In my personal study this morning, I was brought to the death of Lazarus, and, not only the disciples, but Jesus' response to the death of his beloved friend. Though Jesus knew Lazarus would rise again, He saw how sin and how death affected all of humanity, and He became angry in his spirit. He saw what the effects of sin were, and the end result did, not merely to the ones who died (the end game of sin), but how those who were left in its wake had to suffer because of it. I am convinced that Jesus became even more resolved to go to Jerusalem, and His death, so that, once and for all, the the tyrannical hold that sin and death had on humanity would be over.
Consider this great tyranny in our lives: we toil, we sweat, and we die. Many see meaningless in this, and they would be right! This was not the design! Still others use this as an excuse to dominate one another, to get what they can from this life, while they can, and many suffer the world over in this! Still, all of us, at some point, feel the chains of our guilt, the chains of our rebellion, and the inevitability of death in spite of our desires to hold on to life. This is why Jesus died! If any should believe in His name, the tyrants of sin and death are forever abolished! While we suffer a little while the side effects of rebellion, and our earthly tent will eventually pass away, our spirit will reside forever in Christ, and we will rise again in Him, bodily, made new, without spot, blemish, or any other of the results of sin and death. Their Tyranny is at an end. Their days are numbered. The Cross has declared Jesus King, and the Empty Tomb is a sign of His victory! Will you rise with Him in Victory? He's still calling those who are willing!
1 Corinthians 15:50-58
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
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