I Am the Resurrection, and the Life

2021-09-24

Jesus said unto her, 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. Believest thou this? (John 11:25-26)

Spoken immediately before the raising of Lazarus, Jesus told Martha about this hope. He rose the dead on a few occasions throughout the gospels. He will raise them (us) on a permanent, physical basis in the future: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

However, the resurrection is more than some future hope, though it is a future hope for sure. It is more than an event. Resurrection life is tied to a Person: The Lord Jesus Christ. We can have His resurrection life now: “like 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).

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10). We can know the power of His resurrection life before we experience physical death. That power may come amid sufferings. The more we die, the more His life will be seen in us.