LAZARUS, COME FORTH!
We have come to the time of year when those of the Christian faith have chosen to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The event this Sunday is often, unfortunately, buried beneath the fake green grass in baskets holding Easter bunnies, candy eggs, Peeps, and chocolate treats. We will not be emphasizing the egg hunts and sugar highs in our blog today. We will be emphasizing the more important event and attempting to draw some parallels to this demonstration of God’s power in giving hope to life beyond death.
The picture above is one artist’s conception of the event recorded in John, chapter 11, of the Bible. Lazarus had been dead and buried several days, but so witnesses would know that Jesus and God have the power over death, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth” (verse 43). “And he that was dead came forth . . .” (verse 44). This was most likely the primary event that thrust the Pharisees and chief priests into a joint operation to have the Roman government put Jesus to death, as He threatened their rule over the religious masses. Jesus had claimed a new kingdom was coming, and they feared the Roman government would see this claim as a threat to them and take away both the Pharisees and chief priest’s place and nation (verses 47-48). So, Jesus was crucified and buried John chapter 19). But this was not the end of the story. On Sunday, the power of God raised Jesus from the dead (John chapter 20). We do not follow a lie about Jesus’s resurrection, for over 500 people saw him at one time after his resurrection (I Corinthians 15:1-11). If we, as Christians today, were to put our faith, trust, and hope in a fictional event, then as Paul stated in I Corinthians 15:19, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” For our hope lies in a resurrection from mortal death to an eternal spiritual life with our resurrected Lord. So, this ends our sermon today, but what does this have to do with our blog title today, “The Resurrection of Our Nation”?
As we discussed in our blog last week, we see that only God alone can breathe life into a Valley of Dry Bones. We, as a Nation, have become the Valley of Dry Bones today. We have lost our way, turned aside from our Creator by relying upon our own strength and cunning, by resting comfortably in a mortal life of ease, filled with our lust for the fulfillment of our wants and desires. Many of us have given up, succumbing to the pressures and dictates of a tyrannical government void of morality and Godly wisdom. We have started to wallow in self-pity and remorse, throwing our hands up in defeat and despair, believing all is lost and naught can be found. We have allowed ourselves to lay down in the Valley and the sinews and flesh on our bones has been torn from us leaving only Dry Bones. We have allowed this to happen to us, because we relied upon our own frail abilities, rather than having relied upon the power of our Creator, and we have turned our backs upon Him, the only one who has the ultimate power and wisdom to set our course and direct our steps. How pathetic many of us have become in our faith. So, what is the solution?
Well, it lies not within our power or might. We need to stand before the cave, next to Jesus, and witness the resurrection of Lazarus, hearing the words Jesus spoke to the Father before Lazarus came out of the cave (John 11: 41-42). Can you hear the words shouted, “LAZARUS, COME FORTH!” Do you recognize the power of the living God working through His Son, Jesus the Christ? We need to stand with the more than 500 who saw the resurrected Christ following His crucifixion. What we have is not a weak faith in a fairy-tale, but we have a witness that makes our faith a personal reality. The solution to our state of affairs is to recognize the power of our Creator and Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Make “AN APPEAL TO HEAVEN”, see our blog on August 8, 2022.
“The Resurrection of Our Nation” will happen by the power of our God, if we turn our hearts back to Him, and put our hope and trust in Him alone. Do we have a part to play? Of course. We must put our feet to our prayers, and our hands to the tasks before us. As Jesus sent out the twelve to share the news of the coming kingdom, we must take the same advice he gave to them and be “. . . wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16.) We know we are being sent out “. . . as sheep in the midst of wolves.” We will encounter trouble, resistance, and persecution, but we will not be alone or without aid, as long as we put our trust in Him who is able to sustain us. Our Nation’s FREEDOM and LIBERTY depend upon our resolve. If we want to see “The Resurrection of Our Nation”, we must all do our part as members of His army, The Valley of Dry Bones now alive with the breath of God to His glory.
HE IS RISEN!
