Life and reproduction are co-evolved emergent phenomena that sprang from a chemical accident where a molecule inadvertently found a way to replicate itself.

… but actually it might be more complicated than that. There might have been a set of molecules and chemical interactions that weren’t quite self-replicating but ultimately led to that self-replicating molecule. However, once that exists, you end up with a runaway chemical reaction that can last for literally billions of years.

TL;DR primordial soup is an ignition starter motor.

Life.