If A Man Dies, Will He Live Again?

The question of all questions...asked by Job

"If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait Until my change comes." (Job 14:14)

Jesus gives the simple answer...“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.” (John 11:25-26)

The simplicity of those words are overwhelming to me. And the fact that almost all Christians fail to see the simple truth is equally overwhelming. But they read into those simple words the idea that one must believe in Jesus before the resurrection in order to be among those who never die after the resurrection. The Bible says no such thing.

“I am the resurrection and the life”

Jesus says that the life mankind receives after resurrection is from him.

“He who believes in me, though he may die”

Jesus says that those who believe in him now will die.

“And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die”

All that believed in him at that time are now dead, so he was talking about "whoever lives and believes" after they die.  All of us believers today will also die for "it is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9:27).

So, how many people will be resurrected to life after they die? ALL if the Bible is true.

“As in Adam all die, even so in Christ, shall all be made alive…that God may be All in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:22-28)

Since everyone is to be resurrected, how many of them will believe in Jesus at that time?ALL if the Bible is true.

“Look to me and be saved, ALL the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by myself, the word has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to me EVERY knee will bow, EVERY tongue will swear allegiance.” (Isaiah 4522-23)

“…as I live, says the Lord, EVERY knee shall bow to me, and EVERY tongue shall give praise to God." (Romans 14:11)

“For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

“Come, let US bow down in worship, let US kneel before the Lord our maker” (Psalm 95:6)

“Then I heard EVERY creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and ALL that is in them, saying: To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" (Revelation 5:13)

Do not allow the teachings of men to rob you of the simple truth that Jesus is "the resurrection and the life" and he has promised that "death shall be swallowed up in Victory"...for Jesus is the Savior of the World that God loves.

Victory For All

“The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57)

What does that mean?

“The sting of death” simply means that the cause of death is sin. Paul puts it this way in his letter to Rome…

“For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a)

“…the strength of sin is the law” simply means that the law of God is the reason we all sin.

If God had not given any laws to obey, there would be no sin. And if no sin, there would not have been any death. Paul is saying that the responsibility for sin lies squarely on God. For he created us the way we are and He created the law which we could not keep. Paul puts it this way in his letter to Rome…

“I would not have come to know sin except through the Law…for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me… Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? THANKS be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:7-24)

The word “THANKS” above is the Greek word “charis” which is usually translated GRACE!

So what Paul is saying is that we are all sinners and we cannot help it. God made us this way.  However, God has a remedy for sin and death.  We are to be delivered from sin and death, in His GRACE, by our resurrection to eternal life. 

That is what we are to have faith in, what we are to believe. God has promised to deliver sinners from this fleshly sinful dying mortal body and make us alive again, a new creation, finished in an immortal, spiritual, glorious body liken unto that glorious resurrected body of Jesus.

“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive…Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself...the free gift of God is eternal life...” (1 Corinthians 15:22; Philippians 3:20-21; Romans 6:23b)

Predestined

“...but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:7)

God had a wise predestined plan BEFORE the ages began and it is good news...

“...the good news according to the power of God, who did save us, and did call with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and GRACE, that was GIVEN to us in Christ Jesus, BEFORE the times of the ages.” (1 Timothy 1:8-9 YLT)

The purpose of this good news plan was to save sinners, not by works or wise decisions they make, but by His "GRACE that was GIVEN to us"...

“...EXPECTATION of eternal life, which God, Who does not lie, promises BEFORE time began.” (Titus 1:2)

Therefore we can EXPECT (be assured) that God will complete the plan as He promised "BEFORE time began". The religious views of men will not change the predetermined plan of God.

"I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me.” (Isaiah 45:5-6)

Justified Freely

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the good news of God…regarding his Son…Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith…” (Romans 1:1-6)

If you are a Gentile like me, or a Jew who is tired of failing to keep the Law of Moses, there is some Good News from God given to the apostle Paul. You will find it in the New Testament books of Romans through Philemon.

This good news "brings salvation" to everyone.

“…it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16)

What is this good news that "brings salvation to everyone when they believe it?

“…all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:22-25)

This salvation is by the grace of God and is freely given as a result of the "redemption that came by Christ Jesus". All are "justified freely by his grace". We should be genuinely thankful to God for this GRACE in which we stand, expecting to one day be resurrected to immortal life...

"…the dead will be raised imperishable…for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:52; Romans 6:23)

Love Keeps No Record Of Wrongs

“Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. Nathan replied, The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” (2 Samuel 12:13)

My wife is the love of my life. In my eyes she is the perfect wife and without her I would only be half a man…she completes me and has done so for 40 years. I love her without reservation. She is also a great cook. But even the very best cooks learn by experience…and husbands learn to keep their mouth shut…by experience.

Early in our marriage she prepared meat loaf for supper. At the time we had a pet Saint Bernard who lived with us in our apartment in Norman. “How is it she asked” so I placed my plate on the floor in front of Puppy Casey. He sniffed it and licked it and then went over and sat in the corner. I laughed and said to Casey “I know what you mean”. Sue Ann didn’t think it was funny. She did not kill me but she did start me on an involuntary diet for about a week.

Life is where husbands learn they should keep their mouths shut…or pray and hope for forgiveness. Sue Ann loves me and so she forgave me, just like God has done for all us sinners. We suffer for some of our sin in this age, account for all of it later, but forgiveness is always the outcome of true love…and I sure am glad!

“…as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us…Love is patient, love is kind…it keeps no record of wrongs…Love never fails…the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life…” (Psalm 103:12; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Romans 6:23b).

"Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age" (Galatians 1:3-4).

Pretty simple information.

1. Christ Jesus gave himself for the sins of mankind.

How? In the Grace of God Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross for the sins of the world.

“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)

2. Christ Jesus will deliver mankind from this present age

How? We first must die…then be given eternal life FOR FREE!

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23)

And then he will return and resurrect mankind from the dead

”Behold, I tell you a mystery… we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable…” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

“For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (2 Corinthians 4:11)

I have read thousands of words of men trying to explain this in commentaries on the bible…unnecessary in my opinion. They make everything complicated – I suppose so that their explanations make them sound smart.

What Paul is saying is simple if we remember that although the bad news is “the wages of sin is death”… the good news (gospel) is “the free gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE” (Romans 6:26). So Paul is simply saying that just as Jesus died, so we ALL must die, and just as Jesus was RAISED to immortal “life”, so shall we be raised to eternal, immortal life.

“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died” (2 Corinthians 5:14)

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:24)

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the FREE gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life…where sin abounded, GRACE abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:12-21)