The Lazarus Effect
The Lazarus Effect: When God Revives Individuals to Resurrect the Church
This insight cane to me when pondering on the state of The Church.
It maybe lengthy — but please take the time to read through it.
This is an excerpt from my book “The Lazarus Effect”.
1. Personal Resurrection: Awakening the Individual Soul
God’s work often begins on an intimate, individual level. Personal resurrection means God is calling individuals out of the “graves” of religion, tradition, and personal stagnation, drawing them into a vibrant, authentic relationship with Him.
These are believers who may have once lived within the forms of faith, operating within ritual and tradition, but whose spirits remained untouched by the living power of God.
In resurrecting them personally, God awakens them from spiritual lethargy, a life defined by rote belief, to a genuine, transformative experience of His Presence.
This personal resurrection represents a spiritual breakthrough — where the individual moves from simply having a knowledge of God to living in the fullness of Christ.
Such a journey is not just a change of beliefs but a complete renewal of heart, mind, and spirit. In this new life, these individuals shed the limitations of traditionalism and the empty routines of religion.
They are “born again” in the deepest sense, filled with the Holy Spirit, renewed in their understanding, and empowered by God to carry His life within them.
This resurrection equips them with a new identity in Christ, full of grace and truth. Having moved from death to life, they now understand the reality of what it means to be called out of darkness and into God’s marvelous light.
Their speech, actions, and purpose transform as they begin to embody the power and character of Jesus Christ.
Through this resurrection, they are prepared to be vessels of life to others.
2. Body Resurrection: Empowered to Lead Collective Revival
Once individuals experience personal resurrection, they are then positioned to take part in a larger movement of life — a body resurrection.
In Ezekiel’s vision, God does not merely speak to the bones but commands Ezekiel to prophesy life into them.
It is as though only those who have themselves been resurrected in spirit have the authority and faith to call forth life into the body that lies in a valley of death.
These individuals, now filled with God’s Spirit, can speak over the “dry bones” of the body of Christ, calling for revival and awakening within the community of believers.
Body resurrection here symbolizes the collective revival of the church, a reawakening where each believer and congregation is brought to life with purpose, power, and unity.
These revived individuals are now empowered to lead and serve as a “remnant” with the authority to bring life where there was death.
As these resurrected individuals prophesy life into the body, the Spirit of God begins to move through the entire congregation, transforming it from a collection of individuals into a living, breathing expression of Christ on earth.
This is a body resurrection — where churches, communities, and even nations, through the witness of these revived believers, are brought to life in Christ. Just as Ezekiel watched as bone came to bone, sinews and flesh covered the bones, and the breath of life filled them, so too does the body of Christ come together, empowered to fulfill God’s mission on earth.
Unity of Purpose and Power in Resurrection
The journey from personal resurrection to body resurrection exemplifies the flow of God’s redemptive work.
First, He awakens and resurrects individuals, creating a foundation of genuine faith and spiritual power within them.
Then, through their obedience, prayers, and proclamation, God’s Spirit extends this resurrection life to the larger body of Christ.
This unified body, made up of resurrected individuals, embodies Christ’s heart and mission.
They now speak with the voice of God over areas of spiritual death, proclaiming life and revival where once there was only silence.
This process — personal resurrection followed by body resurrection — mirrors Christ’s own work and mission, showing that only those who have themselves been resurrected in Him can effectively minister resurrection to others.
In this dual movement of resurrection, we see God’s ultimate plan: to raise a people who not only carry His life but can also serve as conduits of that life to a world in need.
This is the essence of revival and the heart of the resurrected body of Christ on earth.
~ Mark Cyril
Author, teacher, motivational and conference speaker, Pastor Mark Cyril is the international President of CYRIL MARK WORLD EVANGELISM – an independent ministry taking the message of the cross across the Nations turning many in their numbers to salvation through Jesus Christ. He is also the Senior Pastor of Revelation Apostolic Community; an apostolic and Prophetic Word based ministry in Abuja the capital city of Nigeria – West Africa.
AMEN!