Chapter 26 - Progression of Life (zoe)

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Chapter 26 - Progression of Life (zoe)

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The natural life (psuche) of mankind is vastly different from the supernatural life (zoe) of God. Originating from an earthly source, it is of the earth. In contrast, the life (zoe) of God is heavenly and therefore, eternal.

Life from the Father

The biblical message of life (zoe) reveals that divine life (zoe) originates from the heavenly Father. He is its source:

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Scripture	Reference
“For with You is the fountain of life (zoe)….”	Psalm 36:9
“For just as the Father has life (zoe) in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life (zoe) in Himself”	John 5:26
“As the living (zoe) Father sent Me, and I live (zoe) because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live (zoe) because of Me.”	John 6:57

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Affirming the Father as the source of divine life (zoe), He sent the Son to earth. It is consistently evidenced in the New Testament. (John 3:17, 34, 5:23-24, 30, 36-38, 6:29, 38-39; 6:57; 7:16, 28-29; 8:16, 18, 26, 29, 42; 9:4; 10:36; 11:42; 12:44-45, 49; 13:16, 20; 14:24; 15:21; 16:5; 17:3; 20:21; Galatians 4:4; 1 John 4:9-10, 14) Moreover, Jesus plainly stated, "I came forth from the Father and have come into the world…” (John 16:28)

Further clarifying the heavenly Father as the source of divine life (zoe), He is said to have sent the Spirit of God to earth. (Luke 24:49; John 14:26; 15:26; Acts 2:33) Jesus said, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.” (John 15:26)

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Scripture	Reference
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”	John 1:14
“I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.”	John 16:28
“This is eternal life (zoe), that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”	John 17:3
“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life (zoe), and this life (zoe) is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life (zoe); he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life (zoe).”	1 John 5:11-12

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God is one indivisible being manifested in three distinct personalities: Father, Son and Spirit. Thus, the incarnate Son is one with the Father and Spirit. By the Spirit, His humanity on earth was indwelt by the heavenly Father:

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Scripture	Reference
"If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father."	John 10:37-38
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”	John 14:10-11
"I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.	John 17:11
"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.	John 17:20-21
"The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.	John 17:22-23

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God in human flesh, the incarnate Christ, was representational of the heavenly Father. He was the embodiment and expression of the life (zoe) of the Father on earth. (John 1:18; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3)

Life Mediated

The reception of life (zoe) by fallen mankind from the Father was mediated through the Son:

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Scripture	Reference
“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6; cf. Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24)	1 Timothy 2:5-6; cf. Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24

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By His mediatorial, sacrificial death, Jesus the Son established the legal precedent by which God could justly restore fallen mankind to shared life. (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:27-28; 40; 17:3; 1 John 1:1-3; Romans 3:21-5; 1 John 5:11) It was the price necessary to redeem humanity from the transgression of His law. (Romans 4:25a)

Through His mediatorial resurrection, the righteousness of the living (zoe) Christ could be imputed to the account of every human being who would respond by faith. (Romans 4:25b) His righteousness divinely imputed and declared in eternity; human beings are made legally suitable to share life with God.

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Life by the Spirit

Shortly after the ascension of Christ, the Father sent His promised Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, to earth to assemble the real New Testament church. (Luke 24:49; John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7; Acts 2:33; 1 Corinthians 12) Throughout the Church Age, the “message of…life (zoe)” has been propagated on earth and its benefit imparted to the elect by the Spirit. (John 3:34; 6:63; Acts 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6; 1 Peter 1:12; 2 Peter 1:21)

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Scripture	Reference
“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”	John 7:37-39
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”	John 14:16-17
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.	John 14:26
“….you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”	Acts 1:8
“….the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”	Acts 13:52
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”	1 Corinthians 12:13

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The redemptive, living (zoe) presence of God is manifested on earth from the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. His indwelling life (zoe) is graciously imparted to the elect by the Spirit. As a consequence, the New Testament church on earth is representational of God. By eternal design, it is the embodiment and expression of divine life (zoe) on earth during this present age. (cf. John 4:14; 5:39; 6:63; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 4:11; 5:20; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:1-4; 1 Timothy 6:12; 1 John 3:14; 5:11-12; etc.)

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                                      Progression of Life

The progression of divine life (zoe) from heaven to earth is a gracious act of God. It is from the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. The New Testament church cooperates by faith alone.

The Church Age was initiated when life (zoe) from the Father through the Son was imparted by the Spirit to the elect who comprised the early New Testament church. The impartation of eternal life (zoe) then progressed by the Spirit through instrumentation of the church to succeeding generations until present day. According to the will of God, His life (zoe) will be imparted to future generations by the Spirit until the end of the age.

During the Church Age, the progressive, gracious sharing of divine life (zoe) from heaven to earth occurs as follows:

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Scripture	Reference
The heavenly Father is the source of divine life (zoe).	John 5:26
The heavenly Father sent His life (zoe) to earth in the form of the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. The Son provided necessary mediation between God and mankind.	John 17:3; 1 Timothy 2:5
Through the Son by the Spirit, the eternal life (zoe) of the Father was shared with the early New Testament church.	Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:13
Through the Son by the Spirit, the eternal life (zoe) of the Father has been progressively shared with successive generations of the New Testament church until the present day.	Acts 2:39
Through the Son by the Spirit, the eternal life (zoe) of the Father will continue to be shared on earth until the end of the age.	Matthew 28:18-20

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God alone is responsible for the progression of His life (zoe). As predetermined before the foundation of the world, the will and work of mankind does not influence the plan of God to progressively establish His redemptive, living (zoe) presence on the degenerated earth. Rather than any perceived worthiness in mankind, it is the loving nature of God that provides the motive for the progression of His life (zoe) from heaven to earth.

© 2022 James Hiatt

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