John 5:25-29, The Resurrection of Life

25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.  26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.  28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice  29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 

At the end of time there will be judgment, and Jesus will be the judge. His voice will call some into the resurrection of life and others into the resurrection of judgment. Jesus, however, says that that time is now here. This “here and now” judgement takes us back to the man at the pool, who Jesus told to stop sinning or face something worse. He personally stood before the Son of Man healed by grace. Would he change the way he lived so that nothing worse would happen to him? The something worse is to stand before Jesus and be called to the resurrection of judgment. 

Jesus is also calling you and me in the here and now. How do you respond to his words that are as applicable today as they were then? C. S. Lewis said, “In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivalled by any character in history. . . . You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.” 

The choice is yours and mine. How will we respond? Who do we believe speaks these words, offering life or judgment? 

Seek the Lord in prayer today over this life-altering decision.