THE THREE PHASES OF LIFE

Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be. Psalms 139:16

Every human being lives life in three phases; nine months in the safety of a mother’s womb, a lifespan of years from birth to death, and an eternity of experiencing what started in phase one and two.

Phase one is a passive phase which begins the process of fulfilling God’s dream for every person born into the world. No-one chooses his parents or who he will be. He simply grows, in a protected environment, from a single cell to a complex human being with all the potential of adulthood packed into a tiny human form. The process of birth catapults us into the greatest challenge of all, living and learning from birth to death.

Phase two is the all-important time when we grow, learn, and choose the values that will shape us as we journey through life. We are not passengers in this phase; rather, we are apprentices, learning, practising, and preparing for the greatest adventure of all – the unknown hereafter when we will become what we are now learning to be.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

For those of us who have believed God’s Word and dared to entrust ourselves to Jesus, phase three is the promise of a life of perfection and peace in the presence of God, where we will live and reign with Him forever.

The second phase is all-important because what we do and become in our lifetime on earth will determine our role in eternity. Jesus gave us one simple instruction to help us to live wisely and serve our apprenticeship well; “Follow me.”

Firstly, He was a Son and He has given us the honour of becoming sons of God. “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’” (Galatians 4:6, NIV). As a Son, Jesus lived in intimacy and perfect obedience to His Father. So must we.

Secondly, He was a servant, and we are also called to be servants. “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve…” (Matthew 20:28, NIV).

Thirdly, Jesus came to reveal the Father and so must we. ”Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9b, NIV). Therefore, the Apostle Paul could say, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us…” (Ephesians 5:1, 2, NIV).

Another qualification Jesus gave us is one we would not expect – how we steward our possessions. “If you are not trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke 16:11, NIV).

The question we must ask ourselves during this second phase of our existence is, “Am I on track in my preparation for stage three?“ The way we manage what God has entrusted to us now will be the measure of our trustworthiness in the life to come. Our faithfulness to the tasks in hand will govern our position in the live to come

For the rest, who ignore this crucial phase of their existence and live it up as they choose, Jesus said they are destined for the eternal trash heap where the fire never goes out.

“…hell, ⁴⁸ where
“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’ Mark 9:47-48

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

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