Wonders of resurrection

Wonders of resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:35-49
One day, a grasshopper and a mayfly were playing together. As the sun started to set down, the grasshopper said to the mayfly, "Hey friend, it's almost dinner time. Let's play again tomorrow." Then the mayfly said to the grasshopper, "What is tomorrow? How do you play tomorrow?" The grasshopper taught the mayfly how animals sleep at night, and when they wake up, it is tomorrow. But the mayfly, who lives for only a day, didn't understand.
Some days later, the grasshopper played with a frog. As fall came on its' way, the frog said to the grasshopper, "Hey grasshopper, let's play again next year. The the grasshopper asked, "What is next year?" The frog explained, "It is soon winter, and everything will be covered with snow. And we frogs have a long sleep under the ground. And soon it will become spring again. That is next year." But the grasshopper that only lives for a season, didn't understand."
My beloved, just because you haven't experienced tomorrow, it does not mean there is no tomorrow. Just because you haven't experienced next year, it does not mean there is no next year. It is the same, just because you haven't seen the kingdom of heaven, it does not mean the kingdom of heaven doesn't exist. The bible talks about resurrection a lot, but since humans haven't experienced resurrection, they do not understand.
Today, as we have Easter Sunday, I want to talk about the wonders of resurrection. Somebody once said, "Pastor, think about this. Long time ago, at the Titanic incident, the ship sank and many people died, and the dead bodies were eaten by the fish, then the fish were caught by fisherman, and then the fisherman ate them up, and then the human waste was used for fertilizers, then how can those people become resurrected?"
"Pastor, think about this. One woman got married, and the first husband died. And that woman got married again, and the second husband also died. She got married again, and her third husband also died. But when the time of resurrection comes, whose wife is she going to be? If all three husbands are fighting over one woman, don't you think God will be confused too?"
"And pastor, if all those people are resurrected, where will they live? and what will they eat? What will we do with the shortage of houses, and shortage of food, and the traffic, and garbage problem? And how do the people from the past get used to the lifestyle of the present? And if two enemies have to meet again, those people would not feel like living again. Pastor, resurrection isn't a easy thing."
That's right. Resurrection isn't easy. In fact, the more you know about resurrection, it is more confusing and mysterious. There are something that many people do not know about resurrection. Most people think that resurrection is when a person who died just becomes alive again. If that was true, resurrection wouldn't be such a mysterious and miraculous thing. Because in history, there were a lot of stories about people who died and came alive again. And these days, through science, we know that just with a dead person's cell, they can make a clone.
If we look at the bible, we can see many people who once died and became alive again. Let me tell you. ① 1 King 17:21 : Elijah asked the Lord to give life to the son of the widow of Zarephath, "Lord, my God, let this boy's life return to him!" Then the Lord heard Elijah's cry and the boy's life returned to him.② 2 King 4:35 : Elisha prayed to the Lord to return the life of the son of the woman of Shunem. Then Elisha lay upon the dead body of the boy. Then the boy opened his eyes.
③ 2 King 13:21 : When the dead body touched Elisha's bone, the man came to life. ④ John 11:43 : Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus and called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" Then the dead man came out. ⑤ Luke 7:14 : Jesus touched the coffin of the son of the widow of Nain and said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" Then the dead man sat up. ⑥ Mark 5:41 : Jesus took the daughter of Jairus by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum! (which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, get up!')" Immediately the girl stood up. ⑦ Acts 9:40 : Peter said to the dead woman, "Thabitha, get up " Then she opened her eyes.
But there is obvious difference between the resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of them. They were resurrected in perishable body, natural body and dishonorable body. But Jesus was resurrected in imperishable body, spiritual body and glorious body. That means that the resurrection of others is imperfect resurrection and imperfect victory, but the resurrection of Jesus is perfect resurrection and perfect victory. Let's look at the resurrection more.
1. We will not be resurrected as the same body of our present body.
Today's scripture says, "When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies."(1 Corinthians 15:37-40)
This means the biblical resurrection is not same as the body of our present body. 1 Corinthians 15:50-51 says, "I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." This means the resurrected body in the bible is heavenly body. This does not mean soul or spirit but heavenly body.
2. The resurrected body has bone and flesh.
After Jesus was resurrected, he said to his disciples, "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."(Luke 24:39) This means the resurrected body is not just spiritual being but heavenly body.
3. We will be resurrected as the imperishable body.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 says, "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body."(1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
Even if your present body is so beautiful, it will be old, weak, sick, dead and corrupted. The Chinese King commanded his people to seek for the medicine plant by which men do not die. But They could not find the plant. The King became old and died too. But the resurrected body does not became old, nor dead. The resurrected body is perfect body.
4. Resurrected body belongs to heaven.
Our present body was made of the dust of the earth. And it goes to the dust again because it belongs to earth. But the resurrected body belongs to the heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:47-49 says, "The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven."
Human body cannot live without earth. Human body cannot endure minus 100 degrees or plus 100 degrees in centigrade. Human body is limited within time and place. If we want to live in the kingdom of heaven, we have to be clothed with heavenly body, so that we can go anywhere.
5. We will be resurrected like the angels who have no marriage.
Jesus said in Matthews 22:30, "At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven." Maybe some young men say, "Pastor, I don't want the resurrected body. I really want to marry. I want to have lots od children."
They think the resurrected body is no good because they have no marriage. But don't worry about it. The resurrected body can enjoy much more happiness. The resurrected body is much more developed body than our present body. For example, our present body is 286 or 386 computer. But the resurrected body is like the future computer.
6. The resurrected shine like the sun.
Jesus said, "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father."(Matthew 13:43) And Daniel said, "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens."(Daniel 12:3)
One day Jesus went to a high mountain with Peter, John and James. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. In the future, our resurrected body will shine like sun.
7. The resurrected body can know each others.
Some people may worry about the resurrected body because the body cannot know each others. They may think, "On that day, we might be separated family because we were transfigured too much." But don't worry about it. Our resurrected body has much better IQ so that we can know each others.
8. We will be resurrected in glorious body.
We may have some scars in our body like operation scar, skin disease... That's why we cannot go to the swimming pool. But our resurrected body is so glorious that we will be very proud of it.
9. The resurrected body has the different glory.
1 Corinthians 15:41-42 says, "The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead."
We all are saved in the name of Jesus. But our glory that we will receive in the kingdom of heaven is different each other. It is like the difference of electrical bulb's lightness. The difference depends on how much he works on earth. I pray that all of you have a very glorious body.
Today we have looked at the resurrection. But we cannot say all about the resurrection, because there are many wonders of resurrection. But do not forget that Jesus was resurrected first, and at the day of second coming of Jesus, we will be resurrected too. The day of resurrection is the greatest day of our life. I want you to have the hope of resurrection. Amen!