The Resurrection part 1
Now, before we even get started with this Rant series I'm going to put out a disclaimer: I'm not going to say everything there is to say about the resurrection in five daily Jesus Rants. I think a preacher could probably preach his whole life on the resurrection and barely scratch the surface. So having said that, I DO want to focus on one very important aspect of the resurrection: Its not in our future, its in our past. Look at John 11:23-25, "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 this is what I've been trying to say for it feels like a long time. Before the cross we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Through the cross we were quickened. Brought to life. And not just any life, but Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. And I say the cross, 2000 years ago, but in reality the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. The cross was simply the manifestation of what had always been true. The same concept of our heart being awake even when we were asleep. See, Martha had the mindset that a lot of religious folk have: "It'll all be good in the hood on some glad morning when Jesus comes back." The resurrection at the last day. That's the "glorious hope" that a lot of people hang onto. And, to be sure, I don't want to take that away from anybody. I just want to say... what you're waiting for has already happened. Martha was waiting for Jesus... while talking to Jesus! Because Jesus didn't say, "I WILL be the resurrection in the last day." He said, "I AM the resurrection. Right now. I'm literally about to go resurrect somebody! And then, through the cross, I'm going to resurrect EVERYBODY!" He said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die" (John 12:32-33). When Jesus was lifted up on the cross, He drew us all into Himself. He planted Himself in us all. When He died... we died. So that when He rose again (the resurrection), WE rose again! He didn't just give His life FOR us, He gave His life TO us. He said, "I am the resurrection AND the life!" Can I just say it? Jesus didn't come to give us an "afterlife." He came that we might have LIFE, and that more abundantly. And, again, I'm not trying to take anything away from anybody. I'm just trying to show you that heaven isn't only a place where you go when you die. Its where you WENT when Jesus died. Its where you're AT right now. The days of heaven on earth, right? That's not something to wait for. Or hope for. Or try to earn. That's soemthing to experience RIGHT NOW. The resurrection took place. We have been resurrected. We don't have to wait for life to end for eternal life to start. Think about it. Eternal life has always been, and will always be. It doesn't end... or start. It simply is. And we simply are... a part of it. It is us experiencing that abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love as Jesus lives it in us, and through us, and as us!