New Life in Christ: The Spiritual Correspondence to Natural Life

He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves (2 Corinthians 4:15). By virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, Christians obtain the grace of a new life. The spiritual life corresponds to natural life in five essential ways. First, as natural life requires generation, so the spiritual life demands rebirth (John 3:3; 1 John 2:27). Second, life manifests sensation and feeling—the spiritual life is revealed through tenderness of heart and conscious awareness of God's interest in us. Can a man be alive and not feel it? Third, life produces appetite: the new nature hungers for its proper sustenance, relishing food for the soul beyond mere animal gratification (1 Peter 2:2; John 6:27). Fourth, where life exists, growth follows; the children of God grow in grace (Psalm 92:13). Fifth, life is active and stirring—spiritual life cannot remain hidden; some merely "have a name to live, and are dead" (Revelation 3:1). Yet spiritual life differs fundamentally from natural life in three respects. In dignity: natural life is but wind and vapor, yet spiritual life—purchased at the cost of Christ's blood (John 6:51)—is the very life of God. In origin: natural life descends through generations from the first Adam, but spiritual life unites us with Christ, who becomes a life-making Spirit unto us. In duration: natural life maintains a flickering lamp soon extinguished, but spiritual life begins in grace and culminates in glory eternal.