Jesus the Messiah is Alive

Diliman Bible Church 2018.04.01

Caloy Diño

1 Corinthians 15:12-22

12But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can
some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no
resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if
Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
15More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for
we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did
not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not
raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17And if Christ has not been
raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who
have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in
Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those
who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the
resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all
die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Introduction

It matters very much what you believe. What you do in this life depends so
much on what you believe to be true.

I saw a film once titled “Room.” It’s about a young woman who was kidnapped
by a predator and held captive for seven years in a small room, perhaps less
than 80 square meters wide. And the only view to the outside world is a small
glassed window overhead, and all you can see is the sky above. She had no
TV, no radio, no internet, no contact with the outside world for several years.

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The young woman, a virtual sex slave for the predator, had a five year old son,
who was born in, and grew up to be a boy in that room.

As far as the boy was concerned, that room was the only world he knew. His
mother and his predator father were the only people he knew. All the boy
knew about the outside world were the stories his mother told him. His
imagination about the outside world ran wild. For the small boy, a world that
was open and free was but a figment of his imagination.

The story was about the mother and son’s struggle to escape from their prison.
And when the opportunity for the boy to escape came, he was overwhelmed
by the vastness of the space outside his room, and the sheer number of people
her never knew existed.

All of us are like that small boy. How we live our lives are limited by the size
and scale of what we believe to be true.

Spiritual Nearsightedness

I read in a medical journal recently that myopia, or nearsightedness has

become prevalent problem all over the world. It now affects 30 - 40% of the
population in the US and in Europe, and reaches 70 – 90% of the population
in Asian countries.

I am nearsighted myself, and I have difficulty seeing things just a few feet
away. To read a book unaided, I need to bring it close to my face to make out
the letters. If I want to read a book comfortably, I need to wear glasses.
Without them, my vision gets blurry.

We can be nearsighted in matters of faith as well. We read the Bible and then
apply them directly to our personal circumstances right now. Rarely do we
read the Bible to view what’s up ahead, to see a vision of the future.

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And this is true in the case of Easter. The Gospel writers testify that Jesus was
crucified, died and was buried. They did not stop there. They testified further
that on the third day, Jesus was raised from the dead. Now, often, when we
think of the resurrection of Jesus, we associate it with us being saved today,
being a child of God right now, and being secure in going to heaven when we
die.

These are all true of course. But they are a nearsighted view of Easter. It’s like
confining our view of the world to a small room. Beyond it our visions begin
to blur. If you really think about it, our ideas of heaven are a bit cloudy. We
imagine life there to be floating in the clouds, relaxing, strumming harps,
playing lyres and singing worship songs to God forever.

Because the typical Christian believes that the ultimate significance of the
resurrection of Jesus is that we will go to heaven, we have tended to be content
with our lives, secure in our salvation and our place in heaven, and in the
meantime, I can live my life pretty much according to how I want it, for as
long as I do not commit too many sins, and I perform my obligations to the
church.

But Easter is much more than that. The resurrection of Jesus Christ has a much
richer meaning than the blurry images in our heads. We need to look much
further. But we need to wear a different set of spectacles to see it.

Renowned New Testament scholar and theologian NT Wright puts it this

way: If heaven is life after death, the resurrection of Jesus points us to life after
life after death. That’s because beyond heaven, there’s something much, much
more awaiting those who believe in Jesus.

We need to see the Bible not as a set of unrelated stories bound together in
one book, but one grand story of God’s mission to restore the world into right
relations to Himself, to put all things to right. And we need to see the coming
of the Messiah as the fulfillment of this mission, the inauguration of the
Kingdom of God on earth.

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From Genesis to Revelation

We know how it all began. God created the world in six days, created man
and woman in his image, and gave them dominion over all creation. But sin
came, the first man and woman fell, and they were banished from God’s
presence. The earth was cursed. It appears at that point that God’s creation
project was in jeopardy.

In spite of this, God revealed himself in Scriptures as the God who saves, the
God who’s at work to restore the world to Himself. We see glimpses of it in
the story of Noah, who was saved from the flood. We see it as well in the story
of Abraham and the founding of Israel, a nation blessed to be a blessing to the
nations. We read about Moses and how God rescued the people of Israel from
Egypt, and led them to the Promised Land. We also read of David, the King
of Israel who built Jerusalem, We read of how the glory of the kingdom shone
brightest during the reign of Solomon.

But because of sin, the kingdom was divided. Because of sin, the kingdoms of
Israel and Judah were conquered by foreign kingdoms and the people of God
sent into exile.

And there at the point of exile, God’s people began longing for restoration.
They began to plead for their to return to Jerusalem. And then we read of God
hearing their call, and giving them the promise of restoration. God sent
prophets to declare visions of a coming king, the Messiah, the Anointed One
of God who will sit on the throne of David, defeat the enemy, restore the
temple worship, and usher in the return of God in their midst.

Isaiah painted a glorious picture of what to expect in this coming age. Isaiah
11 spoke of the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the young goat, the lion
and the calf living together, led by a child. It’s a time when “the earth shall be
full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” as expressed
in Isaiah 11:9. Isaiah 55 also spoke of wine and milk and rich food in
abundance that people can enjoy for free, without cost.

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Isaiah calls this “the new heaven and the new earth,” a coming period when
people will live long lives, “like the days of a tree,” for God’s people to enjoy
the work of their hands. It will be a time of intimate closeness with God, so
close that “before they call, [God] will answer; while they are yet speaking
[God] will hear.”

This is what the Messiah, the Anointed One was to bring about. This was
about the coming of the Messianic age, the coming of the Kingdom of God.

And then, when the time had come, Jesus was born in the manger. Then at
around the age of 30, he surprised the region of Galilee, and shocked the
people of Jerusalem by his preaching, his healing, and demonstration of
spiritual authority. Jesus made such audacious claims about who he was that
was difficult for the religious leaders to accept. They could not figure him out.
Is he a fraud, was he just fooling a lot of people? Was he a crazy person, a man
deluded, believing a foolish idea that he is the Messiah, Or was he truly the
Messiah, was he truly the Anointed One of God?

Because if He was, then the Kingdom of God had truly come. God had begun
the invasion of His rule over the earth. Every person in the world was now
put on notice: at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father. Anyone who failed
to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus shall remain under judgement for their
sins and are outside of the grace of God.

And we know the story. Jesus was arrested after being betrayed by Judas. He
was tried, he was tortured, he was crucified. He died and was buried. And
then, wonder of wonders, on the third day, he rose again from the dead.

And this is what Jesus, ushered in when he rose again from the dead. He was
the first human to be resurrected, the ‘firstfruit’ of new creation. And while
the new heaven and new earth has not yet come, Jesus promised to come back
one day to bring everything to fulfillment. We are in the “grace period” of
God. There is a deadline. The clock is ticking. Sometime in the coming days,

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Jesus will finally return. His judgment will surely come. Everything that is
wrong in the world will finally be put to right.

And those who have surrendered to his Lordship have been given the right to
be called Children of God. They are called upon to proclaim His Lordship, and
His offer of grace, His offer of salvation. Those who have been called to His
Kingdom are to be ambassadors, official representatives of God’s Kingdom in
the world that has yet to submit to His will. Those who have been called by
his grace are to be co-workers of the Lord in displaying what the rule of God
is all about, as they serve for the cause of truth, righteousness, justice, peace,
equity, life, love and compassion—as they live as salt and light in this world
that is corrupted and enveloped by darkness.

If you believe in Jesus, this is who you are. This is what you are called to do.
This is what your life is all about.

It Matters What You Truly Believe

What do you believe? What is it that motives you and drives your life today?

It matters much what you believe. Faith has consequences. What you believe
in may be wrong or right. What you believe in may result in life or death.

We believe that Jesus, who we got to know in the New Testament, who was
born 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem, and lived and grew up in Nazareth, and
who went all over Galilee, Samaria and Judea to proclaim the Kingdom of
God, who by his teachings, healing and demonstration of power has
demonstrated that he is One who came from the Father in Heaven, and who
by his death on the cross and his resurrection on the third day has confirmed
him to be the Messiah, the Anointed One, the only Begotten of the Father,
upon whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given. He is King
of kings, the Lord of lords.

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No power on earth could keep Jesus Christ in the tomb. No amount of lies can
cover up the truth that Jesus is alive.

And the truth of the resurrection of Jesus transformed a group of defeated,

disappointed, hopeless disciples who were scared for their lives, into
empowered, courageous and divinely inspire apostles who were willing to go
boldly and declare the Lordship of Jesus. They became people who lived from
Christ and were willing to give up their lives for Christ. And they brought the
message of the Kingdom to the nations.

It is therefore so disappointing to think that today, you rarely hear of people

willing to dedicate their lives, even to the point of death, for the sake of the
gospel. We’d rather be living comfortable blessed lives, secure in our 9-5 jobs,
or in our businesses, safe in the comfort of our homes.

Some people are willing to die for what they believe in. Some causes are worth
dying for. We celebrate the lives and death of heroes like Jose Rizal, Andres
Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Antonio Luna, Makario Sakay, Wenceslao Vinzons.
Those who know and understand our recent history remember the lives and
martyrdom of people like Lorena Barros, Macling Dulag, Ninoy Aquino, Lean
Alejandro.

We are put to shame by people who are willing to kill and die for their
ideologies, for their distorted beliefs. MILF Separatists scoff at us. NPA
Communist Rebels mock us. Abu Sayyaf Terrorists put us to shame. These
people are willing to put their lives on the line for a lie. Are we willing to put
our lives on the line for the truth of Christ?

Today, so many Filipinos would rather live in a web of lies. Today, we see
powerful people living in their delusions and pretensions, force their own
version of revised history and Fake News on the rest of the population.

Today, we see influential people are willing to lie for personal gain. On the
other hand, we see families of EJK victims choosing to keep quiet for fear of

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their lives. We see police involved in EJK tell blatant lies. We see people with
political agenda abandoning the truth, and advance their propaganda and
disinformation for political gain.

Given this, what does it mean when we say that the Kingdom of God has come
to the Philippines today? How can we demonstrate that we are indeed the
people who represent the rule of God on earth, that we are God’s ambassadors
to our nation?

What does truth mean in a society that is overcome by paid media and fake
news? What does righteousness mean in a society where naked economic and
political power is determines what is right and wrong? What does justice
mean in a society where innocent people are killed or imprisoned based on
false witnesses, and self-confessed criminals are set-free by virtue of legal
technicalities and backroom exchange of money and favors.

What does peace mean in a country wracked by fierce political rivalry, by the
threat of continuing armed rebellion and geo-political separation, and with a
powerful foreign country taking over by military force territories they have
no legal right over. What does equity mean in a society where a full third of
the 100 million population remain poor, and whose only hope for a better
future is either a life of crime or leaving their families behind to become slaves
and servants of foreign nations.

We look at our country and our hearts ache for change, for transformation.
We ache for the rule of Christ to come, so that all the untruth, all the
unrighteousness, all the injustice, all the lack of peace, all the inequity in our
country may finally be put to right.

We call on the Lord for what He will do. But we find ourselves being called
by the Lord to be his co-workers in His mission to restore the world to
Himself. The good news is that all our work in the service of His Kingdom
will not be in vain.

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Jesus assured us of eternal glory, so that we may be emboldened to give up our
lives today for the sake of the Gospel, for the cause of God’s righteousness,
justice and truth.

Knowing this gives us hope in this life. Knowing that a glorious eternity awaits
us in the new earth to come, should give us courage to endure whatever trials
or hardships come our way. And because Jesus promised us a rich inheritance
in the life to come, and that we will be rewarded for what we do in this life
for His sake, then we can be confident that as we give our lives in the service
of the Lord, our labor will not be in vain.

I encourage you to brothers and sisters, as we celebrate Easter, look beyond

this life. Set your sights on Jesus, the one who promised us life after life after
death. And live your lives entirely for Him. So that we may work to bring
light and life, righteousness and justice, peace and equity, love and compassion
in our society. So that by all these, we declare our faith that the Kingdom of
God has come, and that Jesus the Messiah is alive.