THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE

"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).  Jesus spoke these words to Martha before He raised her brother Lazarus from the dead.  His words reveal two profound truths: that Jesus is the resurrection, and that He also is the life.  These two truths are very closely related, and are easily confused as the same thing.  They are both products of the Spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus, and are both dependent on faith in order to be effective, but in application they are quite different.  The one can be described as passing from death to a new life, while the other could be described as staying alive. 

 

Jesus says of resurrection, "...he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."  Faith in Jesus is the means by which we achieve resurrection.  Nothing we can do ourselves is potent enough to restore life once we are dead.  Only Christ has that power because He is the Resurrection. 

 

Of "life" Jesus says, "...whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die."  Faith is also the means by which we sustain our life in Christ.  Again, nothing we can do ourselves is sufficient to maintain the new life we receive by in Christ.  Only He has that power because He is the Life.

 

There is a spiritual death, and there is a physical death.  Jesus was using the occasion of Lazarus' physical death to illustrate the power of His [Jesus’] life over both the physical and the spiritual man.  Each of us who have been born again and baptized into Christ has already experienced the spiritual side of resurrection.  St. Paul spoke of this when he said, "And you hath He quickened [made alive], who were dead in trespasses and sins... But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened [given life to] us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:1,4-6).  Every human is in need of this spiritual awakening, or resurrection, because death has passed upon all of us because of Adam and Eve's sin.  When death passed on them it passed on everyone who was born after them.  Christ, however, has broken that chain of sin and death by the sacrifice of Himself once and for all.  "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22).

 

This new birth - this resurrection - marks the beginning of our spiritual journey, but it is not the entire journey itself.  For that we need the life of Christ.  There are many who have experienced the new birth but have not gone on to experience the life of Jesus Christ in their day to day walk.  They soon return to the sins and trespasses that were the product of spiritual death before they came to know the Lord.  This life that is in Christ, however, is like a spring of living water that ministers divine life and power to those who drink of it continually.  Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.  He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37, 38).

 

Paul said, "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving" Colossians 2:6, 7).   St. Paul desired above everything else to really know Jesus in his daily walk, and to see the power of Christ's resurrection and life played out continually in him as he chose to lay down his selfish and pride-filled life.  This he discovered to be a life-long undertaking as the Lord revealed more and more of His perfect nature to Paul.  We have been called to no less.  The battle will not be won as a result of our strong wills or glorious intentions, but by faith in the finished work of Christ.  Outside of faith we cannot please Him.   

 

Years ago, I was struggling to quit smoking and couldn't.  I would berate myself for my weakness, and determine to try harder, all to no avail.  One night in a prayer meeting God made it clear where I was erring.  I was trying to quit by my own will power instead of trusting Him to transform me.  Once I realized my error, I prayed something like this, "God forgive me for thinking that I have any power at all to change myself.  I've been getting in Your way, and have not believed that only You can change my life.  I give this addiction to You, Lord.  I'm sorry for getting in the way of Your grace."  That moment the desire for tobacco left me, and I was never even tempted by a desire to smoke again.  It was like I had never smoked at all.  I learned a valuable lesson that night that I have been able to apply to every new battle in my life.  I found out that Jesus is not just the Resurrection, but He is also the Life!