영문설교

He was raised to life

쿠노Koonoh 2021. 4. 4. 15:40

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)

 

If the Church does not speak of Jesus’ resurrection, it is nothing but Christianity without substance. Christians have a life of resurrection, as well as believing about creation of God. Resurrection means a supernatural change in which a dead thing come back to life. A spiritually resurrected person experiences the realities of resurrection also in daily life. That was what the life of Paul, the recorder of the Book Romans, and so was Abraham’s life of belief written in the Old Testament. To call Abraham an ancestor of faith is because he set an example by practicing the absolute faith corresponding to resurrection.

 

We will think about the apostle Paul’s case first. He was a man who had severely persecuted Christ before he became Jesus’ follower. He was a villain who tried to kill Jesus Christians as the head of other persecutors, but strangely enough, he suddenly became a new person one day. It was because he had met the resurrected Jesus. After then his life changed 180 degrees compared to the past. It is exactly normal for a change in the soul to lead to a change in all life. However those who display appearances believing in Jesus but are still bound by old customs are not the ones who have changed really. Saying that you believe in Jesus but disbelieve in creation of God, or that you follow Christ’s lesson but cannot believe in resurrection is just wrong words that don’t add up.

Abraham could not help but be influenced by the environments of what he had heard and seen from his father Thara, who had been making and selling idols. Even from such the environment, he had been called, and he lived in guiding by God. That was a heavenly grace given to Abraham, as a special experience and change. The fact that Abraham tried to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah shows us prove his absolute faith toward Jehovah. Not only did Abraham’s behavior expressed a complete obedience, but it also contained the will believing in God who makes anything new exist out of nothing. Again to speak, Abraham firmly believed that God is the One who makes alive the dead, and makes something out of nothing. Like that, the assets ‘an ancestor of faith’ had was actually so simple.

Then it would not be difficult for any of us to be like Abraham. It is extremely natural that God’s grace should be presupposed for faith. And anyone who believes in Jesus is the one who has already received the special grace from God. Then all that remains now is only to listen to and follow God’s word. How simple is the answer? However, to do actually obedient seems not so easy as we think. The reason is because have the outer believing in Jesus but they are still not tied actually to the belief in Jesus. Even in a severely desperate situations without any hope, what makes man to be in hope is faith. Abraham had no son until he had been 100 years old. It seemed that his body was old and his wife Sarah’s womb had already been cut off and died. But if someone says to you in the situation like that, “You’re going to have a son.” wouldn’t it be ridiculed as crazy? It sounds ‘crazy’ in human thoughts, but never for God. It is faith to admit and follow God who is possible for anything. Abraham solidly believed so. He did not doubt God’s promise. Those who believe in Jesus, have to live by absolute faith obeying God, not by own subjective opinion.

Christ, the God of creation who had existed even in the beginning, came to the world as man. He died on the cross to eliminate people’s original sin and save the souls, and also he was resurrected. All other lessons of Christ are important, but the most precious lessons Christ has given to us are life-saving death and resurrection.

 

Jesus said sometimes to disciples “Don’t let me know to others,” though he had done something like a cure for the disease or a miracle of ‘The feeding of the 5,000’ and other things. This was because the purpose of Jesus had been focused on the death and resurrection like Jonah’s miracle which had been done inside the big fish. Even if it is important to treat diseases, to give food, and to build moral culture, that cannot be the core of Christ’s gospel. Only ‘Jesus of Resurrection’ is a complete lesson to save the soul of man!

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on Apr 4th 2021)

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