"An hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live" (John 5:25). With the inauguration of the Kingdom of God on earth the time has come when many “dead” people hear the voice of the Son of God and He grants them eternal life and they begin to live. Jesus also described a time in the future when people will actually arise from their graves and those who believe in Him will arise to eternal life and those who do not will be condemned and perish: "
An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29). So those who hear and believe the message about Jesus, the Son of God, have passed from a state of existence defined by death to a state of existence defined by life (vs. 24). So believers in Christ are as those who live among the dead--those who are dead to God in their unbelief. It's almost like the Kingdom of God is being built in a cemetery and its heavenly mission is the recovery of dead bodies! The Kingdom of God inhabits a lost and dying world and it is our duty to assist in the recovery effort.
