eternity

19
Apr
2021

Raised up with Jesus

From fear to hope and newness of life

Bible readings for 3rd Sunday of Easter:  Acts 3:12-19,  1 John 3:1-7,  Luke 24:36-48

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Are you afraid? A more precise question would be: What fears do you have? We all have fears to one degree or another. A lot of us have a lot of fears that dwell in our hearts and dominate our thinking. The past year of pandemic and political turmoil has pushed fears to the surface even more than before.

I’m afraid of COVID-19. People close to me have died due to that disease. So many people have died overall. I’m not a young man, and I have other risk factors. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to be vaccinated. But I fear we’re not out of the woods yet in dealing with the health threat of the pandemic. I also have other, underlying fears that keep bothering me.  I worry about job security. I wonder if I’ll have sufficient funds when I get older and am no longer working. I want to know that my kids all will have stability and happiness in their lives and careers–and so much about the future is uncertain. I fear for our country. I fear for our world. There seems no end of economic uncertainty, societal controversies, international pressures and tensions … and the planet itself seems to be groaning and convulsing with environmental problems along with all our human problems (cf. Romans 8:19-23).

There have been studies and surveys done about what fears are troubling people the most. One survey showed that 83% of Americans fear that the next generation will be worse off than we are today. 76% are afraid we are losing democracy in America. 58% fear climate change will cause harm in the area where they live. A survey in another country, conducted during the pandemic, found that the vast majority of young adults feared losing a relative. More than half expressed a general anxiety about the future. A third of young adults said they were seriously or very seriously afraid that the worst was going to happen, with almost all the rest saying they moderately or somewhat felt that way. Less than 10% said they never feared that the worst was going to happen.

Beyond fears about the external world, we have deeper fears too, that linger in our souls. We have fears caused by our sense of guilt and shame. We’ve heard the news that we are forgiven, but we struggle to believe that news. We can’t shake the feeling that our past sins will come back to haunt us–maybe even eternally. Maybe we still have our doubts about eternity itself–if there is really life after death. 

And when we do manage to hold onto faith, we waver in expressing our faith. We’re afraid that the people of this world and the powers in this world are set against us. We fear we’re not up to the challenge of living our beliefs openly in the community. We fear opposition. We fear ridicule. We fear being thought of as naïve or out of touch. We worry about our own inadequacies. We are immobilized by our uncertainties.

What does Jesus say to all our fears?  You know what he says: “Peace be with you” (Luke 24:36). “Don’t be afraid,” (Matthew 28:10). He said such words when he appeared to the women who found his tomb empty and to his disciples when he appeared to them inside a locked room. I’ve heard it said that the phrase, “Fear not” or “Don’t be afraid” occurs 365 times in the Bible, once for every day of the year. Actually, if you account for the various Bible translations and many different words that describe our fears (anxiety, worry, trepidation, alarm, dread), the Bible actually talks about fear far more than 365 times. It is a constant theme of God’s word to us. He is our God; his love is our strength. So the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, melts our fears and guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (cf. Philippians 4:7).  That doesn’t mean our fears aren’t real. It doesn’t mean fears cease to exist and we live blissfully unaware of any threats or worries. There is plenty to make us afraid, day after day. But the presence of the living, breathing, miraculous Savior Jesus enables us to overcome fear.

Think of the disciples as they cowered in hiding and did not know what to do in the days after Christ’s crucifixion. They weren’t out in the streets protesting the brutality of the Roman guards who had beaten and killed Jesus. They feared the Romans, and they feared their own community members who had demanded that Jesus should die. They didn’t know what to think when friends of theirs came hurrying back to Jerusalem to tell them Jesus was alive and had been with them while they were on the road. And when Jesus appeared again right there among them, they thought they were seeing a ghost. Jesus had to ask them for a piece of fish and eat it in front of them to convince them he was real and they weren’t hallucinating (cf. Luke 24:36-43).

Now think also of those same disciples some weeks later, at the festival of Pentecost and in the days thereafter. Having seen the risen Christ and being strengthened by his Spirit, they became bold enough to stand up and speak out about Jesus and his resurrection. Peter, who had bragged that he would never fall or back down (cf. Matthew 26:33), had crumbled into curses and denials when Jesus was put on trial. But then Peter saw Jesus risen from death (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:5) and was assured by Jesus that he remained in Jesus’ love and still had a place as an apostle for Jesus (cf. John 21:15-19). A new boldness took over in Peter–not one from his own bravado or self-confidence. Now he lived and spoke as a new person, changed by the power of Jesus’ resurrection. And Peter offered to people who had participated in the killing of Jesus the same path of redemption and forgiveness that he had experienced himself.  Peter said to the people: “You handed over and rejected [Jesus] in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. … You rejected the Holy and Righteous One … and killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. … And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. … Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:13-19). 

When Peter told his fellow Israelites, “You killed the Author of life,” he wasn’t preaching from some high and mighty perch, seeing himself as better than his hearers. He knew well his own shame and guilt. He wanted others–even those complicit in the death of Jesus–to know the rejuvenating power of Jesus’ life. Those who believe in Jesus are brought to new life by Jesus.

We are believers in Jesus’ resurrection. Our confidence that there is a heavenly future for us comes from knowing that whoever believes in Jesus will live, even though we die (cf. John 11:25-26). We stake our lives–our eternal lives–on that promise of Jesus.

I wonder how much, though, we realize the power of Christ’s resurrection in our lives already now. From the moment we first believed, we crossed over from death to life (cf. John 5:24). From the moment we became baptized members of God’s family, our lives changed. We are not just called children of God; that is who and what we truly are, as John reminded us (1 John 3:1). Another apostle, Paul, said this also:  “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). 

So, sin and death are no longer the dominant forces in our lives. The life of Christ is the power that is at work within us. The resurrection of Christ empowers us, enlivens us. If we ponder that, what does it mean for our current lives? 

It means we stop seeing faith as if it is just knowledge, just a way of thinking. We come to understand that faith is a way of being. It is a life of faith that we lead, inspired and moved and guided by the Lord who went before us into death and came out alive again. Living by the power of Jesus’ resurrection means we are new creations (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17). We don’t hang around in our old patterns of sin and shame and falling short. “No one who abides in Christ sins” (1 John 3:6). We strive now to do what is right, just as Jesus is righteous (cf. 1 John 3:7).

And if you think, “I’m not strong enough to do that, to be that person” … let me remind you that the “immeasurable greatness of God’s power,” the same power that God put “to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand” (Ephesians 1:19-21), is also the power that is now at work in you by faith.

So, what will it look like if our lives are empowered by Jesus’ resurrection? What will our character and conduct look like as witnesses for Jesus? Peter, who spoke the powerful words we heard earlier to his fellow people in Jerusalem, described well our life of witness in one of his letters to the church: “In your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame” (1 Peter 3:15-16). 

You don’t need to stand with a megaphone outside a busy coffee shop, haranguing about the evils in society and how all the coffee drinkers on the patio were causing the deaths of innocent souls. (I saw someone doing that on Saturday of Easter weekend, and he was not winning any converts for Christ by his methods.) Your witness for Christ comes from who you are in your daily life and how you speak with others in your daily life. When it is evident that you are warm and caring, that you are alive and eager, that you are full of hope and active in love, people will be drawn to you as a living witness for Christ, and you will have opportunities to speak with them of your faith in Christ.  As Jesus himself urged us, everyone will know that we are his disciples by our love (cf. John 13:35).

We have our fears–and plenty of them. Things that cause fear and alarm keep coming at us relentlessly.  Inevitably, in this world, we will have trouble. But we take courage in Jesus, who has overcome this world and its trouble (cf. John 16:33). We have life through Jesus and his power over death. Even when sick and ailing, even in the midst of fears and problems, even when facing death itself, we are alive through Jesus. That is our living hope (1 Peter 1:3), our constant way of being because of Jesus. And that will always be our strongest witness to the world–that we exude joy and hope and peace that rest in knowing Jesus.  We are “convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, nor from the life that we have now and eternally with him.  

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Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Image credit:  Newness of Life by listentothemountains on Flickr, Creative Commons License

Posted by David Sellnow
30
Dec
2019

Jesus, my Lord

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on November 22, 2016.
A musical acquaintance shared with me a hymn she was working on, and permitted posting of the lyrics on the Electric Gospel blog.

Jesus, My Lord

by Raquel Freese

Jesus, my Lord, how can it be?
My God was crucified for me.
Your precious blood for me was shed,
A crown of thorns placed on your head.
As I stood idly watching by,
And saw my friend and Savior die.

You came down from your heavn’ly throne,
And took on human flesh and bone.
You humbly bore my heavy cross
And suffered deepest pain and loss.
You let your love for sinners show-
Your grace is more than I can know!

Now from my sins I have release.
Lord, let my wonder never cease.
Allow me always day and night,
To show the world your glorious light.
And help me, Lord, in all I do,
To fix my eyes solely on you.

We wait until that day you come
To take us to our heavn’ly home.
And when you come from up on high,
The church in unison will cry:
“Our Savior’s blood has set us free
To live with him eternally!”

Posted by David Sellnow
27
Dec
2019

Jesus has built a home for us

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on July 9, 2015.  The following devotion was written in connection with a Devotional Writing course that I led. 

A House Built for Us

by Monica Sletten

It’s nice to have a house to call our home.   We all live in structures built by someone – houses, apartments, mobile homes.   Every sort of house was built by a carpenter or other types of builders.  After the builders do their job and build a house, people like you and me live in them.  Once the house is finished, people move their stuff into their new home.

Sometimes when we get new things we are very protective of that “stuff” and the houses in which we keep our stuff.   We can become overly worried about what our houses look like, whether our stuff is as nice as our neighbors’ stuff, and other such concerns about things we have in this world.   It is very easy to get so caught up in who has the most toys, the prettiest clothes, the coolest cars, or who had the best carpenters and builders to build their house.  Not all builders do the same quality of work.  Sometimes they forget a nail, use an imperfect piece of wood, or simply don’t make a very attractive style of house.

But you know what?  The style of the houses we live in here on earth and the things that fill our houses are not truly the most important things.  There is a carpenter who has built us a house that is perfect, a home that is flawless. There is nothing wrong with the house he has built, and he promises he has a room in this house waiting for each member of his family.  Does anyone know who this carpenter is that I have in mind?

Jesus!

Jesus was raised as the son of Joseph, a carpenter.  He likely learned how to build things as part of growing up with Joseph and Mary in Nazareth.  But I’m talking about a different sort of house-building that Jesus has done.  Jesus said, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3).  Jesus has made rooms ready in heaven for us by the work that he has done for us.  He has built places in the heavenly Father’s house for each of us by his life and death and resurrection.  Through what Jesus did, we have a place with God, a home for eternity.   All our sins are forgiven and we now have a room waiting for us. We don’t have to do anything to earn this place in God’s perfect house.  We simply trust Jesus, who promises he will take us there to be with him.

This is truly such a blessing that Jesus has given to us – the gift of an eternal home with God!   With that heavenly home in view, we will stop fussing so much about what sorts of houses or garages or other stuff we have here on earth now.  If someone has a house that is more beautiful and bigger than yours, don’t worry about it.  Jesus promises us that he will take us to live with him in his Father’s house, where he has prepared places just for us.  I can’t wait to experience what that house is like!

Posted by kyriesellnow
24
Dec
2019

Not dead, but sleeping

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on May 27, 2019.

On this Memorial Day, I think back to the funeral of a military officer a number of years ago. I’ve adapted words that I shared on that day for the benefit of other families who have lost a loved one in military service.

This is for God’s glory

by David Sellnow

Jesus had a very dear friend named Lazarus.  Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, also were very dear to Jesus. They lived in Bethany, a short distance outside Jerusalem. Jesus had been a guest in their home. They were followers of his. They believed his teachings and knew of his miracles. They relied on him as their Savior. So it was natural for them, when they had a problem, to turn to Jesus for help.

Lazarus had become ill. His sisters immediately sent word to Jesus. “Lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is sick” (John 11:3). They assumed Jesus would come quickly; they knew Jesus could heal their brother.

However, when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, “he stayed two days in the place where he was” (John 11:6). In the meantime, Lazarus died. By the time Jesus came to Bethany, Lazarus had been in the grave already for a couple of days. Martha went out to meet him and said, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died” (John 11:21).

Think of the pain and bewilderment that Lazarus’ sisters felt: “Jesus, you knew and loved this man; he knew and loved you. We told you he was sick. We called for you to come because we were in trouble. Yet you let him die. You dawdled for two days while he was breathing his last. Why, Lord, why? How could you do this? Why didn’t you help? You had the power to stop this, and instead you let our brother die! Why? Why?”

Dear families of those who have given their lives in the service of our country: You’ve ve likely asked yourselves similar questions concerning the loss of a loved one. “Why, Lord, why?” Such questions are never easily answered. But when we face a tragic and untimely death, the loss of someone who is beloved of Christ, the words and actions of Christ when Lazarus died give us some insight. There are three key things Jesus said and did at that time. When he first heard that Lazarus was sick, Jesus had said, “This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God’s Son may be glorified by it” (John 11:4). Then, speaking to his disciples about Lazarus’ death, Jesus said, “Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep” (John 11:11). To Martha, Jesus also gave an absolute promise:  “Your brother will rise again. … I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies” (John 11:23,25). Finally, to prove his words, Jesus came to Lazarus’ tomb, had the stone rolled away, and called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43) – and the dead man came out of his grave, once again alive.

What Jesus did for Lazarus is not fiction. It is not fairy tale. It is fact. What Jesus did for Lazarus he will do for each of his people who fall asleep in him. Yes, he calls it “falling asleep.” Several times Jesus used that expression to refer to people who died. Sometimes he was laughed at for speaking that way.  Once, at a wake where mourners were wailing over the death of a young girl, Jesus said, “Why do you make an uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but is asleep” (Mark 5:39). The mourners laughed and ridiculed him. But for Jesus, waking someone from death is no more difficult than waking someone from sleep. Death is not the end. It is a temporary state from which God, by his mighty power, will raise us up again. He will reconstruct each person, whether buried in the ground or scattered on the seas or blown apart in battle. The limits of our human mind may object to such a thought, but it us God’s truth. He guarantees it. And he has the authority and ability to do it. He did it for Lazarus, whom he dearly loved. He will do so for your loved ones too. He will raise each of us from our graves. We wait for the coming of the Last Day, when God’s promise to resurrect every one of us in Christ will be fulfilled.

The part of any death that’s hardest for us to understand is how such a thing could be for God’s glory. In Lazarus’ case, God’s purpose was seen rather quickly, within a few days. Jesus had said that Lazarus’ sickness would not end in death, and that God would be glorified. And so it was. The sickness brought about death, but the story didn’t end there. Death was reversed. The miracle was witnessed by many. The Son of God, Jesus, revealed his grace and power. The reputation of Jesus’ name grew, and people put their faith in him more and more.

Where is the glory of God for those whose lives are cut short prematurely today? God’s glory is there, but it is painfully hard for us to see. Those loved by the Lord live on in the eternal light of the Savior. But at present, all we see is the emptiness that is left behind. We grieve. We feel their absence. And that hurts. For the families of lost service members, when they died, you died too. You died on the inside. And you didn’t get to wake up looking into the loving eyes of your Lord in heaven, as your departed loved one did. God has asked you to stay behind in this world, now especially bleak for you without your beloved in it. But the glory of God still will be revealed in this. God, who has crushed your spirit, will strengthen and support you and revive you again. He will uplift your soul. You will never be the same; your lives will be changed. But God will give you reasons to hope and will work to draw you closer to him than you’ve been before. His purpose in life, in death, in all things, is to bring each of us nearer to him in faith. He has a plan, even when horrible tragedy strikes, to bring about blessing for each of his children. Bu remember–he counts blessings in spiritual, not material terms. What matters most to God is increasing and deepening your reliance on him, so that your hearts will be ready on the day he chooses to call you home to himself, to go and be with him, where your loved one now has gone.

You dear family members who are remembering lost loved ones, I know you know these things. I know that your faith in your Savior is still alive and breathing. Nevertheless, even as you hang onto hope in Jesus, you still will mourn. And no one can fully know how you feel. Friends  and acquaintances will have a sense of your loss, but few can relate to the depth of loss you’ve experienced. And you yourselves have never felt heartache as severe as this. But keep the faith and take courage in this: There is someone who has experienced the loss of his One and Only Son. The Father in heaven watched his own Son, Jesus, die a bloody, heart-wrenching, horrible death, nailed to a cross in agony. It was a death so devastating that the sun stopped shining when it happened. But it was not a death without purpose. Jesus’ death was for our ultimate and eternal good. By his death, Christ became our Redeemer from death. He has taken our lost loved ones on angels’ wings to be with him. And God will fully, miraculously restore the bodies of all his people in glory. We have hope in a Savior who will do these things for us and a Father who understands the pain we feel. We believe that God is glorious and great and good, and that the only reason he allows death to occur to us is as a way to usher us into the glory and greatness and goodness of heaven. That is where those who have died in the Lord have gone. By faith, that is where we will follow also.

Dear God, make it so.

Posted by Electric Gospel
24
Dec
2019

Welcoming Jesus’ return

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on May 22, 2015.

Jesus is coming back … Are you ready?

by Allison Wessel

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, in the seventh petition we ask God to deliver us from evil.  The Small Catechism explains that in this petition, we are asking God to deliver us not only from the evils of this world, but also to take us to heaven.  In part, it’s a prayer asking for the end of this world to arrive.

So are you ready to exit this world?  Are you ready to leave behind the old familiar and enter the new and unfamiliar?  As you pray the Lord’s Prayer, do you ever catch yourself thinking: “Quickly come, Lord Jesus, but, please wait until after I graduate from college,” or, “Quickly come, but please, Lord, let me get married first.”  If we are honest with ourselves, sometimes we are tempted to place a greater value on the priorities of this world than on the perfect treasures of heaven.  We find ourselves yearning to have all of the great experiences that this world has to offer.  We think, “There are so many things I have yet to experience in this life, Lord.  Could you hold off your second coming just a little longer?”

As human beings, we struggle with the tension between time and eternity.  We sometimes feel that life is good, because it’s all we know.  We get caught up in all the good things of this life, and we forget that we have something much greater coming to us.  Or, when our faith is weak, we may even fear the coming of the Lord, fearing things that feel unknowable.  We will live forever – how can that be possible?  Our human logic can’t comprehend eternity, so, naturally, the thought of living forever may scare us.

Allow me to offer an odd analogy.

If you’re familiar with the storyline of the movie, The Matrix, you know that the basic plot is that—some two hundred years into the future—all humanity is enslaved by robots.  The machines use the electricity produced by human bodies to create energy, since air pollution has gotten so bad that the sun’s rays are obscured from the earth’s view.  To enable the robots to use the humans without causing them to rise up against them, they create a false reality into which the humans have been “plugged.”  Those humans who are plugged into the matrix see and live in the world as they know it, which is only an illusion.  They lead a false life, and it’s only after they’ve been unplugged that they can know what the world is really like.

I use this analogy not only to show how much of a sci-fi geek I am, but to make a connection with life on this earth.  This earth’s life can be compared to life in the matrix, where everything we see and know is only a shadow or illusion.  The reality of a perfect life can only be known beyond the grave.  This analogy is flawed, I realize, because those of you who know The Matrix know that, once unplugged, the real world is horribly drearier and the living situation much worse than in the glamorous false world of the matrix.  But the point is that everything tangible in this life doesn’t last forever.  Sometimes, weakened in our faith, that great fear of the unknown will lead us to cling to the things of this life.  In The Matrix, even Neo, who is the savior-character, is reluctant to respond to the call he receives from the real world, urging him to come to grips with reality and wake up.  At first, he wants to go on living as he always has, in the world with which he is most familiar and most comfortable.  He would rather remain ignorant and blind to the truth.  But it’s after he’s been unpleasantly thrust into the real world that he discovers his full potential and becomes The One, the person destined to save the remnant of humans left on earth from the robots.  Again the analogy is flawed, but in a similar way, we are not really of this world and can’t possibly know all that we will become in our true home in heaven.  The Bible says that God “will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).  Who knows what that entails?  But it can only mean good, of course.  The apostle John assured us, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

We can’t begin to comprehend the wonders and the treasures that God has in store for us.  But we do know that the Lord’s coming will not be a day on which to tremble in fear, or a day that we wish would hold off for a little while longer.  The day of the Lord’s coming will be a day on which to rejoice, a day leading to something better than anything we have here on earth.  Isn’t that what being a Christian is all about, after all?  Our short, little lives on this earth are merely a prelude to the life of perfect bliss that awaits us in heaven.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.  You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.  So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.  For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.  But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.  For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.  He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.  Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Posted by Electric Gospel
24
Dec
2019

Jesus is Resurrection; Jesus is Life

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on April 20, 2014.

This post was originally shared on an Easter Sunday.

 

Jesus is Resurrection; Jesus is Life

by David Sellnow

There was a time when people laughed at Jesus. In fact, they were crying and screaming in sadness, but what Jesus said sounded so strange that they burst out laughing in the middle of a funeral.  A young person had just died. A young girl, twelve years old, had been deathly ill, and death had followed.  While she was dying, the girl’s father, a man named Jairus, had come to Jesus asking for help …but even before Jesus could come to Jairus’ house, someone was sent from there to bring the sad news. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher any more.”

But upon hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed” (Luke 8:49-50).  Healed from death? Who ever heard of such a thing?

When Jesus arrived at the house, it was full of people wailing and moaning and mourning. In true Jewish custom, they made quite a scene: tears streaming down their cheeks, hair disheveled, falling on the floor, groaning and bellowing, not a dry eye in the house. It was then–when Jesus entered that house–that the mourners went from hysterical crying to uproarious laughter in an instant. What the great and wise rabbi Jesus said struck them as hilarious. Jesus said to them, “Stop your wailing. She is not dead but asleep.”  They laughed at him, knowing that she was, in fact, dead (Luke 8:52,53).

But within moments, Jesus proved that they were dead wrong. He took the girl’s hand, said to her, “Get up” …and she did!  “Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up” (Luke 8:55). Her parents were astonished. Everyone was amazed. For Jesus, bringing to life a dead person was no more difficult than waking someone up from sleep.

Jesus has an entirely different perspective on death than we normally do. Jesus’ whole definition of life and death differs from what we normally think. The words on which I’d like you to focus especially today come from the story of another resurrection miracle that Jesus performed.  In talking to his dear friend Martha, just after her beloved brother Lazarus had died, Jesus spoke these powerful words: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25,26).

You see, according to Jesus, Lazarus had died but he had not died. Lazarus had died but he also would live again. Let me explain how Jesus explains life and death.

Life, according to Jesus, is when we are enjoying the blessings of God. When we enjoy the blessings of God in our bodies, we are physically alive. Our lungs breathe, our hearts beat, our hands and feet move.  Only by God’s blessing and his sustaining do we have physical life. When God decides it is time for us to pass from this life, those blessings are suspended, and physically we die.

But there is more to life than the body. God also created each of us with a soul. When we enjoy the blessings of God in our souls, we have faith in him, we have a relationship with him, we have life through him. Our spirits never die. The blessings of God upon our spirits began the day we were baptized and haven’t ceased since. We are blessed in faith throughout life and blessing awaits us beyond this present life.  We will live on with the Lord.  That is why Jesus could say, “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”  Our loved ones who have died have not really died–not their spirits.  They are alive still, living with the Lord, standing side by side with Jesus right now. We see only the physical aspect of life and death, but there is a spiritual and eternal reality that we don’t yet see, which nevertheless is absolutely true.  Those who have died in faith are yet alive, living and reigning with Jesus (cf. Revelation 20:4), who lives and reigns with the Father and with the Spirit, the one true and loving God, forever and ever.

But that’s not all. Jesus also said, “Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies.” The physical body dies, but Jesus pledges, with his word of power, that he will bring the body back to life. The daughter of Jairus and the man named Lazarus were two examples, demonstrations Jesus gave of just what he can do. By his miracles of resurrection, he was promising that he will do the same in the end for all of his people.

By his own resurrection, after he was crucified, Jesus proved that he has absolute power over death and the grave. A giant stone and armed guards of soldiers could not keep Jesus’ resurrection from happening. Likewise, there is nothing that can keep Jesus from providing the same resurrection for us, his people, when his final time arrives. On that day, “we will all be changed–in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52). We will be changed from dead to alive, from being troubled by all the ailments of our frail bodies to being freed from all ills in eternally glorified bodies.

“I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus said. That’s exactly who he is. In him and because of him, we have life now and will have it always.  In him and because of him, we will experience one day the resurrection of our bodies into life and joy unending, that now we can barely even imagine.  In that day of resurrection, we won’t have any back pains or body aches or cysts or cancers or any other disease or pains or wounds.  All will be healed completely by the Lord and made perfect in every way.

Jesus, keep our hearts strong as we wait for that day!

Posted by Electric Gospel