Life to the Full

“In him was life and that life was the light of the world.” John 1:4

How would you tell the story of your best friend to those who have never met him or her? Would you add more facts and more information? Or would you want to paint a picture of the Life that was in him or her? John masterfully paints so much more than a picture; he paints for us a living portrait of Jesus.

John wants you to see how the Jesus who so radically changed the world changed his own life. Because he knows Jesus can change your life, as well. I know this because he changed mine. Slowly at first, then picking up steam as he moved deeper and deeper within me, filling the voids and holes inside me that had plagued me for all those years.

Before Jesus turned the Light on in me I did not know I was so ‘holey,’ but I knew for sure I was not holy. I was empty inside, but I was so blind I could not see it. I just knew deep down there had to be more. So I tried to fill up on the cotton candy of this world. It tasted good at the time, but I was soon as hungry as before.

I knew there had to be more, so I tried the world’s fullness, and came up empty.

I’m guessing you have too.

I do not have to know you to know you are the same. You are human, therefore you were born with a God-shaped hole inside.[1] Okay, you may have performed at such a high level at work or in the community, or raising your family, that no one else can see it. You may have learned how to masterfully mask your holes. You may even have dulled your senses to the point you have fooled yourself into thinking there are no holes. Almost … fooled yourself.

But you know better. You see, if you do not yet have Jesus filling you, in the way only he can, the holes are still there. So when John tells you, “In my friend Jesus was Life,” he means the fullest life possible – he means the Life that fills all your holes.

Think about this: God, John the Baptist, and our John the disciple all stated that Jesus’ mission was to destroy the work of the devil, and to deal with our sinful condition:

God told Joseph to name his baby boy Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

John the Baptist said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  (John 1:29)

John the disciple said, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”  (1 John 3:8)

But Jesus himself had a different take on his mission. He said, in essence,  and please do not miss this, “The reason I have come, what compels me, my driving purpose, is for you to experience the same Life that I have – that is Life with a capital L.”

Jesus stated this plainly: “I have come so that you may have life, and I am talking about life to the full!” (John 10:10 slight paraphrase)

Before I met this Jesus, so full of Life, all I had was the ‘little l’ life. I didn’t know Jesus had such a Life to give. As a matter of fact I was pretty sure whatever life he had to give would be boring and irrelevant to my idea of Life to the Full.

Jesus means it when he tells you, you, my friend, reading this right now, “I have come so that you (fill in your name and say it out loud _______________) may start today experiencing my Life to the Full – so full even to the point of overflowing.”

Fill up on Jesus, and you will soon overflow with his fullness.

Next Week: What would Life to the Full look like?

[1] Blaise Pascal