A bicycle is an inanimate object. That means it isn’t alive. There is no life in a bicycle – it just sits there lifeless until someone who does have a life comes along and uses it. Life is a special thing that inanimate objects don not have.
When God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground, Adam just laid there – as a well-formed hunk of mud. But then God did a spectacular thing. The Scripture says that “He breathed into Adam the breath of life and man became a living soul.” That must have been an amazing sight! All of a sudden that sculptured mud made from the dust of the ground began to move. The legs twitched and the arms began to rise; the chest started to heave as Adam began to breathe; His eyes slowly opened and his mouth parted in a smile. He was alive – God had given him life!
In the Gospel of John, chapter one and verse four, John put it this way: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” In other words, life originates with God. Only God has life in Himself. Every other creature, including man, has derived life—life that is derived from God.
The word “life” is the Greek word zōē , which is a word that refers to the principle of life. (we get the word, zoology – the study of life – from this word). There is another Greek word for life: the word bios, from which we get our English word, biology. But this word has more to do with the experiences of life: what life does. The word zōē, on the other hand, refers to what life is. It is a reference to the essence of life.
Well, John tells us that God is the essence of life. All life flows out of the fountainhead of His life. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
Now you know the real meaning of the word.
Say – All life is a special gift from God. So remember to treat all living things with respect and dignity.