The Meaning of Resurrection
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April 08, 2018 |
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 Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"They also said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven'" (Acts 1:11).
Jesus, who is the Son of God, came to the earth in flesh to fulfill the duty of the Savior. For us He died on the wooden cross and resurrected from the dead on the third day after His burial.
Afterwards, the resurrected Lord stayed with His disciples on the earth for 40 days, strengthened their faith in resurrection, and ascended into heaven. The Lord will come back in the air at the appointed time and take up those believers who have hope of a sanctified heart and have worked faithfully with longing for His second coming.
Let's now delve into the meanings of the Lord's resurrection.
1. Resurrection is given by paying the price of sacrifice.
Resurrection is the most joyous and happiest event for all those who believe in the Lord. It is also the most essential element of our faith. For there to be resurrection, the process of death must precede it. Our Lord, who is the firstfruits of resurrection, first had to die before He received the glory of resurrection. He had to die the most painful and most shameful death through crucifixion. He gave even the last drops of His blood and water. He sacrificed everything He had. The fact that He forsook all heavenly glory and came down to this earth in human body itself is a huge sacrifice that we as creatures cannot understand. Also, during His ministry, He didn't take the time needed to sleep well, eat, and care for His own body.
Therefore, whenever we think about resurrection, we have to imprint the Lord's sacrifice on our hearts. Then, we'll be able to remember more deeply in our heart the meaning and value of resurrection. And those who have the faith of resurrection will also sacrifice themselves following the way of the Lord. To the extent that we sacrifice ourselves, we will receive an unimaginable dispensation of rewards and glory in heaven, which can't even begin to compare with the magnitude of our sacrifice on this earth.
2. Through resurrection we're given eternal life.
The disciples witnessed the Lord's resurrection firsthand. When they had last seen Jesus three days earlier, His skin was torn by the flogging. On His head was the crown of long thorns; His hands and feet were nailed through, and His whole body was covered by blood. His body was skinny because He hadn't eaten and slept well for the past 3 years. It was almost like just skin and bones.
Jesus was hung on the cross in this condition, and finally breathed His last after suffering from excruciating pain for 6 hours. His body was wrapped in fine linen and buried in a cave that had been freshly dug. It was complete death where there was no chance of revival. But Jesus rose from the dead.
He appeared before the disciples in the resurrected body and talked with them. He let Thomas, who doubted His resurrection, touch His scars of the nails and spear; He also ate roasted fish with the disciples. Afterwards, they unsparingly gave their lives for the Lord and for the sake of the gospel.
John 11:25-26 reads, "Jesus said to her, '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?'" After meeting the resurrected Lord firsthand, the disciples were so convinced of eternal life that they could boldly answer to this question of Jesus, "Amen, Lord, I believe!" As they were convinced of eternal life, naturally the fear of death disappeared.
With such faith, they followed the way of suffering that the Lord had taken. Even as they became the prey of lions, they offered prayers of thanksgiving. They said good-byes to their children in their bosoms saying "We'll soon meet each other in heaven." Christians were living in catacombs underground away from the persecutions against them. They were not able to see any sunlight their entire lives, but they were still full of hope waiting for the Lord who was to come back. Even though they had to bury their dead in that catacomb, those who remained had increased hope to meet them again in heaven.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 says, "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus." To those Christians who believed in resurrection and eternal life, even the death was considered as one of the steps they walked toward eternal heaven.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, "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. 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." So, we should live each day of our lives with the hope for the eternal life and take hold of a better dwelling of heaven by force every day (2 Corinthians 4:18).
3. God's providence was fulfilled through resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:13-14 says, "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain." The way of salvation was completed by Jesus dying on the cross and then overcoming death and resurrecting. If Jesus hadn't resurrected, the way of salvation couldn't have been completed, and we would have had to reach eternal death because our sins couldn't be forgiven.
Thus, the Lord's resurrection is the most important event in the entire human history. The Lord was crucified yet He was innocent. He overcame death, resurrected, and became the firstfruits of resurrection because He had no sin at all. When you believe it and accept Jesus Christ, you can receive salvation and become God's children. Thus, we cannot discuss salvation without making reference to resurrection in Christianity.
If we have hope of resurrection, we will not have any lingering attachment to the world and we won't be afraid of any persecution or hardships. We will only live practicing the truth with all our lives. Such people will eventually come forth as true children that God wants to gain through human cultivation. God will share true and eternal love with them forever. This is the providence of God that He harbored in His heart when He first began human cultivation.
If you resemble the Lord who is the firstfruits of resurrection and completely obey the will of God, you will partake in the glory of resurrection and enter New Jerusalem. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will stand firmly on the faith of resurrection, practice the truth, possess faith of martyrdom, and come forth as a glorious fruit of resurrection.
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