Do You Believe This?

After Easter, hearing about the resurrection, I think one of the most important things we can do is go back to the personal question Jesus asked at the tomb of Lazarus. He said “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me . . . shall never die,” He turned to His hearers and asked, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:25–26). This is Easter’s bottom-line question: Do you believe this?
 
O.S. Hawkins in His booklet the Easter Code does a great job of explaining this question and the way it may have been asked:
“Do you believe this?” When it comes to saving faith in the finished work of Christ, what matters is not what anyone else believes. It is intensely personal.
“Do you believe this?” He is not interested in whether you give intellectual assent to His claims. Jesus wants to know if you put your total trust and faith in what He says. The real issue is one of faith. It is pointed.
“Do you believe this?” The question follows on the heels of an amazing claim: “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). Do you believe this claim about His deity? The fundamental belief of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth is God Himself, “the image of the invisible God . . . All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:15–16). Do you believe His claim 16 about your destiny? “Though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25). Yo “Though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25). Your body will one day die, but not your spirit, you will receive a new imperishable body.
 
There are a lot of big questions that come our way in life. But there is only one question that will matter in death: “Do you believe this?” You can settle this question once and for all by your response today. If this is the desire of your heart then pray, confess your sin to the Lord, accept His finished work as the payment for your sin debt and surrender your life to Jesus as King over your life. A simple prayer can never save you, but Jesus can, and will, if your prayer expresses the true desire of your heart. Today you can claim the promise Jesus made to all who would follow Him: “Most assuredly . . . he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). This is God’s desire for you and that is why He made it available to you through His Son Jesus. But the question is “Do You believe this?”
 
In His Service,
Eric Barnes