Sabbath: Death and Resurrection
Read for This Week’s Study: John 11:11; John 1:1-4; Luke 8:54-55; John 5:28-29; Matt. 5:22, 29; John 11:38-44.
Memory Text: Jesus said to her,
(John 11:25, NKJV).I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live
Humans have an innate repulsion toward death because we were created only to live and never to die. Death is an intruder; it was not meant to be.
That’s why, during His earthly ministry, Jesus showed immense sympathy toward the bereaved. When He saw the widow of Nain taking her only son to the grave, He had compassion on her and said to her,
(Luke 7:13, NKJV). To a heartbroken father of a twelve-year-old girl who had just died, Christ consoled him, saying: Do not weep
Do not be afraid; only believe
(Mark 5:36, NKJV). Every time death strikes our loved ones, Jesus is tenderly moved by our grief. His compassionate heart weeps with us.
But Christ does far more than weep. Having conquered death with His own death and resurrection, He owns the keys of death, and He promises to raise everyone who believes in Him to eternal life. This is, by far, the greatest promise that we have been given in God’s Word; otherwise, if death has the final say, our whole lives and everything we have ever accomplished will be in vain.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 20.
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Death is truly an intruder. Being reminded of the fact that though Christ holds the keys of death, he still shares our pains when we are bereaved inspires me. We truly were not meant to die.
Indeed death is painful. I have encountered this pain several times. However, the most memorable of them is when I lost my own babies- the first born a girl who lived only seven days and a second born a boy who succumbed to death the second day after birth. What made it even painful is that he died due to the nurses's negligence.
A tear-filled face of my agonizing wife broke my heart even more. All I could ask to the all-knowing God was, why me? not once but twice. I tell you death is painful.
The only hope I had is the knowledge that Christ will one day defeat this arch enemy as He promised. This were the only words that managed to calm my wife who had given up hope.
The resurrection of Christ is a real assurance to a broken hearted race of humanity. Without this believe, there is nothing left for us to hope for. Our hope rests in the death and moreso the resurrection of Jesus.
Nicholas, I am so sorry for your extreme pain. I, too, have had similar loss due to improper actions in regard to a baby. In my case, I get comfort by realizing the reality of life in this world, as it is not very nice much of the time. So if we believe in the promise of a new incorruptible body in a perfect society, it gives some comfort if we think of the person who is no longer with us but sleeping in the "arms of Jesus." If faithful, we will meet again never to be separated by death.
It is quite well known among theologians that the resurrection was one of the chief doctrines preached by the early church. That one point is perhaps the main reason why most Christian denominations think the day of worship was changed to Sunday in honor of Christ’s resurrection. The book of Acts, in fact, mentions the resurrection 10 times which is more than any other book in the New Testament and therefore testifies to its importance.
Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians sets forth the reason why it is so important as a doctrine:
The point is that if Christ did not rise from the grave then neither will we and if that is the case then as the lessons says, “if death has the final say, our whole lives and everything we have ever accomplished will be in vain.” It is the resurrection that gives us hope and without it we might as well have a joy ride and live like reckless fools.
1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
Our safety should base on the fact that though we suffer and sometimes loose our dearest one, trusting in jesus only is where we can live without fear of death. Every believer has the responsibility of spreading this living fact.
Of a truth death is an intruder ,i have recieved its pain too having lost a child after 10 hrs of birth and 3 years later my husband died,i was only comforted in knowing that they slept in the lord and like the bible promised they will ressurrect on the last day and never to die again .it is a great hope for me.
Nicholas,
I can relate to what you experienced because I lost my dear 19-years old daughter 20 years ago and my dear 50-years old son three years ago. In my case, the thought that even God experienced a similar loss when Jesus died gave me comfort. Who am I to be free from pain if my God was not free from such an experience? I am definitely looking forward to the day when I will meet my children again!
The hope is that death will be done away with because at the second coming of Jesus we will live again and just like Jesus rose from dead we shall also leave again.
We often fear death to an extent of compromising our relAtionship with Christ. The deVil wants to blind us not to see and know that Christ holds the keys of death. Christ defeAted death on the cross and gave us the greatest promise that only if we believe in him we will not perish.
Once we are in Christ , we only die once; but those who do not accept Christ as their Redeemer will know the second death.