Back From the Dead

Today’s sermon is called “Back From the Dead,” and it’s not about Jesus coming back from the dead. That will be much later in our study. This is about how every other person in the world is going to come back from the dead at some point. I could have called it “Zombies Are Real,” but not really. Every single person will be resurrected, and that’s what we’re talking about today.

The resurrection is one of the topics I get the most questions about as a pastor. I used to host a live call-in radio program in Denver, two hours every afternoon during drive time, and people would call in with the wildest questions. I’d say a quarter to a third of them were about what happens after we die, when we’re resurrected, and everything around it. So I compiled some of those questions.

First, some lighthearted ones. Will I finally have abs in my resurrection body? Paul says we’ll be raised in glory, so at minimum you can stop doing crunches. Will my bad knees still crack when I stand up? Listen. Did you hear that? I have terrible knees. Thanks, Dad. Every creak and groan now is creation groaning for its redemption, and it’s temporary. You will be fixed. Sorry, doctors, you’ll be out of a job.

Will there be coffee in heaven? Scripture is silent, but Jesus turned water into wine, so I think the beverage situation will be pretty good. Will my in-laws be there? If they’re in Christ, yes, and the good news is you’ll love them perfectly. If I’m resurrected next to my spouse, will they still steal the blankets? There’s no night there, so the blanket war is officially over. Will we be able to fly? Jesus ascended into the clouds and walked through locked doors, so I’d say your resurrection body is getting some upgrades.

Now some really good questions. When I die, do I go straight to heaven or wait for the resurrection? This is the most common question, and I think both are true. Time was created for us. God exists outside of time, and heaven is outside of time. So I believe when you die you’ll arrive in God’s presence, and your great-great-grandpa who died in Christ will be arriving at, so to speak, the same moment. Our brains don’t work that way, so it’s hard to picture. The best illustration I’ve heard is a parade. We’re standing on the street corner watching it go by one float at a time. That’s time for us. But God is like someone in a blimp above, seeing the whole parade at once, beginning to end.

If my loved one is already with Jesus, why do they need a resurrection? Because heaven is wonderful, but it isn’t the final chapter. We’ll all receive new bodies for the new life that’s coming. Will I get my same body back? Yes and no. Jesus and Paul describe it like a seed. You plant a seed and it becomes something that looks completely different, yet it’s the same life in a new form. What about people who are cremated or lost at sea? God made Adam from dust. He doesn’t need the original parts to give us an upgrade.

How old will we be? Scripture never gives an age, but we’ll have bodies that never age. Will we recognize each other? Here’s my blanket answer for most resurrection questions: you won’t be dumber in heaven than you are here. You won’t remember less. You’ll have a perfect memory. The disciples had breakfast with the resurrected Jesus and knew who He was. Jesus still has His scars, so will we have ours? Jesus kept His scars on purpose. Maybe that changes how you see your own.

Will marriage continue in the resurrection? Jesus answered that directly: no. We’ll be like the angels in that respect. Instead of being united to one person, we’ll all be fully united together, and that’s better news than it sounds at first. Do unbelievers get resurrected too? Yes, everyone will be raised, but not everyone to the same experience. And what do I have to do to be part of the resurrection of life and not the other one? The answer isn’t found in your performance. It’s found in an empty tomb outside Jerusalem. If we believe in that and place our hope there, we share Jesus’ resurrection life, and it begins today.

There are two aspects of resurrection: now and future. Now, Jesus gives spiritual life to everyone who hears Him and believes. He says that if you hear and believe, you have passed from death to life. You’re living a resurrection experience right now; you get the reality of it without waiting for heaven. And in the future, everyone in the graves will hear Jesus’ voice and rise with new bodies, and Jesus describes two outcomes: a resurrection of life and a resurrection of condemnation.

John 5:24: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

Jesus describes eternal life as a present possession. The believer already has it and has already passed from death to life. The moment you believed that Jesus is God and died on the cross for you, you passed from death to life and possessed eternal life. He doesn’t say believers might come into judgment later, depending on whether they followed the rules, went to church enough, tithed enough, or whatever performance you want to put in the blank. Performance doesn’t enter into eternal life. Through Jesus’ finished work, believers are forgiven, secure, and alive in Him. We’re not waiting for some future verdict.

Everyone’s sin will be judged, and there are two times that happens. At the Great White Throne at the end of time, those who didn’t believe in Christ will be judged by their works, and that’s a terrible day. But our judgment already happened, two thousand years ago. Before you were born, before you did any of it, God took all your sin, past, present, and future, laid it on Jesus as He died on the cross, and judged it there. It was paid for. Why would God do that? Because He loves you. Jesus is so good and kind that He became our hero, took our punishment, and substituted Himself as our sacrifice. That’s the gospel.

So what do you do with your life? Live with Him. Delight yourself in His presence. Learn about this God who loves you so much that He forgave your sin and calls you to walk with Him.

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Believing means trusting, relying on, clinging to Jesus. It doesn’t say “whoever goes to church” or “whoever tries their best to be good” or “whoever does their best to keep the Ten Commandments.” Those are man’s ways of trying to impress God, but they aren’t the gospel.

Is there anything wrong with the Ten Commandments? No. They just aren’t the path to God. They show what perfection looks like and measure how bad we are at being good. The harder we try to keep them, the more self-effort we put in, and the more we fail. That’s the tricky part: the more you try to keep the Ten Commandments in your own strength, the more you sin, because life isn’t found in them. Life is found in Jesus. And as you put your hope in Him alone, the most beautiful, supernatural thing happens: living the way those commandments describe stops feeling like a struggle, and you realize it’s your new nature. That’s the new life Jesus shares with us, and that’s why we draw such a sharp line between law and grace.

Jesus says that hearing His word is the same as believing the Father who sent Him. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three persons and one God. That’s the Trinity, and our brains can’t fully comprehend it. But the Father and Son are so united that believing one is believing the other. You can’t say, “I believe in God, but Jesus was a joker.” It doesn’t work.

My favorite nineteenth-century preacher, Charles Spurgeon, said essentially this about our text: it doesn’t say everlasting life comes by drops of water or any other ceremony; the command is, hear, and your soul shall live. He was addressing people who think they’re saved because they were baptized or took communion. Large parts of the church say you’re not saved unless you’ve done some religious act, which turns salvation into a reward for something we do. That isn’t how the gospel works. If you actually believe in Jesus, there is no judgment for you. You’ve passed from death to life.

Why no more judgment? Because believers are no longer under the law as the thing that judges us. The Ten Commandments are not good news for sinners. People talk about putting the Ten Commandments in all the schools. There’s one good reason to do that: to help everyone see how far they fall short so they’ll know they need Jesus. But I fear most people want it so others will become better and we won’t need as many prisons. That’s not how the law works. Rules don’t change hearts. They never have and never will. Only Jesus changes hearts.

No one has ever lived up to God’s perfect standard. God never gave the Ten Commandments as a way to get saved. Four hundred years before Moses, God had already taught Abraham the way of grace: “I will save you. Keep your eyes on Me and the coming promise.” Then at Sinai He gave the law to show what life should look like and to restrain people from tearing each other apart. But salvation has always been by grace.

God must judge sin, and everyone has sinned. He is the Judge of the world, and the Father has made Jesus the Judge. The judgment for sin is always death. Each person must die for their sin unless they have a substitute who dies in their place. Enter Jesus: “I am your Judge, and I will also be your substitute. Just let Me. I love you.” That’s the message of the gospel. Who would reject that?

Jesus was judged on the cross for our sin and died for us, and He offers you His free, perfect, holy life in exchange for yours. It’s called the great exchange, the glorious exchange. God removes our sinfulness and everything wrong inside us, places it on Christ, judges it, and does away with it. It isn’t yours anymore. In its place He gives us His resurrection life, His Holy Spirit. That’s what it means to pass from death to life.

We can’t live a perfect life, but we can lay claim to His. “Jesus, I know You’ve forgiven me. I claim Your life as mine. Live Your life through me.” And He says, “I’ve got you.” It’s not just a get-out-of-jail-free card. It’s a get-out-of-jail-free card plus a let-Jesus-live-His-life-through-you-for-the-glory-of-God card. Some people think Christianity just means “I’m not going to hell, so I can do whatever I want.” That’s not His offer. His offer is freedom. Not freedom to sin, but freedom to live a life of meaning, purpose, and love with our heavenly Father, free from having to impress God or measure up to a standard we never could. Free to offer more than the law could ever demand, not out of obligation but out of love.

How much should we love other people? With resurrection life, you can just keep loving them. You don’t have to say, “These people are too difficult; I’m out.” You remember that you were far worse to God than anyone has been to you, and He never gave up on you. He always loved you and always will.

The verdict over your life has already been read: not guilty. You were guilty, but you’re not guilty anymore. You’re alive in Christ because Jesus was made guilty for you. So what are you still trying to prove? You don’t have to prove you’re special or spiritual. Just be who you are and believe you’re loved. Your life can flow from “I have everything I need from my heavenly Father, so I don’t need to get it from you.”

Have you ever met someone who’s always trying to get something from you, your attention, your money, your approval? You just want to spend time with them and care for them, and they drain you dry. That shows they’re getting their life from other people. Often that comes from wounds and trauma. But Jesus says, “I heal you and I love you. You don’t have to prove yourself anymore. You’re okay, because I say you’re okay, and I’ve made you okay.”

So here’s the question for believers: have you only received Jesus’ pardon, or have you received His life? Are you letting Him live through you? When you wake up, is your first thought, “What do I want to do today?” Our lives were bought at a high price. Why ask ourselves what to do instead of looking to our Father? Not because we have to, but because He loves you more than you love yourself, and you love yourself a lot. If He loves you more and knows what’s best, isn’t it wiser to look to Him for your direction? That’s where resurrection life happens: in Him, not in ourselves.

Verse 25: “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.” “The hour is coming, and now is.” Jesus is talking about the spiritual life He’s already giving through His ministry. As people hear His words and believe, they receive life. That’s the rule of the kingdom.

Have you ever felt like, “What’s the point of my life? I’m floating in the ocean with no purpose or direction”? Where do you find life? Jesus says, “Those who hear and believe what I say, that’s where you’ll find it.” Read the Bible and believe what He says about you. Everyone who has done that has discovered a life that never disappoints, that truly meets your needs, and that gives you the purpose you were created for.

And it’s not a reward for meeting religious requirements. Someone comes to me and says, “I’d like to grow in Christ.” I will never say, “Come two hours early and help clean the bar, make sure you tithe, and that’s how you’ll grow.” It makes me angry when I hear leaders use those strategies for spiritual growth, because that’s about making the leader’s life easier, not giving spiritual life to you. “Read your Bible three hours a day, give ten percent, do this, do that.” It sounds wise, but it isn’t where life is found. Life is found only in Jesus: in hearing His words and receiving the life He gives. So you can stop your attempts to measure up and simply trust His grace, which comes to you through His voice. God is looking at Jesus’ sacrifice, not yours.

Verse 26: “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.” Jesus is the source. No more searching for life, purpose, or meaning anywhere else.

Verse 27: “And has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.” Jesus will judge every person. He knows you and everything you’ve ever done. Why is He qualified? Because He is a man, the Son of Man. If God hadn’t become a man, we might argue, “You’re the Creator, but You don’t know what it’s like to be us.” But in His love Jesus became a man. He offers us grace, and He is also the Judge. And we don’t have to be afraid, because we’ve received His grace by faith. He is our one Mediator, the one who stands on our behalf.

Verse 28: “Do not marvel at this.” The people He was talking to were stunned. In their minds only God the Father in heaven could judge. And here comes a man they don’t like, telling them He is God and He will judge them. “If He’s going to judge me, maybe I should kill Him first.” That’s literally their logic. Many of them assumed they were headed for heaven because they were born Jews, and some even said the Gentiles existed only to fuel the fires of judgment.

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

“Gotcha, Pastor. No more of this sloppy grace stuff. Right there it says those who do good go to heaven and those who do evil go to hell.” That’s not what He means. Hang on. Jesus is saying, “I have the authority to judge everyone. I’m truly human, so I know what it means to do good and to do evil.” And both groups will live forever. Every human being who has ever been created will exist forever. I also believe we can have perfect peace about every child who has died, even babies who died in the womb. God is just, and they are safe with Him. One day Jesus will command every human to rise in a body suited for eternity.

Verse 30: “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” Jesus is saying, “Everyone calm down. My judgment is righteous. I will do the right thing every time. I have the power and the heart to make the right decision, because I only do what My Father wants.” And what does the Father want? To give salvation to everyone who believes. It’s God’s will that none should perish but all come to everlasting life. “I will give everlasting life to every person who puts their hope in Me, because I want that and My Father wants that. We are one.”

This claim was insane to the people of that day. “You’re just a person. God can’t be just a person.” And Jesus says, “I’m not just a person. I am God, and I will judge you. Here’s My proof: I have exactly the same heart as the Father.” Could He do miracles? Yes, all kinds, and they still didn’t believe. He even raised the dead, and they still didn’t believe. But He offers this proof that can calm every fear: “Look at Me. Do you see My graciousness, My mercy? This is who God is.”

And as I look around this room, every believer shares the same life Jesus shares with His Father. When something breaks God’s heart, it breaks yours. “Why do I feel so strongly about this? Why do I have love for people I shouldn’t even like?” Because you share God’s life through Christ. That’s your identity. Jesus was only concerned with His Father’s will, and His union with God’s will came from sharing God’s heart and life. The same is true for you.

We started with a lot of questions: How old will we be? Will we recognize each other? What about our bodies? Good questions, and one day every one will be answered. But Jesus didn’t come to satisfy every curiosity about the resurrection. He came to be the resurrection for us. Your peace isn’t found in knowing the answers.

Have you ever said, “I won’t follow God until He tells me why this happened”? Or, “The first thing I’ll ask in heaven is why the Cowboys can’t win”? Sorry, Cowboys fans. Point still stands. The peace we’re looking for is never found in the answer to “why.” Jesus can and will answer the whys later. Right now we may not get an answer to why the cancer came or why the hard thing happened. But Jesus says, “I know what I’m doing, and I love you. I’ve made you a lot of promises, and I won’t break one. Look in My eyes. The answer to all your questions is: trust Me. One day the resurrection will come and everything will be made right. It’s going to be okay. In fact, it’s going to be better than okay.”

Twice in this passage Jesus says the dead will hear His voice. In verse 25, the spiritually dead hear Him now and live. In verse 28, the physically dead will hear Him later and rise, some to life and some to condemnation. Condemnation is like wishing you could die and never being able to. It’s the complete absence of love and light, and Jesus is love and light. Some people imagine hell as partying with their friends, but it’s isolation, because they’ve rejected the One who made them to be with Him.

It’s the same voice. We were spiritually dead, we heard His voice, and we came alive. That same voice, the same Jesus, the same power, will raise everybody. Here’s the point: the voice that will one day call your body out of the grave is calling you right now to walk with Him and receive His love. Everyone will hear His voice. The only question is what that voice will mean to you when you hear it.

“But Jesus said those who have done good. So it does come down to performance.” In the next chapter the religious leaders ask Jesus this exact question. John 6:28: “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” And Jesus answers, “This is the work of God, that you go to church all the time.” No, He didn’t say that. How come nobody corrected me? “Give ten percent.” Twenty Jesus points for you, but no. Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

They’re asking, “If we’ll be judged by whether we did good, what is the good?” And Jesus says there’s only one way to be good: believe in Him and His goodness. His good is given to you. When God sees you, His good is in you. You are in Him, He is in you, and your life is judged as His life. Is the Father going to condemn His Son? No. He is good. If you want to be good, there’s one hiding place: in Him. Believing in Him is the good. It isn’t a pile of good deeds; it’s trusting the One who was good for you.

And everything good that follows your believing, all the sacrifice, love, and good works, is fruit of the good He already accomplished on the cross. We don’t need credit for it, because it’s His life living through us. But God is sneaky good. At the end of your life, after all the generosity and kindness and patience that flowed from His love in you, He’ll say, “Look at all the good you did, My child,” and He’ll give you rewards. And you’ll say, “I didn’t do anything. I was just filled with Your love.” And He’ll say, “I know. That’s exactly it.” Then you’ll take those crowns and cast them at His feet. He throws rewards at you, you throw them back at Him. It’s a giant game of dodgeball in heaven, full of life, joy, and celebration. That’s what we have to look forward to.

Father, we turn our eyes to You and open our hearts to You, because we have heard Your voice. Our hearts have heard You call us by name and say, “I love you. I have given My life for you.” As we hear this, our hearts leap to call on You, depend on You, and receive Your life. Wash over every mind, heart, and emotion here with the peace of knowing we are perfectly accepted, perfectly forgiven, and perfectly loved in the beloved Son of God. Give every person here the confidence and peace that we have everlasting life. We worship You in spirit and truth. In Your name we pray. Amen.