It’s all about Zoe!
So, that was Christmas. And as for New Year…
This time last year, churches were doing that new year resolution thing. Remember our Mirror series? You can listen again via ChesterRoadBaptist.org.uk/Talks
12 months ago, we were only just beginning to hear about a virus on another Continent. None of us could have known what was to come. Now we do. Here in the UK alone, over 2 million have been infected, 70,000 have died.
2020 ended with some good news. A vaccine. So far, I think 700,000 people have had it. Including some of you. 
But that doesn’t mean it’s all over. Being in my early fifties, I’m not predicted to receive my vaccination until mid-June. It takes time to vaccinate 65+ million people.
So, we start this year, with both optimism and trepidation.
Until enough of the UK population have been vaccinated, we’re going to have continue with social-distancing, face-coverings, and all the other limitations on life that became the ‘new norm’ in 2020.
How will you keep your head over the next few months? What will give you strength and hope? To not just survive, but thrive? I think the answer is Zoe.
I’m so in awe of how so many of you embrace life. Even when things get tough: health scares, furlough or redundancy, struggles at home, worries about parents or children or both. Not only do you keep going, you do so with such life. You show me that there is more to life than just our circumstances.
Some people seem to have everything going right for them: relationships; work; finances. And yet.. they can still be left feeling something is missing. Then there are those for whom nothing seems to be going right. What is it? Again, I think it’s Zoe!
The Bible uses three different Greek words which we translate as LIFE: Bios, Psuche & Zoe
1.	Bios refers to the life of the physical body. It’s where we get the word ‘biology’ from. For example, in Luke 8:14, Jesus said:
“Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries – Bios worries - riches and pleasures, and they do not mature
2.	Psuche refers the psychological life of the human soul, that is, the mind, emotion, and will. It is where we get the word ‘psychology’ from.
So, in Matthew 16:25, Jesus said: “For whoever wants to save his life – Psuche life, soul life – shall lose it.”
3.	Zoe refers to the divine spark, ultimate source of life, that is GOD.
In John 1:4: “In Him was life (Zoe life) and the life (Zoel life) was the light of all people.” It’s the uncreated, eternal life of God. In astrophysics, it was this God-Spark that started the Big Bang. 
“Through Him all things were made. Without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life..”
Jesus had that Zoe life. Where did He get it from? His Father.
“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” John 5:26  
Like Father, like Son. There was something so special about Jesus. It was evident to all. He just oozed life.
But Jesus was not just a good example of life. He was / IS the SOURCE of life. That’s why John said:
“In him (Jesus) was life - ZOE, and that Zoe life was the light of all humanity.” Jn.1:4
And here’s the thing. The Zoe life that Jesus had, is the life that God wants for you too. Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life – Zoe life – in all it’s abundance.
That’s not mere sentiment, Ah, wouldn’t it be nice if…
All that Jesus was / said/ did was to ensure YOU had, HAVE, the life God always intended for you.
If it was just bios life – physical life – then Jesus would have stopped short of risking his own life for you and I, but He didn’t.
If it was just psuche life – psychological life – then it would simply have been a matter of believing what He said.
Instead, it was Zoe life – eternal life. That’s why/ how Jesus could surrender His life, give up His life so that, through His death, we might receive His life -eternal life.
Hence, “I have come that you might have life and this Zoe life in all it’s fullness.”
Just as Jesus got His life-to-the-max from His Father, when you and I choose to follow Christ we become adopted into God’s family. You become a child of God.  You become, what Peter says: a participant in the divine nature. 
That Zoe life becomes YOUR life.
So, what will get you through these next few months? Yes, it’s Zoe.
Over the next few weeks we’ll explore what it means to find, accept and then live this Zoe life.
DannyBrierley@ChesterRoadBaptist.org.uk