On the basis of God’s unconditional love, he has given us life. He made us simply because he loves us. And in this life, He has also provided all the things we need. Peter tells us at the end of 2 Peter 1:3, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”
God has given us all we need for temporal and eternal life. Both are free gifts. Both have been granted to us through His divine power. Temporal life is given to us before we are born. God weaves us together in our mother’s wombs. In Psalm 139:13-14, the Psalmist sings about it, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” God brought forth the gift of life from our mother’s wombs. In Psalm 71, Another Psalmist says, “Upon you, I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.” It is the power of God that brings about our temporal lives. God’s power provides all we need for our lives on earth as long as we live. As children of faith, children of Abraham, we see God’s power from before time began until the day we leave this world. Isaiah 46:3-4 speaks for God, “Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” Jesus tells us that he not only wants us to have life but also says in John 10:10, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Peter wants us to understand that the life we have been given is not only in this world but into eternity.
When Nicodemus was talking with Jesus, he was told that he must be born again to receive eternal life. He replied in John 3:4, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” We receive our physical life by passing through our mother’s birth canal. As we are born through the birth canal of our mothers by the power of God, we are also born again through the birth canal of faith into spiritual life by the power of God. In His further conversation with Nicodemus, he said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” Both our physical existence and eternal life awaiting us are produced solely by the power of God. That’s why the Psalmist can always praise God’s glory for his life. Our lives in every capacity result in the praise of His Glory. We get no credit for our temporal life or the eternal life that comes through faith in Jesus. They are both gifts from God. In Acts 17:24-25, Paul says, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”