MIF 5:3 (May-June 1973)
Editorial
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes on Me, though he have died, shall live; and everyone who lives and believes on Me shall never die.” —John 11:25, 26 (Darby translation)
In these words of comfort to Martha, Jesus states the divine principle that He is the source of life eternal, and that whoever is joined to Him by faith possess that eternal life which cannot be interrupted by death. He proceeds to bring Lazarus back from the grave as evidence that He had the power to bring from among the dead everyone who would believe on Him. In a few weeks hence He would show to a skeptical world that He had triumphed over death by rising from the tomb Himself. His resurrection is the answer to all the questions men are asking today about life, death, immortality, eternity, etc. We have access to God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ now, and because of His victory over death we who live in Him have the blessed assurance of eternal life in His presence.
On the resurrection of Christ hangs the entire structure of Christian faith. Without it there is no victory over death, no forgiveness of sins, no eternal security, and no relevance to the Christian life. There is no salvation apart from faith in the risen Christ. Jesus said, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” Because we know He lives, and because we know He cannot lie or break a promise, we know that those who are living in Him now will go right on living in spite of the cessation of physical existence which we call death.
This is the meaning of the words Jesus spoke to Martha and which He directed to all those about Him at that time, and to all who have believed in Him down through the ages. It is the real message of the ressurection.