John
11:43-44 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out
bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.
Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” NKJV
We have learned from the Apostle John’s epistle
about these seven specific miracles our Lord Jesus did and each one of them was
selected by John as he was led by God the Holy Spirit to present to us pictures
of the spiritual miracles our Lord would manifest in the hearts and lives of
all who would come to Him in repentance and faith. Obviously our Lord did many
more miracles in the presence of the Apostles and the other multitudes of
people He preached the gospel to and healed. A man with two sisters named Lazarus
died and this was a family that our Lord Jesus loved dearly and He took this
tragic occurrence to render the greatest miracle. This man had been dead for 4
days by the time our Lord arrived in the town where the siblings lived. Our
Lord waited an extra 2 days before He even began to travel to the town in order
that the length of time his body was dead would in fact be 4 days. It is
understood by all medical doctors that the body does not truly begin to decay
until after the fourth day. This our Lord did so that all who were eyewitnesses
would have no clever explanations of some sort of magic, hocus pocus, or any
other deception, but that they would know for certain that this miracle was
wrought by the power and very hand of Almighty God (YAHWEH/JESUS).
Now in this Chapter the Apostle John documents this
greatest of any of the many miracles wrought by the hands or at the command of
our Lord Jesus Christ. This greatest physical miracle pictures for us the
greatest spiritual miracle wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ in the hearts of
sinners. The sinner’s greatest need is to not only have his or her sins
forgiven and the assurance of heaven when they die, but the sinner’s greatest
need is new life as he or she continues to live down here on the earth. In the
last Chapter our Lord used carefully selected words to paint a picture for us
of what kind of life He gives to sinners. Now this miracle of Lazarus being
resurrected from the dead pictures for us what this life does for the sinner.
Like Lazarus’ body was paralyzed, powerless, and putrefying as it was absent
its spirit/soul that gives life to the body (James 2:26), so is every sinner dead in his or her trespasses and
sins being likewise paralyzed, powerless, and putrefying in their sin. As Lazarus’
body decayed more and more with every passing second, minute, hour, and day
absent the life giving spirit/soul, so is every sinner decaying, dying, and
drowning deeper and deeper into sins enslaving vice grip without the life
giving Spirit of God to resurrect it from the dead.
Every person is born a sinner and is spiritually
dead. The spirit/soul of every person born into this physical world is dead to
God the author of all life. As our Lord Jesus spoke to Lazarus and brought back
his life giving spirit/soul into his body, so does He speak to the dead
spirit/soul of every sinner and makes it alive to God the Father. This new
resurrection life not only makes the sinner alive to God, but now the life
given to the sinner loose him or her from being bound to, broken in, and in
bondage to their sin. Sin comes natural to the natural man or woman, but when
our Lord Jesus speaks to the spirit/soul of the sinner then sin becomes
unnatural and even abnormal to the soul that has been regenerated and born
again. Our Lord Jesus gives life that is absent from, abhorrent to, and alien
to the sin that once so dominated the soul that was dead to God (Romans 6:6). When our Lord Jesus spoke
to the lifeless body of Lazarus by saying, “Lazarus
come forth” (John 11:43) he
was at that very moment sending the spirit/soul of Lazarus back into his
physical body resurrecting it from death.
As our Lord Jesus said, “Most
assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will
hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the
Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:25-26) every sinner who hears
Him speak into their dead spirit/soul will be resurrected out of sins gripping
enslavement and will began newness of life whereby they will walk or live as an
alien to sin given a holy hatred for sin by our Lord Jesus Christ. When Lazarus
came out of the cave alive from the dead our Lord Jesus said, “Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:44) and this is precisely the same thing our Lord says to
sin, darkness, and satan. What does the Resurrection Life that our Lord Jesus
Christ gives to every sinner do in them? The answer to this question can be
best summed up by the English word loose our Lord Jesus used here being
from the Greek word luo and it is a
primary verb (a word that produces action) which means to break up; destroy;
dissolve; melt off; or put off. A loud shout of Hallelujah is mandatory here
for every one of us that have experienced this Resurrection Life freely
imparted, immersed, and implanted in each one of our spirit/souls. Amen!
Psalms
33:9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
NKJV
John
6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that
I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. NKJV
“The risen life of Jesus is the nourishment and
strengthening and blessing and life of a Christian. Our daily experience ought
to be that there comes, wavelet by wavelet, that silent, gentle, and yet
omnipotent influx into our empty hearts, this very life of Christ Himself.”
Alexander MacLaren
“People shall never enter the kingdom of God through
our encouragement, persuasion, argument, inducement, excitement, or attraction;
entrance can be gained only by new birth, by nothing less than the resurrection
of the spirit.” “Though he may not yet fully experience the meaning of the
death of the Lord Jesus, God nevertheless has made him alive together with
Christ and he has obtained a new life in the resurrection power of the Lord
Jesus. This is new birth.” Watchman Nee
If
you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this
from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear
Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I
believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from
the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn
from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control
of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you
Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus
Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and
Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple
I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader,
Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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