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Dead and buriedJesus lives. He is resurrected. God is a God of resurrection. God is a God of life. In Jesus we have life.

We live a resurrected life with Jesus. That is His promise to us.

Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live!

And live we do. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. When we believe in Him, we are buried in Him and resurrected in Him.

Jesus also clues us in that there will be those who live a resurrected life of judgement. We need to choose Jesus. Jesus give life to anyone He chooses. He chooses us.

Jesus doesn’t shut anyone out. Neither does God. They are both in a very good mood. God has handed authority over to Jesus. This is a fact. We can believe it.

God is God. He is good. He has a goal for us. We must choose to live it out every day. That is the resurrection life.

We must choose to hear His voice today.

“Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

“Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.” Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Jn 5:24–29). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

For a second time, Jesus introduced His words with the solemn “verily, verily” (see John 5:19, 24–25). More than twenty times in John’s Gospel you will find Jesus using this solemn form of address. It is as though He was saying, “Pay attention to this! What I am about to say is important!”

In this fascinating paragraph, Jesus spoke about four different resurrections. He described the resurrection of lost sinners into eternal life. The lost sinner is as lifeless and helpless as a corpse. No matter how an undertaker may prepare a corpse, it is still dead; and no corpse is “deader” than any other corpse. If you are dead, you are dead! The lost sinner is helpless to save himself and he certainly cannot give himself life.

How are dead sinners raised from the dead? By hearing God’s Word and believing on God’s Son. Jesus healed the paralyzed man at the pool by His word. Each time He raised somebody from the dead, He spoke the word. His Word is “living and powerful” and can raise sinners from spiritual death. “Everlasting life” means that they can never die spiritually again, nor can they ever come into judgment. To hear His Word and believe means salvation; to reject His Word means condemnation.

The second resurrection mentioned is the resurrection of our Jesus Himself. Our life is derived, but His life is original, “in Himself.” “In Him was life” (John 1:4). The grave could not hold Him because He is “the Prince of Life”. Jesus laid down His life and then took it up again. Because He has life in Himself, He can share that life with all who will trust Him.

The third resurrection named is the future resurrection of life, when believers are raised from the dead. This wonderful truth is explained in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15. Keep in mind that resurrection is not reconstruction. It does not imply that God “puts the pieces back together again.” The resurrection body is a new body, a glorified body, suited to the new heavenly environment. Death is not the end for the believer, nor will he live in heaven as a disembodied spirit. God saves the whole person, and this includes the body. This resurrection of life will take place when Jesus the Messiah returns in the air and calls His people to Himself.

The fourth resurrection He mentioned is the resurrection of condemnation. This resurrection involves only the lost, and it will take place just before Jesus Christ ushers in the new heaven and the new earth. What an awesome event that will be, when the dead “small and great” stand before Jesus the Messiah! The Father has committed all judgment to the Son and has given Him the authority to execute judgment. Today Jesus the Messiah is the Savior, but one day He shall sit as the Judge.

Believers will be given resurrection bodies so that they might reign with Jesus in glory. Unbelievers will be given resurrection bodies—but not glorified bodies—that they might be judged and then suffer punishment in those bodies. Bodies that were used for sin will suffer the consequences of that sin.

The fact that Jesus has the authority to raise the dead is proof that He is equal with the Father, and therefore He is God.