The word resurrection means ‘the action or fact of restoring a dead person to life, or of being restored to life’ (Oxford Dictionary). Jesus was making the amazing claim that He has the authority and power to raise the dead. In John 5:21, Jesus said of Himself, "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes."
The Bible provides multiple eyewitness accounts concerning Jesus’ gruesome death by Roman crucifixion and His resurrection from the dead 3 days later.
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When Jesus rose from the dead, He fulfilled His bold claim to have power over His own death: "I have authority to lay [my life] down, and I have authority to take it up again" (John 10:18). He proved that He has authority over death. Only life can triumph over death, and that's why He could call Himself "the resurrection and the life". Jesus proved by His own resurrection that He does indeed have the power to "give life to whom He wishes" (John 5:21).
But there's more that we must understand about the significance of Jesus as the resurrection and the life. Consider this startling statement about the consequences of His resurrection:
"God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man [Jesus] whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." (Paul, an early Christian leader and preacher, speaking in the city of Athens, in Acts 17:30,31)
Beyond the grave for each of us will be a judgment from which no one can escape (Hebrews 9:27). All of us have sinned by breaking God's laws (Romans 3:23). Whether it's gossip, lies, cheating, stealing, greed, outbursts of anger, pride, envy, selfishness, lust, immorality of any kind . . . each one of us fails the standard of perfection.
The proper payment for our sin is death (Romans 6:23), not just physically but also spiritually. The ultimate consequence for our sin will be what the Bible calls the second death (Revelation 20:14,15), which is often called "hell". Though many today wish to dismiss the notion of eternal punishment, consider the fact that Jesus spoke more about hell than anyone else in the Bible.
We must confront this dreadful reality, and we should ask whether anyone can escape the second death. The answer is YES! God loved us enough to provide one way: sharing Jesus’ victory over death.