What Is Life?

whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4:14 (NKJV)

INTRODUCTION: God is sovereign over life and death. Your life is a mist, a smoke (v. 14). Your life is like a vapor, here one second and gone the next, and you will live until tomorrow only if the Lord wills. What a humbling reminder this is: not one of us is guaranteed that we will be alive tonight to lay our head on our pillow. Life is a thing we all love. Everyone is interested in living. Millions are spent each year to make living conditions better and to prolong life. Do we realize the real source of life?

WHAT LIFE IS NOT.
It is not the abundance of things that we possess. Luke 12:15
Life is more than meat. Luke 12:23
Life is more than the body. Mark 9:43

GOD IS THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE. Acts 17:28; Job 12:10
The power of life is not in the hands of man. Jer. 10:23
This makes us know that we are dependent creatures. Dependent upon God for our very existence.

THERE ARE THREE KINDS OF LIFE.
1. Natural life.
Originated with God. Gen. 2:7
Man is a product of God’s creative power.
His origin is Divine.
He is of direct creation.
His spiritual nature proves this.
Man by sin forfeited natural life and death passed upon him. Gen. 2:7; 3:17-19
Here the fleshy germ of corruption had its beginning.
The result of this is that they which are in the flesh cannot please God. Rom. 8:8

2. Spiritual Life.
The Holy Spirit is the author of this life. Rom. 8:2
The wicked are alienated from this life. Eph. 4:18; 1 Tim. 5:6
To please God our worship must be spiritual. John 4:24

3. Eternal Life.
It is the gift of God. Rom. 6:23
Jesus is eternal life. 1 John 5:20
He reveals this life. 2 Tim. 1:10
This life is pictured as a drink. John 4:14
It is likened unto meat, or eating bread. John 6:27

Conclusion:
Our lives at most are only as a vapor that appears for a brief time and then vanishes away. Once we are born into this world, the only thing we can know for sure is that we will die; sooner or later we will die.

Life is just like a vapor: it appears and can be seen, but it is not solid or substantial or permanent. It is shifted and buffeted about and disappears ever so soon—all because of its nature and the changes in its environment. So it is with life: it appears and then it is gone, vanished away. The end of life will come to everyone of us, and nothing can stop it. It may come today or tomorrow, but it is coming.

Man is dependent upon God for life: he should say, “If the Lord will, I shall live.” This means that whether he lives or not and how he lives is in the hands of God. Therefore, a man should depend upon God for life and trust Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

Back to Main Menu