The Mother of All Life

As we begin our study of the Life of Christ, we pay special attention to those who wrote it all down, those who would piece together the eternal mystery that “angels longed to look into” (1 Peter 1:12). It doesn’t take much to realize that He is the center of everything, as John writes in his prologue, a kind of poetic introduction to his Gospel, in John 1:3-4, “Through Him, all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

Through Jesus, true, eternal life would be made possible. Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Because Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [Him]” (John 14:6).

But consider another person who “all life” would come from—Eve. In Genesis 3:20, “Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all the living.” Eve was not a deity, and she wasn’t the Messiah; she was a human being that would help the “other” human being on the planet–Adam. They would work together to bring life to the entire world, but she was how that “fruit” would multiply. 

Paul said in Romans 5:12-14, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all people because all sinned… death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.” (Also read 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 for more comparison of Adam to Christ.)

Although, in reality, we know that it was Eve who caused the first sin to enter the world. What if that scene could be redone? What if there was another chance for “the mother of all life” to simply trust God, praise Him for what He was doing, and acknowledge His will? In contrast, Mary did praise God and glorified Him for using her to play a part in bringing true life to the world. Just ponder that as you read these words of Paul concerning Jesus as the source of all life: 

Colossians 1:16-18, “For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything He might have the supremacy.”