I Was Dead, and Behold, I Am Alive Forevermore

Introduction

There is one sentence, only one, that no founder of a religion, no philosopher, no emperor, no sage has ever been able to say. A sentence that only Jesus Christ dared to speak from his own mouth: "I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore" (Revelation 1:18).

Every great spiritual figure in history has died. Their tombs exist. People make pilgrimages to them. Their bones can be found there. Only one man in all of human history can say: "I was dead, but now I live for eternity, and I hold the keys of death." That man is Jesus. And if you are a Christian this morning, he is the one you celebrate at Easter.

Pastor Celestin Yao (Impact Centre Chretien) takes the time, in this message, to bring you back to the heart of the text of Revelation 1:12-18. Not to offer you a vague meditation on the resurrection, but to let you hear Jesus' own declaration. This declaration changes the way you face life, trials, and even death.

Outline of the Teaching

1. A Christ Who Reveals Himself in the Midst of Persecution

To understand the power of verse 18 of Revelation 1, we need to place things in their context. We are around the year 70 of our era. The Roman emperor Nero has made it his mission to persecute Christians. Throughout the Empire, every subject is required to proclaim: "Axios, Caesar is worthy." That is, Caesar deserves your praise, Caesar deserves your worship.

But one people refuses. The redeemed people dare to answer: "There is only one who is worthy, and it is not Caesar. It is Jesus Christ." This confession comes at a great cost. They are thrown into the arenas, wild beasts are set loose on them, they are put to death in the stadiums as a public spectacle.

The apostles fall one after another. James is the first to be killed. Peter is crucified upside down because he considers himself unworthy to die as his Lord did. Almost no one is left. So they take the last one, John, and deport him to a deserted island, Patmos, so that he will die there alone and the movement will finally be extinguished.

It is there, on that island, at the darkest moment of the newborn church, that Jesus Christ himself comes to reveal himself to John. As Tertullian, a father of the church, reminds us: "The blood of Christians is a seed." The more it was shed, the more it multiplied.

2. Before Any Message, an Introduction

When Jesus appears to John, he first takes the time to introduce himself. Before dictating the letters to the seven churches of Asia (Revelation 2-3), before revealing what is to come (Revelation 4-5), he stands in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, a symbol of the totality of his church.

John, this same John who had leaned his head on Jesus' chest at the last supper, no longer recognizes him. His head and hair are white as snow, his eyes like a flame of fire, his feet like glowing bronze, his face like the sun shining in its strength. John falls at his feet as though dead.

And Jesus places his right hand on him, saying: "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, and the living one." Then comes the central declaration: "I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. I hold the keys of death and Hades."

The whole finished work of Christ is contained in this one verse. And that is true for you too. When you go through hard times, when everything seems to be giving way, Jesus is still standing in the midst of the lampstands. He walks in the midst of his church. He knows your challenges, he knows your fears. He is there.

3. "I Was Dead": A One Time Act, an Offered Sacrifice

Pastor Celestin points to the tense of the verb. Jesus does not say, "I am dead," as if he remained dead forever. He says, "I was dead." It is a one time event, an act accomplished at a precise moment in history. There was the cross.

And that cross is not a scene meant to stir up pity. It is the ultimate expression, the very height, of God's love for you. No one took Jesus' life from him. He gave it. He says so himself in John 10:17-18: "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and authority to take it up again."

No one could have killed Jesus if the Father had not allowed it, and if he himself had not obeyed to the very end. The cross is not a defeat imposed on him. It is a sacrifice he offered, out of love, to satisfy the demands of God's justice in your place.

To the women weeping along his path to Calvary, Jesus said: "Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children." He did not need anyone's pity. He was accomplishing the mission for which he had come into the world.

4. "I Am Alive Forevermore": Not a Resurrection Like the Others

This is where the declaration becomes astonishing. Jesus does not simply say, "I am alive." He says, "I am alive forevermore." That is, eternally.

We need to measure the difference with the other resurrections the Bible recounts. Lazarus was raised by Jesus, but death took hold of him again later. Tabitha (Dorcas) was raised by Peter, but she died again afterward. Death still had the right to say to them, "You only got an extension. I will come for you again."

But for Jesus, no. As Paul says in Romans 6:9: "For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again." He is the firstborn from among the dead. He is our prototype. The glorified body he now has, able to pass through walls, to eat with his disciples, to appear from one place to another, is the body we too will have one day.

And because he is alive eternally, no situation that seems dead in your life is beyond his reach. He stretches out his hand, through the Holy Spirit, to raise up and bring back to life what seemed beyond recovery in your home, your projects, your health, your calling.

5. "I Hold the Keys of Death and Hades"

Keys are a symbol of authority. Whoever holds the key is the owner. He comes and goes without asking anyone's permission.

Before the cross, there existed what Pastor Celestin calls the "satanic trilogy." First Satan, who through sin separates man from God, for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Then death, which comes to fetch the man separated from God. Finally the realm of the dead (Sheol in Hebrew, Hades in Greek), which held souls without distinction of rank, with no possibility of changing places, incorruptible even to every human attempt.

Jesus himself tells, in Luke 16, the story of Lazarus and the rich man to illustrate this place. The rich man, in torment, begs for Lazarus to be sent to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue. Impossible. A great chasm separates the two places. No one crosses over. "People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

But when Jesus dies and descends into the lower regions, everything changes. After three days, the Holy Spirit brings life back to his body. And Jesus literally wrests the keys from the realm of the dead. From that day on, those who die in the Lord no longer descend into Sheol. They go directly into the paradise of God.

That is why Jesus could say to the criminal crucified next to him: "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). Not in Hades. In paradise.

6. Total Authority, Complete Victory

What Jesus accomplished at the cross and through his resurrection gives him absolute authority over Satan, over death, and over the realm of the dead. That is why his Name drives out demons. That is why his Name heals sicknesses. That is why, when two or three gather in his Name, he is there in their midst, because he is alive.

Paul can therefore cry out with confidence: "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55). Death should no longer frighten a true child of God. It can no longer hold on to those who belong to Christ.

Key Takeaways

• Only one man in history has been able to say "I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore." Jesus has no tomb to visit. There are no bones to search for. He is alive, eternally.
• The cross is not a defeat suffered, it is a sacrifice offered. No one tore Jesus' life away from him. He gave it willingly out of love for you.
• Jesus' resurrection cannot be compared to that of Lazarus or Tabitha. They died again. Jesus rose to live forever.
• Jesus holds the keys of death and the realm of the dead. The authority has changed hands. It is no longer Satan who decides. It is Christ.
• Since the resurrection, those who die in the Lord go straight to paradise, not to the realm of the dead. This is the promise made to the criminal on the cross.

Personal Application

• What situation in your life feels "dead" today (a buried dream, a broken relationship, fragile health, a paused project), that you have stopped entrusting to the one who holds the keys of death?
• When you think of the cross, do you see it as a scene that calls for your pity, or as the voluntary sacrifice of a King who loved you enough to offer his life?
• To whom, or to what, do you say "axios" ("you are worthy"), in your life? Is it to Jesus, or to a quieter "Caesar": your career, your image, your desires, your comfort?
• How should the fact that Jesus is alive forevermore change the way you pray this week? Do you truly take seriously that he is present when you call on his Name?
• If you have never personally received the life of Jesus, what is still holding you back today from opening your heart to him, as the pastor has invited you to do?

Verses Cited

• Revelation 1:12-18 · The revelation of the glorified Jesus to John on the island of Patmos
• Revelation 4:11 · "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory"
• John 10:17-18 · "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord"
• Romans 6:9-10 · "Since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again"
• 1 Corinthians 15:55 · "Where, O death, is your victory?"
• Luke 16:19-31 · Lazarus and the rich man
• Luke 23:43 · "Today you will be with me in paradise"
• Hebrews 9:27 · "People are destined to die once"
• Romans 6:23 · "The wages of sin is death"

FAQ

Why does Jesus say "I was dead" and not "I am dead"?

Because his death is not a permanent state, but a one time act accomplished in time. He truly was put to death on the cross, he truly was buried, but he also truly rose on the third day. This verb tense shows that death is behind him. It no longer has any hold on him.

What is "the realm of the dead," and how did Jesus take its keys?

The realm of the dead (Sheol in Hebrew, Hades in Greek) refers to the place where every soul descended before Christ's victory. Jesus, in Luke 16, describes this place as divided into two regions by a great chasm: "Abraham's side" for believers, and a place of torment for others. When Jesus descended into the lower regions after his death, and then rose from them by the power of the Holy Spirit, he stripped that place of its authority. Since then, those who die in Christ go directly to paradise with the Father.

Concretely, what does this change for me today?

At least three things. First, you no longer need to fear death if you are in Christ: it no longer has the last word. Second, you can pray with the assurance that Jesus is truly alive, present, able to act; he is not a religious memory. Finally, no dead situation in your life is too great for the one who holds the keys of death. What seemed beyond recovery can be brought back to life by the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.