What Difference Does Easter Make? - Pt. 3

 

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha 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.” 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.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. (John 11:17-26 ESV).

 

There are at least five specific results of our being joined with the Risen Christ. I am going to just write about one of these in each of the next five days. These are very personal to each of us as we face life and its challenges. However, the certainty of our own future resurrection results in the same experience. First, we share in Christ’s indestructible life. Believe me when I write that I am well aware of how unbelievable that statement seems. As I have aged, I have discovered how fragile my body is becoming with each passing day.

 

However, we cannot deny the new security and confidence of hope in our lives that comes with the truth of our reading today. Christians are, in a profound sense, immortal. We will never see the full destructive power of death. Listen to Jesus again as he speaks to the grief-stricken sister of Lazarus: “I am the resurrection and the life… everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25–26). There is is… we shall never die!

 

The effect of this certainty in the future is to make our present experience in this world joyful. It is a joyful freedom from fear and a full security, confidence, and hope. Here’s what the Apostle Peter said: “[God] caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).  All of us know there’s a world of difference between living right now in despair, uncertainty, insecurity, and fear or, on the other hand, living right now in security, in confidence, hope, joy, and freedom from fear because we share an indestructible life. This is the result of sharing the fullness of the resurrection life of Jesus. That’s the first effect of Christ’s resurrection on our present experience. There are four more!