link, 2:481). r. Eph. 4:18, "Alienated from the life of God" - "The life which the believer receives as a gift from God is God’s own life" (Bruce, 91). s. Col. 3:3, "Your life is hidden with Christ in God" - "Because our life…is hidden with Christ in God, who is in the heavens, we should no longer be concerned with things on the earth. God in the heavens should be the sphere of our living. With Christ we should live in God" (Lee, Col., 224-225). t. Col. 3:4, "Christ our life" - "The New Testament declares not only that the believer has partaken of a new life, but asserts that life is to be the indwelling Christ...who) is 'our life' " (Chafer, 3:255). u. 1 Pet. 3:7, "fellow heirs of the grace of life"- "The grace of life is God as life and life supply to us in the Trinity... All believers are heirs of the grace" (Lee, 1 Pet., 210-211). v. 1 John 1:1, "The Word of life" - "The genitive (of life) is one of apposition... Word which is the Life' is the meaning. Christ is at once the Word of God and the Life of man" (Plummer, 1 John, 16). w. 1 John 1:2, "And the life was manifested"- "The life (mentioned in v. 1) is certainly personal... (It is) a name for Christ (comp. John 11:25 and 14:6)" (Plummer, 1 John, 16-17). x. 1 John 5:11, "God gave to us eternal life and this life is in His Son" - "The possession of the Son is the possession of life" (Westcott, 1 John, 207). y. 1 John 5:10, "(God's) Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life" - "He not only brings eternal life by his word (John 6:68; 10:28; 12:50; 17:2); he himself is the true life as his various 'I am' sayings indicate" (Link, 2:482). z. Rev. 2:7, "The tree of life" - This is "Christ, the Son of God, the redeeming Lamb, as our life supply…Christ with all the riches of life" (Lee, Revelation, 758). aa. Rev. 22:1, "The water of life" - This "is a symbol of God in Christ as the Spirit flowing Himself into His redeemed people to be their life and life supply" (Lee, Revelation, 742-743). -James Reetzke Bibliography Alford, Henry. The New Testament for English Readers. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1872. Reprint 1983. Bruce, F. F. 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