Jesus said to her, “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. Do you believe this? John 11:25-26 NKJV
Jesus does not say: I will be, or I will become. He says I am. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Him will not die. We were not created to die but to live. In the beginning man had access to the Tree of Life and could eat from it (Genesis 2:16-17). Through sin came death as God had said to man. Our bodies became impermanent.
Jesus restored this. Our bodies decay, we get older, we get sick and unfortunately that can also happen at a young age. The sadness that this brings is so great, even for those who have Jesus Christ. Jesus wept (John 11:35) over Lazarus despite knowing that Lazarus would rise from the grave (John 11:11). Jesus wept over the suffering that death brought. Death is an enemy and there has only been One who has conquered death and that is Jesus Christ.
Whoever has Jesus has life. Blessed are you because you share in the first resurrection (Revelation 20:6). When we die our spirit will be with Him in heaven. We will not die forever. Martha tells Jesus that she knows Lazarus will rise on the last day (verse 24). Jesus does not say that this last day will not occur. He says He is the Resurrection and the Life, and that applies to those who believe in Him.
The first resurrection does not apply to those who do not believe in Him. But there is a resurrection for them. That is the resurrection of the last day that Martha talked about in her conversation with the Lord Jesus. That is the second resurrection. I do not believe in universal reconciliation, nor do I believe in a temporary hell. Hell is a reality and it is certainly not temporary. I follow Noa Magid on X (Twitter). She regularly shares images from October 7 and writes: Hell is not enough. Hell is a place of endless pain, hopelessness and torment. There is no hope, no life, no abundance. There is absolutely nothing that offers any hope or relief. No color, no creation, just fire and unimaginable pain until eternity, so not temporary, it is forever. So much glory that is unimaginable for those who are with God and Jesus, so much horror for those who will be in hell forever.
There are many people who die without having accepted the Lord Jesus. This group is larger than those who accepted Him. All the dead, that is, those in the realm of the dead, will rise on the last day. This does not apply to those who believe in the Lord Jesus because they participate in Life, in the first resurrection. The dead in Hades are those for whom death has not been overcome, because they did not believe in the Son of God.
All these people will rise and be judged. The books are opened and the book of Life is opened (Revelation 20:12). And if someone’s name is not written in the Book of Life on that last day, then hell is the punishment. Not temporarily but forever. That hell, that fire was actually prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), but people will be there too. He will judge every man righteously. And I believe that on the last day there will be people who will be written in the book of Life. As Daniel already had to write down. Some will rise to everlasting life and others to everlasting horror (Daniel 12:2). People will be saved. We will see how that will go, we will be witnesses to it and not participants because we believe in Him who absolves us from this judgment.
Accept Jesus as your Savior. He is the Resurrection and the Life. You will live even when you leave this body. And the day is coming when we will receive a new resurrected body. In that body there is no sin, corruption or death, it is eternal to be forever with Him who gave everything for us. What a grace and what a joy. He left everything, all glory, to save us. He has gone before us, and those who believe in Him will be raised and have bodies to His likeness (Philippians 3:21). And all of that has been given to us solely by grace. What a love so great.
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