Bible Study:
The Power of the Resurrection
“For I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25).
Read: Job 19-25; Psalm 130:7-8; Isaiah 44:22-23; Titus 2:13-14; Acts 4:33.
What is God Saying?
Job is presumed by many to be the oldest book in the Bible. And the oldest of books has to do with the oldest of problems:
“Why do the righteous suffer?”
Up to this verse in the story of Job, he is asking questions. Tough ones. “Man dies, and is laid low; man breathes his last and where is he?’ (14:10). “If a man die, shall he live again?” (14:14).
They were unanswerable questions that rose from a perplexed and anguished heart. But with his cry of faith,
“I know that my Redeemer lives,” he is on solid ground.
He is led of the Spirit to make the statement that has conveyed assurance to believers down through the centuries. He says, “I know.” He points with certainly to the fact that the solution to all problems, the ultimate answer to all questions, whether they be old and persistent or new and passing, lies in knowing that the Lord, our Redeemer lives.
God in Christ is on top of it all.
He lives.
He has conquered the last great enemy which is death.
He is “declared to be the Son of God with power … by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4).
How Does This Apply To Us?
With Job in spite of every argument to the contrary (and he was deluged with them), we, too, may know that the Redeemer lives. Furthermore, to live successful Christian lives we must know that.
God’s plan for the believer is that by the testimony of the Holy Spirit and by opening one’s eyes to see the innumerable evidences of God’s power and authority in the world of nature and history, we may come to a place where we can say we know.
God’s agenda is that we come to know. That is why the Bible was given. “I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may knowthat you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13) – know, not guess, not suppose, not wish, not wonder but know.
Pray With Me
Lord, to meditate upon this magnificent truth brings glory to my soul and a peace that remains unshaken amidst the shattered dreams of a Christ-rejecting world. I know that my Redeemer lives. The bond between us is personal and close.
- I am not a number on a long list of data that has been fed into a celestial computer.
- I have a name and You know it.
- I need a living Redeemer that I can call my own and You are that Redeemer.
I know that my Redeemer lives. God be praised for the ability to know, with knowledge as clear and as sure as Your own Word. There is no vagueness in Your promises, no wondering if You really mean it, no wandering about in the wastelands of philosophical speculation.
I know that my Redeemer lives. I am delivered from the bondage of the fear of death. I am free because I am possessed by One who has power to lift me up and hold me above the entangling alliances of sin and the bitter harvest of eternal, spiritual death.
- He is real to me. I know Him.
- He is my great eternal Redeemer because He lives.
- His voice is rich and warm, not a dead echo of superstition or the faint whispering of wishful thinking.
- His hand is strong and His eyes are kind.
- He lives, and to eternity I shall praise Him that “because He lives, I too shall live.”
In the name of Him who ever lives to make intercession for me. Amen.
Moving On In the Life of Prayer
“You ask me how I know he lives, He lives within my heart.”
That is the great finale to a familiar and cherished hymn. It is also the experience of the steadfast Christian.
In his or her heart the Christian knows that Jesus is alive and in control and that He will come again, as He promised, to receive us unto Himself.
The secret of joyous living lies in knowing that whatever happens, Jesus Christ is real – He is really ours and we are really His.
Do you know that your Redeemer lives?
Then, by your life show that your Redeemer lives!
God loves you so much that He sent His son Jesus Christ to die for your sins. After His resurrection and ascension into heaven, He sent His Spirit to live in our lives and empower us to live the abundant life. But we must personally ask Him into our lives to be our Lord and Savior. If you are sincere about asking Him into your life, why don’t you pray the suggested prayer below:
(Prayer is talking to God. God knows your heart and is not as concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart.)
Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to You and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be. Amen.
Used with permission.
From the Book:
First Light: Morning Conversations with God.