The Resurrection and the Life

This sermon presents four aspects of the resurrection and the life, so that we too can share in the hope of the resurrection and the life and only Christ provides.

1. The Person
2. The Plan
3. The Power
4. The Promise

Transcript:

All right. Well, welcome to Grace Bible Church. If this is your first time, or if you're new here, we're really grateful that you're here, and we pray that you have a blessed time here today. If you would turn with me to John 11.

And the context for our passage today is the resurrection of Lazarus. You maybe have heard of this account, the resurrection of Lazarus, John 11:25. But if you haven't heard of this or you're not familiar with it, this is today is going to be a real help to you. John 11:25. Let me read our passage for today.

It says, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die ever.'" Do you believe this? Let me pray.

Lord, I pray with all my heart today that if there are people here today that don't believe this, that was your question, Lord, "Do people believe this?" And I pray, Lord, that if there are people here today that don't believe this, that you would work in their hearts, Lord. You'd regenerate their hearts that they might believe this, that they might be willing to give their life for these truths, Lord, as so many of us here are.

Lord, you are a wonderful and awesome savior, and you truly are the resurrection and the life. And we praise you, and I pray, Lord, that now your name would be exalted. I pray now that the irresistible Christ would be presented in this church, the one who is so loving and kind and merciful, so forgiving, and yet, Lord, you're also full of wrath against those who reject such a gracious and kind and loving Savior, such a wonderful gospel.

So please save here today, Lord. And I pray also for your people here today, Lord, that you would sanctify them, that they would behold Christ today with all of their hearts, that we all might become like you in Jesus's name. Amen. Amen.

Now we find ourselves on this Resurrection Sunday in the Gospel of John, which is a wonderful, wonderful place to be because John tells us that his gospel was written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. John 20:31. So John tells us why he wrote this gospel. And he says he wrote it so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. And the two main ways that Jesus, or that John, proves that Jesus is the Christ, or said differently, that Jesus is God, is by miracles and people's testimony.

And in chapter 11 of John's gospel, we get both. We get both of them. John is going to give us the testimony of Christ in these verses and also tell us about Lazarus being raised from the dead.

And now, if you're not familiar with this account, let me just give you a quick run-up to our verses. And so at this point, Jesus is close friends with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, who are brothers and sisters. And Jesus is close friends with this family. And long story short, Lazarus gets sick and dies. And by the time Jesus gets there, he's been dead for 4 days. Now, if you would look at verse 20, just a little bit before our verses. Verse 20 says, "Martha, therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him, but Mary was sitting in the house." So Jesus has come. Jesus knows that Lazarus is dead, but Jesus is coming anyways.

And Martha goes to meet him. Verse 21, Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." So Martha tells Jesus what he already knows, namely that Lazarus is dead. But Martha, being a close friend of Jesus, believes some excellent theology here. She understands some excellent theology. First, she says in verse 21 that Jesus would have saved Lazarus's life if he had been there. In other words, Martha knows Jesus could have healed him because he's healed thousands and thousands. He's really almost banished sickness and handicaps from the nation of Israel at this point. He spent three years healing everybody he could. But more than that, Martha says in verse 22 that even though Lazarus is dead, she still trusts in Jesus's goodness and power.

Now, we know Martha isn't referring to immediate resurrection. She's not expecting Lazarus to be raised from the dead. He's been dead in the ground for 4 days. And we know this because in verse 39, when Jesus commands the stone to be removed, she reminds him that Lazarus has been dead for 4 days. So Martha isn't expecting resurrection in this spot immediately. But if you would look at verse 23, it says, "Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.'" Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." So, while Martha isn't expecting Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead then and there, she knows all about the future resurrection. We actually talked a lot about this this morning. It was a wonderful conversation.

And again, she almost certainly learned much of this theology from Jesus, but she also would have known about the resurrection from the Old Testament. Listen to Isaiah 26:19, talking about the national resurrection of Israel in the millennial kingdom. Isaiah 26:19 says, "Your dead will live. Their corpses will rise. You who dwell in the dust awake and shout for joy. For your dew is as the heaven of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to departed spirits." Daniel 12:2 says, "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to reproach and everlasting contempt." So Martha has some good theology because she's probably a student of the Old Testament, and she understands the future resurrection, but raising someone from the dead after 4 days, she's not quite there yet.

And this is even though she had almost certainly heard about Jesus raising the widow's son at Nain, who he raised from the dead, and Jairus's daughter in Luke 7:8. But both of those had only been dead for a short while. So Martha knows Lazarus will rise again in the resurrection on the last day, but her grief and sorrow is making it hard to think past the here and now. In other words, Martha is saying, "I know about the future, but my pain is so great now, Jesus."

And so Jesus says to her in verse 25, and this is exactly what she needs to hear right now. He says, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die ever." Do you believe this?

And these are the verses we want to look at today. And in these verses, we're going to see four aspects of the revelation—I'm sorry, the resurrection and the life. Four aspects of the resurrection and the life so that we too can share in the hope of the resurrection and the life that only Christ provides.

The first aspect, and you can see these in your bulletin on your outline, they're listed out there for you. The first aspect of the resurrection and the life we're going to look at is the person of the life of the resurrection and the life. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." The second aspect of the resurrection and the life we're going to look at is the plan. The plan of the resurrection and the life. Jesus said, "He who believes in me," that's the plan. The third aspect of the resurrection and the life we're going to look at is its power. Jesus said right there in our verses, verse 25, that the one who believes in him will live even if he dies. That's the power. And finally, the fourth aspect of the resurrection and the life is the promise. Jesus said in verse 26, "And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die ever." Do you believe this?

And so, let's start with the person of the resurrection and the life. Jesus starts out by saying, "I am the resurrection and the life." Now, if you remember, I said that the purpose of John's gospel is to prove that Jesus is God, prove the deity of Christ, so that people may believe that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is God. And when John records Jesus saying, "I am the resurrection and the life," we actually heard this. He said, "I am the bread of life." In our reading today, Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life." The words "I am" point to the deity of Christ. And if you would turn to Exodus chapter 3 with me, it's going to be back toward the beginning of your Bible, Exodus chapter 3. And this idea of the "I am" statement, of what that means, how that refers to the deity of Christ, is most clear, I think, in Exodus 3. And here we have God calling to Moses from the burning bush. God's calling to Moses from the burning bush.

And God tells Moses that he has heard the cry of the Israelites being enslaved in Egypt and that he, God, has come to deliver them. Exodus 3:13. Exodus 3:13. And more than that, God is telling Moses that he will send him to Pharaoh to bring the people out. But before Moses can go to Pharaoh, he must go to the leaders of Israel and tell them this plan. Tell them, "Hey, this God has come to me. God wants to take us out of Egypt." Exodus 3:13. And Moses is concerned that the leaders of Israel won't listen. So, he tells God in verse 13, "I am about to come to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they will say to me, 'What is his name? What shall I say to them?'"

So ultimately Moses is asking for God's name is what's happening here. And in verse 14 he gets the answer. And God said to Moses, "I am who I am." And he said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I am has sent me to you.'" So God says his name is "I am." Now if you would turn back to John 11:25 with me. And now you have Jesus saying, "I am the resurrection and the life." And by referring to himself in this way, everyone around him knows that he's making a claim to deity. Every Jew standing there knew exactly what he was claiming. And this is most clear in John 8:58. I'll just read it to you. When Jesus claimed to see Abraham. Now, Abraham lived, you know, 2,000 years prior to Jesus, about. Jesus says, "I've seen Abraham," not in so many words. And the Jews are taken aback by this. And they ask Jesus, "You're not 50 years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus responds, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." And there we have the same phrase, "I am," coming from the mouth of Jesus again. And the Jews, knowing that Jesus was claiming to be God, picked up stones to try to kill him on the spot. Not because he was stealing their thunder or he was getting more attention than other people or because he was healing people, because he claimed to be the "I am." They want to kill him.

And so the Jews of that time knew very clearly that this was a claim to deity. This is something that's lost on the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses and these other cults that don't understand that Jesus is God. Something that was very clearly understood at that time has been lost in translation to these folks, unfortunately. And sadly, it's a very sad thing. And Jesus makes these "I am" statements seven times in the Gospel of John. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." We heard that earlier. The light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the way. And he says he is the true vine. Now the interesting thing about each of those examples is that Jesus is using a figurative speech in those examples to explain how he is the source and provider of salvation. In other words, he's not actually bread and he's not actually a vine, but instead he provides for us and sustains us like bread and a vine.

However, in this case, when Jesus refers to himself as the resurrection and the life, this is not a figure of speech. Instead, Jesus literally is the resurrection and the life in every sense of the word. See, Jesus is trying to take Martha's attention from the future resurrection, from a future event, to the person currently standing right in front of her. And he again he does this by explaining that he is the resurrection and the life in every way. And let me show you three ways this is true. First, Jesus is the one with the power of resurrection. Listen to the words of Jesus. He says, "For this is the will of my father." This is John 6:40. "For this is the will of my father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day." We heard that in the reading, actually. And right there, you have life and resurrection together. You're going to notice a theme here. Life and resurrection are together in all of these verses.

He also says in John 5:21, "For just as the father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the son also gives life to those whom he wishes." Again, resurrection and life together. So Jesus is the one with the power to raise people from the dead and give them life. But he's also the first fruits of those raised from the dead. Listen to 1 Corinthians 15:20. Paul says, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." So, not only does Jesus have the power to raise people from the dead, but he's also the first one to be permanently resurrected. And I say permanently because we've already learned of at least two others that were raised. But unlike Jesus, they all died again. They all are in the grave.

And it's this permanent resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are celebrating today. We're celebrating that Jesus rose from the dead over 2,000 years ago. And I want to take a quick look at that event. If you would turn to John chapter 20, John 20. Now, just because we're going to look at this quickly doesn't mean that it's insignificant. Actually, it's the complete opposite. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant event in the history of the universe. It is the most loving event in the history of the universe. It is the most gracious and kind and merciful event in the history of the universe. It is so significant that without the resurrection, there's no Christianity. There's no salvation. There's no Bible. John 20:1. See, everyone goes to hell. And I don't say that lightly. That's a horrific thought.

Everyone goes to hell if there's no resurrection. Because without the resurrection, scripture goes unfulfilled. Those verses we read earlier, they're not true. Scripture goes unfulfilled. And the Bible is just another book. And we don't need any more books. We got plenty of books. Without the resurrection, Jesus is still in the grave. He's a dead savior. And a dead savior is no savior at all. Without the resurrection, there's no reason to think that Jesus's death on the cross satisfied the wrath of God, which would mean we still face eternal judgment in hell. Without the resurrection, we have no hope of resurrection, and death still has its sting.

And so the resurrection is the centerpiece of our hope because it assures us that we too will be resurrected, have a glorified body like Christ, and reign with him forever. That's the promise to every person who repents and believes. That's the purpose to everyone who is born again by God's grace. So let's take a look at the account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. John 20:1 starts by saying, "Now on the first day of the week, that's Sunday." This is why we worship on Sunday, by the way, is because Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday. And then there's a myriad of examples of the apostles meeting together on the first day of the week. But it says, "Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb." And just as a side note, Mary Magdalene, a woman, is the first person to see the empty tomb. Then if you know anything about the time frame of Jesus and the historical background of the time of Jesus, women were absolutely nothing at this time.

But our gracious and loving God, our kind God, has a woman coming to see the tomb first. Unheard of at that time. When people read this back then, they'd say, "That's just ridiculous. Why is a woman being used in this way?" It's because God is an awesome God and a loving God. And while men and women have different roles, we're equal. We're all made in the image of God. And we know from Matthew that there was a great earthquake, that an angel came and rolled the stone away. And quote, "The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men." And then verse two, "So she," that's Mary Magdalene, "ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved," that's the apostle John who wrote this book, "and said to them, 'They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.'" Now, one thing to notice as we go through this narrative is that Jesus's closest companions didn't expect or believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

And this is also made clear because the other gospels tell us that there were other women coming with spices to finish anointing the body of Jesus. So these other women, actually everybody at this point, was expecting the body to be there. But when the other women got there, this is from the other gospels, the stone having been rolled away, they went in, the body was gone, and two men stood by them in shining garments. These are the—one gospel only mentions one of the angels. Now we see that there's actually two angels. And Matthew tells us that one of the angels answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come see the place where he was lying."

Now, the angel said that Jesus had told them he would rise from the dead. Jesus had already told the disciples that he would rise from the dead. And he did. Listen to Matthew 16:21. It says, "From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day." So Jesus prophesies that he's going to die and rise again. But everything about that statement for the disciples was overwhelming and just couldn't compute in their brain.

Now back to John. So we have again, we have Mary Magdalene goes and tells Peter and John what's going on. Verse three. "So Peter and the other disciple went forth and they were going to the tomb. And the two were running together and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. And stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came following him and entered the tomb. And he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the facecloth which had been on his head not lying with the linen wrappings but folded up in a place by itself." And we've actually talked about in the past how the facecloth being folded by itself becomes an important piece of evidence in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because even if somebody could get past the guards, which if somebody gets past the guards, those guards die, by the way, they had sealed the tomb. If they can somehow move the stone and somehow carry Jesus away, they certainly wouldn't have taken the time to fold up his facecloth and set it aside.

And friends, if you're here today, don't look past this little facecloth because this is a gracious piece of evidence that Christ left behind for the skeptics. A gracious piece of evidence that also becomes damning if you reject it. But I beg you not to do that. Be like John in verse 8. Says, "So the other disciple," this is John, "who had first come to the tomb, then also entered and he saw and he believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise again from the dead." So the disciples went away again to where they were staying. See, friend, I plead with you. I beg you to believe as John believed. John was there. He's an eyewitness. He wrote this entire book. This is true. This is God's word. Believe the eyewitnesses who's testifying to you right now through his word. Believe the testimony John is putting forth. Believe the word of God. Believe those who brought you here today, whose lives have been transformed, transformed in such a way that there's no other rational explanation other than what the Bible says happens when somebody's born again. They go from an old creature to a new creature. Old things pass away, new things come. There's no other way to explain it because Christ rose from the grave and is alive today. And Christ's resurrection is one of the reasons Jesus tells Martha that he is the resurrection.

Because as we saw, he not only has the power to raise the dead, but now we've seen that he is also the first fruits of those who have risen from the dead. The first one to be raised from the dead permanently. Let's look back at John 11:25. Let's look back at our verse now. So Jesus has the power of resurrection. He's the first fruits of resurrection. And thirdly, he's also the object or the means of resurrection. And this is a difficult concept to explain, which is why I'm using different words. But the person of Jesus is the resurrection. In other words, if you believe in Christ, who is himself, the resurrection, you'll be resurrected. His person, who he is, and what he's done makes resurrection not only possible, but inevitable if you trust in him.

See, because he lives, we too will live. But if he's removed, there's only death. See, it's our union with Christ that leaves no other option than resurrection. It's the automatic result of union with Christ because all that Christ is automatically results in resurrection if you know him, if you've been saved, if you've repented and believed. And I think we might be able to better understand this if we also notice that Jesus didn't just say he was the resurrection or he is the resurrection. But he also said he is the life. And it's clear from his following statement that Jesus has eternal life in mind here. Look again at verse 25. He says, "He who believes in me will live even if he dies."

So Jesus says he's the resurrection and the life. And I'm trying to help you understand how Jesus is the resurrection by showing you what it means for him to be eternal life. So leave your finger there and turn to me to John 17, same book, chapter 17. And here we have Jesus. He's just begun his high priestly prayer to the father. John 17:3. And we're trying to understand what it means for Jesus to be the resurrection and the life. John 17:3. And more specifically, I'm trying to help you understand what it means for Jesus to be the resurrection by showing you what it means for him to be eternal life. So John 17:3 says, "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." See, knowing Jesus is eternal life. That's what that verse says. Being in union with him is eternal life. He is both the definition of eternal life and the substance of eternal life.

Listen to 1 John 5:11. It says, "And the witness is this that God gave us eternal life and this life is in his son. He who has the son has the life. He who does not have the son of God does not have that life." So the life and Christ, they're one. They come together. Being in Christ is eternal life. Just as being in Christ is resurrection. They go hand in hand. And they both come by being in union with Christ. That's why the song says, "One with himself, I cannot die." We sing that song all the time. Now the question becomes, do you have the son? Because if you have the son, you have the resurrection and the life. On the other hand, if you don't have the son, you have neither the resurrection nor the life. And if you don't have the son, then the question is, how do you get the son?

Well, that's what I want to answer for you with our second point, the plan for the resurrection and the life. So, we've seen how Jesus is the person of the resurrection and the life. Now, we want to look at the plan for the resurrection and the life. Now, we need to understand something at this point, something that is just foundational. Everyone is going to live forever. Every single human being lives forever. Our bodies will die, but everyone will spiritually live forever. Their soul will live forever. Every human being has an eternal everlasting soul. Everyone is going to be resurrected. Everyone has an everlasting soul. See, we were made, human beings were programmed to worship an eternal God. That's why there's so many false religions in the world because Satan's number one priority is to create false religions because Satan knows that human beings were made to worship. It's not a question of who you worship. I'm sorry. Everybody's going to worship.

Everybody worships something. Every single human being does because that's what we're programmed to do. So, everyone is going to be resurrected and live forever. Look at John 5 with me. We're bouncing around the Gospel of John here. John chapter 5. And here are the Pharisees angry that Jesus is healing on the Sabbath. John 5:17. They're angry at Jesus because he's supposed to be resting and he's like healing people and restoring limbs and all of these things. John 5:17 says, "My father is working until now and I myself am working." So Jesus says, "My father," which is already blasphemy to the Jews, "is working on the Sabbath. So I work." How did the Jews respond to this? He's—they say, John says, "For this reason, because he's calling God his father. For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because he not only was breaking the Sabbath but also was calling God his own father, making himself equal with God." And this is the one of the best proofs in the Bible of the deity of Christ. You have John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit saying that Jesus was making himself equal with God. This should be everybody's memory verse.

So Jesus is saying he's equal with God. By saying that God is his father, he's saying he's equal with God. And if this wasn't bad enough, Jesus goes on to say that both him and the father raised people from the dead. Again, this would have been blasphemy to them. Verse 21, he says, "For just as the father raises the dead and gives them life, even to the son also gives life to whom he wishes." So, a couple verses later, verse 21, Jesus says that he has the power to raise people from the dead. And there we have that life and that resurrection. They're together again. If you're resurrected, you have the life because you have Christ. You have both of them. So, things are only getting worse for the Pharisees. But then Jesus drops the hammer in verse 28. Just look down a couple of verses.

Jesus says, "Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice." And this is Jesus talking about himself in the third person for effect. Verse 29, well, he says, "All who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come forth, those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life and those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment." So, there will be two resurrections is what it comes down to. Again, we talked about this this morning. And there's a lot we could talk about here, but just understand that both of them are based on deeds. Both of them are based on works.

Now, you might say, "I thought we were saved by grace, right?" It's a good question. And we are saved by grace, but we're judged by works. And I want to help you understand that. Saved by grace, judged by works. In other words, we're saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. And that gives us the ability to do things for God's glory or good works. Ephesians 2:10. On the other hand, an unbeliever does nothing for God's glory. They may do human good works, but they do nothing for God's glory. And at the two resurrections, God is going to judge each person based on their works. Those who did works for God's glory will have a resurrection of life. And those who did works for themselves, selfish deeds, unforgiven evil deeds, things to soothe their conscience, they will have a resurrection of judgment. Jesus says, now if you would look back at John 11:25 again, our verse for today, and we're still asking how someone can have the son. How can someone have the son? But it because it's only those with the son who can have the resurrection and the life, the resurrection to life instead of the resurrection to judgment. So how does this work? Well, Jesus says there in the second half of verse 25, look at it there with me if you would. "He who believes in me will live even if he dies." And we want to focus specifically on the phrase "he who believes in me." This is the plan for the resurrection and the life to believe. This is how you get the son. You get the son by faith alone. By trusting in him alone.

You get the son by believing that he wrote the Bible through men. You get the son by believing that he is the living God. You get the son by believing that he is the only way to heaven. You get the son by believing that there's nothing you can do to save yourself. There's no amount of good deeds that can make you innocent. You get the son by believing that he was born of a virgin. You get the son by believing that he lived the sinless life in your place. The life that we were commanded to live that we could never live. You get the son by believing that he died the sacrificial substitutionary death that you deserve, that all of us deserve. And finally, you get the son by believing that he rose again on the third day according to the scriptures. And this is what Resurrection Sunday is all about. God has given you a reminder every year of what he's done.

And what have you done with that reminder? Maybe you're 20 years old. Maybe you're 30 years old, maybe you're 50 years old, but you've had a lot of Easters, so they as they call it. What have you done with this gracious and kind and loving and merciful reminder that the whole world recognizes? Have you ignored it? Have you rejected it? Have you maybe placated your friends and family by going to church on Sunday on Easter? Maybe it soothes your conscience to go to church on Easter. Maybe you think as long as I hit Easter and Christmas, they're called "creasters," everything will be fine. Maybe you feel as though it gets you brownie points with God to go with church, to go to church a couple times a year. Well, let me lovingly tell you, God accepts none of those things. All of them. Especially believing that God is pleased by you going to church once or twice a year and then forgetting about him only inflames his judgment. See, unless you're going to repent and believe everything preached today about Christ, it'd be better if you didn't come. Because the more light you reject, the hotter the hell. And nothing is more horrible than that. Nothing is more horrible than that. Don't reject this grace that God is pouring out upon you with a fire hose today because he doesn't owe you your next step. He doesn't owe you your next breath. He's already given you life. He's given you all that you have. And how have you responded to him giving you all that you have? If it's anything but full-on worship and praising him and being so grateful to him, making his word the center of your life, making his church the center of your life, making his people the center of your life, then you don't know him. And that is not a response you want to give to such a gracious and loving and kind and generous God. Because the punishment for that kind of disingenuous response is an eternity in hell, something that's unfathomably horrible.

And I tell you these things because I care about you, and I deserve to be burning in hell right now. I was the chief of sinners, but only by God's grace did he save me. But see, you don't have to reject this light today. Right now, Jesus is calling you to himself, and he never rejects anyone who comes to him. This is how you're resurrected to life instead of judgment. You believe in the one who is the resurrection and the life. Look at John chapter 3 with me. John chapter 3. And there's great warning and hope in this verse. John 3:18. God is such a good God to make these things so clear, to put them in the most published book in the history of the universe. More has been written about Jesus than every other religious figure in the history of the world. God's so gracious to spread this far and wide. God's so gracious to bring you to this place today to let you hear it as clearly as it can be said. John 3:18.

"He who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God." You want to avoid a resurrection to judgment, then repent and believe. On the other hand, if you don't repent, if you don't believe, a resurrection of judgment hangs over your head right now. But it's not too late. You can repent of your sins and believe in Christ today. Really, any day, anywhere. But don't wait too long 'cause you're not guaranteed tomorrow. See, that's the plan for the resurrection and the life to repent and believe in Christ. This is how you get the son. Now, if you would turn back to John 11:25.

John 11:25. So, we've seen the person and plan for the resurrection and the life. Now, we want to look at the power of the resurrection and the life. Look at the end of verse 25 with me. Jesus says, "He who believes in me will live even if he dies." So, we know that the plan for the resurrection and the life is believing. But now Jesus says, "If you believe, you'll live even if you die." And that's some serious power. That's power over death. That's power over judgment. That's power over hell. This is the power of Christ. And this is really what Martha needed to hear. Look at verse 24 with me again. Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." You can maybe say, "But how does that help me today, Jesus? My brother's dead. I'm in pain. I'm hurting."

See, Martha is fixed on a future resurrection, but that's not helping her. It should help her, but it's not helping her as much as it should for her current grief and pain caused by the loss of her brother. So Jesus says to her, "I'm not talking about just talking about future resurrection. I'm telling you that because Lazarus believed in me. He's alive right now, Martha. This is the power of the resurrection of life." And again, what awesome power this is, brothers and sisters, to know that every Christian who repented and believed in the Christ of Scripture is alive today. It's an awesome hope, a wonderful hope. See, death is always a time to grieve. But the Bible says Christians grieve differently. And this is why, because we believe in the power of the resurrection and the life. We have the hope of Christ. Listen to what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13.

He says, "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, those who have died, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope." In other words, the unbelievers. No hope of heaven, no hope of resurrection, no hope of eternal life. Don't grieve like them. He goes on, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus, those who have died, who are saved." So we don't grieve like unbelievers because we have the hope of eternal life. So Jesus tells Martha that her dead brother Lazarus is alive as they speak. And that again is our third point, the power of the resurrection. And now let's look at our fourth and final point, the promise of the resurrection and the life. John 11:26, the next verse there says, Jesus says, "And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die ever." Do you believe this? So Jesus goes from talking about Martha's dead brother Lazarus, who is actually alive because he believed in Jesus, to the promise of the resurrection and the life to everyone breathing. The promise of the resurrection and the life to everyone breathing.

So the first part was to those who have already died. Now he's talking about those like us who are still living. And again, notice that this is a promise whose only fulfilled is only fulfilled to those who believe. He repeats that. In other words, if you repent of your sins and put all of your trust in Jesus as God and his death and resurrection as the payment for your sins, Jesus will save you. Jesus will pay that penalty. You'll never die. Your body will die, but your soul will live with Christ, the one who is the resurrection and the life. It'll live with him forever. And when you're finally resurrected in the last day, you receive a glorified body just like Christ. And Jesus asks the question at the end of verse 26, "Do you believe this?" That's what it all comes down to. Do you believe this?

He didn't say, "How many good works have you done?" He didn't say, "Are you a good person?" He said, "Do you believe this?" what he's saying here. And that's the question I'm asking each of you here today. Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? Do you believe that all you have to do is repent and believe to have that resurrection and life? Do you believe that those who have died in Christ are alive today? Because there's plenty of evidence. There's plenty of testimony. All of scripture testifies to this. Every born again Christian, you know, testifies to this. Creation itself testifies to this. Your guilty conscience testifies that there is a God. Believe those things and you'll know the resurrection and the life. But the question is, will you believe these things? Will you believe these things today? Because Martha believed those things. Verse 27.

She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who comes into the world." See, Martha believed the testimony of Christ. But if you're having a hard time believing the testimony of Christ, then believe his works, Jesus said. See, Jesus was gracious enough to not only tell the truth about himself, but also to do miracles that only God can do. And if you would just go down to verse 38 with me and we're going to look at the raising of Lazarus. It says, "So Jesus again being deeply moved within came to the tomb." That's Lazarus's tomb. He's dead four days. "Now it was a cave and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, 'Remove the stone.' Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him, 'Lord, by this time he smells, for he has been dead 4 days.'" Again, she's not expecting a physical resurrection. Verse 40, Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, there it is again, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. And I knew that you always hear me. But because of the crowd standing around, I said this so that they may believe that you sent me." There's that word believe again. And when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice. "Lazarus, come forth." The man who had died came forth bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him and let him go." Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he had done believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done. And I ask again, which crowd are you in? Which group are you with? Will you be like Martha and the Jews who believed? Or will you leave this place today indifferent, scoffing, full of disbelief? Because John 3:36 says, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Let me pray.

Lord, we don't want the wrath of God to abide on anyone. Everyone here who knows you knows that we deserve to have the wrath of God abiding on us right now. We deserve to be burning in hell forever right now. Every single person here who knows you because of our sin which made us guilty before a holy God. A guilt we could do nothing about. A guilt that only you could provide a solution for. And you did. And not just any solution, but the most loving and gracious and sacrificial solution that anybody could ever fathom. You sent your only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for the sins of each person who would repent and believe. And if that wasn't enough, he rose from the dead and is alive today, proving that Jesus is God and that his sacrifice was enough to satisfy your justice. And Lord, I pray that these truths, these realities, this history would drive every aspect of our life. Lord, I pray that Resurrection Sunday for us who believe, Lord, wouldn't just be another day looking forward to lunch, looking forward to family. Those are good. Those are blessings from you, Lord. But I pray that our hearts and minds would be trained on the ultimate sacrifice that you made 2,000 years ago. And you made that sacrifice for those who are yet your enemies. Again, unfathomable grace and kindness and mercy. The kind of grace and mercy and generosity and love that if rejected could only merit an eternity in eternal conscious torturous burning place called hell. Please don't let that be the case for anyone here today. Lord, please save them. Make them your worshippers for your glory. Amen.