Message

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I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE

Key verse John 11: 25,26

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’”

Happy Easter! Today’s message is the next in my sermon series on Jesus Christ the Great I AM passages from Johns Gospel. I AM is called the tetragrammaton and it is the same name which God revealed to Moses at the burning bush on Mount Sanai in the book of Exodus. First, we studied Jesus the Eternal One, the before Abraham was born, I AM in chapter 8. Then the Eternal one who came down from heaven to give life to the world “I AM the bread of life.” Then Jesus’ purpose in coming “I AM the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Todays Easter passage is John 11 “I AM the resurrection and the life”, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Jesus’ miracles were always intended to help people believe in him. John 21:30-31 ³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe^[a] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Part I Do you believe this?

11 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  2  (This Mary,whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)  3  So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” The sisters sent word to Jesus confident that he loved them and would come right away to heal Lazarus. After all he had healed many strangers and now it was “the one he loved” who was sick.

⁴ When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Jesus sees the end from the beginning. He said the sickness of Lazarus had a purpose “so that Gods son might be glorified through it.” What does glorified mean? Glorified definition Doxazo “of the nature and acts of God in manifestation, the revealing of Gods exact nature and character.” Through the act of raising Lazarus from the dead Jesus would reveal his nature as “I AM the resurrection and the life.”

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,⁷ and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus. It is counterintuitive that he stayed put and let him die. Jesus wanted them to learn resurrection faith. Jesus shows his love by putting us through hopeless, rotting, smelly and impossible circumstances so that we may learn resurrection faith.

8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews tried to stone

you, and yet you are going back there?” The disciples had been relieved that Jesus stayed put, it was reasonable and perfectly justifiable given the risky situation and danger of death not to go back. They were now puzzled shocked and horrified at the news they were going back. 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. 10 It is when he walks by night he stumbles, for he has no light.” 11  After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” 12  His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”  13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead,  15  and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”Jesus also wanted to plant resurrection faith in his disciples by helping them face their fear of death. He used the traveling pilgrimage analogy to teach them they should not live their lives in fear and anxiety, stumbling in darkness. Without Jesus people suffer living in fear, worry, and stress. The power of death is a blinding darkness which makes their pilgrimage a stumbling procession of zombies with no clear direction or illuminating purpose. Jesus himself is the light. In John 8:12 he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Jesus wanted to teach them to walk by faith. Once Jesus tried to teach Peter faith. Matthew 14:25-31²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”²⁹ “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” When Peter had his eyes firmly fixed on Jesus he was walking on water. When he focused on the wind and storm he sank. We must not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by circumstances but fix our eyes on Jesus and walk by faith. Let’s think about Martha.

¹⁷ On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was less than two miles^[b] from Jerusalem, ¹⁹ and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.²¹ “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”²⁴ Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” Martha had a wonderful confession of faith in Jesus. She also had a concise and accurate eschatological or end times theology. Like so many who have grown up going to church she was able to rattle off all the right answers like folks in a pew reciting the apostle’s creed from memory. We live in a so-called Christian culture where many know the buzz words and speak of going to heaven at funerals. However, there is a great question if this is a saving personal resurrection faith. How did Martha respond when confronted with the circumstances of her brothers stinking rotting corpse in the tomb 4 days already? Verse 39 says ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” But but but …Lord She considered the circumstances were impossible. Death is the end of everything after all isn’t it? Now let’s consider Mary Look at verses 28-32 ^“28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” ²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet entered the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.4³² When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Mary loved her brother Lazarus and loved Jesus. She knew Jesus could have healed him but did not come and so he died. This terrible grief and sorrow in her heart caused her to doubt Gods love for her. Sometimes people doubt Gods love and turn away from Jesus. They say “he failed me.” “I trusted him and he let me down.” “He let my child die, he let my business fail, he didn’t heal me, he allowed my wife or husband to leave me.” In their bitter doubt they become victims living in perpetual sorrow and hopelessness. The sin of doubt separates and cuts us off from God. The power of sin is death. The disciples lived in fear of death, Martha lived in powerless head knowledge, Mary in deep dark sorrow. The whole world is under this power and in the end, it leads to eternal darkness and separation from God.

Part 2 I AM the resurrection and the life.

First, I AM the resurrection and the life. “25Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’”

The more we KNOW Jesus, his faithfulness, his love and his power the more we trust and believe in him. Apostle Paul understood this principle. He said in Philippians 3 :10-11^10 “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. John 17:3 says, “now this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” When we repent of our unbelief and believe from our heart Jesus died for our sins on the cross and rose from the dead, we can come to have personal faith. We can be raised from the dead and be a new creation. And eternal life. John 3:16 says^16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For a believer the moment of meeting Christ is just the beginning of knowing him. Jesus leads us each day with one purpose to know him more and become more like him. Do you believe this? Do you want to know Christ more and more? Knowing him is believing him.

Second The one who believes in me will live even though they die.

Here Jesus speaks of the resurrection of the righteous.

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John 5:28-29 ²⁸ “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.

1 Thess.4:14-17” For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lords own word we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will certainly not proceed those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever. One day, maybe soon, Jesus will literally return and raise up all the dead saints and all the living saints and we will be with the Lord forever. Don’t be left behind.

Third, whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

John 5:24 ²⁴ “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned but has crossed over from death to life.” When we study the bible and hear preaching and pray, we can hear Jesus words. When we believe, we cross over from death to life right away. Right here and right now. We must have eternal life begun below to truly “never die”. The elements of death invaded everyone ever since sin entered the world through one man Adam and death through sin. Shame, fear, sorrow and the sufferings of life cut off from God. Through believing Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection we cross over from death to life. Also our crossing over is a process.

Part 3 Jesus raises Lazarus from the Dead

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.  34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead 38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.  39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said

Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time. there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will. see the glory of God?”

first Jesus wept. Clearly Jesus didn’t weep for Lazarus like all those who were consumed with grief because he had already intended to raise him from the dead. Why did he weep then? First, God is a God of emotion. God is angry at sin. God is jealous God weeps mover unbelief because and the inevitable result of eternal punishment. In the Old Testament God cries out “I held out my hands all day long to a stubborn stiff-necked people.” “When Jesus looked out over Jerusalem, he seems to be crying saying how he longed to gather them under his wing like a mother hen gathers her chicks. We who believe need to learn to weep with Jesus over unbelievers and serve them with tears.

Second Jesus rebuked unbelief Jesus was very angry at unbelief and cried out “did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” Unbelief is no joking matter, and we must hear Jesus’ rebuke of our unbelief. We want to be Mr. Nice guys, but God needs us to follow the example of Christ and call sin sin. This is true love. What is your unbelief topic? Hear Jesus rebuke “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

Third Roll away the stone.

³⁸ Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”⁴³ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

-The gravestone is the symbol of unbelief. We looked at the disciples who struggled to walk by faith, we looked at Martha who struggled to go beyond her mere theological faith to a living faith, we looked at Mary who struggled to overcome her doubt of Gods love. Each one had to roll away the stone of unbelief from their heart. We need to clearly identify what the stone of unbelief is in our own hearts. I have had 3 main prayer topics. To study the bible with my son John Mark and that he become a man of God growing in Jesus. I took him to church every week as a boy but after I was badly hurt by church members who fired me from my career in 2015 we stopped going. When my son was a baby I baptised him and was really full of the Holy Spirit and I felt it was special. Somehow, I always assumed his faith was solid. Now I think he wont talk to me about how he feels because he doesn’t want to hurt my feelings. I started Genesis bible study with him having the understanding that “Give God a chance to prove he is real to you.” In many months we only studied 2 times though I ask often he makes excuses. I had a doubt growing that I would see the glory of God in his life. Now I repent and roll away the stone of unbelief. Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth !” ⁴⁴ 

I believe Jesus will one day call John Mark out “Come out John Mark !!” I also had a doubt about having a house church where I could see the glory of God. Now I roll away the stone of unbelief “ I believe and will see the glory of God. I am praying to get married to a woman of God also. I also roll away the stone of unbelief about my marriage and believe I will see the glory of God.” Jesus said “I AM the Resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live even though he dies and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?

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