설교제목 : 예수님의 부활이 나를 변화시켰다 (The resurrection of Jesus changed me)

Sunday Worship Service’ Sermon (5-01-2022)

The Resurrection of Jesus Changed Me

(1    Corinthians 15:1-11)

1.   

 

The text we read this morning contains very important words which summarize the entire 66 books of the Bible into one sentence. Those are verses 3 and 4: “It is that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, Christ was buried, and rose on the third day according to the scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

 

This is the core of the Christian gospel. This is the center of the Christian faith. Believing this truth in your heart and living worthy of this grace is called faith on the cross and faith in the resurrection.

2.   

 

Christians are people who believe in what Jesus has done in our history for our salvation: the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Christians are people who believe in Christ, who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day as Savior. If we do not believe that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day, the faith will be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:14). On the other hand, ‘if the faith in the cross and resurrection of Jesus is certain, our faith and life will be full of vitality, thanksgiving, and hope.

 

Early Christians firmly believed that Christ died on the cross for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. They made this truth and grace their own. The center of their faith and life was the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The gospel they boldly preached to the people of the world was also the cross and resurrection of Jesus. On the day Peter preached that ‘God has raised Jesus to life, and we are all witness of it’, (Acts 2:32), ‘God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah’ (Acts 2:36), 3,000 of those who received this gospel believed in the resurrected Jesus as their Savior and were baptized (Acts 2: 42).

 

As such, the early Christians were strong in their faith in the cross and resurrection of Jesus, and preached that, 'According to the scriptures, Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures.' (1 Corinthians 15:11). They passed on what they received without hesitation to their neighbors. They boasted of the crucified and resurrected Jesus. As a result, the number of disciples who believed in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus increased rapidly. They have grown into a world-changing church. They have grown into a church that is favored of all people (Acts 2:47).

 

What is the difference? The church building today looks beautiful only outside. The finances are plentiful. However, faith in the cross and resurrection of Jesus faded. However, even if the early church had no church buildings and no gold and silver, they stood firm in the faith of Jesus' cross and resurrection.

 

The current church has lost the power that this gospel gives. Today's churches and believers have lost the hope that this gospel gives. The current church has lost the emotion that this gospel gives. The current church has lost the grace that this gospel gives. The churches of today have lost the joy that this gospel gives. The present church has lost those who boast of this gospel. Today's churches and believers have lost people who happily testify that their lives have been changed by this gospel.

 

Shall we ask ourselves: What is the basis for your faith and why do you and I believe in Jesus as my Savior? Why do you and I live for Jesus?

 

There is a reason I believe in Jesus. There is a reason I live for Jesus.

It is because of what Jesus actually did in our history to save us. This is because Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day.  So, it is because Jesus made us sinners righteous and gave us eternal life. Paul called this ‘the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:10).’

 

When people believe and accept this truth (verses 3-4) and grace as their own, they will receive Jesus as their Savior. In other words, when we consider this work that God has done through Jesus to save me as God's grace and give thanks, we begin to live a life worthy of the grace we have received from God.

 

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:14, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and our faith is also useless.” The word ‘vain’ here is ‘kenos’ in Greek. This means 'no ability' or 'useless'. Let's apply this to those of us who are currently living the life of faith. If we say we believe in Jesus, but do not accept this truth as our own, such false beliefs and false lives will not allow us to be justified or to be saved. If a church community is filled with only people who have faint faith in the cross and resurrection, that church will not stand as a church like an authentic church.

 

The reason that the early church grew into the true church of the Lord (even under more difficult conditions than there are now) and the disciples of Jesus were able to change the world was because the center of their faith was their faith in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

 

Because they believed in the cross and resurrection of Jesus (like verses 3 and 4), they conducted themselves in a manner worthy of the grace of Christ. Because they believed in the cross and resurrection of Jesus, they lived doing good no matter how evil the world was. They shared this gospel (like verses 3 and 4) with their neighbors because they believed in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

 

We, too, must believe this truth (verses 3-4) with all our hearts and make it our own, not just through religious knowledge. There is a big difference between knowing this truth as just religious knowledge and taking it entirely as your own.

 

In the end, only when people realize that they need this grace that God gave them through the cross and resurrection of Jesus, can they accept Jesus as their Savior. And that person becomes grateful for the cross and resurrection of Jesus. However, if they do not yet realize that they need this grace that God has given through the cross and resurrection of Jesus, they will not accept Jesus as their Savior. And that person will be cold-hearted even in the face of the grace of Jesus' resurrection.

The heart to thank and love Jesus begins from this time. It is when we truly believe in the cross and resurrection of Jesus that we can begin to give thanks to Jesus, to love Jesus and to dedicate ourselves to Him. And when the cross and resurrection of Jesus are realized as God's great grace to me, such things begin in us.

 

In today's text, Paul testified how this truth (v3-4) has changed him personally. Paul was not content to simply teach the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as doctrine or religious knowledge.

In verse 10, Paul confidently said that ‘Jesus’ cross and resurrection changed him into a completely new person’. Have you and I had a spiritual experience like this through the cross and resurrection of Jesus? Those who have made the cross and resurrection of Jesus the center of our life and faith can bear this kind of testimony.

 

The gospel of the cross and resurrection of Jesus has this kind of spiritual power. If this gospel (v3-4) enters an individual, a family, a city, and a nation, everyone becomes a new being. That is the power of the gospel of Jesus' cross and resurrection. This gospel comes to some as great emotion. And this gospel comes to some as holy excitement. It comes to us as the boast of lifetime. It comes to us as the hope of a lifetime. It makes a life a whole new person. A prime example of this is Paul.

 

So, how did this truth (gospel or grace) change Paul? What made Paul a completely different person? I will read 1 Corinthians 15:9-11.

“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.”

 

Before he knew about the cross and resurrection of Jesus, Paul thought that he did not need the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus at all. He felt that he did not need any new birth or justification at all. However, when he met Jesus who died on the cross and was resurrected in Damascus, for the first time he saw his own sins and transgressions. For the first time, he realized that he needed God's forgiveness. At that time, in order to save himself, Paul opened his heart to Jesus, who was crucified and resurrected. He finally saw the cross and resurrection of Jesus as the great grace of God. Here, in verses 9-10, Paul used the word “God's grace” three times.

 

Most people in this age (even those in the church) consider themselves to be pretty decent person. Like Paul, we think we know who God is and who Jesus is. However, in fact, we really do not know well Jesus who died on the cross and rose again on the third day. We do not want to accept as our own what Jesus did for our salvation. We do not know well the grace of Jesus' cross and resurrection. We don't even know how great grace and love is. We don't even know how to express that grace and be thankful for it. It could be because, like Paul did, something like scales cover our eyes.

 

We also have spirit eyes. Spiritual eyes are the eyes that can see the inner self. It is eyes that can see what God has done for me. Even if our physical eyes are bright, if our spiritual eyes are blind, (a) Jesus' cross and resurrection cannot reach our hearts at all. (b) If we are blind in spirit, we cannot see the grace that Jesus gave us through the cross and resurrection. (c) If we are blind in spirit, we cannot see what Jesus did to save us. (d) If we are blind in spirit, we do not understand why we need Jesus. (e) If we are blind in spirit, we may not know why the cross and resurrection of Jesus are necessary for us. (f) If we are blind in spirit, we may not know why Jesus’ cross and resurrection are God’s grace to us.

 

Paul was also a man who was blind in spirit at first. However, one day, when Paul met the resurrected Jesus, who had come to him, he had an amazing experience – something like scales fell from his eyes and he could see again. (a) At the same time, he found out that he is the worst sinner. (b) He realized that he cannot possibly be saved by his own works. (c) He began to see what God had done to save him.  (d) He realized that the cross and resurrection of Jesus were absolute for his own salvation. (e) He saw that it was the great grace and love God had given him. (f) Then, his life changed like verses 9-11.

 

“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.”

 

Paul knew how great and precious were the gifts of grace and love that God gave him through the cross and resurrection of Jesus. So, he confessed that ‘by the grace of God I am what I am.’ And he lived a life worthy of the grace God had given him. He lived by sharing this gospel he had received to more people (1 Corinthians 15:11). Although we hear countless times that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day, we often live His grace in useless. But after receiving this grace, Paul lived a life in which the grace God had given him was not in vain.

This is the testimony and life that only those who live by faith in the cross and resurrection of Jesus can do. In fact, Jesus wants us to live like this, so He died on the cross for us and was resurrected (Romans 4:25).

God wants us to live like this.

3.   

 

Through this Easter season, we hope that this belief that 'Christ died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose on the third day, became our Lord and Christ' will be strengthened in us. And I want all of us to become Christians who live worthy of this grace. The worthy life is to come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning. (1 Corinthians 15: 34) And, it is to share this gospel with our neighbors. (1 Corinthians 15:11, 58). Also, to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the grace of Christ means to love one another, in humility value others above ourselves, take care of the interests of others and in the same mindset as Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:1-5). May the peace of the risen Jesus be with you all (John 20:19).

 

(Closing Prayer) Dear God, please strengthen this belief that 'Christ died for me on the cross, was buried, and rose again the third day to become our Lord and Messiah.' Help us to live worthy of this grace God has given us. Please fill us with the Holy Spirit so that we can also tell the cross and resurrection of Jesus to more people. Please changing me through the cross and resurrection of Jesus. In the name of Jesus who saved us. We pray. Amen.