[Passage]

[1 Corinthians 15: 41-44]
"There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body."



[Introduction]

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Congratulations on the resurrection of the Lord! Jesus took our sins and died a wretched death on the cross. And on the third day after his burial, it was the morning of the day after the Sabbath. Mary Magdalene and Virgin Mary visited the tomb with sorrow, but they heard something unbelievable from an angel.

Matthew 28:5-6 says, "The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.'" As the angel said, there were only the linen wrappings and the face-cloth which had been on His head. The face-cloth was rolled up in a place as if somebody had rolled it. What took place that day about 2,000 years ago brought to an awakening and changed numerous people including the disciples and the two women who witnessed the empty tomb.

Your lives and my life too have been changed completely by faith in the Lord's resurrection. In this message, I'd like us to remember once again what lessons the Lord's resurrection provides to us. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will be full of the hope of resurrection and experience more positive changes.



[Main]

Dear brothers and sisters,

The Lord's resurrection, first of all, lets us realize there is an eternal life.

In Silicon Valley in the United States, which is a home to many start-up and global technology companies, there is research to extend human life to 100, and even to 500 years. It was not only Qin Shi Huang Di in the 3rd Century B.C., but even for people of today, one of their greatest interests is to overcome aging and diseases to live longer. Furthermore, they continue to study and research ways to overcome death itself and live forever. While scientists do their research, ordinary people invest a lot of time and money to keep their youth.

Why do they do so? It's because they believe the life on this earth is all there is. Increasingly more people are living just to fulfill their lusts, thinking life is short and there is just this one life for you to enjoy, so they have to enjoy as much as possible now. Such thoughts are spreading very quickly especially among the younger generations.

For example, many young people today do not feel the need to save money or exercise self-control to prepare for the future. They think it's better to spend their time, energy, and money enjoying the moment as much as they can.

However, they are not able to enjoy true happiness no matter how much they try. It's because they always have fear of death, or in other words their limited life-span. Especially nowadays, we see the continuous disasters, which are signs of the end time, as prophesied in Matthew 24. Would there be anyone who could say, "I am an exception, I'm safe"? Even in South Korea we have recently experienced drought, earthquakes, and big fires. We could feel that these disasters could hit us any time.

Brothers and sisters, we're living in this kind of world, but your situation is quite different from that of the unbelievers. What is the reason? It's because you believe in resurrection. The Lord became the first fruit and an example of resurrection.

Jesus was born on this earth with a physical body like ours. Though He was killed at the hands of evil people, He was resurrected. It's because He did not have any sin at all. As Romans 6:23 says, death can come only as the wages of sin. So, the power of death could not overcome Jesus who was sinless.

Jesus did not only resurrect but also taught us the way to participate in it and how to obtain a life that is eternal. John 11:25-26 says, "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. Do you believe this?" Namely, if we believe in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, even though our physical body dies, it will be revived when the Lord comes back again.

For this reason the Bible says that those who died believing are not dead but asleep. Just as Jesus resurrected, the believers will also rise from their graves as if waking up from sleep and be caught up to heaven. Their bodies will be transformed into resurrected bodies. These bodies will meet and combine with their spirits that come down with the Lord in the air.

Those who receive the Lord alive will put on the resurrected body while they are being caught up. 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 says, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. [15] For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. [16] For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

However, for you to believe in the Lord and participate in resurrection, you must not forget what it is to believe in the Lord. As you've heard so many times already, to believe in the Lord is not to believe with just your mind or just with your lips. It is to believe all the words of the Lord in heart and put them into practice. By having such true faith, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will participate in resurrection and eternal life.

Dear brothers and sisters,

The resurrection of the Lord, secondly, lets us realize that all the hard work done in the Lord will be repaid.

Concerning the resurrection, today's reading passage says, "It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory." What is perishable refers to all the physical things that decay and become corrupt. There is nothing that lasts forever in this world. Just think about every physical thing you have. All such things eventually perish and disappear.

However, the Lord says that if we sow such perishing things for the Lord, we will get imperishable things. For example, the physical body will age and get sick and eventually die, even if we care for it with every means possible. But if we work for the Lord with this body, He will give us back a spiritual body that does not perish. Also, He will give us rewards, comfort us, and praise us. It's just as He promised in Revelation 22:12, "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done."

It's not only about physical body but also all the material things of this world. No matter how much money you have, it's no value once you die. A great amount of money can also disappear overnight. But what if we sow these material things for the kingdom of God? God will give us back precious things that never disappear in the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 6:20 Jesus said, "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;"

Unlike what is stored up on this earth, the material things you sow for God's kingdom will be stored up in your dwelling place in heaven, and they will never disappear. In heaven, even the road we step on is made of gold. So, how much more precious and brilliant would be the dwelling place and rewards that will be given to those who gave everything they have on this earth for the Lord?

If we give our time for the Lord, He will pay us back with the eternity, an eternal life in heaven. When we work hard for the Lord on this earth, we might not have enough time to eat or sleep. Sometimes it's difficult to get a little bit of time to have a short chat with our beloved ones. The Lord will remember all these things, and comfort us and reward us later.

He is preparing everything in heaven including our houses so that we will be able to take a good rest or invite our beloved ones and enjoy happy moments together. John 14:2-3 says, "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. [3] If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

Brothers and sisters, there is something you need to give to the Lord before your body, time, and money. It is the foreskin of your heart. It means you have to circumcise your heart of all that has the foul odor of sins and evil. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick." Jeremiah 4:4 says, "Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskins of your heart." The foreskin is of the flesh, so cutting off the foreskin involves pain of cutting off the flesh. If His children nevertheless circumcise their hearts in this way, God the Father gives them anything they want.

The rewards for those souls that have been faithful with circumcision of heart will be completely different from the rewards for those who have been faithful without circumcision of heart. Therefore, I ask you to diligently and unsparingly sow before the Lord all the things that are perishable. In so doing, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will reap abundant harvest in heaven, namely the nonperishable spiritual body and eternal rewards.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

The Lord's resurrection, thirdly, lets us know that the sufferings we take up for the Lord will turn into our glory.

Of all those who lived on this earth and entered heaven, who do you think has the greatest honor? It's Jesus. Jesus fulfilled His duty as the Savior on this earth and received the glory to sit on the right hand of God.

Before He received this highest honor, He had to suffer the harsher sufferings than anybody. He took the form of a bond-servant and served everybody and fulfilled the will of God by obeying to the point of death. Philippians 2:6-11 says, "although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. [8] Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit, but He still had a human body. So, he was hungry, thirsty, and tired from time to time. He felt all the pains while He was being crucified. Because He came in a human body, the evil ones despised Him just looking at His appearance. Eventually they crucified Him.

Jesus took all these sufferings quietly. Isaiah 53:7 says, "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth." Such harsh sufferings were repaid as indescribable glory.

His skin was rough due to the strong sunshine and wind of the desert. His body was skinny because He didn't eat or sleep well. Yet His body was transformed into a beautiful body through resurrection. Jesus was despised on this earth but He is lifted as the King of kings and Lord of lords forever.

Our Lord wants to share this glory of resurrection with all the souls. Luke 22:30 says, "that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

But before He said that, there was a condition. Verses 28 and 29 says, "You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; [29] and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant youâ¢æ¦" Namely, the glory of eating at the Lord's table will go to those who have stood by Him in all His trials and who suffered together with Him to accomplish the kingdom of God.

Most disciples of Jesus took this way of sufferings. After they met the resurrected Lord of glory and received the Holy Spirit, they became even braver and willingly went the way of martyrs. All the hardships they received were repaid to them as glory.

However, today's reading passage 1 Corinthians 15:41 says, "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory." The light that each resurrected body emits will be different depending on the glory of each one. Is there any of you who is suffering for the Lord's name's sake? The hardship each one goes through is different in various ways. But just remember that the magnitude of hardships you receive for the Lord is proportionate to the magnitude of glory that you will receive.

Also, please remember Romans 8:18 that says, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." In any hardship, I pray in the name of the resurrected Lord of glory Jesus Christ that you will win the victory with joy.


[Conclusion]

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord's resurrection gives us conviction and hope about our eternal life and the rewards and glory that will be given to us. Therefore, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will always remember the resurrection of the Lord and participate in resurrection.