Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”*
Jesus is not only the one who was raised from the dead so we could all have new life through faith in him. He is the Resurrection. He is the Life.
By believing in him, we will have life. We are raised. This could only mean life beyond this life. He is talking about eternal life with God.
He says some will die, and yet will live. He says some will never die. There is coming a time when Jesus will return for the Body of Christ, which is his Church, all the people who have already believed and received him as Lord.
Some of these people will have died, or as the Bible puts it, will be ‘sleeping’ in Christ. These will be raised first. When he comes for the Church, there will be believers still living on earth. These will never die. They will be changed.
Whether we are sleeping or awake, the good news is that, when he comes for his Church, all who believe will put off this corruptible body, and will put on the incorruptible, heavenly body, being changed in an atomic second as we go to be with him.
As Jesus asked, “Do you believe this?”
*John 11:25-26
Steve Rowe 