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Living A Life Marked by Resurrection

Wayne Galloway
12/15/19 - Sunday Evening Worship

Living A Life Marked by Resurrection

Jn. 11:38-44

 

Introduction:

 

1.  Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”

2.  Martha, the realist said, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

3.  They removed the stone.  I suppose they smelled the smell of death as Jesus prayed.

4.  “He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’  The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth.  Jesus said, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’”

5.  The impact on the observers must have been incredible.  Many of the Jews who saw what He had done, believed in Him.  Some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.  What they saw changed their lives.

6.  But what if you had been Lazarus?  He was dead and was now living.  Did he ever have a story to tell!

7. John 12 says that people came to see him, this man raised from the dead.  The chief priests plotted to put him to death because on account of him many believed in Jesus.

8.  Had you been Lazarus how would you have lived the rest of your life?

     a.  Would your whole system of values be changed?  Would things that you had thought to be

           matters of major significance now become totally insignificant?

     b.  Would you give up a life of sinning?

     c.  Would you tell others about what you had experienced and try to persuade them to live

          different lives?

9.  People are transformed when they believe in and have experienced resurrection.

 

Discussion:

 

I.  Abraham and Sarah’s lives were marked by a belief in resurrection.  Two N. T. passages call this to our attention.

 

     A.  Rom. 4:16-25.

           1.  In this great passage about faith we are challenged to have the faith that Abraham had.

           2.  Abraham was 99 years old when God promised to make him into a nation of people (Gen.

                17:1ff; Rom. 4:17).

           3.  Paul says Abraham “contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about

                a hundred years old” (4:19).

           4.  In addition he contemplated “the deadness of Sarah’s womb.”  She was ninety years old. 

                They had been married a   l  o  n  g   time.  She had never been pregnant.

           5.  Paul says, “In hope against hope he believed.”  That’s another way of saying “he hoped in a

                 hopeless situation.”

           6.  Yet God had promised it and God gives life to the dead and calls into being that which

                does not exist (4:17) and so Abraham believed it.

            7.  Thus, this faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness (v. 22; Cf. Gen. 15:6).

            8.  It is this same faith that God is calling on us to have (4:23-25).

                      a.  We believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead (4:24).

                      b.  He was delivered over because of our transgressions and raised because of our

                          justification.

            B.  Heb. 11:11-12, 17-19.

                  1.  Sarah considered God faithful and so received ability to conceive even though she was

                        past menopause.

                  2.  God brought life to her dead womb (Rom. 4:19).

                  3.  Hers was a faith in a God of life and that God of life had promised her a child.

                  4.  The author of the book of Hebrews observes that not only was Sarah past the proper

                        time, but Abraham too was as good as dead.  So, from two dead individuals God

                        produced life.

                  5.  In verses 17-19 the writer again reminds us of another incident in Abraham’s life that

                       evidences Abraham’s belief in the God of resurrection.

                       a.  When Isaac was in his youth God said to offer him as a sacrifice.

                       b.  This was the one through whom God had promised to make Abraham a great

                             nation.

                       c.  How could he become a great nation if he killed his only son?

                       d.  “He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead.”

             C.  Their lives were marked by belief in the resurrection.

                   1.  It lead them to a life of faith branded by obedience based on God’s promises.

                   2.  They left their country not knowing where they were going.

                   3.  They conceived a child even though they were as good as dead.

                   4.  They regarded themselves as strangers and exiles on the earth and looked for a

                         heavenly city because God promised it.

                   5.  They offered up Isaac as a sacrifice.

                   6.  Like Lazarus they were marked by the resurrection and lived their lives accordingly.

 

II.  The argument of Rom. 4:24-25 is that like as Abraham was marked by the resurrection so we too have been marked by the resurrection of Jesus.

 

       A.  We too believe in Him who raised Jesus from the dead.    

       B.  It is the faith of Abraham (the same faith that characterized Abraham) that leads to our life

            (Rom. 4:24-5:21).  It results in our exulting.

             1.  We have peace with God.

             2.  We have the hope of the glory of God.

             3.  We even rejoice in our tribulations knowing that we will reign in life through Jesus

                  Christ (5:17, 21).

       C.  But there are more implications.

             1.  We are resurrected beings.  Having been buried with Christ in baptism we have been

                   raised (Rom. 6).

             2.  We walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4) 

             3.  We have the power of new creation to overcome sin (Rom. 6:13, 16, 17).

             4.  We can bear fruit for God (Rom. 7:4).

             5.  We serve in newness of the Spirit (Rom. 7:6).

             6.  We can endure sufferings (Rom. 8:18ff).

             7.  Rom. 12-13-14-15 are the results of the new mind and bodies presented as living and

                       holy sacrifices.

                 8.  Not one of us lives for himself—but for the Lord (Rom. 14:7-9).

                 9.  We no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose on our behalf (2 Cor.

                       5:14-17).

 

Conclusion:

 

1.  Our lives are marked by the resurrection of Christ.

2.  Our lives are marked by our personal resurrection.

3.  Our lives are no longer ours; they belong to Him.