• I am the Resurrection and the Life – In Mark 12:24–27 we find Jesus’ response to a question about the Resurrection – “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living”, speaking of LORD the God. In John 11:25 the Lord Jesus also declares: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”. Christ Jesus is not only “Jehovah Saviour, He is the embodiment of Eternal Life and He is also the Resurrection – it’s one of His names! This passage is in the context of Jesus’ raising of Martha’s brother, Lazarus, from physical death, but Jesus was actually speaking parabolically about the spiritual resurrection of the soul in salvation. He was speaking of the fact that He is the Savior who came to pay for the sins of His people in Hell and His spiritual resurrection from eternal death guarantees that they can be resurrected as whole personalities – soul and body – to eternal life. Yes, the resurrection of the body is part of God’s salvation program, but the main focus is on the resurrection of the soul from its natural, spiritually dead state under the wrath of God. Rev 1:5 teaches that the Lord Jesus willingly offered up His life (typified by His blood) to wash away the sins of His people. The mission of the Lord Jesus Christ was not only to preach the Gospel but to be the Gospel. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the pinnacle, the keystone, and the centerpiece of Gospel. It is the most critical factor of God’s whole salvation program. Although Martha missed that point, she had a good understanding of the resurrection of the glorified, spiritual body that will occur on the Last Day, which is described in John 6:38–40. John 12:48 teaches that the Last Day will be Judgment Day for all the unsaved who have ever lived “He that rejecteth me [Jesus Christ], and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day”.

Mark 12:24–27 “And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.”

John 11:23–26 “Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

Acts 26:23 “That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.”

John 6:38–40 “For I [Jesus Christ] came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Rev 1:5–7 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

• Raising and Quickening – Now, what did Jesus mean by this statement in John 11:25 “… he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”? He is speaking about the fact that all men are spiritually dead in trespasses and sins before God “quickens” them (zoopoieo:G2227 “make alive” or “give life”) by giving them eternal life, as we read in Eph 2:56: “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened [made alive] us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. God also tells us in John 6:63 that He uses the power of His Word to “quicken” His people. Also, God must “raise up” His people together with Christ in order to restore them from spiritual deadness unto a right standing with Himself – which is the same as saying they must “live again”. Spiritually quickened (that is, made alive) together with Christ or spiritually raised from the dead (resurrected) together with Christ, these terms both refer to God’s work of resurrecting and energizing the souls of the elect with the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, which is the “First Resurrection” that is mentioned in Rev 20:5–6. Notice that the elect who take part in the “first resurrection” are all considered to be “the dead” who “live again”; but some of them (called the “rest of the dead”) will “live again” (become saved) after the “thousand years” (after the completion of the Church age – during the Great Tribulation period). That means God will be saving His people right up to the very Last Day of this world’s existence.

John 11:23–26 “Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

John 6:63 “It is the spirit that quickeneth [make alive]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

Col 2:12–13 “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him [Christ] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him [Christ] from the dead. 13And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;”

Rev 20:5–6 “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

• Though He Were Dead – Let’s take a closer look at John 11:23–26. This can only be understood spiritually because Jesus is speaking metaphorically here. Anyone who tries to make some or all of the words “resurrection”, “life”, “live”, “liveth”, “dead”, and “die” apply to man’s physical body or existence will totally miss the true spiritual message of salvation here. Let’s look at the second part of verse 25 that says, “he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”. This refers to the fact that all men are spiritually dead in their natural state because of man’s rebellion and God’s curse upon the whole human race in the Garden of Eden. However, once God has given His elect new, resurrected souls, God says in John 11:25, that they who “were dead” in the past “shall live” in the future because they have eternal life. In John 6:48–51, obviously, the Jews to whom Jesus was speaking knew that their Old Testament ancestors were physically dead; so, here Jesus was using parabolic language to explain that their fathers are still spiritually dead (unsaved) because their religious practices did not save them. They only ate of the physical bread (manna) in the wilderness and not of the spiritual “Bread of Life” (which is the Lord Jesus Christ) that alone produces eternal life. Therefore, they are included in the multitude of “the dead” who will be judged on the Last Day, according to Rev 20:11–12. Notice that the names of all “the dead”(those who remain unsaved) are written in the “books” (plural), and the names of all the true believers (those who have become saved) are in the “book of life” (singular), which is “the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” as we read in (Rev 13:8). When a true believer dies his physical body is buried, but his soul, or spirit essence, goes immediately to be with the Lord in Heaven. 2 Cor 5:8 says, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord”. However, when somebody dies without becoming saved, his body is also buried, but his soul goes to a place of silence to await the Judgment on the Last Day. We see in Psa 115:17, “The dead [unsaved] praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence [unsaved and physically dead]”. On Judgment Day the bodies of all the unsaved will be resurrected to stand trial before the Judge of all the earth, will be judged according to their works, where they will be found guilty and sentenced to Hell. The good news is, all who are saved will not stand before Judgement seat because Christ as a Savior, was laden with their sins and already stood for judgment in their place and paid the penalty for their sins.

John 11:23–26 “Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

John 6:48–51 “I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead [spiritually and physically]. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Rev 20:11–12 “And I saw a great white throne, and him [Jesus Christ] that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead (spiritually “dead”) were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

• Yet Shall He Live – Now, Jesus says in the last part of John 11:25, “he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”. In this context it means “to live forever” – a reference to eternal life. In Mat 22:31–32, “the dead” refers to the unsaved and “the living” are those who have become saved. The word “be Lord” in Rom 14:9: “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living”, conveys the idea that Christ “has lordship over” or “exercises dominion over” all human beings – both the unsaved as well as the saved. Indeed, He is “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” according to Rev 17:14 and 19:16. Jesus often called Himself the “Son of Man” because as the “Last Adam” (or the “Second Man”), He represented the human beings He came to save and endured the equivalent of eternal damnation for them in the Atonement at the Cross, as we read in 1 Cor 15:45–47. Because the “wages of sin is death” (eternal damnation) according to Rom 6:23, the Lord Jesus Christ actually had to die in His soul existence under the wrath of God and be resurrected spiritually from the dead. That is why Rom 14:9 says that Christ “revived”, or “lived again” . This action was predicted in the Old Testament in Psa 16:10–11: “For thou [God the Father] wilt not leave my [God the Son] soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life …” . That is also why Jesus could say, “It is finished” (John 19:30) and “Father, into thy hands I commend [commit] my spirit” (Luke 23:46) while He was still physically alive on the Cross. Spiritually, He had already become the “firstborn from the dead” at that point.

Mat 22:31–32 “But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead [unsaved], but of the living [saved].”

Rom 14:9 “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.”

1 Cor 15:45–47 “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [Christ] was made a quickening [making alive] spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man [Christ] is the Lord from heaven.”

1 Cor 15:20–22 “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21For since by man [Adam] came death, by man [Christ] came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

• Whosoever Liveth and Believeth in Me Shall Never Die – In verse 26 Jesus is saying the same thing as verse 25, only in different words to (that is, from their natural spiritually dead condition), will never have to face second death because God has given them eternal life, as we read in Rom 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. There is a specific moment in time that God applies His Word to the heart of each individual of The Elect and gives them spiritual hearing. That is when God makes that individual a true believer. That is when they pass from “death” unto “life”. That is the moment of the spiritual “first resurrection” of the soul of each believer from the dead, as we see in John 5:24–25. That salvation process started with “righteous Abel”, a son of Adam and Eve, and continued through the figurative “thousand years” of the Church Age to this very day, as we see in Rev 20:5: “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection”. Here we see that “the rest of dead” are the elect who are going to experience the “first resurrection” during the Great Tribulation period. That is, God will be saving His people right up to the Last Day when Christ returns. They will “live again” (become saved) even after Satan has been loosed for “a little season” to “deceive the nations”, according to Rev 20:3. God will not lose any of His chosen people despite the efforts of Satan and his minions to frustrate God’s magnificent salvation program, according to these comforting words in 1 Cor 15:22–25. In other words, all those in Adam die and all those in Christ shall be made alive again. The bodies of true believers will be resurrected at Christ’s coming on the Last Day, and the Lord Jesus will be victorious over all His enemies. That is God’s promise.

John 11:25–26 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

John 5:24–25 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”

1 Cor 15:22–25 “For as in Adam all (inclusive) die, even so in Christ shall all (exclusive – The Elect) be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”

Rev 20:6 “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection [born-again]: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.