The Resurrection of Jesus has present ongoing ramifications for every person who puts their faith in Him. Jesus made this clear in his interaction with Mary and Martha at the tomb of their brother, Lazarus.
When they chided Jesus for not coming four days earlier and healing their brother, Jesus replied, You brother will rise again (John 11:23). Martha replied, I know he will rise again in the last day at the resurrection. Jesus then said, I Am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live (John 11:25).
With these words, Jesus made clear that the resurrection is more than a past or future event. Resurrection life and power has been personified in Him. He is the resurrection and the life.
Paul understood this and in Ephesians 1:15-23 he makes clear that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now welling in the one who believes in Him. In Philippians 3:10 Paul says that his consming desire in life is to, Know Him and the power of His resurrection.
The Greek word translated "know" in this passage is ginosko and it implies a knolwdge based on a relationship between the knower and the object known. This is in contrast to oida, which is a knowledge that is mere cognitive infromation. By using ginisko, Paul makes clear that wants to live and walk in the resurretion power of Jesus Christ.
I Learn this Truth in Dramatic Fashion
Sue and I will be married forty-seven years in May of this year, and about two years into our life and ministry together, we lost everything. We lost our place to live. We lost the place where we were having meetings for the congregation we were planting in eastern Canada. Everything was gone. The God-given vision and mandate died.
In the midst of this devastation, we sat on a park bench with two friends lifting our hearts to God in prayer. I remember their 5-year-old daughter, Cara, sitting with us and praying in tongues.
Suddenly, out of my innermost being, those rivers of living water that Jesus spoke about in John 7:37-39 began to flow, and I began praying in tongues. I realize that we charismatics have learned to pray in tongues on cue—at the drop of a hat. Such prayers, however, are usually from the neck up and powerless.
This was prayer that I could feel flowing out of my spirit. And all the time I was praying, I could hear the words, “Don’t be afraid of death because I Am the Resurrection.” I immediately recognized these as the words that Jesus spoke to Martha just before he raised her brother from the dead (John 11:25).
I knew that the Lord was telling me not to fear the death of the vision and mandate He had given. I knew He was telling me that it would be brought back to life, not by my scheming and planning, but by His resurrection life and power.
A resurrection did occur in our lives and ministry. A yielding to God, a determination not to quit, a step of obedience, and resurrection power flowed forth. The ministry that came forth was not the same as before; for it came forth in His resurrection power and in ways we could never have planned or strategized.
There are many kinds of death that we may experience: the death of a relationship, the death of a career, the death of a vision or dream. If you have experienced death in any area of life, I encourage you to put your life in the hands of Him who declared, “I Am the resurrection!” Victory will come forth out of defeat. Life will emerge out of death. Success will arise out of failure. His words still ring true, “Don’t be afraid of death for I Am the Resurrection.”
Will America Have a Resurrection?
Many believe that America’s best days are over and that no national revival is in her future, but only continued moral, spiritual, and political decline. That was my belief until twelve years ago when I experienced a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with the Lord that upended my thinking in this regard.
It occurred one hot, July Saturday afternoon as I began a two-hour drive from Tulsa to Kingfisher, Oklahoma to speak for friends in the church they pastored in that town. As I pulled onto the highway, and without any expectation of any such thing happening, I suddenly was enveloped in God’s presence.
At the same time, my heart and mind began to be flooded with thoughts of hope and faith that America “could” experience another Great Awakening that would revive and renew the churches of America, impact our culture, and stem the tide of secularism, immorality, and false religion that is flooding our land.
I had studied revivals in history including American revivals such as the First and Second Great Awakenings. I had, however, given up hope of America ever seeing another such Awakening. But now, my heart was being filled with fresh faith and hope for another Great Awakening. This experience continued for at least seven hours in my vehicle and then in my hotel room.
Out of that Divine encounter, I also saw for the first time that the Great Awakening had a direct bearing on the founding of this nation. Without the First Great Awakening (1726-1770), there would have been no United States of America as we have known it.
Over the next few months, as I prayerfully wrote and did further reading and research, I began to see something I had not seen before. Not only was this nation birthed out of Spiritual Awakening, but God had preserved her through national spiritual awakenings coming at crucial times in our history.
As a result of this Divine encounter, I continue today praying in hope and faith for God’s resurrection life and power to be manifest once again across this land in another Great Awakening. I hope you will catch the vision and join me and thousands of others who are praying this same prayer.
Out of the Divine encounter described above, have come books by Dr. Eddie Hyatt such as America’s Revival Heritage, 1726: The Year that Defined America, and Abolitionist Founding Fathers. These are available from Amazon and his website at http://eddiehyatt.com.
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