John 11:25-26
²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (NIV)

He is both. He is the resurrection and the life. Jesus is speaking to the sisters about their brother Lazarus who has been physically dead for four days, but His words reach higher to a spiritual place. Whoever lives by believing in Him will never die does not undo the natural law of physical death, but speaks to living life in the spirit.

The resurrection is the moment of victory over death. It is the moment that Christ will soon choose to completely conquer death, Hell, and sin and proves it in His physical resurrection. His physical body rose but the authority to do this comes from His victorious trip into Hell where He took the keys of Hell from Satan so that He is now the authority to decide who suffers under the penalty of spiritual death. And He chooses for any who believe in Him to live in the power of the resurrection to defeat death.

Jesus crucified death in the spirit of all who believe. It has no power to separate us from God and all that He is. Before His death, we would not have the power to overcome everything in this world working to separate us from Him. We would remain slaves to sin, sadness, and destructive behavior. But the power of death was destroyed in the resurrection. And this power is given to all who put their faith in Him. We have the power to rise up out of sin, out of sadness, out of heartache, out of bitterness, out of Hell on Earth.

But He is not simply the resurrection, but also He is the life. He has not only conquered death but has given us the elevated life of the spirit. To live in Christ is to live life abundantly, full of joy and grace, in bondage to nothing and no one but Christ, and to Him a bondservant because we realize serving Him is the greatest life. We no longer wish to be free from Him but to live free in Him.

Christ cannot be our life-giving spirit unless He is first our resurrection. The power of sin must be broken. But to live in only the resurrection is to live an empty and vain life waiting for Heaven. To live in both the resurrection and the life that Jesus is will catapult our mind and spirit above the fray of this fallen world.

Prayer: Lord, help me to live in You both as my resurrection and life so that I might experience the fullness of Your love and plan for me now and forever. Amen.