Ressurection Power

Inside us is the Ressurection Power. That same power of God that raised Jesus who is God from the dead lives in us, "I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 1:19-20), "I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!" (Philippians 3:10-11), and "The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you." (Romans 8:11).The Ressurection of Christ is not only what happened at The Tomb two thousand and seventeen years ago, it is alive and active in us right now! The Prophet Ezekiel forsaw the coming day when we would be raised from dead (1 Corinthians 6:14) and after Jesus died on cross a resurrection took place, "When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He yielded up His spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus' resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people." (Matthew 27:50-53). The Ressurection Power lives in us. I have witnessed it, a relative of mine was killed when a car hit them at 45mph in a crosswalk, she was dead on arrival, but rose from dead because of Jesus' Ressurection power. Did not Jesus say, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it," (John 14:12-14), and "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). Jesus demonstrated He is the One True God when He rose from dead, and He lives in us beleivers (Colossians 1:27, 2 Corinthians 3:16), and so the One who can raise the dead lives inside all Trinitarian Christian believers! So why then do we fear death? Has not death lost its string (1 Corinthians 15:55-57) and be tasted by Jesus for us (Hebrews 2:9), and defeated (2 Corinthians 5:4, 1 Corinthians 15:54)?!

The Risen Jesus lives in us, He bears wounds of His Crucifixon (John 20:27) and has saved us on cross. Now He works His Life (John 14:6) and resurrection life (John 11:25-26) through us. If we would only but believe and stop our unbelief (Matthew 17 Transfig). In other countries bold brothers and sisters in Christ raise the dead through Christ's power, which is not suprisin because Jesus has endowed His followers with this power, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give," (Matthew 10:8). For those who think these powers were just for disciples, here is what Jesus says all anyone needs to do to become disciple, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24). Why do people doubt this, because they don't trust Jesus and Holy Spirit to do it through them, just as He does with other gifts (1 Corinthians 12:3-11). We have the power to raise the dead if it is God's Will (Romans 12:2) and so why not at least have enough faith to pray for those who just died and see if God wants to raise them up? Huh? Is this not what Jesus alluded to when He said, "He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20). I want to be clear that I do not support or agree with the Kenneth Copeland command God to do it movement or the faith movement (name it and claim it) which shames people who are sick or ill because they weren't healed and is delusional about the power a believer wields. I am saying resurrection power is inside us and why then do we not have enough faith to pray for people to be healed and even raised from dead? I am saying we should ask the Lord to raise someone killed in freak accident or surgery, or any scenario, and expect that if it be His will, they will be raised, if not it was not because of a lack of faith (Revelation 14:13, Revelation 6:11). God's people have been involved in raisings, The Lord Jesus and Ezekiel was part of raising, "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling,and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, “Son of man (Jesus, see Matthew 18 and 27), these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord," (Ezekiel 37:1-14), the Lord and Elijah was part of raising, "After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.  And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child's life come into him again.” And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. ²³ And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth," (1 Kings 17:17-24), our Lord Jesus raised the dead, "Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go," (John 11:38-44), "While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat," (Mark 5:21-43), Jesus who is God (Hebrew 1, Colossians 2:9, Titus 3:17) was raised from the dead by God, "Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ²So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.  But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.  On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have  believed." (John 20:1-29, cross ref 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 10:9-10), and finally Jesus told His disciples they would raise the dead, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give," (Matthew 10:8). We read all this and still doubt? I once watched a beloeved pet dying, flatline and die, and in my grief I laid hands on the pet and prayed for it not to die, it rose from dead and is still alive today.

I cannot guarantee you will raise everyone you lay hands on or that Christ wants all people raised, some must wait (Revelation 6:11), others are blessed to remain dead until the Judgement (Revelation 14:13), and we must remember we cannot command Christ like some employee, He holds the keyes to death, "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. " (Revelation 1:17). But if we have faith and trust in Jesus, anything is possible, "Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26), and "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13). Why do we in this modern age resort to medical experts, and do not even try for a miracle? Certainlty I am not saying stiff the physicians, but what if we laid hands on for healing first and then called the doctor? Remember that our Savior and God Jesus (Titus 3:17) has resurrection power. It was He that raised dry bones with Ezekiel and the dead boy with Elijah, Jesus is the Son of Man and He has been resurrecting the dead for thousands of years. But since Resurrection Sunday two thousand and seventeen years ago, we now have Resurrection power in us, for Jesus lives in us (Colossians 1:27) and thus so does His power. We cannot command God like some dictator, but as His disciples we can ask, and He said "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you," (Matthew 7:7) and "You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!" (John 14:13-14). The only reason the Lord Jesus does not raise the dead is mercy on those souls, "And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!"(Revelation 14:13) and so they do not see dark days ahead, "Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come." (Isaiah 57:1). However, this should not mean we shirk from asking our Savior to raise the dead. We need only faith as mustard seed, trust in Christ, and if It be His will we will see a raising in our life time. I have beheld it in my own lifetime, both watching a person and a pet be raised. It is possible. All things are possible though Christ Jesus. Amen.