Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
John 11:25
Jesus, in making the statement that He is the resurrection and the life, provided the answer to man’s life time search for life. The fall of man brought the curse of death, but Christ came to bring life and life in abundance. He came to give us eternal life. What does it mean that Jesus is the resurrection and the life?
Resurrection is process of bringing that which has been dead or ceased to exist back to life. Jesus did not leave the definition of resurrection to an event or a day, but He made the claim that He embodies all that the resurrection is and all that life is; not just any life, but the life (eternal life). To appreciate this claim, we would consider the concept of death.
When man sinned, he died, yet he was still breathing. Death is more that the physical departure of the body, since man is a spiritual being. Death is separation, a separation from God. Jonah was a man who experienced death while alive in Jonah 2:2, he said, “I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me! . Life therefore, as John 17:3 describes it, is the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ. The word ‘knowledge’ used here is Ginosko, which speaks of a first hand knowledge. This knowledge is similar to a man ‘knowing’ his wife sexually. Just like death can occur while a person lives, this knowledge can cause a believer to live like a god even on earth.
Jesus, being the resurrection, therefore means that in Him, the process of a union with God exists. Jesus being the life means that He is the union with God. This was why in , John 14:6, He claimed that no one comes to the Father but by Him. In Jesus, we have an eternal union with God as we grow in the knowledge of God, the process of our resurrection. As death, which is the lack of knowledge of God resulted in the physical separation of man from his body, it is the knowledge of God that will bring man back to his full estate in life. For this reason, Paul said, that as we are filled with an intimate knowledge of God and His love, we are filled with all the fullness of God, Ephesians 3:16-19.
What does this mean for us? Jesus cautioned us not to labour for meat that perishes, like the men of this world, John 6:27. It is not dieting, or taking medications, or exercise, or wealth that will eventually save man from death, if not there are many people that should be alive till today. It is a knowledge, the knowledge of God. While it is important to take care of our mortal tents, it is foolishness and error to spend all our time and effort on things that cannot save from death. It is time we set our priorities right. It the knowledge of God, an intercourse with God that will being healing. It is an intercourse with God that will bring is Wisdom. It is also an intercourse with God that will cause the overshadowing that will enable our mortal tents to take up His glorious nature, that lives forever.
Prayer for today: Lord thank you for revealing Yourself to me as the Resurrection and life. Father, help me to set my priorities right. It is by an intercourse with you that I have hope of escaping death, because you are Life Himself and also my process of coming into it. Help me to loose taste of all that this World has that is perishing and focus on You. Give me that bread of life that will cause me to live forever. You are my resurrection and my life.
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