Who is the Author of life?

Who is the Author of life?

You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. – Acts 3:15

Colossians 1:15-17

 15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

Early in life, Benjamin Franklin worked in a print shop. He was a co-owner. Franklin was exceedingly precocious and although it didn’t appear on his tombstone, Franklin wrote his own epitaph when he was only 22 years old.

“The body of B. Franklin, Printer; like the cover of an old book (it’s contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and guilding), lies here, food for worms. But the work shall not be wholly lost, for it will (as he believed) appear once more, in a new and more perfect edition, corrected and amended, by the Author” (Benjamin Franklin).

It is generally believed that Franklin was a deist rather than a theist. Yet he lived at a time when the population was informed by Christian beliefs in the Word of God. He recognized that his existence, his life was the product of God Himself. The Father was recognized as the Author of Life.

It is as though Franklin pictures human life as a book of blank pages upon which each individual provides the words, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. Due to our free will, we can write whatever we wish. However, the wise are careful to write the best nonfiction story possible.

As children of the King, we recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Author, the Source, the Origin and Power Source of our lives. We are His handiwork!

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

As such, it is incumbent upon us to live in such a way that we bring honor to our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. How best can we do this? Allow the Father to be our co-author.

The Father’s beautiful design and creative writing, when allowed free reign, will produce something remarkable in each child of the King. Yet our fallen DNA and human frailty can tarnish and even corrupt His delightful and lovely efforts.

REFLECT & PRAY

Little children, guard yourselves against idols (1 John 5:21). In John’s day, idols were physical objects and more. But in the 21st century, idols are anything that comes between us and the worship of the Father. Only the living and true God should occupy the heart of each child of the King.

Father thank You that You gave me both life and eternal life through Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Author of life.

INSIGHT

Acts 3:15 You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.

The Greek word translated as Author is archegos. Archegos is derived from arche. Arche always indicates primacy, priority (first) in time. Thus it is translated as beginning. In the beginning was the Word (John 1:1). In John 1:1, arche is not strictly a temporal statement because it has the sense of before all time, that is, before time itself existed. Time itself is a creation. The triune God exists outside of time.

The term archegos refers to one who causes something to begin, originator, founder, leader, initiator, or author. The Lord Jesus Christ is truly God, and He proceeded the existence of all created things. He created everything. He not only made all things but gave gave life to all living things. He is the Author of life of all created things.

John 1:1-4

 1 In the beginning, the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
 2 He existed in the beginning with God.
 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.

Paul echoes these thoughts.

Colossians 1:16-17

 16 For through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see– such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

“The Son is the beginning of creation, and the end of creation, and the power who holds creation together, the creator, the sustainer and the final goal of the world” (Barclay).

The Lord Jesus Christ is not only the Author of physical life. He’s also the Bestower of spiritual life.

John 10:27-29

 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,
 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.

1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.

“It was by the Son that all things were created (Colossians 1:16). This is true of things in heaven and things in earth, of things, seen and unseen . . .. It was for the Son that all things were created (Colossians 1:17). The Son is not only the agent of creation but also the goal of creation. That is to say, creation was created to be his . . .. Paul uses the strange phrase: ‘In him, all things hold together.’ This means not only that the Son is the agent of creation in the beginning and the goal of creation in the end; but also, between the beginning and the end, during time as we know it, it is he who holds the world together . . ..” (Barclay).

John 20:30-31

30 The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book.
 31 But these are written so that you may to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

As children of the King, what is our responsibility in light of the reality that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Author of life?

1 John 5:21 Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.

“The thing we serve is the thing we worship! Whatever controls our lives and ‘calls the signals’ is our god” (Wiersbe).

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© Dr. H 2022