7 The Resurrection and the Life
7
The Resurrection and the Life
I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
John 11:25–26
Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!
Revelation 1:17–18
Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
John 5:24
Therefore he is able to save completely [forever] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Hebrews 7:25
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Romans 6:4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
1 Peter 1:3–4
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
1 John 5:11–12
Some of the most familiar things in life are often the most difficult to define or even to describe. For example, how would you define light or cold or describe the taste of chocolate or peppermint? How would you define life?
The Greek word for life (zoe) is used thirty-six times in John’s gospel, which is more times than it is used in the other three gospels combined (sixteen times). We have met the word life in the I AM statements we have already considered, for Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35, 48), the light of life (8:12), and the shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep (10:10, 28). In this chapter we will consider Jesus “the resurrection and the life” (11:25–26), and in the next chapter, Jesus “the way and the truth and the life” (14:6).
To the Christian believer, life is not merely a physical condition or a social experience so much as a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. Paul says that Christ is our life (Col. 3:4), and he wrote to the believers at Philippi, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Life is what we are alive to! People “come alive” to that which excites, delights, and satisfies them, that which is at the heart of their very being; and Christians should come alive to anything that relates to Jesus Christ.
Resurrection leads to life, and Jesus is both the resurrection and the life. Faith in Jesus Christ raises us from the spiritual death caused by sin (Eph. 2:1–10) and imparts to us everlasting life and abundant life. When the spirit leaves the body, the body is dead (James 2:26). For the Christian believer, this means going to be with Christ (2 Cor. 5:6–10; Phil. 1:22–23). However, if we are alive when Jesus returns, we will never die! We will be transformed as we go up to meet the Savior in the air and live with Him forever (1 Thess. 4:13–18; Phil. 3:20–21). A friend told me he hopes to go by way of the “upper-taker” and not the “undertaker,” and I certainly agree with him.
The narrative in John 11 is so profound that it touches our lives in numerous ways. It deals with love (v. 5) and makes clear that God’s love doesn’t prevent God’s people from experiencing pain, sickness, and sorrow. It also deals with hope and the loss of hope (vv. 3, 8–10, 21–22, 32). But the main emphasis is on faith, the faith of the disciples (vv. 1–16) and the sisters (vv. 17–44) as well as the faith of the family’s friends and the Jewish religious leaders’ lack of faith (vv. 45–57).
Christ is able to raise the dead and meet every need of the new life that follows that miracle because He is both “the resurrection and the life.” The Lord can move into “dead” and seemingly hopeless human situations, and by His resurrection power, transform people and circumstances and infuse life that makes everything new. Over the centuries this has happened to many local churches and other ministries as well as individual lives, and it can still happen today!
If you find yourself in a “dead” situation or if you are feeling a need for personal reviving (Latin, “to live again”), our Lord’s statement in John 11:25–26 is the answer. Paul says that “just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Rom. 6:4). Unbelief and sin are connected with the old life of sin, but faith and life are connected with the new life in Christ. This is why Jesus commanded them to remove the grave clothes from Lazarus and give him the freshness and fragrance of new life (John 11:43–44). God’s people need to get out of the grave and the grave clothes and start to manifest the new life in Christ.
As we walk through the Scriptures in our study, we will examine some instances of “resurrection and life.” When you finish this chapter, I hope you will be able to give an enthusiastic “Yes!” answer to our Lord’s question, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26).