“I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE” - PRESENTATION IN THE “I AM SERIES OF JOHN’S GOSPEL” PART 1
We continue with the seminar series of the “I AMs” in the Gospel of John. Today we look at another glorious truth with eternal applications, just like every one of the “I AM’s” in the Gospel.
[A]. LET’S OPEN UP THE SUBJECT
I think we will begin today with two New Testament passages of great importance, written by Paul to the Corinthians, in regard to the Rapture of the Church and the resurrection of the body.
{{1Corinthians 15 v 14 “and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain. Your faith also is vain. 1Cor 15:15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we witnessed against God that He raised Christ whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.”
1Corinthians 15 v 17 “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. 1Cor 15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 1Cor 15:19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”}}
I have selected three crucial statements from these passages (underlined). They are – {{“If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain,” and “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless,” and “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”}} For the first of these three, what are you doing here today listening to a lunatic from Australia raving on? You may as well be out, eating, drinking and making merry for tomorrow you die. For the second, you believe in a fairy tale. You might as well believe in santa claus who has for you a great reception in the universe – somewhere – and all the gifts you’d ever want stored up for you. For the third, if your Christianity is all bound up with a life style just for this temporary world only, you are to be pitied, more than any other people.
[B]. THE SETTING FOR THIS GREAT “I AM”. Our subject is “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE”
Let us see how this unfolded in John’s Gospel. There was a tender relationship between Jesus and this family in Bethany – Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Follow with me from chapter 11 of John. In verse 1 we have the fact that Lazarus became sick, seriously so, I would say, and in verse 3 the sisters sent word to Jesus. When we are not able to solve our own dilemma, we try to find someone who can help us, and who better than Jesus.
Now, you would think, that because of the close relationship with the three precious friends in Bethany to Jesus, then Jesus would have hurried away to their assistance, but in verses 5 and 6, we notice an attitude from Jesus, that might not have been ours – {{John 11:5 “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, John 11:6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”}} We would not have behaved that way, - it would have received top priority - but Jesus had already said in verse 4 – {{”But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”}} He had a higher plan, and God’s ways are not our ways.
You know, there are times when God tests our faith, and it is not to give you stress, but it is for the glory of God, and in the end, your relationship with the Lord, is strengthened. You may have heard the story before, but a man was to view a large, magnificent tapestry of great value. When he arrived, the tapestry had been moved, and all He could see were threads, and tied off knots, and a general disarray of jumbled, coloured strands, all of which made no sense to him. Then the organisers moved the tapestry into the viewing position and turned it around. There before him was the excellence people had mentioned. Often we only see the back of God’s weaving – we see our problems and the untidiness and difficulties. God sees the other side, the magnificence that Christ is weaving in our lives.
There is a very revealing example of dull minds in this story then, as we follow it in these verses – {{John 11:11-14 “After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died.”}} Don’t you find that over and over again, God must speak plainly to us, because we are so devoid of understanding a lot of the time? We do need continual educating, but we have the best schoolbook in the world – the living and inspired word of God. That begs the questions – “How do we rate as dependable students? Are we rather slack about our studies?”
[C]. THE DEVELOPMENT
We take up the account again when Jesus had arrived in Bethany with His disciples – {{John 11:17-23 “Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother, 20 so when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died, 22 but even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”}}
You must note the contrast here. Mary remained in the house in her usual quietness, but Martha, always busy, rushed out to Jesus. Her faith was such that she believed Jesus could have healed Lazarus when he was dying. That would have been some days earlier, but she could not stretch that faith to Lazarus being raised from the dead there and then by the Lord. Martha knew Lazarus would rise in the resurrection at the appropriate time – just not then. It was at this crucial point that the great resurrection statement was spoken by the Lord. {{John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”}}
All these I AMs are powerful, but this one is so comforting. All the I AMs are essential, but this one contains the hope of the Church. Jesus is The Resurrection and The Life. Without Him there is nothing. We used to sing the hymn, “I serve a risen Saviour; He’s in the world today.” A risen Saviour, not a dead and buried one. All the great gurus and Caesars that people bow before, and in reality worship through their adoration, are dead and buried. Our Saviour is risen! In the resurrection He demonstrates that death is defeated. Death no longer has control over you. O, death, where is your sting? Death is swallowed up in victory.
You will notice here also that Jesus claimed to be The Life. That greatest of all I AMs – I am the Way, the Truth and the Life speaks of life as well, so is there a difference in these two uses of “The Life”? I believe there is, for the life of John 14 has a double application to current everlasting life, and the spiritual life lived through the Holy Spirit in our lives; but the life of John 11 is life in resurrected glory, or the life in full revelation when we meet the Lord face to face. Raised to eternal life, in a glorified body we all receive at the Rapture. “Face to face with Christ my Saviour; Face to face, what will it be? When in rapture I behold Him; Jesus Christ who died for me.”
Now what happens to a Christian when he dies? Well, Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Instantaneous. There is no mystery in that, for Paul speaks plainly. “Where I am, there you shall be also”, the truth from {{John 14 v 3, “and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself that where I am, there you may be also.”}} Stephen prayed at his martyrdom, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Upon death, our spirits go to be with the Lord, but our bodies wait until the resurrection at the Rapture. We shall have a body like unto His glorious body.
At Bethany, we had the great declaration of “the Resurrection and the Life”, but it was followed by some precious clarification the Lord gave. Jesus said that the one believing on (actually “in”) Him shall live, even if he dies. Our present eternal life is not affected by physical death. Then He went on to say, “and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Death there, of course, is not physical death, but spiritual death. {{“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15 v 3-4).}} In that wonderful John passage where Jesus is speaking to Martha, He asked her in verse 26, “Do you believe this?” I want to ask you this, today, – Do you know for a certainty that Jesus is your Saviour; that you have been born again; and that by believing in Christ, you have eternal life? If not, then make that decision to give your life today to the Saviour.
[D]. LET’S GET MORE SPECIFIC
What are the ramifications for us, because of the fact, that Christ is the Resurrection and the Life? Indeed, what are the ramifications for the Body of Christ, which is us, in the Lord Jesus Christ being the Head of the Church, and like all good Heads and Leaders and Generals, He leads the way, often by example? There are 5 of these outcomes, and we do one here, and the other 4 in the next posting. [I have split this seminar talk into two Parts for SermonCentral]]].
[[(1). Christ is the Grain of Wheat.]] Let us look at an important statement the Lord made when certain Greek proselytes asked if they could see Jesus – {{John 12 v 23 “and Jesus answered them saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”}} (We might examine what “to be glorified” means. Just briefly, it means the path through the cross, to the grave, and then in glorious resurrection – it was that path of obedience that glorified the Father. It was in Peter’s Pentecost address that he said to those gathered, {{Acts 2 v 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ - this Jesus whom you crucified.”}}
Now when was Jesus made Lord and Christ? Well we all know He has always been Lord and Christ, but in a very specific way, as a public declaration to the world, the Father established Him in His distinct offices as Lord and Christ. This has happened through the resurrection. He rose from the grave. {{John 10 v 17 “For this reason the Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may take it again. John 10:18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”}} The Lord of the cross is the Lord of resurrection. In fact Paul writes of this establishment also to the Romans – {{Romans 1 v 4 “Jesus Christ our Lord who was declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.”}} We see Jesus declared as Son of God with authority (with the whole power of God). The resurrection of Christ is vital for all authority, for all Names, for all life.
Let us continue this passage from John 12 – {{John 12 v 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. John 12:25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.”}} In these verses, the Lord speaks of a universal principle of farming, but in fact, the application is to Himself. As part of His glorification, He was the Grain of Wheat that died to itself, but in doing so, He has produced a magnificent harvest. He could have kept His own life, and that would have remained as a singular existence, but in dying, then the triumph of resurrection, and the subsequential springing up of new life, has produced much fruit. Praise God, we are that fruit.
(It is a bit inconvenient to split the address here but because of length, I have done so. PART 2 will continue from where this leaves off).
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
