Title: Jesus Is Risen (Resurrection Sunday)
Contents
Text: Matthew 28:1-10
Today is Resurrection Sunday, when our Jesus broke the power of death and was resurrected. Jesus died on the cross 2,000 years ago, bearing the sins of all mankind, our sins, that is, mine and yours, and then rose again.
Resurrection faith is when the saints believe in the resurrection of Jesus and believe that I will also be resurrected.
I pray that all the saints who participated in the Easter Sunday service this morning will be filled with the assurance of faith and hope in the resurrection. Hallelujah! It's morning, but suppose it's evening and you go to bed and go to sleep. But, “There is no tomorrow! It’s over when you fall asleep!” If so, will I be able to sleep? You sleep because you believe that tomorrow exists. If there is no tomorrow, how can you sleep? In this way, having tomorrow and not having tomorrow are completely different things. If there is tomorrow, we can sleep peacefully. What if there is no tomorrow? Far from sleeping peacefully, the whole world will be in turmoil with anxiety and frustration. If there was no tomorrow, what would you be doing that night?
① Go to a night club that you couldn't go to because you believed in Jesus, and drink alcohol. ② Spend all the money you earn. ③ I go to karaoke all night with my friends and shake it or hold the phone and weep at the emptiness of life ④ Drive a car and run 200km or 300km. ⑤ (Insert your thoughts.)
Of course, “No. I will pray,” some of you may say, but it is the story of people who have a tomorrow, a resurrection after death, and heaven as an inheritance. What if there is no tomorrow, no resurrection, and no heaven?
This morning on Easter Sunday, let's make a resolution in our hearts to live as people of God and children of God without wavering in the faith of the resurrection. And let's confess. “I will live by faith in the resurrection all my life!”
Christian faith is rooted in the resurrection faith. Jesus says:
“As I have been raised, so ye shall rise again.” Hallelujah! The faith in the resurrection of Christ based on these words,
First, it is a life faith.
1 Corinthians 15:45 “As it is written, The first man Adam became a living spirit, so the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
The body that inherited the life of the first Adam must die once. But 1 Corinthians 15:44 says, “It is sown in a natural body and is raised in a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” Resurrection is a life faith. That is why Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” “Jesus said to them, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” The fact that Jesus was resurrected means that Jesus has life. In other words, Jesus is “Life itself”. Therefore, those who have faith in the resurrection value life. I value my life, the life of others, and especially the life of the soul. The reason for evangelism is here.
Second, it is a belief in power.
God is omnipotent. That is why Jesus performed many miracles during his public life. He calmed the waves, raised Lazarus from the dead, the daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, and healed many sick people. The devil admits it. In Matthew 4:3, “The tempter came to Jesus and said, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Jesus does not have such power. In Matthew 3:9, John the Baptist says, “Do not think within yourselves that Abraham is our father, for I tell you, God is able to make these stones also descendants of Abraham.” Yes. That is why even the demons belonging to the powerful devil depart from the presence of Jesus trembling. Resurrection faith is power faith.
In Matthew 27:62-66, there is a scene where the high priest, the Pharisees, and Pilate gathered together for a discussion, and sent soldiers to seal the tomb of Jesus and hold a spear to guard it. Also, in Mark 16:1-2, in the early morning after the Sabbath, there is a scene where Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb of Jesus to anoint the body of Jesus. The women were worried, “Who will roll the great stone for us from the door of the tomb” (Mark 16:3), but they are astonished to see that a very large stone has already been rolled (Mark 16:4). The angel in white had already rolled the stone. The stone at the door of the tomb, which was firmly guarded by the soldiers, was opened. In this way, faith in the resurrection is the faith in power. Hallelujah!
Mark 9:23 “Jesus said to him, “If it is possible, what do you mean? Nothing is impossible for him who believes.”
Third, it is the faith of victory.
1 John 3:8 says, “He who sins is of the devil, and the devil sins from the beginning, because the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil.” The work of victory that destroys the power of the devil and saves our lives that are enslaved to the devil by being bound by the chains of sin is the work of resurrection.
Resurrection is God's victory, the devil's defeat, and the salvation of the saints. If you believe it, Amen! That's right. Resurrection is the triumph of light. Heaven's triumph. It is the victory of the saints and the victory of the Lord.
We wish you victory today, victory tomorrow, and victory every day.
Fourth, it is the afterlife.
It doesn't end with this world. Seeing people live, they live as if this world were everything. We only hope for the things of this world, we love and pursue only the things of this world. Dear saints, this world is not everything. It's in the shadows. It is like an inn where travelers stay for a while. Our hometown is heaven.
Even if you are successful, even if you are rich, if you do not have the hope of heaven, it is in vain. If there is no guarantee of heaven, it is a failure. Those who do not have the hope of heaven are the most miserable people, the unhappy life. The story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19 and below makes this clear. A rich man was a successful man, a happy man, the envy of everyone. But he was the most pitiful. “He called and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:24) How miserable! Without faith in the resurrection, there is no afterlife. If there is no afterlife, even if you are happy in this world, the day the world ends is the end of happiness and the beginning of unhappiness. However, if you have faith in the resurrection, even if life in this world is hard, it is the end of suffering and the beginning of happiness on the day you reach that heaven. I pray that you live with hope in heaven.
The faith in the resurrection that marks the beginning of happiness, the faith in the resurrection that gives victory, and the faith in the resurrection in which life and power are mine.
I believe it is the faith of all of us. Let's give glory to the Lord of the Resurrection who gave us faith in the resurrection with a standing ovation! Hallelujah!