Title: I Am the Resurrection and the Life
Contents Sermon Day-060416 Easter Sunday
Text - John 11:25,26
Title - I Am the Resurrection and the Life
Video Screening - Jesus Suffered
It happened during a Sunday school service in the United States.
It's time to donate.
All the children were donating, but only one child was sitting with her eyes closed.
The homeroom teacher called the child separately to inquire about the situation, and the child said that he had no money to donate because his family was too poor, so he prayed instead at that time.
The teacher asked again what prayers he was praying.
“I pray that I will give my body, my life, and my whole life to God.”
Moved by that, the teacher encouraged the child and told him to give him some money, exchange it for change, and donate a dollar each week.
After a few weeks, the boy who had been giving a full offering every week stopped giving.
The teacher asked the reason again.
“As the teacher said, I changed it to change and put it in my pocket to donate, but there were so many things I wanted to buy and eat. I think I would commit a sin if I bought and ate it… So I decided to give it all away last week and now I just pray again.”
The most intense anticipation of eternal life and resurrection is perhaps the only imaginary hope of one who is standing in the face of imminent death or is currently experiencing death.
For modern Christians, who have to live in a reality that is unconsciously forced by the scientism that almost dominates our entire lives, the concept of eternal life or resurrection seems to be only a very unrealistic myth used as a tool to comfort the bereaved. .
However, the Bible speaks of the resurrection and life without any hesitation.
Jesus spoke of resurrection and life in the face of the grievous and stark reality of death.
Yehwa - Dead Seagull
A kid ran to his mother while playing on the beach, took her hand and ran to the beach.
There was a dead seagull.
“Mom, why is the bird like this?”
“Ugh, the bird is dead. And ascended to heaven.”
The little boy thought for a moment and asked again.
1. Jesus is the life and the resurrection
When Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” he was speaking in front of a tomb that was shaken with weeping, tears, and the smell of rotting corpses.
He proclaimed the resurrection and life as reality and fact, not just a theory.
The words “resurrection and life” here strongly imply that resurrection and life are one.
In other words, because Jesus has the resurrection, he becomes life, and because he has life, he becomes the resurrection.
Life without resurrection is timeless.
A lifeless resurrection is also time-limited.
This is the case with Lazarus' resurrection.
Since he was resurrected without life, he only prolonged his life on this earth, but he did not live forever.
Therefore, the event of his resurrection only reveals that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, but does not say that he was resurrected in the true sense of the word.
Only our Lord Jesus Christ is the only life and resurrection.
His life is not as transitory as life in this world.
In his life there is real life, so resurrection occurs, and in his resurrection there is real life, so there will be no more death.
Example - Why use such a heavy cross?
For 30 years there was a famous actor named Anton Reage, who played the role of Christ in a play.
But one day, a typical American traveler, a woman with all her camera gear, thought it would be nice if she could take a picture of her husband carrying the cross of Jesus.
So at lunchtime the couple approached the stage and the husband went to the cross.
But despite his desperate efforts, he could not lift the cross.
While the man struggled with the cross, the famous actor Ranged came closer.
The traveler told him, “This is a play.
But why do you use such a heavy cross?”
asked.
The actor answered with a serious expression.
“If I did not feel the weight of the cross, I would not be able to do my part.”
It is the same in faith and in the Lord and in the Church.
If I don't pay anything for it, if I don't put blood, sweat, toil, and pain into it, it means nothing to me.
“If I didn’t feel the weight, I wouldn’t be able to do my part.”
That's a sacrifice and a value to keep in mind.
2. Jesus is the second Adam who gives life
The Apostle Paul said, “Through sin the first Adam brought death to all mankind.”
In the Apostle Paul's argument, "Adam is the type of the one to come" (Romans 5:14) has two meanings.
The first means that the first Adam and the second Adam are the same in the principle of representation and union.
The second is that the effects are not only completely opposite, but symmetrical.
In other words, if the first Adam was a killing spirit, the second Adam Jesus Christ is a life-giving spirit.
Jesus came for that purpose.
In today's passage, "He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" The emphasis is on "I", that is, Jesus and faith.
We must take this importance seriously.
Salvation and eternal life are only in Jesus.
Just because Jesus has life does not mean that all mankind will be saved unconditionally, only those who believe in Jesus will be saved.
Faith in Christianity is ‘faith in Jesus’.