John 11:25-27 - A LIFE WORTH LIVING

Dr. Steven J. Lawson says, “We all face man's greatest enemy! That greatest enemy is death. None of us here today is exempt from facing death.

One day if Christ does not return first every one of us in this house today will face the time of our own death. And presently we all face the death of loved ones, the death of family members, the death of a parent the death, of a spouse. the death of a child, and even the death of a friend. Not a one of us is exempt from facing death.

Death lurks on every side. And with death comes the experience of great loss. Loss of a relationship. Loss of love. Loss of support. And death is not a respecter of persons. Death takes from those from all stations of life. Death comes to the house of both the rich and the poor. Death comes both for the young and for the old. Death comes for both the sick and the healthy. Death comes for those who are ready for death and for those who are not ready. We all stand powerless in and of ourselves before the Grim Reaper of death. Now we cannot prevent its inevitable coming. Death is faced by each one of us.

So how are we to face death? Is there any hope? Is there any comfort? Is there any assurance that we may have of seeing loved ones again? There is only one hope in the face of death and the grave. And only one hope for what lies on the other side; and that hope is found in the very words that our Lord speaks here! That he is the resurrection and the life! This is precisely what Jesus announced to a woman named Martha upon the death of her brother Lazarus.

Jesus had become a close friend of this family. As he came through Bethany he would often stop at the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus . And their home had become a quiet refuge in the midst of the hectic demands of his mounting ministry. Lazarus at this time had become sick and Lazarus was very sick. And so his sisters Mary and Martha sent for Jesus to come and heal their brother.

But Jesus did a very unusual thing, Jesus intentionally waited. He purposely waited long enough for Lazarus to die. And only after he received the news that Lazarus had died, Jesus actually said these words, “Lazarus is dead and I am glad.” Strange words, strange timing, strange schedule. And yet we know that God works by his own schedule, in his own way, in his own timing; and God works for higher purposes than what we often initially see. And Jesus intentionally allowed Lazarus to die so that there would be a greater manifestation of his glory. Greater than the restoration of Lazarus from a sickbed would be the resurrection of Lazarus from the tomb.

And before Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead Jesus speaks these very words. The words in this context that are intended to comfort her heart. And these are positive words. These are words that are intended to bolster her faith and deepen her confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. And these are words that I want us to draw our attention to today. These are words that should form a very firm foundation beneath our faith as well.

We are all drawing closer to death this day. We are one day closer to death than we were yesterday. And we all have loved ones around us who are at different stages of life. And some of those loved ones find themselves very close to death.

And so it is in this context that I want us to look at these words today and to be reminded of this great truth! That Jesus Christ is the resurrection and that he is the life. Ad that the Lord Jesus has the keys to the grave. And that he is sovereign over death. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who determines the eternal destiny of every person upon this earth.”

We will see how the life of Lazarus was a LIFE WORTH LIVING!

“I am” = to be; straight-forward being (existence, i.e. without explicit limits)

resurrection (anastasis) - a standing up; a raising up; rising again

life (zoe) - both of physical (present) and of spiritual (particularly future) existence.

life that only comes from and is sustained by God’s self-existent life...

die - the word “die” in the greek stresses the significance of the SEPARATION that always come with divine closure; it stresses the ending of what is former - to bring what (naturally) follows...

from (zao)to live; to experience God’s gift of life;

LIFE That GIVES GOD GLORY! (cp. John 11:4)

John 11:4, “4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

LIFE That Is LIBERATED! (cp. John 11:44b)

John 11:4b, “Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

LIFE That Is A WITNESS (cp. John 11:45)

John 11:45, “45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.”

Conclusion

“The believer is fully alive: he lives in heaven, in the other world, in the very presence of God Himself.”

“Whoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” The idea is that the believer shall never taste death, that is never experience death. Quicker than the believer can blink an eye, he passes from this world into the next world. He is transported and transferred into heaven.

The believer doesn’t lose a moment of consiousness. One moment he is conscious and living in this world; the next moment he is conscious and present in the next world.