Romans 8:11-19

¹ And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you. ¹² So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it. ¹³ For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ Indeed, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, “Abba, Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. ¹⁸ For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ In fact, creation is waiting with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed.    (EHV)

Dear Friends in Christ,

Can you imagine being there, that day in Bethany when Lazarus came walking out of his tomb? Jesus had done many miracles before that day, but none quite as big as this one. He’d made lepers whole. He’d made the blind see. He’d even raised the dead before—but never right in a cemetery days after the funeral and burial. What people witnessed that day changed them. People who’d been interested in Jesus, had their last doubts removed. “Many put their trust in him,” John reports.

It’s one thing to have been a witness. But can you imagine what it was like for Lazarus? One day you’re ill and getting worse. Your sisters kept telling you they’ve sent for Jesus. But He didn’t show up and you just kept getting sicker and weaker until finally you couldn’t stay awake any more. The next thing you know, you hear Jesus’ voice calling you. “Lazarus, come out!” You wake up, wrapped like a mummy, and stumble toward the little bit of light you can make out through the cloth wrapped around your face. You hear shouting and shrieking and crying. You hear pounding footsteps as people run up to you to release you from those tight burial cloths—and then you can see. You’re not where you were the last you remember. You’re not at home anymore. You survey the scene and begin to realize what’s going on. You’re at your family’s crypt in the cemetery. You’ve been inside it! Everyone is dressed for mourning. Your sisters run up to you and put their arms around you, hug you and kiss you, tears flowing down their cheeks. And then you see Jesus. You can see in His eyes that He’s been crying too. Like a press conference, people start asking a million questions. “What did it feel like to be dead?” By the end of the day, you finally have a moment to think. It’s almost unimaginable what has happened.

Lazarus was a new man—not only alive again…but changed! He would never be the same again. Every moment from that day forward must have been so much more valuable, yet at the same time he never again had to fear he’d ever run out of time. He now knew firsthand that death is not the end of life. No fear could ever overwhelm him. If his dear Savior could raise him from the dead, what could ever harm him?

 In our Epistle lesson today, Paul urges each of us to Live Like Lazarus.

Live Like You’ve Been Raised From the Dead

Paul isn’t asking us to use our imagination. In the verse right before our text, Paul wrote: “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness” (Romans 8:10). Elsewhere he put it this way: “…Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4–5).

Without faith, without Christ, we were nothing but walking dead, but God has put His Spirit in us, and now we are alive! Without faith in God, there is no real hope and no great purpose to life. Without faith in God, I don’t know why I’m here or where I’m going. Without faith, I try to go on with my life without thinking about such things because it’s scary. The devil fills the void by providing millions of distractions so that I won’t think about the big questions. But they have to be answered, because we will all die and face our Maker.

Are we ready to realize how hopeless and meaningless life would be without God? Are we ready to listen to the powerful voice of Jesus, who can even call the dead back to life with His voice? We need the voice of God who can change death into life, sin into forgiveness and time into eternity. God raises us up from spiritual death by His Word. He drowns the old me in baptism and raises up a new me again to live for Him here in time and forever with Him hereafter. Paul wrote “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into [His] death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). You were dead, but now you’re alive—just Like Lazarus!

Lazarus would never be the same, ever again. And neither can we be! ¹² So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it. ¹³ For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live.   Lazarus lived the rest of his life, fully committed to the One who had raised him from the dead. We want to Live Like Lazarus. Every step he took, every bite he ate, every breath he drew—he knew he was living on borrowed time, someone else’s time, God’s time. How could he waste those precious moments? How could he devote them to sinning or idleness or worldliness? He lived each day with a clear vision of what lay behind and what lay ahead. He lived each day with prayer and without fear.

What grace it is when we recognize that we were dead without God. What a blessing that God led us to realize the meaninglessness of life without Him—the way God finally taught Solomon to think. Solomon described life without God in the book of Ecclesiastes: “My heart began to despair over all my hard work at which I worked so hard under the sun. ²¹ Sure, there may be a man who has worked hard—wisely, aptly, and skillfully. But he must hand over whatever he accumulated by all his hard work to a man who has not worked hard for it. This too is vapor. It’s so unfair!” (2:20-21). Without faith in God the most we could hope for would be a nice cemetery plot, and a few tears and flowers. We were as good as dead, like Lazarus, spiritually, but now God has made us alive! Now we know that we will rise again and live with God forever. 

We owe everything to Him. Without Jesus we are deadenders. Helpless and hopeless. As a reminder, God allows hardships, disease, suffering and a nagging conscience to remind us again and again to despair of ourselves and live for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. ¹⁷Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. We all suffer in this life. How meaningless it would be if this life were all there is. How helpless we would feel if God hadn’t adopted us as His children in baptism. How lonely it would be if we couldn’t call out to Him as His dear children in prayer. But we can! ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, “Abba, Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children.  And our Father hears us! He is our dear dad, our Abba!

Imagine how Lazarus looked at Jesus that day! He owed Him everything! And so do we, now that He’s given us a new life that will never end. ¹² So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it. ¹³ For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live.  

Live Like You Will Be Raised From the Dead

Like Lazarus, Live remembering that You’ve Been Raised from the Dead in Baptismand Like Lazarus, Live knowing Your Body Will Be Raised from the Dead on the last day, just as Martha said to Jesus when He arrived at the cemetery. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you.

You have been marked with the Holy Spirit to be one of those who will joyously rise from the grave on the Last Day to live forever with the Lord. You’re going to experience a scene just like the day in Bethany when Jesus raised Lazarus. You won’t have to imagine what it must have been like to be Lazarus. You’ll experience it firsthand. The very hands you have in your lap right now—the very eyes and ears you’re using right now will be resurrected, only better. 

When Lazarus rose, he was still mortal. He was still susceptible to disease. He would die again. He still lived in a dusty village. When we are resurrected, we will have glorified bodies, in a new, glorified world. That’s why Paul says, ¹⁹In fact, creation is waiting with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed.

We will know joy beyond description. At the grave of Lazarus, even Jesus Himself wept. On that day there will be no tears because there will be no more death—no pain, no suffering, no aging, no itching, no anything that to detract from our pure joy—ever again! Paul writes: “Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. ¹⁸ For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” Because we are eternal people, with such joy awaiting us, we’re willing to suffer with Christ on our way there. We’re not worried about anything that could happen to us. As Paul goes on to say after our text, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37–39). Whatever suffering we may need to endure is really only for a short time, and not even worth being mentioned in the same breath with what is to come.

My eternal friends, we’ve already experienced one resurrection—we were dead in sin, but now we’re alive in Christ. We’re going to experience another one—the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. How can this not affect the way we believe and live each day? How we use our hands? Our ears and eyes, knowing these are the hands and eyes and ears that will be raised and renewed by Jesus?

At many funerals I’ve read this old prayer at the graveside: “O Lord Jesus Christ, who will come in majesty to judge the living and the dead and call forth all who are in the grave, either to the resurrection of salvation or to the resurrection of damnation, we implore you to be gracious unto us and to raise us from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness, so that when we shall depart this life, we may rest in you and, on the last day, be raised up to life everlasting and inherit the kingdom which you have prepared for all who believe in you. To you be glory and praise, now and forever.”

Trust in Jesus for full forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. Then Live Like Lazarus! Amen.