God of Life

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have itabundantly. John 10:10

After saying this, Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. But who is this thief in the analogy, whose death-dealing actions, and we must assume, desires, Jesus opposes? Who comes to kill the sheep?

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

Too often this statement by Paul is heard in this way: For the wages of sin from God is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Notice what I added in italics. We read Paul as if he telling us we can get either death from God for our sin, or life in Christ if we believe in him as Lord.

Should we interpret Paul as saying that God is the one who will kill us for our sin, rather than what Paul actually says, that sin kills us? In scripture the one who holds this power of death is the devil, not God (Hebrews 2:14-15). Too often we have mistakenly said that God is the one coming to kill and destroy if we don’t do right, in essence, God is the thief!

We don’t have two options of what we might receive from God, for God is always about life. We do have two choices, which are the death that the devil holds over us and which sin brings, or the life which God gives as a gift through Jesus. It seems ridiculous to have to say this, but it might be necessary: God is not the devil.

In John’s gospel, God is not the thief coming to kill the sheep. God is not a death-dealing deity, but the God of life. Always. Jesus everywhere in John is talking about giving eternal life, and being life. The opening of the gospel says “in him was life, and the life was the Light of men” (John 1:4).

God has come to us in Christ to rescue us from sin and death, and free us from captivity to evil forces. Part of his rescue involves judgment, which clarifies the truth and separates good from evil in us. God’s only gift, even through judgment, is to give us life because of his love for us.

Part of God’s love and rescue is to discipline us, doing whatever is necessary to remove our attachment and desire for evil, so that we may be free from sin, and consequently, the death it brings. This is the process of our transformation from darkness to light.

We could say that the only death coming from God is the death to our sins and disordered desires. Those are killing us, and so God “kills” them to save us! Life comes through death, always. Our life in God comes through the death of what is deadly to ourselves, namely, our sin.