Raising the Dead

While healing is always the will of God, raising the dead may not always be the will of God.

Jesus commanded His disciples to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons (Matthew 10:8).

But the signs that follow believers in Mark 16:17-18 do not include raising the dead. In other words, it's not always the will of God to raise someone from the dead.

The New Testament recorded accounts of people being raised from the dead, apart from the first Resurrection of the saints and Jesus' own Resurrection.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead because he died due to sickness.

Jesus raised a 12-year old girl and a young boy from the dead because they died prematurely.

Peter raised Dorcas from the dead because she died due to sickness.

Paul raised Eutychus from the dead because he died due to an accident.

Paul, however, wasn't raised from the dead. He finished his race and returned to God. The apostles were not raised from the dead after they were martyred.

As such, anyone who passes on because of sickness, accident, pre-mature death and unnatural causes, apart from finishing the race and/or martyred, SHOULD be raised from the dead. 

If possible, we should give these people a chance to be raised from the dead, instead of simply doing a funeral as a standard procedure. Though raising the dead is not the norm and it rarely happens (because we rarely do it; we rarely obey Christ's command to raise the dead), the worst thing that can happen is that nothing happens. But what if the person is really raised from the dead, would it not turn sorrow into tremendous joy and celebration? Jesus never preached a funeral sermon because He is the Resurrection and the Life.

Having said that, this is a sensitive issue as the family is going through a time of grief and loss. So unless the family is open for it, we should never impose. Ultimately, love always wins.

Disclaimer: You can impose if you are walking in 100% success rate in raising the dead.

I believe that we are going to see the dead being raised as easily as the sick are being healed, as we continue to press in and obey His commandment. It's ultimately still the same price Jesus paid on the Cross for healing the sick and raising the dead. Same price. Same level. Same precious blood. #mindrenewal #raisingthedead