"Recognize God's Power In Your Life”

In an attempt to apply these verses to our lives we might be tempted to say, “Well, if God worked a miracle like that for me I would never doubt his power. But I have never seen him raise someone from the dead.” That would be a superficial way of looking at this miracle. When you looked in the mirror this morning you saw someone who has been raised from the dead. And as you look around the sanctuary this morning you see many others who have been awakened from death. The Scriptures tell us that every one of us was born spiritually dead, destined to die physically, and condemned to die eternally. But God has raised us from the dead in a number of ways through the power of the gospel. Our Savior Jesus has changed the end of our physical lives into a sleep. He will transform our mortal bodies so that they are like his glorified body. And out of the fiery grave of hell to which we were headed God has also raised us. We are no longer condemned to die forever separated from God. May the Holy Spirit always remind us of God’s power in our lives. He has replaced death with life.

In our Gospel lesson for this morning we heard about Jesus raising a young man from the dead. Do you think that widow from Nain ever forgot the day she saw God’s power. “Young man, I say to you, get up!” With that command Jesus broke the grip that death had on the widow’s son. Jesus has directed a similar command to each of us. He has called us out of spiritual death so that we can serve God in righteousness and holiness. Jesus said, “25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” That has happened to us. We are now alive spiritually because of God’s power. The voice of our Savior will also call us out of physical death and welcome us into eternal life. Hebrews 2:14-15 reminds us of what Jesus did to conquer death, “14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” I pray that we never forget God’s power but that we always recognize it in our lives.

Perhaps it goes without saying but recognizing the power God has to replace death with life will serve to remind us that he can take care of everything else in our lives. Truly whether we live or die we are under his powerful care. He can handle the things we face at home or at work. Through all the difficulties and challenges in life God’s strength is sufficient to meet all our needs. A.W. Tozer, a Christian author stated it well, “Anything God has ever done, he can do now. Anything God has ever done anywhere, he can do here. Anything God has ever done for anyone, he can do for you.”

II.

Although not nearly as dramatic as the miracle of a dead person being raised to life we see another miracle in these verses. It too is a testimony to God’s power. “23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, ‘Look, your son is alive!’ 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.’” The widow’s doubt was replaced with faith because she saw a demonstration of God’s power. The miracle confirmed that Elijah was a prophet of the true God and that his message was true.