Jesus Is The Resurrection And The Life Series

Jesus Is the Resurrection and the Life

John 11:1-27

Series: The Great I Am

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - Feb. 16, 2014

BACKGROUND:

*Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That means He is also God the Son, one with God the Father, and conceived as a man by God the Holy Spirit. Jesus was sent into world as a man to reveal the one true God to all people. He was sent by the love of God, sent to die on the cross for our sins, and sent to save everyone who will trust in Him.

*How do we know? -- The Bible makes this truth clear in many places. John 1:1-4 calls Jesus "The Word," and says:

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2. He was in the beginning with God.

3. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

*In John 1:18, the Apostle said this about Jesus:

-"No one has seen God (i.e. God the Father) at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."

*Jesus affirmed this truth in John 6:44-47, where He said:

44. "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

45. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.

46. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.

47. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

*And in John 8, Jesus said this to some unbelieving Jews:

23. . . "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

24. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.''

*Before He was born as a man, Jesus Christ was the great "I AM", Lord God Almighty who appeared many times in the Old Testament. That is the main reason why the Lord made His "I AM" statements in John's Gospel. For us the "I AM's" reveal great truths about our Savior. But through these statements, Jesus also rightly claimed to be the God of the Old Testament.

*About 1,400 years before Christ was born as a man, God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. And when Moses asked God His name, God said this to Moses: "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.''' In Hebrew this name "I AM" was Jehovah or Yahweh. God used this name almost 7,000 times in the Old Testament.

*The New Testament is also saturated with this "I AM" name for God, because "Jesus" means "Jehovah is salvation." Or we could say: "'I AM' is salvation." Jesus Christ the great "I AM" is salvation!

*Please open your Bibles to John 11, to see another of the Lord's famous "I AM" statements. This morning we will begin by reading John 11:1-27.

MESSAGE:

*Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life! -- What does this mean for us?

1. First: We should trust the Lord when life is a mystery.

*Jesus' plan for our lives contains some mystery, and we can see this truth in vs. 1-6:

1. Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

2. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

3. Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.''

4. 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.''

5. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

6. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.

*Here is the mystery when it came to Mary, Martha and Lazarus: Jesus' love was not in doubt, but He left them in despair. God's Word goes out of the way to confirm the love that Jesus had for these people. They were very close friends.

*Verse 2 mentions one of what must have been many times Jesus visited in their home. In vs. 3, the sisters sent a message to Jesus saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.'' And vs. 5 plainly says: "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus."