I Have Hope in Jesus!

Jesus cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!' And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Loose him, and let him go' (John 11:43-44, NKJV). And Lazarus comes forth! I want to see that movie when I get to Heaven, don't you? There is so much to unpack in this passage. But there is one truth that resonates in my heart and mind. When Jesus leads us, he leads us out of something old and into something new. Something current has to die and go away before something ahead can come to be. Jesus calls us to leave something behind and move forward to what lies ahead. Here is the problem. We must turn loose of the old for God to bring us into the new. That is a problem for most of us.

I taught elementary school for several years while my husband attended seminary. My favorite time of the day was recess. I know. I haven't grown up much, have I? I enjoyed watching the kids play, but my attention was usually captured the longest by what was happening on the monkey bars. I have watched every Tarzan movie made. My favorite part? The way Tarzan glides from place to place in the forest by way of vines – mesmerizing – and the perfect picture to illustrate the truth that when Jesus leads us out of something old and into something new.

But we want to hang onto our old self-image and have the new self-image God has for us. We want to be identified by our old successes as well as have new achievements. We want to keep our old habits and character and lifestyle and embrace what God has for us next.

When Jesus told Lazarus to "Come forth," he called him out of something old and into something new. Jesus is calling us to take that same step. 

Come out of death and into life.

Lazarus is dead, but Jesus is calling him back to life – to a new resurrected life. We have to die to the old life before embracing the new life Jesus has for us. That is why 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that old things must "pass away." The old life must die. It must be finished and buried. We must choose to die to our old ways and embrace a life of radical obedience.

Hudson is our nine-year-old grandson and a constant generator of illustrations for my writing. Our daughter Danna calls me at least once every day and nearly always has a new Hudson story. Today was no exception. Hudson had a bad day. When bedtime rolled around, the struggle continued. Danna did their nightly devotion, they prayed together, and she turned off the lights. Before she even made it through the door, Hudson had scrambled out of bed and turned the lights back on. This routine happened three more times – three!

Danna finally had enough. "Hudson, if you do that one more time, your Switch game is going in the lake," she declared. Of course, since they live on a lake, this was no idle threat. Still, Hudson looked Danna square in the eyes and flipped the lights back on. Game over! Done! Strike three! Danna calmly walked out of Hudson's room, the Switch game in her hands. Once she reached the water, Danna threw that expensive, partly paid for with the boys' own money Switch game in the lake. Hudson was speechless until he wasn't and promptly lost it. Once he calmed down, he and Danna had a serious conversation about obedience and making the right choices. Hudson got it. "Mama, I don't know why I do these things. I need help! Pleeease help me do the right thing." And isn't that the cry of every human heart who struggles with their frail humanity? Jesus, please help me do the right thing!

What do we have to die to? Anything that is God to us.

The first commandment is that we will have no other Gods before the Almighty God. But most of us do. So how do you know what is God to you? Well, what do you think about most? What do you want the most? Where do you spend most of your money?

It could be your career or your house and standard of living. Maybe it is your looks or a closet full of expensive clothes. It could even be your spouse or your kids. All of those have the potential to be good things, but they all make sorry Gods. Jesus calls us to come out of death into life. Are you willing to die to your old way of living? Jesus says, "come forth – come out of death into life."

Come out of bondage into freedom.

Jesus cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!' And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Loose him, and let him go' (John 11:43-44, NKJV).

A bit of Bible history here will help this passage come to life. For 400 years, the Hebrews lived in slavery in Egypt. During that time, they learned many things from the Egyptians. As the Hebrew slaves constructed Egypt's great pyramids and palaces, they learned to be great builders. But, working seven days a week, they experienced the pain of bondage and slavery. When they took on the Egyptians' practice of wrapping a dead body with cloths, they learned the process of embalming.

Back to the story.

Lazarus was buried Egyptian style, wrapped head to toe with an extra cloth around his face. So, when Jesus commanded him to come forth, he must have come hopping blindly out of the tomb. He was wrapped in grave clothes with an extra cloth around his face. That is why Jesus said, "Loose him, and let him go."        

Do not miss this perspective. Lazarus has been brought from death to life, but he was not loosed – not released. He was still wrapped up in grave clothes. The same is true in our lives. When we come to Christ, we are new in Christ. But we still have the grave clothes of our old life wrapped around us. We are still bound – still in bondage. We must be loosed and let go. Coming to Christ sets our souls free. Walking with Christ sets our lives free.

Many of us grew up with a "salvation as the end game" gospel. Get saved – and everything will be fine. Give your life to Christ – and it's all done. That is not true. Giving my life to Christ changes my eternal destination. Walking with Christ changes my current journey. Jesus did not live, die, and rise from the dead to change your future. He lived, died, and was raised from the dead to change your life here and now. He wants to free us all from bondage – just like the Children of Israel.

I love to share their story because it is so much like mine.

The Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. Then God chose Moses to lead them out of Egypt towards the promised land. But they had to cross the Red Sea to get there. And when they came to the Red Sea, they decided they wanted to go back to Egypt. I'm not kidding you! The children of Israel told Moses, "Take us back." Seriously? After everything Moses had done for them. After all they had been through and survived.

We do the same thing. We come to Christ and experience the new life he offers. We do well until a crisis hits, and suddenly, the old life looks pretty good. The old bondage was awful, but we were used to it. And we tend to go back. We all have baggage. We all have things that we must continually surrender to Christ. We need to quit carrying our baggage on the plane of life and check it at the cross. Let Jesus handle it.

Surrender is not a one-time event. Freedom is not a one-time deliverance.

We will have to surrender our anger constantly. We will have to nail our hurt to the cross again and again. We must relentlessly die to self.

In Romans 12, Paul shares an exciting truth. Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1, NKJV). A "living" sacrifice can crawl off of the altar. If we want to rise up and experience all God has for us, we must come forth - out of death into life, out of bondage into freedom.

Come out of confusion into identity.

Here is what we know about Lazarus before his resurrection. He was Jesus' best friend, a quiet man overshadowed by his vocal sisters Mary and Martha. Martha was known for her gift of hospitality, while Mary was known for her gift of giving. Lazarus is unknown. Lazarus was from the small town of Bethany, near Jerusalem. Bethany was referred to as "the town of Mary and Martha" in the gospels. Lazarus was just sort of there in the background. But all of that changed. Lazarus was raised from the dead the week before the Passover, the most important Jewish holiday of the year when the whole country came to Jerusalem. The word about Lazarus spread. So much so that the Jewish leaders began to plot the death of Jesus. They crucified him one week after he raised Lazarus from the dead.

Lazarus' identity changed. He had to come out of his old identity and embrace his new one. And so must we! When we come to Christ, we have a new identity. My whole life changed the minute I surrendered it to Jesus Christ. I am the daughter of the living God! That is who I am because that is how God sees me.

Every time I play The Bam-Bam game, I am reminded of a spiritual truth that many have so wrong. We believe God plays a spiritual version of The Bam-Bam Game with our lives. I've done it. I've had this perspective, thinking God sits in Heaven, holding a spiritual bat, just waiting for me to make a mistake. When I do, He laughs in delight and promptly smashes me back into a dark pit. That perception is a lie. First, we must understand who our Father truly is and how He sees us. God does not see any of the identities you see. He sees you as His child - loved, planned, and chosen by God Himself.

I think there is something in this Lazarus story for all of us. If you want all God has for you, if you want to rise up and live, if you want the rest of your life to be the best part of your life, then it is time to take action. Remember that His plan for you is to rise up and live!

Photo credit: © Getty Images/jchizhe

Mary Southerland is also the Co-founder of Girlfriends in God, a conference and devotion ministry for women. Mary’s books include, Hope in the Midst of Depression, Sandpaper People, Escaping the Stress Trap, Experiencing God’s Power in Your Ministry, 10-Day Trust Adventure, You Make Me So Angry, How to Study the Bible, Fit for Life, Joy for the Journey, and Life Is So Daily. Mary relishes her ministry as a wife, a mother to their two children, Jered and Danna, and Mimi to her six grandchildren – Jaydan, Lelia, Justus, Hudson, Mo, and Nori.