Crucified Life, Resurrected Life

Luke 9:23, John 11:25-26 - Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

I listened to a Resurrection Sunday sermon last night. While this is not a recap of the message, I was taken by a thought that was clearly evident within that sermon.

A crucified life becomes a resurrected life, or death becomes life. It’s a hard word. Look at this picture Jesus gave us: Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:24-25)

When we receive Christ we are called to die to ourselves and live in Christ. If we have received Christ and are born again, it is by His Spirit coming into us. This Spirit of God will then direct our new paths, open blind eyes, bring understanding where there was once foolishness. This is how we know He lives in us. And it’s all God’s doing. We do nothing but respond to something that urges us to commit our lives to Him.

This death to life can only occur now—while we are still alive. If we die before this we may have lost our chance at eternal life. Eternal life does not come upon our death, unless we have committed ourselves to Christ. Dying to self means we now can be ...hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—” (2Corinthians 4:8-9)

But God...paid the price, so we wouldn’t have to. He defeated death so we wouldn’t have to (spiritually) face it. He died that we might live; He died that despite the difficulties in this world, we can have the assurance that eternally we will now live and that the troubles of life are only temporary and nothing to the one who has the hope that Jesus brings.

We cannot rely on our good works or our church or religion. We have to rely only on Jesus, who paid the price and said on the cross, It is finished. We are called by God to seriously come to Him and receive His gift of eternal life. This is done by admitting we are sinners (and the Bible says we all are apart from God) and realizing His death alone paid the price that we would be reconciled to God. His life, death and resurrection alone.

Jesus holds the keys to life and death. No one else does; we cannot. We don’t have the final say in our life, God does. - Pastor J.D. Farag  That works both ways—without Christ we experience eternal damnation. With Christ we experience eternal life. But it’s not just knowing the Lord in our minds; He must be in our hearts as mentioned above. We must totally trust Him. Our only hope is not in a job, money, things, self, it is only in Christ.

Life in the world is led by satan. Life in the Spirit is led by Christ. You are in one place or the other. No in between. Hard word. You don’t get to be led by Christ by your own will or resolve. You enter by submission to Christ.

This is why the name of Jesus causes trepidation, and might I say, offense. When saying or hearing His name is difficult, that is trepidation. We have the chance to choose today life or death and God s willing to receive anyone willing to do this...today, now. God doesn’t send us to hell; we send ourselves by our own choice, by not believing or having faith or trusting in Jesus. Again, not by our own will to be a “good” person, but by Jesus’ death and victory over sin and death.

All this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ—it’s good news. Christ has a free gift for each of us, this eternal life in Christ. But we must reach out to receive it. If you reject it, it’s your choice. If you receive it, your best life can begin. Some day God will ask you whether you have received it or rejected it...though He will already have known. The answer given determines where we will spend eternity.

Christ died and rose again that we might die to self and be resurrected with Him on the last day. Will you be counted in that number?

1Corinthians 15:57 - ...thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Resurrection and Life

John 11:3-4 - Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha and all were very close friends with Jesus. When Lazarus became ill his sisters called for Jesus to come and heal him.

Jesus didn't go immediately but lingered where He was. In the meantime, Lazarus died. The sisters were consumed with grief and disappointment because they believed had the Lord shown up sooner, He could have healed their brother.

But God...has perfect timing in any circumstance. As noted in verse 4 above, His timing would glorify God! That's His way. There are things we absolutely cannot do on our own, but when God, Jesus and/or the Holy Spirit steps in, BAM, it is finished! It is done.

Lazarus was raised from the dead, even after he was wrapped in burial cloths and put in a tomb. Though Jesus seemed to be late, He did show up. And all He was call out: "Lazarus, come forth!" I think it was our pastor who said he'd heard, or he surmised himself, that had Jesus not specifically said the name of Lazarus, all the dead might have come out of the tombs!

This is what Jesus does for us. We are all dead in this life until He calls us to come forth. To come out of our tombs, to follow Him that we may have life. He called me. He has called others and He may be calling you.

We cannot get to God in our own ways. It has to glorify God, not ourselves. It has to be through Him. Last Sunday we had a mother and son water baptized in church (Fleet Farm water trough!). Both had been delivered from hard lives. She from a life of lust and drugs, he from crime, at 17! What joy in the faces of both when they committed themselves to this baptism, death to life in and through Christ. Nothing they did apart from believing He would remove them from their lifestyles, relying on Him, trusting in Him and maintaining their lives in Him.

When Jesus died He said, "It is finished." His death would bring life to all who would humble themselves and accept His free gift of life through Him alone.

The old lives are finished for this mother and son, providing they do not turn their backs on Jesus. They walk in the newness of a life in Christ.

Like Lazarus walked out of his grave clothes and the tomb into a resurrected life, so does anyone who chooses to live by, through and for Christ. Has this happened to you? Do you recall a time when a drastic change took place?

Jesus is no more than a call away. He will hear if you are serious. Is He calling, "Come forth?"

James 1:16-18 - Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Oh my! After the last blog, I came upon this in the mail. I believe it was written a few years ago but it's a message (a long one) that goes into more detail my feelings. I'm so glad I'm not the only one whose thoughts are like this!

So, straying from my normal blogs...I want to share someone else's words. Let's see if it touches on anything I wrote... I can say this: a world of darkness and unbelief is still here... But we still have the opportunity to see the great light...of Christ...if we so desire. Without Christ's birth and death and resurrection there would be no hope for eternal life, in Christ, if we so desire it. I pray hearts would turn to the love of the One who died that we might have life. But you must be willing to give of yourself. It doesn't just come to all. It must be received by humbled hearts.

David Wilkerson
December 5, 2016

We cannot separate Christmas from Christ’s resurrection. You may think of the resurrection as an Easter message, but the birth of the child in the manger can’t be separated from the man on the cross. God’s message to us through both events is one and the same.

As the shepherds gazed on the babe in the manger, they saw a Savior who would redeem all of humankind. When the wise men beheld him, they saw a King who would conquer death. When the prophets looked down to his time, they saw an Emancipator who would open prison doors, unlock chains and set captives free. They all had their vision of who Jesus was and why he came.

Christ was born into a world of darkness and unbelief, when God’s people lived under the terrifying grip of the Roman Empire. Israel’s religious leaders didn’t offer much hope. The Pharisees believed salvation was achievable through works; they convoluted God’s laws into a rigid system of impossible performance. The Sadducees didn’t even believe in resurrection. Very few people had any vision of an eternal existence. This was the darkness Jesus was born into.

When I look into the manger in Bethlehem, I see resurrection coming. I see King Jesus ushering in a flood tide of eternal life. Christ was fully human at birth—it was Mary’s blood that nourished him in the womb and her milk that fed him through infancy—but his birth was also a breaking forth of the eternal. The Bible says, “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Matthew 4:16, KJV).

This light was eternal life—the possibility of resurrection from death. Hosea prophesied of the coming Messiah, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction” (Hosea 13:14). When Jesus came, he fulfilled this prophecy, saying, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

Jesus himself connects his birth to the resurrection: “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” (6:38-40, my emphasis).

Christ said, in essence, “Do you know why I’m here? Do you know why I was born into poverty, why the shepherds adored me, why the wise men brought gifts, why the angels sang that night? It is so you would have everlasting life.” Christ’s confession points directly to resurrection: graves opening, the dead restored to life, and the ultimate fulfillment of God’s everlasting covenant.

Resurrection is the emphasis throughout the New Testament.

The first church leaders accepted Christ’s incarnation as a reality. Yet their preaching centered not on that event but on the resurrection. As early as the Upper Room gathering at Pentecost, Peter said, “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it” (Acts 2:23-24, my emphasis).

Everywhere Paul and the other apostles traveled, their preaching went beyond Christ’s incarnation and miracles to proceed to the resurrection:

“They came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ” (17:1-3).

At Mars Hill in Athens, Paul preached, “He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (17:31).

Paul also preached on resurrection when he appeared before the Roman governor Felix and before King Agrippa. Indeed, without the resurrection, Paul says, all our preaching of Christ’s gospel is in vain. He explains why: “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Paul is telling us, in effect, “If this is not all about the resurrection, you can forget about the Christmas message. Why preach the birth of Christ? Why be holy? Why pursue spiritual matters at all? Without the resurrection, we remain dead in our sins. Everything we do is in vain.”

This isn’t just some abstract theological truth. Here is the point of all our resurrection preaching: JESUS CAME TO GET YOU AND ME. He was born to live and die and rise from the dead— and to raise us to eternal life with him. He came to bring us home to himself for all eternity!

This was the message of the New Testament church. “Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (15:20). In other words, just as surely as the Spirit raised Christ from the dead, he will raise us up too: “Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you” (2 Corinthians 4:14).

As I look into the manger, I see a bridge. Christ is the bridge between earth and heaven, crossing over the abyss of death that separates temporal life and the eternal. One day we’re going to cross that bridge, and it will take place in the twinkling of an eye: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

Many Christians wonder, “Who will I see first when I’m raised into eternity?”

I’m convinced that when this moment comes, we will all want to see Jesus first. He is Love incarnate—our Savior, Healer and King. Yet I once saw something that made me wonder about others. I walked into our living room to find my wife, Gwen, quietly weeping. She was watching the last home video of our granddaughter, Tiffany, who died of cancer at age 13. She was longing to see Tiffany again.

Make no mistake, Gwen and I will recognize Tiffany when we get to heaven. The Bible says there is no marriage in heaven, but there is love because he is love. All will be one in Christ’s body, and we’ll recognize each other with a spiritual intuition. Scripture says in that moment we will know even as we are known.

Maybe you didn’t grow up with a loving father or mother. Maybe no one in your home knew Jesus or ever showed you his precious love. You wonder, “Who’ll be there waiting for me?” I tell you, you have another family—the family of God. I’m convinced there is no one in Christ’s body who wasn’t prayed for by someone who came before them—an older man or woman, a pastor, a distant relative. You’ll be recognized and embraced with the family love that God has prepared for you in eternity.

I believe God has made worlds as yet unconquered.

We’re not going to sit idle when we’re resurrected. Astronomers have discovered galaxies beyond what we can imagine and planets profoundly larger than the earth. It’s nothing for the Creator of this vast universe to resurrect his creatures from death.

Paul Harvey tells the story of an atheist scientist who traveled to college campuses for decades to lecture on how God couldn’t possibly exist. Years later this man became a Christian. Whenever he was asked why he converted, he answered with one simple word: “DNA.”

Inside every human being is this amazing discovery called DNA. It’s a unique identifier so accurate that someone can be proven guilty of a crime if his DNA is found at the scene. DNA is complex, yet it can be taken from something as simple as a strand of hair. In it, scientists have discovered a “genetic code” with billions of bits of information that, linked together, are unique to that person.

Who created this incredible phenomenon that boggles the mind? Who has known the unique genetic code of every human being since Adam and Eve? Only God. He not only numbers every hair on our heads but has impressed our unique DNA into each strand. That’s what humbled the atheist scientist: the magnificence of a Creator and his ever-impressive creation.

God knows the DNA of every person who has ever lived—and he knows how to reconstruct it when he raises us up on the last day. This should put to rest all the strange doctrines that have arisen over the years about the resurrection. Some say there can’t be a bodily resurrection for people who’ve been cremated or died gory deaths; they can’t conceive of how God would do this. The truth is our imaginations simply can’t fathom the glory of God. Our brains are too finite.

We do know that the bodies God brings out of the grave will be changed bodies. Some think we’ll be spirits, but the Bible makes clear we will be resurrected bodily. Everything damaged, severed or obliterated will be restored in the twinkling of an eye. Hunched over people will walk straight. The blind will see. Those infirm from birth or killed in wars will be whole. Their DNA will be perfected by their Creator!

I think of the resurrection also when I see sad, lonely people at Christmas.

Whenever I’ve walked down the street in New York to buy milk or a newspaper, what I’ve seen breaks my heart. Alcoholic men in their 60’s and 70’s lay on the sidewalk nodding off. They’ve spent decades in a hell of their own making, not knowing where they are most days. I see desperate young drug addicts racing to their pusher as he appears. They’re sleepwalking through life with no hope, no future, just looking to make their next fix happen. On the corner, I see prostitutes no more than 18 years old, dabbing their eyes as they cry over what has become of their lives.

I want to tell them all: “There is a new world coming—a world without sin, poverty or disease. That’s why he came—to bring us to the new world he has created. It’s beyond anything we can comprehend. Your King is coming to get you!”

Meanwhile, resurrection life is already available to us—in this life. We have been promised, “As Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

This Christmas season, let us keep a resurrection frame of mind. As Paul exhorts, “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him… Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, 18).

I know on that day I’ll meet a half million converted drug addicts from around the whole earth…scores of addicts and prostitutes who called on Jesus to save and deliver them…and my own family members who have gone before. What a joy it will be. Resurrection—it is why he came!

“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?... Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

All.For.Us

1John 5:11 - And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

While many are decorating trees and shopping for gifts for Christmas, I have been contemplating something else, not that I don't frequently.

Christmas is about our Savior's birth. There are different views of the timing of His birth. Some say fall, some say spring. That's not all that important. It's important to  know the real reason for our celebrating. Jesus came to us from on high, was born in the flesh for the salvation of everyone who would believe in Him, was crucified and rose again!  I can't separate His birth from His death and all the time in between. He can be celebrated every day. 

When He was born He gave us the greatest gift of all. It's not about us but about Him. To me the most important part about His birth is the life He gives to us through this birth and a new birth within us when we give our hearts and lives to Him. 

We give gifts like the wise men did. They understood this baby boy was something special. It was His gift of His life for us that is special. His death. And in return we die to ourselves that we might have life. His whole life is an example for us: Being born again in the Spirit, dying to self and living as He lived to share His glorious mercy, grace and salvation. It's one of those fabulous mysteries of God. 

I need not go into the commercialism we see around Christmas. I want this to be about Jesus. He came for the most important reason and I seem to struggle trying to convey this. It's so simple yet sometimes so hard to understand. 

Christ came to this earth not that we lavish each other with gifts but that He would be our humble gift to us.  The shepherds, first to arrive, offered nothing but their humble worship. Perhaps they offered a lamb to the Child who would eventually be our ultimate sacrificial Lamb. 

Everything about the birth of Jesus was amazing. Conceived by the Holy Spirit. Born in a humble stable and sleeping in a feeding trough. A King with humble beginnings and an even humbler, yet tragic, end.  All.for.us. That's what I want to think about at Christmas. It's so not about us. 

Is Jesus the central part of our Christmas celebration? Is His name brought up? Is the Christmas story shared? 

Christmas can be an everyday thing...should be. His death and resurrection are just as important. It's why I can't separate any part of His earthly life. All He did for us.... All.for.us. THIS is one amazing God. I pray He becomes a deeper meaning this year. 

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The Rest of the Story

Matthew 28:6-8 - "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you." So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFIaqn0EG3E&sns=em

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So proclaimed the angel. It's the rest of the story. While He died, He IS now risen! He is alive. We may not see Him but He's here. By faith we believe. His Spirit is alive. 

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews‬ ‭11:1‬)

...we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. (Romans‬ ‭8:24-25‬)

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Hebrews‬ ‭11:7‬)

Noah. Without knowing why. Prepared an ark. So that anyone who heeded his warnings and entered that ark would be saved. From a flood. Which no one had ever heard of before...What's a flood? What's rain? By faith he built the ark. Noah and his family waited, maybe with perseverance, maybe with anticipation or anxiousness. But they did it...in faith. 

Little did Noah realize that this ark would be a precursor to the ark that would be the Messiah, our celebrated, adored, worshiped Jesus Christ. The Door...to the ark. The Door, the Way. To safety and life. From the destruction. Of our sins.

We should also fear Him. But our fear should be reverent fear. If we fear anything in the way we think of fear it should be for our lives. Or we fear Jesus because we are convicted by our own sin. BUT GOD...has provided the Way into the safety of a new Ark to take away that sin. Our sins went to the cross on Jesus. 

But He's alive! He conquered the grave. He's in His rightful place at the right hand of God. All He did He did for us. He has returned that all may be set free. It takes a great deal of faith to trust and believe in Someone we cannot see. It may be why it's so hard for some to do. They may recognize, and I don't like saying this, a higher power, but aren't always sure what they recognize is for real. He's alive! He is real. Trust those feelings.

Like the two women who went to the tomb that dawn, we should be filled with joy. We should be so filled with joy we share what Jesus has done for us. He has forgiven me of my sin. He has made me new, through Him. I can rejoice with all the others who have received Him.

When Jesus appeared later to the disciples, the great commission was exhorted.

Matthew‬ ‭28:18-20‬ ‭- And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end 
of the age.” Amen.

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Mark‬ ‭15:34‬ ‭- And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

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As I was walking this morning I decided to listen to a few songs from a CD I have by Michael Card. The song is Love Crucified Arose. (See all the lyrics here.) Or listen to the song here.

I have listened to this song many times but I was so taken by just this part: 

At last the time to love and die

The dark appointed day

That one forsaken moment when

Your Father turned His face away

The Father turned His face away. I wondered about that. Did He turn away out of disgust because Jesus bore all the sins of the world upon Him? He cannot abhor sin and cannot be in the presence of it, we are told.

You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he? (Habakkuk‬ ‭1:13‬)

I believe God, the Father, turned His face away because it grieved Him that He had to allow this to happen to His Son, although this is why Jesus came into the world and that He would be resurrected. But, still, in the end...it so grieved Him. For that short moment in time He had to look away...

I did some research on this and found out Jesus never called His Father God. It is suggested that He spoke these words (My God, My God...) which come from Psalm 22 as a reference that the Jews might one day see that His death had been prophesied...that they might know Him, whom they crucified. Oh, people, it's not just for them, it's for everyone. God so wants all of us to see the truth of Jesus, to know Him, to be reconciled through Him to the Father.

God loved His Son so much. Jesus loved His Father also. They both love us. Jesus only did the will of His Father, knowing at some time in His life He would be the sacrificial Lamb like the one before the exodus from Egypt. The one then that would save God's people. The One today who saves "whosoever" will believe in Jesus and learn and believe all these great accounts throughout the Bible that so prophesy about a Savior come to this world to die for us. 

This same Father must turn His face upon each of us until we recognize His only Son, the One who died on the cross...the One whom His Father had to turn away from in grief because of all the sin He bore. We bear this sin. We are dead until we receive Christ. God cannot be in our presence because of our sin, which we all have, and we are separated from Him. When we bow before the Lord and ask for forgiveness and receive His gift of salvation that we might be resurrected as Christ, He will resurrect us, like His Son. Oh, why are there so many whose pride prevents them from doing this?

Listen to these final words. They are so familiar in the Gospel accounts. They are truth. And God hears when we earnestly, honestly call out to Him.

Psalms 22:1,8,16-19,24 - “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?"

He [Jesus] trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!

"For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look 
and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots. But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!"

For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard.

That They May Believe

John 11:41-46

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." 

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." And he who had died came bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."

Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. 


I'm sure no one could have known what was about to transpire. People were filled with grief for and comforting Martha and Mary. Jesus had been late in arriving. Lazarus was dead and buried four days already. If only He had gotten there sooner...

But it was the Father's will. It was His will to bring about an even greater understanding and belief that this Man who said He was the Son of God. They needed more proof. All part of the Father's will. That we all might believe.

What more proof do we need? Today Jesus still brings life. We are all covered in grave clothes until we are awakened to who this Man is. We walk with our hands and feet bound, and our heads wrapped that we might not see. But when Jesus becomes a true reality to us, those cloths are are loosed and we are set free. He asks us all to come forth. Free to see, to believe, to begin a new life, in Christ through Christ alone. And part of that purpose for our own freedom is that others may believe.

Jesus will not be a one time thing in my life. He is a forever blessing. If I believe what He says, I have been set free of my own grave clothes. I have been resurrected spiritually. And He longs to do this with each of us. Jesus says it better than I can:

John 8:36 - Therefore if the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.

THE Resurrection and Life

John 11:17-29

So when Jesus came, He found that he [Lazarus] had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now 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 of 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 at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever 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 to come into the world." And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you." As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.


Ah, the stage is still being set regarding Lazarus. Jesus still has a few words to say. He has arrived where Lazarus died. He continues to encourage Martha, who by all accounts truly believes in Him. She knows there will be a good end to her brother. She is just saddened that Jesus had not come sooner to heal him.

In Martha's eyes her brother is dead. But she knows that because Lazarus was a believer like she and Mary, they will be reunited on the last day. They understood to some degree the principle of eternal life. But she had no idea what was yet to happen.

Jesus was setting the stage.

We can have the same assurance as Mary and Martha that we and our loved ones will be reunited on the last day. As Jesus tells Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall never die." He asks us all, "Do you believe this?" He so wants us to believe. He has so shown us through His life, death and His own resurrection. So why is it still so difficult a concept?

We can do nothing to be assured of eternal life with God on our own. We must believe and receive Him. There's no other way. He is the only Way, Truth and Life. No one goes to the Father on the last day apart from Him. We must have the faith to believe in Him. Believe Him for everything in our lives. He must be the first and the last in our lives, not just Someone we worship one day a week...or not at all.

When life throws us difficulties, we must trust Him. We must rely on Him, seek Him for our strength and peace. If we don't we are relying on the little strength we have on our own which does not sustain.

When I see or hear people who do not have Christ struggle with life's situations and hear in their voices how difficult it is, how so unprepared they were for these times, I am saddened. We will all go through difficult times despite knowing the Lord, but there will still be an underlying peace. It's sad when others don't have this peace. Martha experienced this...sadness, yet peace.

Martha made sure Jesus knew that she was certain had He been there sooner He would have saved Lazarus. That was very clear. But she also knew though Lazarus had not survived that he, as we hear so often whether rightfully so or not, "he's in a better place." I'm sure Martha was a bit confused at this point why Jesus hadn't gotten there sooner. But there was a reason...

Here's an opposite view for us. Jesus is holding out for some people. Holding out that they might receive Him. That they might believe in Him...as HE has called us to do. Not that head knowledge that so many think will save them but the heart knowledge that sends them to their knees in repentance for their lives without Him. None of us are are good enough on our own to enter heaven. Again, Jesus says, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. There is no other way. Only through Him will resurrection and eternal life be received.

Romans 10:8-11 - But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

It Is Finished

Revelation 5:12 - ... “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” 

A Youtube video for you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gx6_rGLz20&sns=em

As I listened to the mini sermon I thought about our lives. I thought about death. I was reminded that all things must come to an end. But what end will we have? 

I was reminded how our personal Sunday's coming. As Jesus was resurrected from the dead so will those who are alive in Christ. This is our end. Life everlasting. If we have Jesus. The name above all names. The glorified Christ.

Jesus suffered tragically. Sometimes in our own lives we suffer. We suffer before we have a relationship with Christ and we can suffer even after. So why receive Christ if the suffering doesn't end? We are given hope...if we know Jesus. All that we have in the world does not compare to what He gives us. 

We know that some day all suffering will cease because we have made a commitment for Christ. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4) Passed away...death...the end. When we receive Christ our old man and old things have passed away. Our eternal life is secure...in Christ.

He died for our sins. He died to give us this hope. He remained silent...the most amazing thing...despite all the false words spoken against Him. He remained silent when His disciples and followers scattered. He remained silent as they beat Him. He remained silent. Who does that?? Only One was able. 

Jesus spoke words that tell us all He had willingly gone through for all of us was done. "It is finished." He became the final sacrifice for mankind. He died for us. Tragically. The sacrificial Lamb of God. The Lamb who takes away the sins of the world...if we choose to follow Him. "It is finished" can be our words too. 

All praise is given Him. 

Revelation 5:13 - And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” 

Sentence of Death

2Corinthians 1:9 - Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead...

A sentence of death. This was the gist of Pastor Terry Eddings' message Tuesday night at our church's ministers conference. Although ministers preach to build up the body of other ministers, the congregation is blessed by the words also. The Word of God is always for all people's edification and conviction, that we might become the men and women of God He desires us to be.

When we come to Christ we are called to this sentence of death that we might see how we are transformed, raised from the earthly death to spiritual life through Christ alone. This death must be the basis of our life, dying to self at all times. Look at Jesus. It was never about what He could gain from others. He was only about His Father's business helping others. His ministry was to heal broken bodies, minds and spirits that they should live. Entering into relationship with Jesus does that. He was called to be a Servant to all and His death on the cross was proof of this.

Imagine the magnitude of all this! Christ calls us into relationship with Him! We may think we've searched for Him (found God) or we believe we've known Him through our attending church, but it is He who ultimately draws us into a closer, more real relationship. When we heed His call and choose to follow He takes our sorry lives lived in the death of this world and raises us to spiritual life, just as He was raised to life after His physical death. Hallelujah! What a privilege to be counted as one who has been raised from the dead along with Christ.

But it also means dying to our old self and allowing the work of the Spirit to transform us into the image of Christ: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2Corinthians 3:18).  As you can see in the scripture it doesn't happen immediately...are being transformed...it's a lifelong process.

As Pastor E. suggested...it's not about our earthly lives and the status we attain or political affiliation or patriotism anymore. It's about a life lived in Jesus Christ. If we have our hearts set on Him we are set for life! All other things in life are meaningless, in the grand scheme of things. Paul said he counted all loss for the knowledge of Christ. (Philippians 3:18). Loss...death. In order to gain life in Christ we must experience this death. And this death is a grand death with the experience even grander.

But even this death comes with time. He asked us all if we are truly dead enough? Are pastors dead enough to not be afraid to preach the truth about hell and damnation, God's judgment, rather than just His love. Coming to Christ is more than an ooey gooey, wonderful experience. There are demands, which sometimes we don't want to hear about. Jesus' words can be very convicting. But they are hard because He loves us. He displayed tough love and we are subject to that too.

Coming to Christ is about doing God's will, not our own. (Colossians 1:24) The death we experience will be glorious (2Corinthians 3:18). If we are truly following Him and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us, the more we go to that mirror, the more we should see a change. The image will become clearer and clearer. And it should be a glorious reflection.

Do I have a ways to go? You know I do. Am I exactly where I need to be spiritually for Him to use me? Probably not...yet. I know I have a ways to go. We must be flexible in our lives and allow the Spirit to guide us. He may take us from one place to another at a moment's notice. Pastor E. told a story about how he was enjoying a time of celebrating the 4th of July with family when he was called by a burdened member of his congregation. He had to drop the celebration to minister to the troubled congregant. That's what we are to do. Be ready in season and out not just to preach the gospel but lend a hand, offer a prayer, be a servant. How are we doing? I know I need work!

Reading further in 2Corinthians 4 it says that our message to others may be veiled but that veil is there because they are blinded to the words...either they choose not to see or or hear, as I learned earlier this week...and when we reject the truth enough, God will harden our hearts to this truth.

But Pastor E. had these encouraging words: just as Jesus raised a four-day dead, smelly Lazarus from the grave, Jesus can bring anyone today out of the same death. There is always that hope if one is open to receiving Christ and losing their natural life for a spiritual one.

John 11:25-26 - Jesus said..., “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

He's Alive

Matthew 28:6 - He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.

There was an incredible story about finding the empty tomb. It was three days after Jesus' death. He was meant to be placed in a tomb for and with the criminals, but placed in the tomb of a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea. Prophecy: Isaiah 53:9 - And they made His grave with the wicked--but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.  Reality: John 19:38 - After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus.

Mary Magdalene went on the third day and saw that the stone was rolled away. She quickly ran to where Peter, John and other disciples were. Peter and John immediately ran to the place of the tomb. John got there first but did not enter. He only looked inside. When Peter arrived, being the impetuous man he was, he ran right in...he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. (Matthew 20:6-7) 

When John entered it is said, "He believed." Why was that? There are two thoughts here. One is the appearance of the grave clothes. They weren't just crumpled somewhere or tossed aside but still lying in place, minus a body, seemingly undisturbed. Two, the napkin that was about Jesus' head was folded. I think John and Peter both realized what Jesus had been telling them...He would rise from the dead. Only He could rise without disturbing the grave clothes. And what about that folded napkin?

Hebrew tradition states that when a slave sets his master's table he is to watch for a sign as to when to clear that table. Without a word, the master would crumple up his napkin and walk away. This meant he was finished. However, if the napkin was folded the master would return. So John believed...he believed what Jesus had been telling them...I must go but I will return. Do you see it? Their Master was Jesus and His napkin was folded neatly. He was going to return. And John understood and believed. He's alive.

And today we have that same assurance. Jesus will return. He will come back to claim His people some day. When He returns we will reign with Him on earth. There will be no evil penetrating our lives. Until that day, Jesus lives to continue drawing people to Him. He continues to heal the sick, raise the dead, cause the blind to see and the deaf to hear...but most importantly brings eternal life to all who believe, as John did. 

I'm sure all the disciples were just very confused by all that had just happened the past few days of Jesus' life. They claimed they believed He was the Son of God, they saw Him work miracles, but when it appeared He could not save Himself from this crucifixion, I'm sure they wondered. This can happen to us as well, believing but not absolutely sure...believing because we've been told to believe. Then, if and when we come into a true relationship with Christ, our spiritually blind eyes really see, our deaf ears really being to understand the truth, our sin-ravaged bodies are healed and we no longer have to fear the grave because we have been given the free gift of eternal life. As John did, in our spirits, in an instant, we know that we know and we believe. This is a promise to all who choose this relationship with a living God.

Revelation 1:18 - I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.