By Grace Alone 5

How many of you have ever seen anything die?  From the little bug stuck to the sole of our shoe to our loved one who just passed away before our eyes death finds its meaning in the value of the life that was lost.  I ask you about death because you don’t need to look very hard to find it in this veil of tears.  In the past century death has been muted a little.  We are living longer.  There is hospice.  Rarely do loved ones die in the same home they were born in.  Death is still a fact of life.

Shift gears for a moment.  How many of you have ever seen a bug rise from the dead?  When I empty the pool skimmer onto the rocks that ring the pool, once in a while a recently trapped bee will dry off and fly away, but that bee wasn’t really dead, was it?  The truth is, I have never seen anyone rise from the dead.  There are rare cases near death experiences, but I’m talking about Lazarus style full blown resurrection.  Have you ever seen, has the world ever seen such a thing?

Yes, it has.  On Easter Sunday Jesus rose from the dead.  There were others who also rose from the dead on that day.  Jesus’ death was striking because of all that was wrapped up in it.  Do you realize that because Jesus rose from the dead there is a fundamental shift in our reality.  You have a better chance of seeing the resurrection on the Last Day than you do experiencing death.  Consider that.  Life – eternal life – is the new normal.  Death is a minor inconvenience.  What does Jesus call it?  Sleep?  Does that change your perspective on your life?  Want to learn more?  Watch this week’s Bible study on the power of the resurrection.

Please click HERE for the Bible class slides.