Come Out!
Let’s get to the high point of Uncle Bud Robinson's book The Story of Lazarus!
Lazarus is dead in the tomb, but Jesus approaches him – prevenient grace – and Jesus commands that the stone be removed, and then Jesus says this: "Lazarus, come out!" (John 11:43)
And the one who was dead came walking out of the tomb!
The New Birth Is Supernatural
Uncle Bud says this on page 74: "Lazarus as a resurrected man is one of the most beautiful types of the blessing of regeneration that can be found in the Bible. Lazarus proves that our holy religion is not man-made and proves it to be supernatural."
Amen! Lazarus was dead, bound, buried and decaying, but one short sentence from Jesus changed everything. This, Uncle Bud says, is a picture of our salvation. It is a supernatural act of God that no human effort, willpower, or religion could ever produce.
Uncle Bud is emphatic about this. Lazarus was beyond turning a new leaf. He was beyond human enthusiasm. He was beyond signing a card or making a resolution. He was on the inside of a tomb, and no power on earth could get him out. Uncle Bud writes on page 74: "It will take a God to ever get you out of that tomb."
This is the point. New birth is not self-improvement. It is resurrection. Only one voice can call you to it - and it is the voice of the Son of God.
Of course, you have to respond to that voice! You may be dead in sin, but your free will is still alive. And because of His prevenient grace, you have the ability to hear and respond. You could stay in the tomb. Or you could walk out into the arms of Jesus.
Alive, But Still Bound
But Uncle Bud then points something out. When Lazarus came out of that tomb, he was alive - truly, genuinely alive; the resurrection real and complete. But he came out still wrapped in his grave clothes. Still bound hand and foot. Still with the napkin over his face.
Uncle Bud writes on page 75: "While he has life he is still bound and he has the strings on him yet."
And he sees in this a picture of the newly converted Christian. The new birth is genuine - it is a perfect work of God. The new convert has real, new life in Christ. But there are still cords clinging to them - cords of anger, pride, jealousy, worldliness, the fear of man. The life is real, but the strings are still there.
Life and Strings
Of course, there is further grace available, beyond the new birth, that deals with those lingering cords of sin. We will get to that tomorrow.
But for today, celebrate the miracle of new birth. If you are in Christ, you have been called out of a tomb of spiritual death by the voice of the Son of God. That is worth rejoicing about!
But if you recognise those cords still clinging - if there are areas of your life where the old binding is still very much present - take heart. Jesus has not finished with you yet.
"Lazarus, come out!" Jesus spoke, and a dead man walked out of his tomb. That is what the new birth looks like.