On April 11, 2021, Gratia Church held a graceful Sunday service, full of God’s word, praise, worship, and fellowship. The sermon delivered by Pastor Walker Tzeng, was on John 20:19-31 entitled “That by believing, you may have life in his name”.
In the sermon, Pastor Tzeng first explained about the connection between the ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit, 10 day later. The Lord’s ascension and return to the Father opened up a new era of the Holy Spirit. When we return to our Father in heaven, it is also a new era, the seed on earth sprouting a new vitality of life that is unimaginable as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, the chapter on resurrection.
Second, doubting Thomas needed to see and feel the nail marks of Jesus, but the Lord told him to stop doubting and believe. We also need to stop doubting whether or not the Lord really resurrected. There is 1500 years of prophecy of the Lord with multiple prophets over multiple eras, multiple recording of the fulfillment by Jesus, multiple skeptics scrutinizing the Bible, yet the resurrection holds up in history. On Easter, the Lord rose.
Finally, there is an even more important reason why the resurrection is important. Apostle Paul says that if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, our faith is futile and we are still stuck in sin. It shows us that just as the ascension is closely tied with our own return to the Father after we die, the resurrection has a deep connection to our life here on earth. It’s that we don’t have to die of our sin to live a new life, because Jesus already died and rose again. All we need to do is accept the Lord and we can live a new life and be born again. It means that our life that we live on earth is meaningful just as the Lord’s resurrection is meaningful.
May we live our lives with the faith and power of resurrection for God’s glory and Kingdom.
