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Come out! Those are the words Jesus spoke to a man who was dead. Here’s the account in John 11:43.

John 11:43
When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”

Lazarus was dead and buried. He had been in the grave for four days. Jesus directed some men in the crowd to take away the stone sealing the tomb. Then he prayed out loud so the people would know that his Father was working through him.

Now it was time for a miracle. In a loud voice, Jesus called, “Lazarus, come out!” The same power that spoke the world into existence spoke life into the dead man’s body. Someone has said that it is a good thing Jesus directed his life-giving call to “Lazarus,” otherwise, every dead person would have walked out of their tomb.

And one day . . . every dead person who knows Jesus will walk out of the tomb. One day Jesus will again give a loud call. He will come down from heaven “with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16). Our eternal spirits will join our resurrected bodies and meet the Lord in the air to be with him forever! Each of us will have our “Lazarus” moment.

Lord Jesus, thank you for this promise of resurrection. Thank you for the certainty of spending eternity with you. Thank you for the power of your life-giving call. In your name, I pray. Amen.