Jesus said, I AM the resurrection and THE LIFE! (John 11:25)
In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story about the Rich Man and Lazarus. Let’s consider that story together, along with some highlights from that chapter.
It is interesting that Jesus talks about importance of being good stewards, and guarding against the dangers of wealth/riches several times before he shares the story about the Rich Man and Lazarus.
Luke 16:11,13 – if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon (earthly, worldly wealth/money), who will commit to your trust the TRUE RICHES?… “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (that is, your earthly possessions or anything else you trust in and rely on instead of God – AMP].”
Special note: We need to set our affections on things that are truly valuable – ETERNAL RICHES! Things on the earth are just temporary. We cannot take our earthly riches with us into eternity. We need to lay up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).
THE RICH MAN & LAZARUS
Luke 16:19-31
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with [the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
Eternity is forever! Let’s make sure that we receive eternal life, not eternal death!
JOHN 11:25 – (Jesus said) “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE!”
“I AM … THE LIFE!”
John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I AM the way and the truth and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through me.
I AM THE TRUE PATHWAY TO LIFE… ETERNAL LIFE!
LIFE – NOT DEATH!
Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:22 – But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, EVERLASTING LIFE.
I John 5:11,13 – And this is the testimony: that God has given us ETERNAL LIFE, and this life is in His Son. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may KNOW that you have ETERNAL LIFE, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Special note: We can KNOW that we have eternal life when we have believed in Jesus, and received Him as our Savior!
John 17:2-3 – …You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give ETERNAL LIFE to as many as You have given Him. And this is ETERNAL LIFE: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true {and} real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.
John 3:15-17 – …that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have ETERNAL LIFE. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be SAVED.
John 10:28 – …I give them ETERNAL LIFE, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
John 12:50 – And I know that His command is EVERLASTING LIFE. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
John 6:63 – It is the Spirit who gives LIFE; the flesh profits nothing. The WORDS that I speak to you are spirit, and they are LIFE.
John 6:68 – But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the WORDS of ETERNAL LIFE.
John 20:31– …these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have LIFE in His name.
Acts 13:46,48 – Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of EVERLASTING LIFE , behold, we turn to the Gentiles. Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to ETERNAL LIFE believed.
GOOD WORKS ARE REWARDED
Romans 2:7…ETERNAL LIFE to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
Revelation 22:14 – Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the TREE OF LIFE, and may enter through the gates into the city.
Special note: Do those verses mean that good works save us? Not according to Ephesians 2:4-10. We are not saved by our works – we are saved by God’s grace, through faith. Once we have been saved, we are created for good works, and we will be rewarded for our good works. According to James – faith without works is dead!
TREE OF LIFE
Genesis 2:9 – The TREE OF LIFE was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 3:17 – Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
Genesis 3:22,24 – Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the TREE OF LIFE, and eat, and live forever”—… Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the TREE OF LIFE, and eat, and live forever”—
Proverbs 3:18 – She (WISDOM) is a TREE OF LIFE to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her.
Revelation 2:7 – “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the TREE OF LIFE, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”
Revelation 22:2 – In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the TREE OF LIFE, which bore twelve fruits, each TREE yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the TREE were for for the healing of the nations.
LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE
I Timothy 6:12 – Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on ETERNAL LIFE…
I Timothy 6:19 – …storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on ETERNAL LIFE.
Titus 1:2 …in hope of ETERNAL LIFE which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,…
I John 2:25 – And this is the promise that HE HAS PROMISED US—ETERNAL LIFE.
Titus 3:7 – …that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of ETERNAL LIFE.
I John 1:2 – …the LIFE was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that ETERNAL LIFE which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
I John 3:15 – Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has ETERNAL LIFE abiding in him.
I John 5:20 – – And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is TRUE; and we are in Him who is TRUE, in His Son JESUS CHRIST. This is the TRUE GOD and ETERNAL LIFE.
Jude 1:21 – …keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto ETERNAL LIFE.
THE PATHWAY OF LIFE
Psalm 16:11 – You will show me the PATH of LIFE; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Acts 2:28 – You have made known to me the WAYS OF LIFE. You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’
Isaiah 2:3 – He will teach us HIS WAYS, and we shall walk in HIS PATHS.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE
Romans 6:4 – Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should WALK in newness of LIFE.
JESUS is the Source and Giver of LIFE! JESUS is LIFE itself!
CHOOSE LIFE!!
John 1:4 – In Him was LIFE, & the LIFE was the light of men.
John 11:25 – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the LIFE. He who believes in Me, though he may die, HE SHALL LIVE.
(AMP) …I am [Myself] the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on) Me, although he may die, yet he shall live;
Lets choose Jesus! Go for JESUS, the LIFE Himself. The world is dead without JESUS! Make JESUS your life!!
John 5:39,40 – You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have ETERNAL LIFE; and these are they which testify of Me. BUT you are not willing to come to Me that you may have LIFE.
ABUNDANT LIFE
JESUS gives not just life – BUT ABUNDANT LIFE! TRUE LIFE!
John 10:10 – The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have LIFE, and that they may have it MORE ABUNDANTLY.
