Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                  Chapter Eleven

                                                                                                                                               Verses 1-5

Lazarus fell sick, and his sisters, Mary and Martha, sent a message to Jesus for Him to come and heal him. Jesus' reply to this message indicates God's attitude toward physical death. Jesus knew that Lazarus would die, and yet, he said that Lazarus' sickness was "not unto death." Jesus' statement indicates that God does not regard physical death as being death at all. In fact, God said that He considers the deaths of His saints to be "precious." Psalm 116:15. This interpretation can only mean that physical death cannot be a punishment for sins, but only a transfer from a physical state to a spiritual dimension.

God told Adam and Eve that they would physically die, but He did not tell them that their deaths would be a punishment for sins. The only punishments for sins that God gave to Adam and Eve was that they would suffer pain and labor in their physical lives. Genesis 3:16-19. God did tell them that they would die on the same day that they ate of the forbidden fruit, but they lived for over 900 years. Genesis 2:17; Genesis 5:5. After they had sinned, Adam and Eve were ashamed and hid themselves when God came to visit with them in the evening. Their shame indicated that something within them had changed. They had become spiritually dead inside. Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:6-13. Only the Devil has control over spiritual death; so the Devil had to have injected spiritual death into Adam and Eve and all of their descendants because the entire human race became weakened by their sins. Romans 5:12; Matthew 15:13; Matthew 13:36-43.

God killed an animal and made coats to cover the shame of Adam and Eve. God shed the blood of the animal to symbolize that He would provide a way for Himself to annul spiritual death in humans by the sacrifice of Himself. Genesis 3:15; Genesis 3:21. God accomplished this task when He shed His blood and water on a cruel cross to wash away the sins and annul the spiritual deaths of all who would believe in Him while still alive in the flesh. John 5:24; Matthew 26:28; Revelation 1:5. God provided a way for Adam and Eve and all of their descendants to believe in His sacrifice for them while they were still alive in the flesh so that He can cleanse them from their sins, and He will give them victory over spiritual death, and He will eternally save them by His grace. Romans 5:1-11.

Adam and Eve continued the blood sacrifices of animals to symbolize their faith in God's promise and so did their second born son Abel. But their first born son Cain refused to offer the blood sacrifice. Cain's stubbornness and pride caused him to try to coerce God to accept his own works which was the fruit that he grew as his means to save himself from spiritual death. Humans do not have enough spiritual strength to overcome their spiritual deaths, but God does. Humans can only have faith that Christ has accomplished that victory for them. Romans 5:6-9; Titus 3:4-7.