Throughout Scripture, we see that God alone has the power to give life where death has taken hold. Elijah prayed over the widow’s son at Zarephath, and God restored his life. Elisha called upon the Lord, and the Shunammite woman’s son was raised. Years later, a dead man came back to life when his body touched the bones of Elisha. These were very different circumstances, but in each one, the power belonged to God.
The same is true in the New Testament. Jesus raised Jairus’s daughter, the widow’s son at Nain, and Lazarus. God restored Tabitha through Peter and Eutychus through Paul. The people were different, and the circumstances were different, but the source of life was always the same. Elijah did not possess resurrection power. Neither did Elisha, Peter, or Paul. They were servants through whom God chose to work.
Jesus, however, is unlike any of them. He did not simply raise the dead. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25, NKJV). Life does not merely come through Him. Life is found in Him.
There is something important to notice about every person raised in these accounts. They all eventually died again. Lazarus died again. Jairus’s daughter died again. The widow’s son at Nain died again. Their return to life was real and miraculous, but it was temporary. Death had been delayed, not defeated.
The resurrection of Jesus was different. He rose from the grave never to die again. Scripture says, “Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him” (Romans 6:9, NKJV). Jesus did not simply return to earthly life. He conquered death.
Scripture also tells us that apart from Christ, we are spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins. We cannot give ourselves spiritual life any more than Lazarus could call himself out of the tomb. Yet God, in His mercy, makes us alive in Christ.
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.”
Ephesians 2:1 (NKJV)
Those raised physically in Scripture received their earthly lives back for a time. Those who are made alive in Christ receive eternal life. The same God who raised the widow’s son, Jairus’s daughter, and Lazarus is the God who gives new life to those who come to Christ.
Truth to Carry
Unless Christ returns first, each of us will face physical death. But for those who belong to Him, death is not the end. We have been made alive in Christ, and we will live with Him forever. The One who conquered death holds our future securely in His hands.
Foundations in Scripture 