Lord’s Day, Vol. 2 No. 16
(1) Resurrection Sunday
Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day after His death on the cross to live forever more. This is our blessed hope. Because Jesus rose from the dead He will also raise all who have died in Christ at His coming. This is the comfort for the bereaved. The separation from our loved ones who have gone before us in the Lord is but temporal. We shall see them again.
1 Corinthians 15:51-55 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
The glory of heaven cannot be fully understood today in our mortal frame. But we shall experience the fullness of God’s love, joy and peace with an incorruptible body that Christ will give to us at His coming. He will create the new heavens and the new earth in full splendor of beauty and glory (2 Pet. 2:13, Isa. 65:17; 66:22). We look forward to that day when we shall stand before the throne, dressed in beauty not our own, as the hymn “When this Passing World is done” aptly said.
The Bible tells us there is a place of torment for the unbelieving in the horrors of hell fire. It is so unbearable that we can scarcely bear for a second, let alone, for eternity (Luke 16:24-25). And there is a great gulf fixed between heaven and hell where death will make that separation.
Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
He left us this example that we should henceforth not live to ourselves. He left us this commission to evangelize the world, to spend and be spent to tell this one and only message of redemption for mankind that only Jesus saves. Many have sacrificed even their very lives to proclaim this message of God’s love. Charity seeks not her own but seeks the interest of horrors of hell fire. It is so unbearable that we can scarcely bear for a second, let alone, for eternity (Luke 16:24-25). And there is a great gulf fixed between heaven and hell where death will make that separation.
Luke 16:26 “And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”
As we rejoice on Resurrection Sunday, may we not forget to give the gospel to the many souls still outside God’s kingdom!
(2) Charity seeketh not her own
(1 Corinthians 13:5b)
Charity is not selfish but is sacrificial. She does not consider her own interest to the exclusion of others. It has a considerate and sacrificial interest for the things of others. This is quite contrary to the character of the natural or fallen man that seeks only to further his own interest.
Jesus is our example par excellence. Jesus came specifically to die so that we may have eternal life. When Jesus hung on the cross, it was not for His own interest, but for lost sinners such as us. We cannot fully fathom the full weight of the debt of sins of the world, past, present and future, on the shoulders of our Lord when He hung on the cross. This is the epitome of God’s love demonstrated on the cross. When Jesus was in Gethsemane, He agonized greatly because He knew what suffering He had to endure for our redemption. He agonized in prayer that He might have the strength to fulfill the Father’s will. His sweat was as great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:44).
He left us this example that we should henceforth not live to ourselves. He left us this commission to evangelize the world, to spend and be spent to tell this one and only message of redemption for mankind that only Jesus saves. Many have sacrificed even their very lives to proclaim this message of God’s love. Charity seeks not her own but seeks the interest of others. The best thing that we can give to anyone is the gospel.
Dear readers, how are you living your life? If you have not known Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, I urge you to come to Him today for He sacrificed Himself to purchase your redemption. Will you acknowledge Him? And for all who are believers, the message is that we must abound in this fruit of sacrificial love. The Apostle Paul who penned these words in 1 Corinthians 13:5, “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” He spent his life for the gospel’s sake. Will you not follow in his steps?
Yours lovingly
Pr Lek Aik Wee