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 Sermon > Sunday Morning Service |
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Title |
Meaning of Resurrection - Easter Sunday Morning Service |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
John 14: 6 |
Date |
2015-04-05 |
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[Passage]
[John 14: 6]
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters, as together we all commemorate the resurrection of the Lord, let's offer up to God all thanks and Glory.
'Resurrection' in Christianity is not just a man dying and then living again. It is to die, live again and to live forever. Such resurrection took place in Jesus for the first time. 1 Corinthians 15:20 says, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep."
Through the resurrection of the Lord, as John 11:25-26 says, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die," we can also participate in the resurrection of the Lord through faith. Because we have this resurrection, you and I are running the race of faith having the hope of Heaven.
In our Christian faith, to have faith in resurrection is very important. For this reason, when God let us establish our denomination, He made us add 'resurrection', inserting it into 'Regeneration, Holiness, Divine Healing, and the Second Advent', and preach it together as the 'Fivefold Gospel'. Through this message, I hope you will once again understand the meaning of the resurrection in your heart, so that you will hold on to the faith in resurrection just like the disciples who directly witnessed the Lord who revived.
[Main]
Dear brothers and sisters,
From now, let us delve into the meaning of resurrection in three aspects.
Firstly, the meaning of resurrection is 'love'.
In order for there to be resurrection, first of all, Jesus had to die on the cross. Jesus knew that He would die, but He knew He would live again after death. But even though He knew He would live again, it was not at all easy to overcome the sufferings of the cross, being nailed through His hands and feet and giving even the last drop of His blood.
Nevertheless, Jesus willingly took the cross because of His love for the souls. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Also, Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
The death of Jesus is the irrefutable proof of God's love toward us. Until He gave His only begotten Son to a wretched death on the cross, the Father God wanted to save us. This is the evidence of His deep love. And with the same heart, Jesus voluntarily accepted all the sufferings and contempt in taking the cross and dying on it.
The reason why I have been able to endure until this moment is also because of my love for you. And also it is because of my love for the dying souls all over the world. Even though I have to suffer so much pain to meet the conditions of justice, if only you can gain life again and possess New Jerusalem in Heaven, and if only so many dying souls can be brought back to the Lord, I can take this cup.
If love keeps on increasing, it will become perfect love which has no fear. Eventually, it will reach the highest level of love with which one can give his life. Because of this love of the Lord, He could bear the fruit of resurrection by dying on the cross and living again. Therefore, whenever we think about the resurrection of the Lord, we should feel the love in it. You have to feel the love of the Father God who exchanged the life of His only begotten Son for your salvation, and the love of the Lord who exchanged Himself to save you.
Secondly, the meaning of resurrection is 'hope'.
1 Corinthians 15:19 says, "If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied." If there is no life to come after this life, in other words, if there is no resurrection and this earthly life is the end, the Christians who live with hope for Heaven must be pitied the most. But in fact, Christians are the happiest and the most blessed among all. It's because if they live in accordance with God's will on this earth, then the best and most beautiful things await them in the life to come.
Brothers and sisters, on Sundays the secular people go to mountains, rivers, and beaches for picnics, and many other places in order to participate in worldly pleasures. Or, they just stay at home or sleep all day, saying they need to recover from their tiredness. They take care of their appearances and invest in their lives with the money they earned through hard-working. Or they invest their time for their health, for their comfort or pleasure, or to prepare for their uncertain future.
On the other hand, how about those believers in the Lord, those who truly hope to resurrect later and have hope of living forever in the kingdom of Heaven? They offer all their time, money, bodies, and hearts, and their everything for the kingdom of the Lord and God's glory. The greater hope of Heaven they have, the more they store in Heaven rather than on this earth.
However we can have this kind of hope only because of the resurrection of the Lord. 1 Peter 1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"
If we had not had this hope, we would have just sought after wealth, fame, and pleasure of this world. Whether we were rich or not, we would have just tried all our best to gain more all the time. Just think about what kind of life one would lead if he were to say there is nothing after physical death.
If you think everything you enjoy will be over with your physical death, you would only seek after your own benefit and pleasure. Why would you try to live a good, truthful, and noble life? You'd just live like animals thinking about the current conditions at the present.
For example, if you have the hope that you can buy a house when you work hard and save the money, you would be happy even if you do not eat or spend as much. But if you are not thinking of buying a house at all or do not have hope to buy one, then you might as well spend all your income for daily pleasures. In this way, if we do not have hope, we cannot have the strength to be faithful in our everyday lives.
Because we have the hope for eternal life in Heaven through the resurrection of the Lord, we can be happy, and we are not going to be burdened about the life on this earth. Also, we will not indulge ourselves in dissipation or laziness, but we can live more of an upright and beautiful life in the truth. It's because we know that each day of our lives will be given as our reward and glory later in Heaven.
We were slaves of sin and were destined to face eternal death, but we gained such beautiful hope through the resurrection of the Lord, and we can lead an increasingly happier life day after day. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will take hold of better heavenly dwelling place by force, holding on to this hope given through resurrection.
Thirdly, the meaning of resurrection is 'faith'.
1 Corinthians 15:17 says, "...and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins." Why is our faith worthless if it weren't for resurrection? Through the resurrection, the Lord's becoming the Savior was completed. Also, the way was opened to save from death those who believe in the Lord as the Savior.
Therefore, without the resurrection of the Lord, believing in Jesus as our personal Savior and being saved will only be in vain. Our sins would not be forgiven, and we would still remain in sins. Only through the resurrection of the Lord, the ministry of redemption was completed, so that our sins could be forgiven.
Thus, to believe in Jesus as our personal Savior encompasses the meaning that we believe in the resurrection of the Lord. For this reason Romans 10:9 says, "...that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;"
Just saying with your lips, "I believe Jesus as my Savior" will not save you. Just saying with lips that you believe the Lord resurrected from death will not save you either. God clearly says that you not only have to confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord but also believe His resurrection in your heart to be saved.
If you do not believe in the resurrection from the heart but just say you believe with your mouth, you cannot really lead a true Christian life. If you do not believe in resurrection in your heart and if you do not believe in the Judgment and eternal life to come, you cannot live by the Word of God after all.
Even though you hear that you have to live in a certain way to be saved, you will just let the Word of God slip away, because you do not believe in resurrection. You can have spiritual faith only when you believe in resurrection without any doubt and only then will you be able to live by the Word of God.
Brothers and sisters, Romans 6:5-7 says, "For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, [6] knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; [7] for he who has died is freed from sin."
In order for us to be united with the Lord in the likeness of His resurrection, namely for us to partake in His resurrection together, we first have to be united with Him in the likeness of His death. Namely, we have to participate in His death. What is it to participate in the death of Jesus? Do we have to die just like Jesus died?
The apostle Paul says as follows: He said in 1 Corinthians 15:31, "I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily." This is the way to be united with Jesus in the likeness of His death. Namely, it is to put your 'self' and ego to death. Your 'self' and ego refer to everything that belongs to you, namely all the sins and evil in you, your self-righteousness and all the self-centered frameworks, thoughts, and theories.
The truth can come into you only when you put to death your 'self' and ego. The more truth comes into your heart, the greater faith will be given in your heart, too. This spiritual faith enables you to believe in resurrection from your heart. You can believe that there is Judgment and eternal life in Heaven after the resurrection; that God pays us back according to what we have done on this earth; and that He lets us reap what we sow. Therefore, you will live by the Word of God.
As you live according to God's Word with such faith, that faith will save you and let you participate in the resurrection. This is the blessing that is given to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who said in today's reading passage, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life."
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters,
The Easter Day of 2013 was a very meaningful day. It was the end of the three months suspension period, and the Father God gave us indescribable grace. For some of you the Holy Spirit in you was being quenched, but the flame of life was rekindled. For some others, the flame was almost gone, but it was brought back again.
For still others, you were in a condition that you could not continue to do the work of pastors, Levites, or church workers, but you gained another chance and received strength to go on. Of course, there were others who were doing well, too, but they also experienced the grace of God like being born again, receiving new strength and fullness of the Holy Spirit again. It was the work of resurrection. Your dead spirit was revived, or almost dead spirit was revived, and you were filled with the energy of the Holy Spirit once again.
And for those of you whose spirit was dead but revived, you'd live a completely different life now. You escaped from a life in which you were controlled by Satan because your spirit died and soul became the master, and now you are living in the will of God with your spirit back in the position of the master. This is the evidence of a person whose spirit is revived.
Of course, the time needed for the spirit to take back the position of the master is different from person to person. For some people it takes a short time while for others it takes a relatively more time. But if your spirit is revived, you will certainly give birth to spirit by the Holy Spirit. You will bear the beautiful fruits of the truth, such as fruits of the Holy Spirit and fruit of Light. So, we can differentiate whether one is giving birth to spirit through the Holy Spirit, if we look at their fruits.
It has been about two years since the Easter 2013, and what kinds of fruits have you been bearing? Are you bearing the fruits that are results of the determination that you had on that day? Just as the Lord died and lived again, became the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and finally came forth as the fruit of glory, I want you to come forth as beautiful fruit of glory too. In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord, that you will gain honor and glory on the day you participate in the resurrection of the Lord. |
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