Title: The Difference Between Jesus and Buddha
2009.2.7 Sunday morning service sermon
1 Corinthians 15:17-20 ‘17. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain, and you will still be in your sins.
19. Of all men we would be most miserable if all we had hoped for in Christ was life in this world, 20. But now Christ has risen from the dead and became the firstfruits of them that slept' - Amen.
The apostle Paul, who was a great religious person, emphasizes in the text that without the resurrection, our faith is in vain. Without the resurrection, we are only in our sins, emphasizing that the decisive goal of true salvation is the resurrection. When the scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus to show him a sign, the Lord said,
Matthew 12:39 "Jesus answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but there is no sign to be shown except the sign of Jonah the prophet." - Importance of the Resurrection
Today, among the three major religions (Christianity, Buddhism, and Muhammadism) in the world, we want to gain grace by examining the essential and historical differences between the head of Buddhism and our Lord Jesus.
1. The teacher status is different
Not only Shakyamuni, but Seonghyeongunja and all the sects of the world had no prophetic scriptures for him before they were born. But the Lord Jesus prophesied in great detail about the life of Jesus throughout the Old Testament.
John 5:39 “You study the Scriptures, thinking that you have eternal life, and these are the scriptures that testify of me.”
Shakyamuni was born on April 8, 563 BC (the lunar calendar) at sunrise to the king of Kapila Kingdom (now Nepal) in northern India (now Nepal) and wife Maya. I did.
Sakyamuni (?kya) is the name of a nation, muni (muni) means a saint, and Sakyamuni means a saint from the Sakyam family.
When discussing true religion, we value the historical value of the old religion. Buddhism, created through Shakyamuni, was around 2,500 years ago. Although Jesuitism is 2,000 years old, the existence of Jesus Himself as the head of the Church existed from eternity.
John 8:58 "Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."
Abraham was the patriarch about 2,000 years before Jesus came. To say that Jesus existed before the birth of Abraham means that He existed from eternity. So, ontologically, it means that the Christian Principal is much older than Shakyamuni.
Like Shakyamuni, Jesus is not the son of a certain lord, he is a descendant of the royal line of David (Matthew 1:1), and he did not become a teacher by becoming a special instructor.
2. The doctrine of life is different
Shakyamuni accepts suffering and death as fate and forces him to resign. However, Jesus is not the one who escapes from history, but the one who tries to solve problems, heals the sick and raises the dead, participates in reality and positively renews history. Christianity is not a religion of static and personal sentiment that cultivates the way, but it is a religion that participates in society and history to heal and revive the culture of living together.
Shakyamuni went to the mountain and prayed, but Jesus went down, lived a life, and let him live right away. Even now, Buddhists regard Ipsansu as good, but the doctrine of a post-cultural mindset that ignores our human life and history is harmful to us humans. Christianity is a thoroughly working religion,
2 Thessalonians 3:10 "...if anyone does not want to work, let him not eat."
Like Jews, who had a hard time escaping from legalism even after becoming a Christian, Koreans, like Koreans, show the values and religious sentiments they have acquired from Buddhist culture, and thus have a contemplative and cultivating level of faith. Christianity does not accept or give up on fatalism just because the world is hard. We pray and recover again, relying on God's power to heal, accomplish, and grow.
Buddhists may look more relaxed or younger than Christians, but please don't misunderstand it, as the doctrine of life in Buddhist philosophy has made it that way.
The doctrine of Christian life is not for personal religious life, but first, it is an active religion that strives for self-change and then participates in history as light and salt in family, society, nation, and human history. We do not make excuses, remain silent, or soak up sentimentality. By living according to the truth of the Bible, God's work was revealed and a new work was created and a work of change was created.
3. The ultimate goal of teaching is different
The cultural motives of religion are almost 100% made for the sake of the world. These are things I made out of anxiety and made to live well. However, it is prophesied that in the last days, materialism will lead to Christian ideology becoming such a lowly ideology.
Text, 1 Corinthians 15:19 “If all we have hope for in Christ is life in this world, then of all men we are the most pitiful.”
The Bible says that asking for the sake of the world, whether anxious or greedy, is not right faith. If the only thing we think about in the face of the death of the Son of God is to seek material things, this is not the case.
Do you know the Buddhist monk Seongcheol? His heat transfer was like this.
“I have deceived a group of men and women all my life, and their crimes have gone crazy in the sky and are greater than Mt. Sumisan. Falling alive into the father's hell of fire, I have a thousand grievances. A single red sun is caught in the green mountains.” And he said, Come Satan, I worship Satan.
In Buddhist temples, like the Bible, when a widow loses her reader and is in despair, Shakyamuni tells him to find a 7th house where no one has died and get a handful of rice. There is a story that taught a lesson.
In Luke 7 of the Bible, a widow's son died and was buried, but on the road carrying the bonus, the Lord raised the young man from the dead. It is a difference in the ability of the leader, a difference in religious purpose, a difference in outlook on life, and a difference in the afterlife.
Shakyamuni himself suffered a boil on his back at the age of 85 and died as he said, but Jesus died on the cross for our sins as atonement. And since Shakyamuni died and was buried in Nepal, India, our Lord Jesus was resurrected, so only empty tombs have been reported. This is the crucial difference from Shakyamuni.
People say that all religions are the same. You know it's humility, but you can't drink any water just because you're thirsty. Let's not all become the same church by wearing a Christian cross.
We should glorify and have pride as believers in the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we know the true truth, we can have pity on those who do not know this and follow other religions.
He is by no means a weak religious person who will harmonize with other religions and pseudo-sects. If religion in general is a drama, Christianity is a documentary. We believe in facts and Buddhism believes in fiction. Therefore, the words of Satan, who are idols, fictions, lies, and liars. I pray that you and I will become victorious against all other religious people by knowing this difference and giving thanks to the Lord to evangelize with strength.