I Am The Resurrection And The Life
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Introduction
Introduction
In 2013, Billy Graham gave what many believe was his last sermon during a taped segment that was part of the “My Hope for America” campaign. Early the next year, his grandson Will Graham gave an update on his grandfather’s condition and relayed an important message during a meeting of Christian broadcast professionals. He told the crowd that his grandfather was in a condition that is natural for someone who is 95 years old. He said, “This is what my grandfather has said concerning his own death. He said, ‘One day you will hear that Billy Graham has died. Don’t believe it. On that day I will be more alive than I ever will be.’ ” Will added, “And that’s the truth and that’s why he preaches, because this life is only the setup for the life to come.”
Good morning and welcome to Cornerstone Church. We are at the beginning of a new series called “I Am.” This is a series that is all about Jesus and trying to understand who He is.
In the gospel of John, there are seven “I Am” statements that are not only a call back to the orginal declaration that God made to Moses in the wilderness when Moses asked God his name, but these statements are also revelations of who God is. They tell us his identity, his character and his heart.
Today we are going to start this series with what I think is one of the most important declarations Jesus made. I think this because this is a declaration that gives us a glimpse into our future. So today, please turn with me to John 11, verses 17-27.
John 11:17–27 (ESV)
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
Ok, as we are focusing on the “I Am” statements of Jesus, we are focusing on this one first. I am the resurrection and the life. As this statement is found in the midst of a narrative, I want to make sure you have the context.
For many of us, we are familiar with this story, the resurrection of Lazarus. We are picking up this story in the middle of it. Lazarus has died. Now Lazarus is a friend of Jesus. In fact, we see that Jesus weeps over the death of Lazarus. Lazarus was the brother to two other famous people in the Bible - Mary and Martha.
Among the interesting parts of this story is this fact. Jesus finds out that Lazarus is sick in advance, but he doesn’t come and heal him, even though he has healed countless people at this point in his ministry. He essentially lets him die. Now the really interesting part is found in this question, why did Jesus let Lazarus die? And the answer is actually found in this chapter. He let him die, because he loves him. Listen to this.
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
I think this tells us a lot about God and his nature and how skewed our views are. Most of us would say the opposite. Jesus must not have really cared about Lazarus because he didn’t heal him. He didn’t come quickly. He didn’t answer immediately. Doesn’t this resonate with you?
God why won’t you answer my prayers? Why won’t you heal me or my mom or whomever? God where are you? Do you even love me anymore? Have you prayed this way? I know I have. But the text tells us that Jesus loved Lazarus, therefore he didn’t come when he was called.
God will sometimes delay answering your prayers so that you can see his glory.
This really was about seeing the glory of God. God had purpose in all of this. He had a purpose in the death of Lazarus. He had a purpose in delaying. He had a purpose in not healing Lazarus. And we may not understand the purpose of what is going on in our lives, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
Jesus knew that God would be more glorified in the death of Lazarus than in the healing of Lazarus. Why? Because Jesus was going to raise him from the dead. And in the end, that is what happens. Jesus does raise Lazarus from the dead, showing that he has power over life and death. Now that is ultimate power!
In our passage though, Lazarus is dead and has been dead for about four days. He is in the tomb, he’s wrapped in grave clothes. Martha hears that Jesus is finally coming to them and so she runs out to meet him. And like many of us, she comes to him in full honesty at this moment. She’s not beating around the bush. She says, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
Now, many of us may have said the same thing when we’ve lost love ones, so we can relate to what Martha is feeling. She might be feeling a bit angry and hurt by the delayed response of God. But, here’s what is interesting, her faith is still strong. So she says, even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, he will give you.
Jesus, throughout the New Testament, is always moved by faith. He responds to her, ‘your brother will rise again’ in verse 23. Now, Jews at that time had a basic understanding about the end of all time and it included a view of the resurrection. This teaching was reinforced by Jesus earlier in his ministry.
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
So Jesus is telling his disciples about the resurrection. He says I will raise him up on the last day. That’s a promise. Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him will have eternal life. Is that you today? Are you looking to Jesus? Are you believing in Him? Then you will have eternal life. You will be raised up on the last day.
The promise in our passage today, Verse 25, Jesus says, He is the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in my shall never die. Do you believe this?
I pray, that everyone in this room can answer just like Martha! There is a test, this life is a test. How will you answer this question? Will you believe in Jesus? Will you look to him? Will you confess like Martha? YES LORD! I believe that you are the Christ! The Son of God! Can you say that with me today church? Can you say Yes Lord!? You are the Christ, the Son of God!
If that’s you, then this promise is yours. You will not die. You might fall asleep, like Lazarus, but it’s not an eternal death. You will have eternal life in Jesus. He will raise you up on the last day. Someone shout amen.
Now, this is the context of our passage today. But, I want to focus in on the big “I am” statement of Jesus in this passage in verse 25. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. That’s what I want to focus on. I want to focus on three implications of this statement today. I think there are at least three things that we can pull from this statement today, there are likely more, but let’s focus on these three today.
The first is this...
Resurrection Is Part Of God’s Identity
Resurrection Is Part Of God’s Identity
So we’ve spent the past few months talking about our identity, so we understand the importance of that. Here God is giving us a peek into a piece of his identity. This is only a part of who God is, but it’s a very important part, which is why I chose to start with this series out with this particular statement.
Jesus say I am the Resurrection and the Life. Now He will repeat the life statement in another “I am” statement found in the gospel of John, so let’s focus in on his resurrection identity.
Martha says to him I know that there is a resurrection but he responds to her, essentially (and this is my paraphrase), I don’t think you understand, the resurrection isn’t an event, it’s me. I am the resurrection. Now, on the surface this sounds like a strange statement, so let’s unpack it a bit.
Here’s some things we know about God. Genesis 1, God is the creator. That’s who He is, an identity statement. So God creates things, it’s who He is and what He does. God creates the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1, but his creation gets marred by sin. Essentially, creation dies in its sin. Now, God has one of two choices, he can leave his creation in this condition or he can do something about it.
So another aspect of who God is, is resurrection, or bringing things back to life. When God looks at his marred creation, part of his identity says, I can fix this. I can recreate this, I can resurrect it. So big picture here, he does just that. Rev 21:1
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
This what God does! He brings things that have passed away back to life. He recreates them. He makes them new again. And there is nothing more revealing to us about God than this. He doesn’t look at us in our sinful state and just leave us there. He resurrects us. We are dead in our sins, but through Christ we are made alive in Him!
Resurrection Identity Brings Hope
Resurrection Identity Brings Hope
Because Jesus says that he is the resurrection, I can say this with certainty, we have hope. The idea of resurrection. The idea of new life in Christ. The idea of new beginnings brings us much hope. The fact that Jesus is the resurrection means that He is the God of miracles.
Resurrection doesn’t happen naturally. People aren’t being raised from the dead after four days due to medical advancements. The only way this happens is through a miracle from God. And for us, this should bring us hope.
Because God is a God of miracles, we can have hope for whatever issue we are facing. When you look at your life, what is the most impossible thing God could do for you? Perhaps, it was to turn our heart of stone into a heart of flesh. That sounds pretty impossible.
I can remember growing up across the street from one of my relatives. He was a bad man. This man beat his wife. I’m not talking about with just his fist but with a chain. I saw him throw a washing machine at her from across the house. This man was evil. I never seen anyone more evil in my life as far as how he treated his family. This man getting saved would have been an impossibility. But guess what God did? He saved him! Turned his life around. He became gentle and kind.
Here’s what I have come to believe…that when the situation looks the darkest, when the need seems to be too much, when the dream is dead…that is the place where God moves in the mightiest ways. In fact, I think death is the first step toward new life. You don’t get a resurrection without a death.
And this is the hope that we as Christians can have…that even though one day we will pass on. We will sleep as Jesus says. One day in the future, he will awaken us. Our eternal souls will be joined once again with our body and we will be made completely new.
And if that isn’t good enough, he also promises that we will get to live with him always. Where he is, there we also shall be. We will hunger no more, neither shall we thirst any more and the lamb will wipe away every tear from our eyes. For those of us that cry a lot, that is a big promise.
This is the essence of the Christian message…Hope. Hope is what the church is built on and hope is what will get us through even the darkest of times.
Resurrection Is A Promise Of New Life
Resurrection Is A Promise Of New Life
In order for you to get a new life, this means your old life has to die. Paul put it this way in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” He said he died with Christ. He was crucified. In order to find a new life, you have to crucify the old one.
God’s identity is resurrection. It’s a promise of a new life. Now this is a big deal because for many of us what this means is we have to lay down our lives. God doesn’t usually take your life or make you lay it down. It’s an invitation. Come to the cross. If you want a new life, you have to lay down your current one. In order to be raised from the dead, Lazarus had to die first!
And this really is the rub isn’t it? We don’t want to lose our lives. We don’t want to lay it down. In fact, culture tells us to do just the opposite. The world tells us we need to find ourselves. If we want to truly live, you need to focus on you. After all, no one else will do it. Focus on you and your family. Make sure you get some “me-time”. Culture is all about you. You are the star. You are the point. You are the center of your universe and don’t let anyone else tell you differently. And then Jesus comes along and says things like this.
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Jesus doesn’t bow to culture, you have to bow to Jesus. The days of cultural christianity are coming to an end. If you are going to be a Christian in this country moving forward, you are going to have to be willing to lose your life. And at first it won’t be losing your actual head, though it may come to that, it will start with being canceled.
I’m telling you, if you want to lay your life down, start sharing about Jesus. People will come out of the woodwork to crucify you. People will lie about you. Your reputation will be ruined. You will lose your job. You will lose friends. Family will turn against you. This is the life that Jesus is calling you to. And it’s your choice if you want to lay down your life or not.
And I know this sounds bleak, but...
In order to experience resurrection you have to first experience death.
And this is a perfect segue into the next part of our service - baptism.
Baptism is a beautiful picture of what I am talking about today. Baptism represents our death. We are buried in the waters of baptism and raised to newness of life in Christ Jesus. Jesus says he is the resurrection and his resurrection is pictured perfectly in the waters of baptism, which is why we baptize people in his name.
Jesus on the day that he ascended told his disciples this:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
