THE ULTIMATE LIFE SAVER
John 11:17-44
John 11:25-26
• Jesus said, ‘Your brother will be raised up.’
Martha replied, ‘I know that he will be
raised up in the resurrection at the end of
time.’ ‘You don’t have to wait for the End. I
am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The
one who believes in me, even though he or
she dies, will live. And everyone who lives
believing in me does not ultimately die at
all. Do you believe this?’ (Message).
What a revelation…
• It focuses our hope in
the face of death.
• But it is a message to
the living
– It is more than assuring
that we will go to heaven
someday.
– It is the equipment for
living well here and how.
We sometimes speak of "the fountain
of youth"
• We seek a product.
• Jesus offers himself.
RECOGNIZE THE POWER
AND SOURCE OF LIFE
"I Am The Resurrection and the Life."
Jesus is resurrection and Life
John says,
• In him was life, and that life
was the light of men. – John
1:4
• For as the Father has life in
himself, so he has granted the
Son to have life in himself. -John 5:26
Everything else is "death"
• Life is full of things that kill.
– Physical things
• Accident,
• disease,
• Aging.
– Emotional things
• rejection,
• abuse,
• betrayal,
• There is a spiritual death.
– The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is Eternal life – Rom
6:23
– Jesus warned, The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy, but I have come that you
may have life and have it to the full. Jn 10:10.
– We crave things that produce death.
Jesus reverses the consequence of sin
• The Resurrection.
• The cure for deadness
RECEIVE THE HOPE OF LIFE
IN THE PROSPECT OF DEATH.
He who believes in me will live even
though he dies. --v. 25b.
“Believe” involves more than simple
mental ascent.
It involves
• acceptance of Who
Jesus is.
• a trust in Him that
results in doing what
He says.
• a relationship
Sometimes it matters what we believe.
• Blind faith will not do.
• Paul said, "...I know whom I have believed...."
--2 Tim. 1:12.
• When we know Him and believe Him he
becomes resurrection to us
Adam and Eve believed the Serpent
and sinned.
Their sin involved:
• Doubting God and a choice to believe
Satan’s lie.
• Doing wrong based on the error of their
belief.
• The consequence of their sin was death –
– Immediately spiritual
– and eventually physical.
When we believe in Jesus, a reversal
takes place.
• We doubt Satan’s lie, choosing rather to
trust God.
• Immediately the relationship with the
Source of Life is restored.
• Our actions, based now on truth, produce
right and wholesome results.
Jesus proved the life giving value of
trusting the Father.
• ...having been buried with him
in baptism and raised with
him through your faith in the
power of God, who raised him
from the dead. – Col 2:12
• Since, then, you have been
raised with Christ, set your
hearts on things above, where
Christ is seated at the right
hand of God. – Col 3:1
REST IN THE ASSURANCE
OF ETERNAL LIFE
and whoever lives and believes in me will never
die. (v. 26).
This always involves a relationship:
• As long as the relationship is in tact the
circumstances don’t matter.
• Physical death cannot cancel the flow of life.
– Paul said, For I am convinced that neither death nor
life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present
nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. – Rom 8:38-38
– And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand. – Jn 10:28
It is the ultimate Insurance.
• It insures against the
loss of being, as well
as the loss of wellbeing.
• It insures against ruin,
damnation, and
everlasting loss.
Here’s the deal…
We are believers by nature
-we all believe something
Why not believe unto life?
Believe Jesus who is Truth and Life.