Resurrection and the Life

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
John 11:25

          Words reveal the soul of a culture or civilization. The more words that you have to describe things, the deeper and more complex a society can be. Both English and ancient Greek has tens of thousands of basic non-technical words, while the language of the jungle Quichua tribe has less than one thousand. Even so, in all of these languages there is a word for “resurrection”. It would seem that rising from the dead is basic to all human understanding. 

          Ancient Egyptians not only had this concept, they had a god of death, the afterlife, and resurrection (Osiris). Many people recognize Baal as a renowned Canaanite god, but don’t realize that he also was a god of dying and rising again. Greek mythology describes the resurrections of Achilles, Castor, and Hercules and both Eastern and animistic religions have resurrection stories.

          This is all made more interesting by the fact that none of these people groups have ever really experienced a real return from death. Jesus Christ is the one and only Resurrection and the life, so apart from Him, everything else is myth or wishful thinking.

          Human beings have a spirit; animals don’t. Hardwired into that spiritual consciousness is the desire for eternal life and resurrection from the dead. Apart from the Savior there is no hope or possibility to defeat death, even though billionaires today are investing their fortunes trying to do just that.

Simple faith in the only One who died and rose again can guarantee a believer's victory over sin and death because Christ promised: “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:26).

          Jesus is alive and well and living within every true believer. The Apostle Paul wanted the reality of the resurrected Christ to affect everything he said and did. His credo was “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). To know the Lord Jesus is to know the Resurrection and the Life.