Living Beyond Death (8)

 

Revelation chapters 21 and 22

 

Have you given any more thought to the key of John Chapter 11? Take a look at John 11:21 – 25. Where is Martha “looking”? She says, “If you had been here my brother wouldn’t have died.” Then she says, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Martha is looking to the past and the future.

 

When Mary shows up, she says (11:32), “If you had been here my brother would not have died.” Mary is also looking to the past.

 

What is Jesus saying in 11:25 - 26? Can you relate this to John 8:51? (Along this same line, you might want to consider the point Jesus makes in Matthew 22:31 – 32).

 

Jesus is saying, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life…” (Remember God and Moses and the burning bush? Exodus 3:14.) Martha and Mary are looking to the past and the future, but they are not seeing Jesus in what I’ll call the transcendent – present. What I mean by the transcendent – present is that we see Christ now, but in seeing Him now we see Him in such a way that He transcends time and space – as Jesus says in Matthew 22:31 – 32, He is not the God of the dead but of the living.

 

In Christ, our lives are to be supernatural, and that means that God wants to develop and grow our life in the Holy Spirit as we are transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

 

Our propensity is to see Jesus in the past or in the future, but not now as the I AM. This goes far beyond what people call “application” – “how does the Bible apply to today?” While it is important to always ask, “How am I being called to respond and obey this Biblical text today?” The Bible calls us to see Jesus Christ and experience relationship with Him today.

 

This is why if all we do, when working through a Bible text, is to talk about the past or the future – we may be reading the text but we are not experiencing the text as the Living Word of God. I have seldom been in a Sunday school group that moved beyond the past or future and “saw” Christ as the I AM in the here and now.

 

Why are we so obsessed, in the church in this nation, with figuring out the future when we aren’t living in Christ today? When we aren’t seeing Him as the Resurrection and the Life today?

 

If we saw Jesus Christ as the Resurrection and the Life today, do you really think that professing – Christians would be involved in some of the things they are? That we would consume the types of entertainment we do? That we would use some of the vitriolic language that we do? Do you think we might actually start to be a witness for the Gospel – not afraid to share Christ with others – wherever we are? Do you think that congregations just might not be as petty as some are? Do you think that we would have a passion to obey the Word of God…no matter the consequences?

 

But most of all, if we saw Jesus Christ as the Resurrection and the Life today, our hearts and souls would be consumed by Him, loving Him, adoring Him, seeking Him; with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies (Mark 12:29 – 31), loving others with a passion…and joyfully looking forward to life beyond death…knowing what is in our wallet. If Christ is not the Resurrection and the Life this all means nothing, absolutely nothing, but if He is the I AM THAT I AM, then He means everything – there is no middle ground.

 

Our lives in Christ are to be naturally supernatural.

 

When reading Revelation chapters 21 – 22, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what these images mean – how do they speak to you about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? We see the Vine and the Branches of John 15 in Revelation 22:1 – 2. We see our minds being filled with the nature and glory of our God (22:4). We see ourselves as His sons and daughters inheriting all things in and with our Lord Jesus Christ (21:7).  We see an end to sorrow and the final and complete end of death (21:4). We see a life of transparency, where we never have to hide from others and they never have to hide from us – the City is transparent (21:18).

 

Well, I could go on and on…what do you see? It takes time to develop vision…but it will come…I promise you…it will come.

 

I Iove Jesus Christ…I hope you do too!