Date: April 7, 2014 11:46 PM
Topic: +DEV+ Die to Live
Die to Live
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26)
Scripture Focus: John 11:4-44
Who can tell what the day-to-day benefits of our journey with God will be? Certainly, it's often a mystery to us as we travel. Lazarus' experience was no different. He may have hoped Jesus would arrive in time to heal him; perhaps he was surprised and saddened when He didn't. How could he know God's plan necessitated his death?
When Jesus did arrive, Mary declared her belief in Jesus' deity and God's power to do whatever Jesus asked. Seeing Mary weeping, Jesus was moved to tears, and action. At the tomb, Jesus prayed to His Father, then called Lazarus from the grave - out he came, wrapped in burial linens, but very much alive and probably stunned.
To Jesus' followers, this became a graphic foreshadowing of what Jesus would go through - dying, being buried, and coming back to life. It also manifested how Jesus could bring hope in death. We share this hope of life in death if we've trusted the power of Jesus' death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of eternity with Him.
Insight: "Lives again our glorious King; Where oh death is now thy sting? Dying once He all did save; Where thy victory oh grave?" (Charles Wesley, 1739)
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship and Bible study groups.
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