A Zoe Life

Matt 19:16-19
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  (KJV)
In this passage of the Bible, a man who we call the rich young ruler, comes to Jesus and asks Him a very serious question. He respects Jesus and feels assured that this miracle worker can answer his inquiry. The rich young ruler desires something that every person wants to know: something about what takes place after this life, something about eternal life, something about life after this one.
It is a very real question, a very deep issue. When you think about it, no one is searching for eternal death or trying to find ways to die.
We as Christians know that eternal life is not merely what we will experience someday when we pass on; our eternal "life" destination begins when we make Jesus the Lord of our life. As a Christian, we're aware that eternal life is the very life of God.  It is that which produces fulfillment, regardless of situations or circumstances. It is the very life of God that we possess within our spirits.
In the question posed to Jesus by the rich young ruler, the word that is used in Jesus' time for life  is zoe. It is the same word that is used in the Gospel of John when Jesus said, "In Him (Jesus) was life (zoe), and the life (zoe) was the light of men.
But what does Zoe mean? Zoe life is the very life of God.  It is the essence of His being and the personification of His character.  It is that which can only be received from Him because He is the point of its origin.  Did you get that last part....it is life received from Him because He (Jesus) is the point of its origin.  In other words it begins in Him, flows out to us from Him and also now, get this, since He is the origin, what we receive is a part of Him. 
Now think about this, Jesus could have given a lot of different answers to the question of what you need to do to experience life. He could have said, you need to pray more.  He could have said that you must be the servant of all, or you must give a "seed" of a certain amount of money (don't get me started on that one!)  Jesus could have told the man to do a 21 day fast. But that's not what He said. Jesus told the rich young ruler (and I'm quoting Jesus' very own words, right out of His mouth, {Matthew 19:16-19, }"if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments". "The inquirer said to Him, "?Which ones?" Jesus said, "You shall not murder', 'You shall not commit adultery', 'You shall not steal', 'You shall not bear false witness', 'Honor your Father and your Mother', and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Jesus told the rich young ruler without blinking an eye that life (Zoe) begins by keeping the commandments.
 In light of much of what is being taught in churches today, that is a pretty strange statement!  Jesus said that the key to the longing of man and his most fundamental desire is to keep God's commandments.  Jesus connected Zoe life; the life begining in God and flowing out to us, to the commandments...hmmmmmmmm.
The problem today is that we have separated the personal commitment of receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and its connection to godly behavior and conduct. There are men trying to negate the necessity of righteous behavior and holy living. ?Why. Well, we are now being told that some may feel condemned if we say anything about sin.  We are told that raising a standard of righteousness and holy living is something that is unattainaable and will therefore cause many to give up.  We are told that the preaching of the Ten Commandments and holy living is "law" and not grace. That it's a thing of the past. Obviously, Jesus did not get that memo!