I Am the Ressurrection and Life
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: The story of Frankenstein - raise a person from the dead.
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. The general resurrection of the dead is a standard eschatological belief in the Abrahamic religions. As a religious concept, it is used in two distinct respects: a belief in the resurrection of individual souls that is current and ongoing (Christian idealism, realized eschatology), or else a belief in a singular bodily resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. Some believe the soul is the actual vehicle by which people are resurrected. The death and resurrection of Jesus is a central focus of Christianity. While most Christians believe Jesus' resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven was in a material body, some believe it was spiritual.
Christians regard the resurrection of Jesus as the central doctrine in Christianity. Others take the incarnation of Jesus to be more central; however, it is the miracles – and particularly his resurrection – which provide validation of his incarnation. According to Paul, the entire Christian faith hinges upon the centrality of the resurrection of Jesus and the hope for a life after death. The Resurrection and The Life.
What is a primary reason for the hope of the resurrection and life?
The fear of death or Death anxiety which is caused by thoughts of one's own death, and is also known as thanatophobia (fear of death).
Jesus’ I am statement for this week directly confronts the fear of death.
21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”
Transitional Sentence: Jesus is the resurrection and the life; if we live for ourselves we will die by ourselves, if we live for Jesus we will live with Jesus even when we die.
The resurrection - Is it physical or spiritual?
a. The setting of today’s I am statement - John 11:1-46. This passage tells the story of Jesus raising His friend Lazarus from the dead. He was in the ground for four days, never the less, Jesus brought him back to life. This was a resurrection of his physical body and calling him back from wherever he was after his body perished. Let’s take a look at a little bit of what was believed at the time in the Hebrew culture.
b. There are Sadducees and Pharisees.
They were the spiritual leaders of the Hebrews at the time. They were tho ones who were most likely to be at odds against Jesus.
Sadducees did not believe in the realm of spirits or angels or demons. They denied the afterlife and taught that the soul perished at death. This sounds like modern day humanism where there is nothing after this life.
The Pharisees on the other hand believed a persons soul would go to a place called sheol until it was reunited with the body during the resurrection which would happen at the end of the world. They believed in the spirit world and the existence of angels and demons. They believed in the afterlife and an appropriate reward and punishment for individuals based upon their deeds. That sounds familiar.
Based on Martha’s words she believes as the Pharisees believe.
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
So that in short is what the Sadducees and Pharisees believe.
c. So, what does the Apostle Paul, a Pharisee turned Apostle, say about the resurrection: Paul believed in the afterlife and an appropriate reward and punishment for individuals. In his second letter to the Corinthians he taught that when those who believe in Christ Jesus die they go to be with Him at home in heaven:
6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight—
8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
This is the Christian idea of a current and ongoing resurrection mentioned in the Wikipedia definition in the beginning.
In other words believers are present in the body and absent from the Lord or absent from the body and present with the Lord. There is no stop over location, no sheol, and no purgatory for believers while we wait for the last day and the resurrection.
This idea is confirmed by Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
With this verse Paul is saying that those who have fallen asleep before Christ Jesus returns at the last day will be with Christ Jesus when he comes on the last day. In other words our dear brother Carlton is already with the Lord. He isn’t hanging out somewhere waiting. He is there now.
But if that is what happens for those who believe in Christ Jesus what happens for those who do not believe? For that we need to look at chapter 20 of Revelation.
Revelation says this about the non-believers on the last day and the resurrection: Revelation 20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Those who do not believe will go and hang out in Hades until the last day when everyone who is not with the Lord will be raised up for judgement.
The Pharisees believed in an appropriate reward and punishment system. Well that’s it.
You are either a believer and will join Jesus in the air when you die; or you are a non-believer and you will hang out in hades until the last day when all the non-believers will stand before the judgement throne.
2. I am the Resurrection and the Life
With this statement Jesus is claiming to be the resurrection and life, not just to have power over them. He doesn’t just have power to raise the dead but He has the authority, the right, to judge whether or not you will have eternal life or you will be thrown into the lake of fire.
a. As the Resurrection: Jesus has the power to raise the dead.
43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”
44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
This was a physical resurrection. Jesus actually brought this man back to life after he was dead and in the tomb for four days. This is one of Jesus’ many miracles that point to His power over life and death. But Jesus also has power over the resurrection and life of the spiritual being that is dwelling within the body. The common resurrection belief of the Pharisees was that the spiritual being would be reunited with the physical body it dwelt in while alive. This is different from what Paul taught.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
This physical and mortal body will perish but an immortal body will be provided after death. The next body won’t be subject to the rules of sin, disease and death. It will be immortal.
This brings us to Life
b. Life - There are two versions of life. There is the life in the here and now and there is eternal life with God after we die. Jesus is Lord over both. In this life He raised more than one person from the dead and healed the diseases of all those who came to Him. He has power over life and death. This means a lot because we can turn to Him for help in the here and now. However, it is eternal life that means the most. This life is fleeting but eternity is a long time and He is the one who holds the book of life in His hands. He is the one who will open the book on the last day and preside over the final judgment. He is the one who will say, He is mine or go away from me I don’t know you. Which side do you want to be on?
So we need to:
c. Believe so we can live: John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus makes the requirements for eternal life very basic in these two verses. If you believe in Christ Jesus you will live even if you die. This is the resurrection. If death takes you, you will live again because Jesus will raise you up again. Your mortal body will perish but your immortal soul will receive a new immortal body.
And if you believe in Christ Jesus and you live, then you will never die. Some believers will be alive when Christ Jesus returns. If you are one of those then you won’t die. Those who are alive will change in the twinkling of an eye from corruptible flesh to incorruptible spirit. Life in the here and now will change directly into eternal life in life to come - no death, no decay. From one to the other. Hallelujah!!
So, what has to happen?
3. The same thing that happened for Lazarus. The stone must be rolled away. John 11:39
39 Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
a. So what do you think is going on inside all those who are non-believers?They are all dead in a tomb just like Lazarus, only they are spiritually dead and not physically dead. “For the wages of sin is death”.
Never the less, The spiritually dead are walking around in a tomb, walking in the darkness looking for something, looking for the light. Looking for the way out of their tomb.
Lazarus was in a dark tomb. Jesus could have raised Him from the dead with or without the stone being rolled away from the opening of the tomb. But what if the stone wasn’t moved. There would be no light. He wouldn’t know where to go, he wouldn’t know where the door was. Remove the stone.
So how do we remove the stone?
b. Well, Believe in Jesus
“but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus”
Remember there are two kinds of eternal life - one is where you are separated from God for eternity; Revelation 21:8
8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Not exactly the way anyone should want to spend eternity.
And the second is eternal life where all those who believe in Christ Jesus will be resurrected to life and will live forever with God. Revelation 21:3-4
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
Now that sounds like a more acceptable eternal state to live in. There are a lot of perks to believing and obeying.
And how do you receive this eternal life?
c. You have to hear His voice and come out of the Tomb:
Do you remember what happened with Lazarus in verse 44 of our passage? He heard the voice of Jesus and came out of the tomb all wrapped in his burial clothes. Lazarus left the tomb, you can be like Lazarus when you hear Jesus’ voice.
Every time you hear the gospel message you hear His voice. Every time you hear the gospel message the stone is rolled away from the tomb you are stuck in. Every time you hear the gospel message is a chance to receive eternal life. Walk through the door and come out into the light. Too many people have the stone rolled away from the opening of their tomb. They have heard His voice but refuse to walk out of the tomb. It’s better to live in the dark than to come out into the light.
Exit: Jesus is the Light of the World that shows us the door, Jesus is the door through which we must walk, Jesus is the Good Shepherd which calls our name and Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life which saves us from eternal damnation and gives us eternal life.
If you already believe in Him you have eternal life and are living in the light. But, there are people all around you that don’t know Him. They are trapped in a tomb, in darkness and they don’t know the way out. Roll away stone from the opening of their tomb. Tell them about Jesus so the light can shine in, and they can come out when Jesus calls their name.
If you are one who does not believe. The stone has been rolled away. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to stay in the darkness or are you going to step through the doorway and into His glorious light.
We are celebrating Easter today. The day when Jesus rose from the dead. The day Jesus defeated sin and death by walking through the doorway when the stone was rolled away. Take His example, walk out of the tomb, accept the free gift of God which is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Pray!!