Parables Of The Bible Essays - Gospel Of John, Apocalypticists

Parables Of The Bible Essays - Gospel Of John, Apocalypticists Parables Of The Bible PARABLES OF THE BIBLE : Lazarus, come forth! When God wrote the Bible He wrote to us from His point of view. However, when we read things, we have a tendency to look at what we read through rose colored glasses. If we take off those glasses and look at things through God's eyes instead, we may see things we really don't like about ourselves. We are corpses, that's what God Himself call us in Eph 2:5, 5:14, and Col 2:13. These are some of the many verses that address our spiritual estate before salvation. God demands we look at the whole Bible in this light and when we do, He then shows us more. Lazarus in Jn 11:1-44 is God's spiritual explanation, a parable, of you and me before salvation and then God's salvation comes. He was dead, he stunk, how much more descriptive does God have to make it, he was a rotting corpse! He could not see, he could not hear, he could not walk, nor think nor speak, nor move on his own, yet Jesus calls him by name and he simply comes forth as he was commanded to do. God then describes a little bit more about Lazarus' death. He was bound with grave clothes. In the literal account of the raising of Lazarus, this is what he was buried in. But it's the spiritual account that teaches us what God sees. Take off those rose colored glasses and look at the account as God wants us to see it, not as we prefer, seeing only a physical miracle performed by God and not looking at the miracle of salvation that this parable teaches us. He didn't have on Christ's robe of righteousness, he wore his own sinful estate (Zec 3:3-5). Once we are saved, God gives us a change of clothes/heart (Eze 36:26) and we now wear Christ's robe of righteousness (Isa 61:10) not our old filthy clothes/sins (Zec 3:4). Loose him. Same word loose used in Mt 16:19; 18:18. He was now freed from the bondage of Satan Lu 13:16. The people were more concerned about his physical death, Jesus spoke about his spiritual death and rebirth in this chapter. He literally raised the dead but it pointed to the spiritual. Not to be funny but Jesus didn't say, Lazarus, open one eye and listen to what I'm offering you. The parable here is one of complete death, no life within at all. Therefore no response. The wicked cannot change on their own Jer 13:23. God choose Lazarus' physical death to show us what He sees inside us when He looks. The point is very straightforward, complete death, no life at all. If you are unsaved, God is telling you that there is not hing you can do on your own to save yourself nor help with your salvation, while unsaved, you don't even know you are as a dead man. God must do everything, including choosing you for salvation. The Gospel call goes out to all mankind, repent. Yet God knows full well that no one will, therefore He did all the work involved with our salvation. This is very fair, no one will be able to say, you never called me to repentance, He did but they would not repent. Ps 19:1-3 all mankind knows, Rom 2:14, 15 all of us know, it is written in our hearts, but our hearts are now wicked, Jer 17:9. No one will have an excuse on Judgment Day. God calls us to Himself. He has already determined who is saved and only those are made alive, they get called and like Lazarus cannot resist, we have no say in our salvation. Looking again at Lazarus, we should now see ourself in his place, we too are dead. What can you do to respond to God when He calls? Nothing. If, as God tells us in Rom 3:11, no one seeks God, we certainly cannot come to Him to start with. (The use of the number 4 in the Lazarus parable; 4 days; points to the universality of the situation, north, east, south, west. Rev 5:9, kindred, tongue, people, nation. Psalm 107:2, God calls His redeemed from all lands,