Who Is God?
I AM the Resurrection and the Life
In the beginning, I
AM created a perfect universe. There was no sickness, pain, misery or
death. These terms would have been foreign if used because everything was full
of life and beauty. The first time that the Bible mentions anything concerning
death is when I AM told Adam to stay
away from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17 And the
Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when
you eat of it you will surely die.” (NIV) This death was not an
immediate death, but one that would have lasting consequences upon all of
mankind and a separation of man from God. The fall of man and its ramifications
was probably more then Adam could have ever possibly imagined when I AM first issued this warning.
Unfortunately, Adam did not heed the warning and the world suffered the
greatest separation from God, resulting in the breakdown of life, and ending in
death. Isaiah 59:1-2 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to
save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from
your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
(NIV)
Because I AM
is the Creator of all things, He is also the Resurrection and the Life. I AM is the Life Giver for He gave life
to the first man. Genesis 2:7 The Lord God forms the man from the dust of the
ground and breathes into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a
living being. (NIV) Adam’s very breath was given from I AM; therefore, he literally was
breathing the air of I AM. This is
why when the breath of a person is gone, there is no life in them. Cells cannot
function, the organs shut down, and the brain ceases to function when there is
a lack of oxygen. The body becomes totally incapacitated when it is deprived of
air. Job
33:4 The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me
life. (NIV)
I AM used a
powerful illustration with the prophet Ezekiel showing that He was the Life Giver
when Ezekiel was in a valley of dry bones. Ezekiel 37:4-6 (4)Then he
said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word
of the Lord! (5)This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones:
I will make breath enter you and you will come to life. (6)I will
attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I
will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am
the Lord.” (NIV) Why is it important to understand that I AM is the Life Giver?
When we look at the world and see the dying condition
that it is in, it can be easy to give up and lose hope. All around us is death,
cold hearts, suffering, heartache, struggles, and injustice. Nevertheless, we
can have hope in knowing that I AM is
able to restore all that is dead, broken, and seemingly hopeless because He is
the one who gives the breath of life. Ezekiel 37:8-10 (8)I
looked and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there
was no breath in them. (9)Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the
breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, “This is what the Sovereign Lord
says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that
they may live.’ ” (10)So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath
entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army. (NIV)
In this particular illustration, I AM
was giving hope to Israel whose situation was seemingly a valley of dry bones.
He was letting them know that their situation was not dead, but He was the
Resurrection of dead circumstances and would breath into theirs once again. Ezekiel
37:13-14 Then you, my people will know that I am the Lord, when I open your
graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will
live, and I will settle you in your own land Then you will know that I the Lord
have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord. (NIV)
While Jesus was on earth, He performed many miracles –
one of which being the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus, the brother
of Mary and Martha had taken ill, so the two sisters immediately sent word to
Jesus. When Jesus heard the news, He did not leave his location for another two
days, for He knew that God would get the glory in the end. John 11:4 When he heard
this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s
glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” (NIV) Sometimes,
there are circumstances that arise in life in which we desire for them to be
worked out right away. However, I AM
oftentimes wait until they become seemingly dead to us in order to stretch our
faith and have us to rely totally on Him as the Life Giver who can resurrect
our dead circumstance as He did with Lazarus. John 11:11 After he had
said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but
I am going there to wake him up.” (NIV)
Jesus was letting the disciples and others around know
that He was not confined by time or circumstance. He was showing them that I AM is the Resurrection and the Life. John
11:14-15 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead and for your sake I
am glad I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” (NIV)
If Lazarus had not died,
Jesus’ followers would not have known that He could raise the dead. Not only
was Lazarus dead, but it had been four days since his death and his body had
not been embalmed, therefore, his body would have started to decay and smell.
Nevertheless, this did not stop I AM. Jesus
raised Lazarus from the dead after he had been ill, after he had died, after he
had started to decay and after his body had started to smell. The I AM that I AM showed that nothing is
impossible for Him including not being bound by death. John 11:43-44 When he had
said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out! The dead man came
out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his
face. Jesus said to them, Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
One day, there will be no more sickness or death.
Those who make a choice for I AM
will be welcomed into His glorious kingdom where we will live forever when He
comes back to take His children home. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will come down form heaven, with
a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of
God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive
and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (NIV) Because He died, we can live. I AM paid the ultimate price for our
salvation. He took on death Himself and now, we have a choice to choose eternal
life and not death.
No comments:
Post a Comment