Sermon Central
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A Rabbit Resurrection
Contributed by Mark Aarssen on Jun 19, 2018 (message contributor)
Summary: What if we came alive in Christ? What if we let our faith live and breathe outside of our cage? What if Jesus raised us up to have a resurrection kind of faith? What if we lived believing that Jesus can bring us back to life?
A Rabbit Resurrection
John Chapter 11
As Palm Sunday approaches Jesus is moving from safety to danger
The Holy Land was split in four sections ruled by four brothers
As long as Jesus did not cross the line He would be safe from Herod
As long as you and I don’t cross the line we’ll be O.K. too (keep your beliefs to yourself don’t talk about God or your faith in Him)
Jesus knew that Lazarus would die but He did not go to him immediately.
Jesus had to cross the line but why?
Jesus waited and Mary and Martha waited as Lazarus waited, sometimes everyone waits on God
They all waited in order that the Glory of God the Father could be displayed in Jesus
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."
So Lazarus death was necessary so that God the Father’s glory could be shown through Jesus
We know that when Jesus arrives; when He shows up in people’s lives things change for the better
Jesus arrives at the home of His dead friend Lazarus four days late and the accusation is put to Him
“IF” only you’d been here! – The healer, the miracle man
Many of us have lost loved ones even though we have cried out to God
But God does not set His clock by our watch
Our Heavenly Father has marked out time by His watch for each and every one of us
We have all wondered
Why our loved ones had to die,
When they had to die
And how they had to die
The timing of death seems unfair, abrupt, and even cruel as we try to make sense of it all
And some of us like Mary and Martha have put the same accusation before Jesus
“IF” you’d only been here!
God this is your fault!
You could have stopped this!
We make God the author of death but in reality we are as we fail to ask; what caused the death of our loved ones?
Sin is “the what” behind every death. That was established in the Garden of Eden when we sinned.
But Jesus is the Lamb of God – the sacrifice for our sins. Through Him we escape death.
God has provided the lamb. God has made a way for us to escape death.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What causes death; sin does. But praise God – there is held out to us one who is without sin.
Jesus Christ.
And what does Jesus say when He is confronted by these angry broken hearted accusations?
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
Jesus will back up His claim by bringing back the dead
Jesus wanted to see where Lazarus had been buried.
Jesus wants us to know that all hope is not gone as long as we believe in Him.
When Jesus arrives in a person’s life not even death can keep them separated from Him.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Some of our churches are on their death beds. Not physically but spiritually. There are those who feel all hope is gone. Society is not listening to us. People are not changing when we speak to them about the things of God. We have cried to God to change our world.
Well maybe God wants to change the church first.
For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Maybe God wants to bring you and me back to a spiritual life that is alive and kicking?
Maybe it’s time for a revival and a kind of spiritual resurrection in the church of God?
For resurrection to occur the first things Jesus says is to take away the stone.
Friend what cold dark place do you find your hope buried in at this time?
What stones have you put between you and God that have separated you from Jesus?
Is it a stone of indifference? Have we the Saints become worn out entirely?