He Was Raised To Life For Us | Resurrection & Eternal Life

The sermon focused on the deep meaning of resurrection and eternal life.

Here is a summary of the sermon:

There is a need for us to understand the resurrection more deeply and why it is important in our faith. Through three verses, we can more deeply understand our sin and death, what the resurrection of Jesus means for us, and living in the faith of eternal life.

In Romans 4:25, Paul says that Jesus Christ was delivered to death for our sins and raised to life for justification. This summarizes the Gospel, telling us why we need the cross and resurrection. The cross is not simply a historical event or something philosophical, it has implications on the sin that I personally commit. Sin has punishment, sinners inevitably cannot go to heaven, this has been the situation since fall of man in Adam. Therefore, through a new seed, God sent His son Jesus to be the new Adam, who paid the price of punishment for our sin. We must know that every time we sin, we put Jesus on the cross. This is why Jesus came and also, Paul explains that he was raised to life for our justification.

1 Corinthians 15 is the chapter on resurrection, the first part testifying to the fact of resurrection, and the second part explaining our faith must at least reach the level of believing in resurrection of the dead. However, the third part is key, explaining what resurrection of Jesus means for us. Resurrection isn’t simply dying, coming back to life, then later dying again. Resurrection is following Jesus who ascended to heaven. While so many rulers were stuck in the power of death, Jesus went beyond death and this is the faith and power of resurrection we believe in.

As Galatians 2:20 explains, we are bound in Christ, this is our faith. Our loving relationship with Jesus is the connecting point to overcome the power of death. The Bible gives this deep message when Mary, the woman of love, was the first to the tomb, first to see the resurrection and even the disciple of love, John was the first disciple to see the beyond death empty tomb. As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15, the eternal life we believe in is not simply life on earth in a different form, it’s something completely beyond conception, this is power of resurrection Jesus gave us. Since we are bound in Christ, we can experience eternity now, it is eternity where the infinite goes beyond the finite. As the German theologian Schleiermacher explained, we have a teleological dependence on our infinite creator, not living a static life, but going towards Him.

This is why we must worship God and live for His Kingdom. The power of resurrection is that we are bound in the eternal will of God, so let us live depending on God and striving for the Great Commission in everything we do.