Risen!

“ CHRIST being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. ”

Jesus Christ is the last human being who ever died having true faith. With a complete faith in the triune God, in His Son Jesus Christ, in the promises of eternal life and forgiveness of sin by the Blood of the Savior, Jesus Himself was the last such man ever to experience death. All other faithful people have never died . Can I confidently say this? Let me see if I can.

What is it that all men instinctually fear? Death . Have a car come too close on an onramp, and we're jumping for fear of a collision— and death . Let a madman loose on the street with a gun, and we're running, screaming and crying for fear he may shoot us— that we might die . Death has had such a hold on our inner man, the fear of it, the worry of it; it can trigger a response that betrays a motivation of our most secret heart. We do many things that we do because otherwise we might die.

Now taking care of ourselves, staying healthy, being fit, eating right, wearing a seatbelt are all things we should do, for we ought to keep our lives away from unnecessary dangers. Watch the saturated fats, quit smoking, and don't drink too much: that's good stewardship of the body God gave us. I'm not talking about becoming reckless. But the inordinate fear of death, the very fear that death is stalking us, gives the punch to every mystery movie, horror flick, thriller, and headlines that continue to shout audacities out of the Middle East. We are horrified at death itself, and today I ask us all: why ?

Most people die having never written a Last Will and Testament, or giving medical directives for their loved ones to follow in case of dire illness. I'm surprised at Christians who fail these measures that simply make the passing of life easier for those who remain, keep them from quarrelsome disputes over the estates we leave in such disarray. And why haven't we taken care of these matters? We fear to die, so we don't think about it.

Now, what I'm addressing today is not your Will, or your intake of vitamins, but to give you the realization of what the empty tomb of Jesus Christ means to all mankind. St. Irenaeus has been in the news lately for having refuted the so-called Gospel of Judas back in the 2 nd century. Do you want to know another quote from Irenaeus? “The Glory of God is man fully alive.” God's greatest and most astounding achievement on earth is that a human being might become fully alive . What is fully alive? Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 He told Nicodemus that he must be born again to truly enter the Kingdom of God. He said many such things, and He promised that life was the cause of His coming. Man fully alive is what gives glory to Almighty God. Are you fully alive? Do you want to be?

Jesus faced Jerusalem knowing the place was deadly to Him. He came to Bethany for His dead friend Lazarus, knowing that raising him to life would raise the stakes in the coming confrontation with the priests of the Temple: they simply could not let such power continue and would surely do all they could to destroy Him. This was His hour, and He had to fulfill it. No one but He understood fully, though Thomas, remember poor Thomas the doubter? as they packed to go up to Bethany, Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” John 11:16 He understood what was at stake.

Jesus met Martha, Lazarus' sister, first. She was very upset, and confronted Jesus in her grief: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus told her , “Your brother shall rise again.” Martha acknowledged her belief in the resurrection on the last day. But Jesus wanted her to know more than life after death, life in heaven, life someday and far from here. He stood tall and majestic above her, looking down on one that he dearly loved, about to share one of His most precious secrets with her, and now with you. “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:21-26

Did you hear Him? He who believes in Me shall live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die . Never die . Never die. Do you believe this? In some ways, we obviously don't, or else we might live otherwise. We, who believe in Him and live now, will never die.

All four Gospel accounts tell of Jesus saying something else that confirms this: “If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” John 8:51 “ There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” Matthew 16:28 Mark 9:1 Luke 9:27 What is He saying? We will never die. If we believe in Him, because He died the death that was ours, and because He rose from the dead triumphant, we will not die but go from life to life.

I'm not sure what death meant before Christ faced it, went through it, preached to the dead and rose from the tomb, alive forevermore. But it wasn't what we have to face today, not now, not after Christ rose and showed His hands and feet, His battle scars that won our lives forever back from the fear of death. Death is simply not the same anymore.

Now, I'm not saying our bodies will live on. If He doesn't return in our lifetimes and we live and die on earth, these bodies will fail, our souls and spirits will depart and this flesh will decay and return to dust. That much is still true. But as believers in Jesus, the Lord of Life, what will be our experience as we go through that passage? Does it hold any horror for us anymore? St. Paul is not afraid: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? …thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15:54-57 He quotes Isaiah, 750 years earlier, who wrote: “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth.” Isaiah 25:8 This victory was anticipated even long before Jesus walked, though it was still a hoped for reality. The Psalmist wrote: “The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” Psalm 121:8

Jesus spoke of this life without death on other occasions as well. Can we hear Him, now that He is risen from the grave? “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:14-15 “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24

The night He was arrested, He inaugurated the Holy Communion in His body and blood. But He had spoken in Capernaum many months before of the Eucharist we here are about to partake. And what power is it that we take into ourselves at this hour? “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life… This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:47-51

Is it evident to you now that you are not meant to die? This isn't a thing for eternity, for heaven, as though eternity and heaven are someplace else and not here. Jesus said repeatedly, “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 10:7 It is not less so since He rose from Joseph's tomb, but is now accomplished. Death is swallowed up. Christ is risen! Hear it with new ears today. He is risen!

“As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.” John 6:57-58 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28 “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” John 12:25

He spoke to His Father about Himself and us just before He went to Gethsemane. He said the Father had given Him power over all flesh, that he would give eternal life to as many as [the Father] had given him. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:2-3

Let me make that claim again. Jesus Christ is the last human being who ever died having true faith. Jesus Himself was the last man with a complete faith in the triune God, in His Son Jesus Christ, in the promises of eternal life and forgiveness of sin by the Blood of the Savior, ever to experience death. All other faithful people have never died. They laid their bodies down, and never experienced death as death, but as life going on to life, eternal life beginning here and now. Eternal life has already begun. Eternal means without end , life is without end, without death, or the fear of death. Because Christ lives, we shall never die. Do you understand this now?

Jesus did truly die. He saw the horror and evil of death. He experienced going to the place of departed spirits, under God's judgment on mankind's sins, for He took all sin with Him from the cross to the grave. He took it. He took yours and He took mine. Death is no more the result of our sins, but it may be the result of refusing life. Refuse Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life, and death is inevitable and permanent, and a real reason to fear. But receive Him as your life, your Lord, your Savior, your God and King and Master and Resurrection and the Way: and today you live. You are fully alive. The glory of God is man fully alive . Jesus Christ is risen! And you are risen in Him. Live: live in Him and you shall never die.

PFH+