If you\u2019ve ever questioned whether this world is under a curse, visit a children\u2019s hospital. We once took our son there because he had terrible stomach pain. He recovered, but other parents couldn\u2019t say the same for their kids. I\u2019ll never forget walking down the hallway and seeing a father collapse into a loved one\u2019s arms, weeping. His child\u2019s suffering was too much to bear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus arrived in Bethany to find his dear friends, Martha and Mary, mourning the death of their brother Lazarus much like the father I saw in that hallway. When Lazarus became sick, they sent word to Jesus. They had believed he could heal Lazarus, but then, it was \u201ctoo late.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many view death as just a natural part of life. But in John 11, we see that death angered Jesus. To him, death was unnatural because people were created for eternal fellowship with God. Sin put this world under a curse, and Jesus graciously came to reverse it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amid the mourning, Jesus makes this audacious claim: \u201cI am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live\u201d (John 11:25). It\u2019s one thing to say it, another to prove it. So he did. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, everyone was shocked. He had authority over death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As miraculous as Lazarus\u2019s resurrection was, this was just the beginning. Over a week later, Martha would be running to another cave tomb looking for Jesus\u2019s body, only to find Him gone. Death could not hold Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friends, Jesus is the resurrection\u2014not \u201csort of\u201d or \u201cmaybe,\u201d but truly and fully. His death and resurrection mean our sins have been paid for, the sting of death has been removed, and our future is secured. When we say, \u201cThe best is yet to come,\u201d we\u2019re not being optimistic\u2014we\u2019re speaking the truth. And this isn\u2019t just a future hope; it\u2019s a reality we can apply daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, as Paul suffered horrible trials, he said, \u201cIndeed we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead…He will deliver us\u201d (2Corinthians 1:9\u201310). We can also proactively trust God with our current suffering, persecution, and uncertainties because He is the one who raises the dead. We can also proactively live for God\u2019s glory because the Bible says Jesus\u2019s resurrection power is at work in us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s amazing to think about, but Lazarus was the opening act. And He will raise us too. We all have a beginning, but in Jesus, we will have no end. Take heart, for the risen One will raise His beloved on that final day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019ve ever questioned whether this world is under a curse, visit a children\u2019s hospital. We once took our son there because he had terrible stomach pain. He recovered, but other parents couldn\u2019t say the same for their kids. I\u2019ll never forget walking down the hallway and seeing a father collapse into a loved one\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":72652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[305],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-john25"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[72756],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE<\/b>
\r\nby Beverly Berrus<\/i>
\r\n
If you\u2019ve ever questioned whether this world is under a curse, visit a children\u2019s hospital. We once took our son there because he had terrible stomach pain. He recovered, but other parents couldn\u2019t say the same for their kids. I\u2019ll never forget walking down the hallway and seeing a father collapse into a loved one\u2019s arms, weeping. His child\u2019s suffering was too much to bear.<\/p>
\r\n
Jesus arrived in Bethany to find his dear friends, Martha and Mary, mourning the death of their brother Lazarus much like the father I saw in that hallway. When Lazarus became sick, they sent word to Jesus. They had believed he could heal Lazarus, but then, it was \u201ctoo late.\u201d<\/p>
\r\n
Many view death as just a natural part of life. But in John 11, we see that death angered Jesus. To him, death was unnatural because people were created for eternal fellowship with God. Sin put this world under a curse, and Jesus graciously came to reverse it.<\/p>
\r\n
Amid the mourning, Jesus makes this audacious claim: \u201cI am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live\u201d (John 11:25). It\u2019s one thing to say it, another to prove it. So he did. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, everyone was shocked. He had authority over death.<\/p>
\r\n
As miraculous as Lazarus\u2019s resurrection was, this was just the beginning. Over a week later, Martha would be running to another cave tomb looking for Jesus\u2019s body, only to find Him gone. Death could not hold Him.<\/p>
\r\n
Friends, Jesus is the resurrection\u2014not \u201csort of\u201d or \u201cmaybe,\u201d but truly and fully. His death and resurrection mean our sins have been paid for, the sting of death has been removed, and our future is secured. When we say, \u201cThe best is yet to come,\u201d we\u2019re not being optimistic\u2014we\u2019re speaking the truth. And this isn\u2019t just a future hope; it\u2019s a reality we can apply daily.<\/p>
\r\n
For example, as Paul suffered horrible trials, he said, \u201cIndeed we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead...He will deliver us\u201d (2Corinthians 1:9\u201310). We can also proactively trust God with our current suffering, persecution, and uncertainties because He is the one who raises the dead. We can also proactively live for God\u2019s glory because the Bible says Jesus\u2019s resurrection power is at work in us!<\/p>
\r\n
It\u2019s amazing to think about, but Lazarus was the opening act. And He will raise us too. We all have a beginning, but in Jesus, we will have no end. Take heart, for the risen One will raise His beloved on that final day.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"18","scripture":"John 11:1-54, Daniel 12:2-3, 1 Corinthians 15:12-19","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}