Jesus told her, “I AM the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.”- John 11:25 New Living Translation
“You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.”- James 2:19 New Living Translation
A resurrection is the act of restoring a dead person to life. Jesus raised a dead Lazarus, Jesus Himself was raised to new life and the dead in Christ shall rise to new life with their new spiritual bodies when Christ returns & the final judgment takes place. When Jesus speaks to Nicodemus under cloak of darkness in the gospels, He says it is possible for a man to be born twice and only die once. There He is speaking of physical AND spiritual birth and physical death. Your spirit lives on for all eternity. Therefore, when Jesus says in John “I AM the resurrection and the life”, He is saying in essence that He has conquered death and brought the dead part of us back to life in the spirit.
“Anyone who believes in me will live” … This cannot merely be taken at face value, for it is a little more complicated than simply believing. As I pointed out above in James 2:19, “the demons believe (in one God) and tremble in terror.” They know what future awaits them. We will share their fate if we don’t allow our belief to alter our lives in a major way. I believe it is assumed that when you believe you understand the power Christ has to do any and all things. Therefore, we will be compelled to do whatever it takes to please the Lord. Simply believing without allowing any change to occur to our life cheapens God’s grace or divine favor toward us and doesn’t bring about complete redemption.
Physically dying is not the end for a believer in Jesus Christ. Even after death we have eternity to look forward to. The non-believer has nothing positive to look forward to except a lake of fire. At that point all hope is gone for them. There is no turning back and forgiveness has been withdrawn. The creator of life is life and bestows life upon all who have placed their faith and trust in Him. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.
Richard Keller
Bread of Life Ministries
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