Easter: The Promise of Hope

The scripture reading comes from 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The text is a bridge, so it be

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

all along on the screen or any other bulletin. Starting in verse 1, we read,

Now I will remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in

which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you prophesy the word I preached

to you, and then you begin to gain. For I deliver to you at the first importance what I also

received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was

buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that

he appeared to see first, then to the twelve, then he appeared to more than five hundred

brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have gone with me.

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there

is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even

Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain,

and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified

about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are

not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ

has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then those also

who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only,

we are all of all people most to be pitied. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead,

the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also

the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and

every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus,

our Lord. I die every day. What do I gain of, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus?

If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived.

Bad company ruins good morals. Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning.

For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. But someone will ask,

how are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? So is it with the resurrection of the dead.

What is sown is perishable. What is raised is 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.

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality,

then shall come to pass the saying that is written,

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,

knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. This is the word of God.

Great. Thanks, Annabelle. That was a long reading, but thank you. Good morning, everybody.

And it is so good to be back with the Watermark family, to see your faces. Some of you,

we haven't seen your faces in months, and so a warm welcome to you. If you are new or watching

online, my name is Kevin, one of the elder pastors here. It is so great to be with the church family

once again. We've missed you so much, and this just feels like, I think we said it last time,

like a good family reunion meal together, right? And so a warm welcome. I would love you to join me

as we pray together. And I'm going to read a prayer that was written by a man called Scott Smith.

It's not too long. Will you join me as we pray and just revel in Christ this morning? Let's pray

together. Lord Jesus, the question you put to the Pharisees before your arrest, who do you say I am,

remains the most important question for us to answer, even here today in 21st century Hong Kong.

Lord Jesus, the more we study the scriptures, the more we realize there is always more to you.

You, Lord Jesus, are the creator, the sustainer, the restorer of all things, the alpha and the omega,

the beginning and the end, and everything in between. Angels worship you. Tiny birds depend upon you.

Jesus, you are the second Adam, not just our second chance. You are the son of David, but you're also

the son of God. You lived a life of perfect obedience for us. You, Jesus, exhausted all judgment

against us on the cross. By you, we are completely forgiven. Jesus, in you, we are perfectly righteous.

Jesus, you are our reigning king, our returning bridegroom, our sovereign over days, over all

dominions, even sovereign over flowers of the field. Bruised reeds love your appearing. Children

dance at you. Demons tremble before you. Jesus, you are gentle and lowly. You are high and exalted.

Wonder of wonders, because you are this and so much more. We are in your heart. We are on your mind

all the time. This doesn't make us special. It makes us yours. Jesus, you know us perfectly,

and for some reason you delight in us fully. Jesus, there's not a moment you're not loving us,

praying for us, advocating for us. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Continue to free us from under-thinking

about you, under-believing in who you are. So very amen, we pray, in your glorious and graceful name.

Amen. Amen. Well, this morning, as we have heard and sung about, is Resurrection Sunday. And along

with billions of Christians around the world, we celebrate the fact, this astounding and unexpected

event in the history of the world. That 2,000 years ago, on Passover weekend, in the city of Jerusalem,

Jesus of Nazareth was condemned to die as a criminal. And a Pontius Pilate, he was nailed to a

Roman cross. He was marched up to Calvary, hoisted up on the cross. And there, he was left to hang and

to die for the sins of the world. That the sins of all those who come to him in faith and repentance,

who trust in him, will be put on his shoulders. There, Jesus took the wrath of God so that those

who come to him in faith no longer bear that wrath, but are under his gracious forgiveness.

And so we celebrate that. But this morning, we celebrate that on the third day, Jesus rose from

the dead. That the disciples found his tomb. The stone that was rolled to seal the tomb was rolled away.

That the tomb was empty. The grave clothes had been folded up. And then the coming hours and days,

Jesus revealed himself in a physical, bodily, resurrected, nail-scarred body to his disciples.

Jesus rose not just as a spirit. Jesus rose not just as a ghost. Jesus rose in a physical,

nail-scarred body. And his disciples and many others were going to testify how they had encountered him.

I know for some of us that are maybe still trying to make sense of this, it seems crazy that Jesus,

who was dead, could rise again. Central to the Christian message, central to the whole Christian

understanding of what life in God's kingdom is, is this idea that Jesus, who was laid in the tomb,

rose again. And as we said, not just in a spiritual sense, not just that Jesus rises from our

hearts when we believe in him. Jesus' death and resurrection is not just a myth to lay credence

to this newfound religion. Jesus, the historical event, really happened that he died and he rose

again. But what does that mean for us today? What does that mean for us in 21st century Hong Kong,

that this crazy event that happened 2,000 years ago? Well, on one hand, it means that the claims that

Jesus made about himself are verified. Jesus really is who he said he was, the divine son of God who

came to take upon himself the sins of the world. But as we're going to look at today in the passage

that Annabelle read to us, it means so much more than something that happened 2,000 years ago and

something that's going to happen one day in the future. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead

changes the entire way that those that are in Christ view life and understand what life in our world

looks like and means. And so let's look at 1 Corinthians 15 as we work through this passage today.

And so if you've got your bulletin, open it up with me. We're going to work through it a little bit

and this passage. Now, we need to understand the context of what's going on here.

Paul writes this letter to the Corinthians. And obviously, the city of Corinth is a city in

ancient Greece. And if you'll know anything about Greek philosophy, the Greeks believed

that the material physical body is kind of something of less value than the spiritual and

immaterial world. For the ancient Greeks, the spiritual world, the immaterial world was good and

righteous and look forward to that. The physical world was of lesser value, even something that is

wrong, something that is evil. Now, interestingly enough, the Corinthians believed that Jesus really

did die and rise again. They had looked at the evidence, they had heard the testimony, they had done

the research, and they fully believed that Jesus died and rose from the grave. But what they weren't so

sure about is that when human beings die, there is a physical after, there is a physical world to come,

which we will inhibit. For the Corinthians, when we die, our bodies just, all the physical world gets

done away with. And we somehow transcend into an immaterial, soulish, disembodied state, and we do

something up in the heavens. Who knows what, but some immaterial world up there that our spirits go to.

And Paul writes them to say that this misunderstanding of the world to come actually is going to impact

the way that we live our lives here and now. And so for them, Jesus' resurrection from the dead was some

unique event that happened to Jesus alone because on the basis of his being the Son of God. But for

everyone else, the best that we can hope for when we die is some immaterial, soul, kind of disembodied

state where we go in the clouds and maybe play harps and sing kumbaya, my Lord, for all eternity.

And Paul's going to show them that that's not the case. And what we believe about what Jesus did on

the cross and what his resurrection means actually changes everything about our lives.

And so the first thing, or let me say this, I think in our day and age, many Christians believe

something similar. We know that Jesus died. We know that Jesus rose again. And we hope that that,

what that means is that somehow after our life, it'll mean that there's hope for us. But what that means,

we don't really know. Maybe it just means that our souls get to be in heaven. And we, as we said,

we sit on clouds and we sing songs, but it all sounds a little ethereal, a little domesticated,

a little boring, if we are allowed to say. What Paul writes to show us here is that Jesus'

resurrection from the dead in a physical bodily sense means that for those of us that are in Christ,

our resurrection from the dead in a physical bodily sense, in a physical glorious world,

a majestic world is absolutely certain. Look at what he says here in verse 12. He says,

now if Christ is proclaimed as being raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there's no

resurrection from the dead for us? So the Corinthians are saying, it's fine that Jesus rose from the dead,

but us, this is all there is in life. Let's just make merry and make the most of this world.

Let's just live it up, make the most money, satisfy our lives here, because after this world,

who knows what there is to come? Maybe our souls will go into some next world existence,

but this world is where it all really comes. And Paul is saying, if Jesus really rose from the dead,

how can you say that all we have to hope and live for is the things of this world?

Don't you know there's a whole nother world that's coming? He says, verse 13,

for if there's no bodily physical resurrection of the dead for us, then not even Christ has been raised.

And then our faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ

have perished. They've died. They're non-existent. For if, as Christians, we hope in this life only,

we of all people are most to be pitied. Friends, you see that? If our hope is found in the things of

this world only, well, we of all people are most to be pitied. There's no difference.

What's the point of being a Christian? Then Christianity is all a self-improvement project.

But, he says, in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead and is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep,

those who have died. Now, the word first fruits is taken from an agricultural, a farming analogy,

and it means the down payment, the guarantee of what's to come. Let's say you reap a harvest,

and the first fruits indicates what the rest is to come, what it looks like. You go to the market and

you want to buy some fruit, and the seller says, yeah, have a taste. He gives you a first fruit,

a taste of what the rest of the batch will be like. It's an indication of what is to come.

If you're to make a payment, you pay a deposit, the first payment, guaranteeing the rest to follow.

Jesus' physical bodily resurrection from the dead is not just a metaphysical analogy.

It's actually a guarantee of what is to come in the world to come, what will happen to us,

that our bodies will rise in a physical resurrection glorious sense.

For those who are with Christ, our resurrection is guaranteed by the living God.

The resurrection, for those of us that are in Christ, is absolutely guaranteed.

It's certain. It's to come.

Friends, this world, in this world you will have trouble.

But this world is not where your hope lies.

There is a world to come which is absolutely certain.

But look at what Paul says.

Secondly, he says, not only does Jesus' physical bodily resurrection make our own resurrection absolutely certain,

it makes it wonderful.

Look at how Paul describes it in verse 35.

He says, someone will say, how are the dead raised?

With what kind of body do they have?

Okay, so Paul is telling us here, when you die, you and I will be raised from the dead,

not in this world, in the age to come, with a physical, glorious, wonderful, resurrected body.

In a physical, wonderful, glorious world.

But what kind of bodies will we have?

My grandmother just passed away last week.

She was 98 years old.

What kind of body?

She became a follower of Jesus in her mid-70s.

And what kind of body will she be raised with in Christ?

Well, look at what Paul says here.

Paul answers with the analogy of a seed.

He says, when you plant a seed, the seed is just a bare kernel of what you hope will grow.

You plant an acorn, you hope to get an oak tree.

You plant an avocado stone or pip, you hope to get an avocado tree.

You plant a tiny chili seed, and you hope to get a chili bush.

Paul says, in the same way, our bodies are like in kernel form.

And when they die, what is raised is not just a slightly improved version,

but a whole new, glorious version.

Look at what he says here in verse 42.

Friends, how many of us are getting aged?

How many of us here struggle with sickness and disease?

Some of us, some of us with diabetes.

Some of us are gluten intolerant.

Some of us daily face the battle of pain and aches and agony.

Friends, our body is going to be sown in weakness and fragility.

Perishable.

It's going to be raised a whole new, glorious body.

Pain-free.

Ache-free.

Disease-free.

No more agony.

No more pain.

No more needing to watch what you eat.

No more reaction and pain in our bodies to come.

In fact, look at what he says in verse 49.

He says, just as we have borne the image of the man of dust in this world,

so we shall bear the image of the man of heaven.

Paul is saying that in the world to come,

our physical bodies will resemble Jesus' resurrection body.

Isn't that incredible?

He says the same thing in Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

He says, when Jesus comes,

he will transform our lowly, sin-ravaged, pain-infected bodies

with his glorious body.

Our physical bodies in the new heavens and the new earth

will, in the glorious age to come,

will resemble in some way the glorious, majestic body of Jesus.

Isn't that incredible?

Isn't that good news?

Friends, heaven is not just going to be us sitting on the clouds,

playing harps, wondering what to do with our time.

Heaven is going to be a glorious and a renewed creation

where we will join with Christ in enjoying God,

enjoying creation, enjoying one another

in an infinitely beautiful and glorious new world.

C.S. Lewis, in the last of his Narnia books,

the last battle,

he has this scene where he describes what glory is going to be like.

And in this scene, the four children,

Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter,

grab some fruit in this picture of eternity.

And they eat this fruit.

And C.S. Lewis says,

what was the fruit like?

Well, how can you describe a taste?

All I can say is that the very sweetest strawberry you've ever eaten,

the very sweetest melon,

the most delicious pear you've ever eaten,

will feel wooden, flowery, hard, and disgusting

compared to that which is to come.

He says,

Think of the most beautiful day that you've ever experienced.

And compared to the glory of eternity,

the bluest sky will seem overcast and dull,

depressing and anxiety-producing.

The very greenest vistas you've ever seen

will seem dry and dead, archaic,

compared to the glory that's to come.

He's trying to find this language to say,

the very best thing that you've experienced in this world

will seem depressing and old and archaic and dying

compared to the world that's to come.

Friends, Jesus' resurrection from the dead

is a first-fruit prototype

of the world that we've got to look forward to

for those of us that are in Christ.

That's good news.

But there's something actually more important

than all of that about the resurrection.

There's something more significant

about what Jesus' resurrection means.

And that is,

not only has Jesus' resurrection secured for us

a glorious world,

which is certain and wonderful,

even more startling,

is that in many ways,

Jesus' resurrection secures for us

the world that's to come

is in some ways already here today.

Okay, now you're going to need to follow me here

because this is going to be a little theological.

Okay, are you ready?

Thank you, Iris.

Okay, great.

In the New Testament,

Jesus' resurrection was not just an isolated event

that was unique to Jesus as the Son of God,

but rather Jesus' resurrection from the dead

was the beginning or something,

an event that set in motion

a whole new entire world to come.

Okay?

Let me say it this way.

Jesus' resurrection from the dead,

Jesus' death and resurrection,

was not just a historical event

that happened 2,000 years ago.

It was the inauguration

of an entire new universe

or cosmos or world

that began then.

So, let me quote N.T. Wright,

who's one of the greatest philosophers

and theologians on this point.

Listen to how N.T. Wright says it.

He says,

In the New Testament,

the point of the resurrection

is not simply that the Creator God

has done something remarkable

for one solitary individual,

but that in and through the resurrection,

the present evil age

has been invaded by the age to come.

A time of return,

restoration and renewal.

An event has occurred

and as a result,

the world is a different place.

Human beings have a new possibility

to become a completely different kind of people.

Okay?

Do you see what he's saying?

Because of the resurrection,

the present evil age in which we live

has been invaded by the world to come.

And in some ways,

that world is beginning to bear fruit in our lives.

N.T. Wright is saying this.

Not only does the resurrection of Jesus

guarantee that one day when we die,

we will have a magnificent resurrection bodies

that will participate in this new glorious creation,

in the new heaven and new earth,

but in fact,

that glorious new world

has in some way,

in seed form,

partially but significantly,

begun in our world today

for those that are in Christ.

Jesus' death and resurrection

began or set in motion

something that will culminate with his return

when he defeats all his enemies,

when he crushes evil,

when he hands back the kingdom of God

to his father,

and when he reigns for all glory

with those that are in Christ.

Jesus' resurrection

was a deliberate invasion,

a repudiation,

a reversal

of the present

sin-ravaged,

pain-saturated,

death-stained,

God-denying world

by the kingdom of God

to come.

And friends,

for those of us that are in Christ,

we get to participate

in that world

here and now.

It's kind of like,

let me see if this analogy makes sense,

it's kind of like

when a couple are married

and they're trying to have kids

and the wife falls pregnant.

In some ways,

your life doesn't change too much.

You're still the same person.

You still go to work.

You still go to the shops.

You don't get transformed

from this world to another kingdom.

You still live in this world.

But in another sense,

the age to come

invades your life

and turns your whole world upside down.

You start off maybe feeling

a little bit nauseous, right?

You start to see

everything in the world differently.

Suddenly you start to see

public transport

and you think,

I wonder how a pram

will fit on that bus

or that MTR system.

Suddenly you start looking

at the packaging

and the labels

on all sorts of foods

that you eat.

In some ways,

your whole world is different

because the age to come,

the world that is going

to be yours

in nine months' time

has invaded your world

in anticipation

of what's to come.

And yet,

in many ways,

you're still the same person.

The resurrection of Jesus

is the inauguration,

has set in motion

a series of events

in which the entire world

changes for those

that are in Christ.

Listen to how

Tim Keller puts it.

He says this,

The resurrection was indeed

a miraculous display

of God's power.

But we should not see it

as a suspension

of the natural order

of the world.

Rather,

it is the beginning

of the restoration

of the natural order

of the world.

The world as God

intended it to be.

Okay?

Do you get that?

We shouldn't see

the miracle

of the resurrection

as a suspension

of the natural order

like God just said,

Okay,

I'm just going to pause

how things are going to be.

I'm going to do a miracle

and then things are going

to go back

to the natural order.

Actually,

the resurrection

was a restoration

of how the world

as God intended it to be

actually is.

The resurrection

means not merely

that Christians

have a hope

for the future,

but that we have a hope

that comes from the future

that begins now.

The Bible's startling message

is that when Jesus

rose from the dead,

he brought the future,

majestic, glorious,

life-giving kingdom of God

into our present world

here and now.

I hope that's not

too philosophical.

Jesus' resurrection

doesn't just change things

for when you die.

It changes the entire way

you see the world now.

The resurrection of Jesus

means that Christians,

as one author put it,

living in heaven

even as we live on earth,

living in the future

even as we live

in the present.

And when you think about it,

what that means

is the entire Christian life

is a participation

in the world to come.

That's why,

what it means

is Christians say,

I'm a sojourner

on this world,

I'm a citizen

of the world to come.

It's saying,

I'm not my own,

but I belong,

body and soul,

to Christ.

It's saying,

it's no longer I

who live,

but it's Christ

who lives in me.

The resurrection

means that Christians

say,

I'm willing to count

all the treasures

of this world

as rubbish

in order that I may

know Christ

and the power

of his resurrection,

even as I participate

in the sufferings

of this world.

Romans chapter 6

Romans 6 · chapter mention

puts it like this,

when Jesus died,

we died with him.

And when Jesus raised,

he was raised from the dead

by the glory

of the Father

so that we might walk

in newness of life

in this world today.

Friends,

do you know what that means?

It means for those of us

that are in Christ

by faith,

everything changes.

Because the resurrection

of Jesus from the dead

doesn't just mean good news

for the future one days,

it means the good news

of the future

has invaded our world now.

It means that in

through the resurrection,

in the present evil age,

God has invaded our world

with the age to come.

And as a result,

the world is a different place.

And those that are in Christ

have the new possibility

of being utterly

different kinds of people.

Jesus' resurrection

changes everything.

Everything.

And when we look

at the New Testament,

one of the things

that's amazing

is that you see

in everything

that the apostles

write about,

they appeal

to the hope

of the resurrection,

the will to come,

to deal with

every issue in life.

The resurrection

changes the way

that we see money.

It changes the way

that we see

our desires.

It changes the way

that we handle success.

It changes the way

we handle disappointment.

It changes the way

we handle failure.

It changes the way

we handle hurt

and betrayal.

It changes the way

that we view

our bodies

and sexuality.

The resurrection

of Jesus

changes absolutely

everything.

Friends,

if you do not

understand

what Jesus did

when he died

and rose again

from the grave,

if you do not

understand

what Jesus

is doing

in this world

by way

of his resurrection,

you'll forever

be anxious,

frustrated,

super busy,

overworked,

frantically

running around

and yet paradoxically

you'll be

unfulfilled,

desperately trying

to secure for yourself

some kind of

heaven on earth

on your own terms.

Friends,

why is it that

our city,

and maybe you're

one of them,

is so frantically

running around,

extra busy,

never able to rest,

never able to slow down?

It's because

we are frantically

trying to secure

for ourselves

the heaven on earth.

But the good news

of the gospel

is that Jesus died

not just to take

our sins upon himself

to do that,

but Jesus rose again

so that we don't need

to anxiously

secure for ourselves

heaven on earth.

Jesus came to invest

and invade

our sin-laden,

death-stained,

pain-saturated world

with his kingdom,

with his heaven on earth.

And so,

as we come to land,

let's think about

a couple of things

practically.

Think about what this means

for the way we think

about money.

We are all economic beings

and we live in

an economic world.

And Jesus says that

money is neither

a good thing

nor a bad thing.

Money has no

moral values,

morally neutral.

But remember

Jesus' very famous words

in Matthew chapter 6,

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

what Jesus said,

is,

he says,

do not lay up

for yourselves

treasures on earth

where moth and rust

destroy and where

thieves break in and steal,

but lay up for yourselves

treasures in heaven

where neither moth

nor rust destroy,

thieves do not break in

and steal.

And then he says,

for where your heart is,

there your treasure

will be as well.

Now when Jesus is talking

about heaven and earth,

he's not talking about

a geographical place.

Store up for yourselves

treasures up there

in the sky,

not here on earth.

Jesus is not talking

about a temporal place

like store up,

do not spend your money

now,

but invest it for the future.

He's not talking

about a time frame.

What he's saying

is that how,

he's saying you can

see and use money

in a this present world

sense,

or you can see it

in the kingdom of God

sense.

And how you see it

is going to determine

not just what you do

with money,

but with what it does

to you.

How you see money

is going to determine

whether you're a slave

to it,

or whether you're

a master of it.

Whether it controls you,

or whether you're

free from it.

Jesus says that

how we see

this world

and our participation

in this world

will transform

the way we handle

something very tangible

like our wealth.

Or think of

sexuality.

In our day,

we live in a day and age

in which our culture

tells us that

sexuality and sex

is both everything

and nothing

all at the same time.

It's everything

because if you are

not having lots of it,

you are nothing.

But it's also nothing

because it doesn't

really mean anything.

You can have it

with as many people

as you want,

as often as you want.

Our culture tells us

that our sexuality

is just a matter

of personal preference.

It's my body,

I get to do

what I want with it.

And in fact,

we see this

in the book of Corinthians.

Look at what Paul says

here in chapter 15.

He says in verse 32,

if the dead are not raised,

if God's kingdom

doesn't invade our world,

well then let's just eat

and drink

for tomorrow we die.

Let's do whatever we want.

You only live once, right?

YOLO, live it up.

Do whatever you want

because you only have

one life.

In fact,

the Corinthians

had a saying.

They said,

as the stomach

is for food

and food is for the stomach,

so the body

is for sex

and sex is for the body.

In other words,

this is my body.

Let me fulfill

my appetites.

Do what I want with it.

But look at how Paul

writes to the Corinthians.

He says this

in chapter 7.

He says,

don't you know

that your body

is a temple

of the Holy Spirit

whom you have from God?

You are not your own.

You were bought

with a price.

You belong to God.

Glorify God

with your bodies.

The Corinthians

were saying,

listen,

our body is just,

it's a material thing.

One day we're going

to die.

We're going

to be laid

in the grave.

Who cares?

Our spirits

will go and be

with God in heaven,

but what we do

with our bodies

is for me

just to maximize

my own enjoyment.

Let me just live it now

and maximize my pleasure.

And Paul says,

don't you see

that your body

is part of the kingdom

of God to come?

How you steward

your body

actually makes a difference.

You are participating

with your body

in the kingdom of God

in this life.

Use your body

as an agent,

as a tool,

as a vessel

for the kingdom

of God to come.

Sam Albury,

who is a pastor

in the UK,

a man who lives

with the daily reality

of being sexually

attracted to other men,

he says all his life,

as long as he knows,

he's had homosexual desires,

and yet he's come

to see that his body

belongs not to himself,

but to Christ

as part of the kingdom

of God in this world.

And so he's chosen

to steward his body

for the glory of God

and to retain,

to restrain

his sexual desires.

And so listen

to what Sam Albury writes.

He says,

as a follower of Jesus,

we will all incur

some cost.

Whatever our cost

of discipleship may be,

however much

we may have to lose out

in the course

of following Jesus,

Jesus shows us

that even in this life,

in this world,

it will be worth it.

Sam Albury's not saying,

I'll suffer now,

but don't worry,

one day when I get

to heaven,

it'll all be worth it.

As a follower of Jesus,

the kingdom of God

has invaded my world now.

And actually,

the price I pay now

will be all worth it

in this world

because what I do

with my body

is a participation

in the glorious kingdom

of God

in this life.

Lastly,

let's think about this.

We could think about

suffering.

What about suffering?

Look at what Paul says

in our passage

in verse 30.

He says,

if the resurrection

is not true,

if all our hope

is in what we have

in this world,

why do we suffer?

Why do we allow ourselves

to be put in danger?

Why do we allow ourselves

to be tortured,

abused,

taken advantage of?

Why not just avoid

suffering at all costs?

And the answer,

well,

Paul writes to Corinthians

in another chapter,

in 2 Corinthians chapter 4,

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

and this is what he says.

He says,

as followers of Jesus,

we are afflicted

in every way,

but we are not crushed.

We are perplexed,

but we are not driven

to despair.

We are persecuted,

but we are not forsaken.

We are struck down

in this life,

but we are not destroyed,

knowing that he

who raised the Lord Jesus

will also raise us

from the dead

and bring us

into his presence.

You see what he's saying there?

In the midst of our suffering,

in the midst of persecution,

in the midst of opposition,

we live knowing

that our life

is in Christ's hands,

the risen,

the risen,

resurrected Jesus.

He says,

for this light

and momentary affliction

is preparing for us

an eternal weight of glory

beyond all comparison

as we look

not to the things

of this world

that are seen,

but to the things

that are unseen.

Friends,

throughout the whole

New Testament,

the Christians

are those who view

hardship,

who view suffering,

difficulty,

even debt,

in a completely

upside-down

counter-intuitive paradigm

because of what?

Because of the hope

of the resurrection,

because Jesus died

and rose again,

because Jesus' kingdom

has invaded this world.

And so look at what Paul says

at the final verse

of our chapter

in verse 15.

He says,

Therefore,

my beloved brothers,

be steadfast,

be immovable,

always abounding

in the work of the Lord,

knowing that in Christ Jesus

your suffering,

your work,

your labor,

is not in vain.

Friends,

what is your greatest longing

of your heart this morning?

What is your greatest fear

this morning?

The resurrection

of the Son of God,

Jesus Christ,

means that God

is able to invade

both your deepest longings

and your deepest fears

with His glorious

resurrection,

life-giving power,

even today.

Jesus is not just saying,

Hold on,

because one day

it'll be good.

Jesus is not just saying,

Best of luck,

but one day when you die,

it'll all be worth it.

Jesus is able to say,

Your deepest longings,

your deepest fears,

your deepest pain,

even in this life,

is invaded and infused,

able to me,

if you'll look to me in faith,

with my resurrection power

and life.

Colossians,

Paul writes,

and he says,

Christ in us,

the hope of glory.

Not just one day

when we die,

Christ in us now,

the hope of glory.

Friends,

Christians are those

who live in heaven

while still on earth,

living in the future

while being in the present.

I want to close with the story.

In the mid-17th century,

1665,

a long time ago,

in the UK,

there was a great plague

called the Bubonic Plague,

I think it was,

the Great Plague.

And it first struck London

and thousands of people

were dying.

Whoever contracted this plague

essentially would die.

It was like COVID on steroids.

Hundreds,

thousands of people

in the city of London

were dying.

And they didn't know

how to cure it.

They didn't know what to do.

Anyone that got infected died.

And what happened was

that in 1665,

a small town,

a very small village

actually called Eam,

up in the north of the UK,

in Derbyshire,

a cloth manufacturer,

a tradesman,

bought some cloth

from London

and it got sent up

to this village.

It was wet

and so the tradesman

took this piece of cloth

when it arrived

in his store

and he shook it out

and he hung it up

to dry in front

of the fireplace

to dry out this cloth.

And the fleas

that were embedded

in this cloth

were carrying the plague.

And so this tradesman

contracted the plague himself

and then two or three weeks later

he had died.

But in those three weeks

he had spread the plague

to others.

And so in a couple of weeks

and months

people in this village

started to die.

August 1665.

September,

October,

November,

hundreds of people

start dying.

And by the mid-1666,

a year later,

I think over a hundred people

had already died

in this village.

And people were starting

to flee the village

because they didn't want

to contract the plague.

And so they started to flee.

One lady had,

in a matter of eight days,

buried her husband

and her six children.

Buried them

all in a matter of eight days.

One man realized

there's something

we need to do.

And so the vicar

of the town,

his name was

William Mompison,

realized that

we are probably

going to die

but if we all flee

to the other villages

we're going to spread

the plague to them

and they're going to die as well.

And so he came up

with this idea.

He said,

we as a village

need to self-isolate.

We need to lock down

the village

and make sure

nobody comes in

and nobody goes out.

And we will die

but it will save

the other villages

from the plague.

But the problem was

he was a new vicar

and so nobody

really trusted him.

He didn't have

any credibility.

The previous vicar

had been fired

by the bishops

in London.

But the previous vicar

still stayed

on the outskirts

of the village.

And so the new vicar

went to the old vicar,

his name was Edward Stanley,

and said,

I have a plan.

The only way

that we can save

the other surrounding villages

is if we isolate

and lock down the village.

But the people

won't trust me

but they will trust you.

Will you help me

convince the village?

And so these two pastors

went back to the village,

the man agreed,

and they spoke to the village

and they said,

we will die

so that others

can find life.

And they convinced

the village

to lock themselves down.

Nobody could come in,

nobody could go out

so that the surrounding towns

would live.

William Opherson,

his wife died,

and he writes a letter

to her parents.

And in this letter,

he writes of how

the fact that

in the early days,

she was encouraged

to flee the town.

But she decided to stay

and to spend her life

and to die

in order to save

not just the people

in the village

but the villages around her.

And he writes

to her parents

and he says

that she had this hope,

this incredible hope

that came from her faith

in who Christ was.

Hope not just

in the world to come

but a hope that allowed her

to suffer in this world

and that allowed her

to die well.

Friends,

do you see how

the resurrection

of the dead,

Jesus from the dead,

doesn't just mean

that one day

all will be made well.

That's true

but it actually empowers

and it changes

the way we see everything.

The resurrection

of Jesus from the dead

means that our life

in this world

is invaded

with the kingdom of God.

It means it changes

the way that you handle

criticism.

It changes the way

that you handle

disappointments.

It changes the way

you handle money

and power

and sexuality

and desires

and forgiveness

and bitterness

and hurt.

It changes the way

you handle success

and it changes

the way you handle failure.

Jesus' resurrection

from the dead

changes absolutely

everything.

And friends,

when the glory

of the resurrection

of Jesus

and all that it holds

for us in this life,

when it impacts

not just our heads

but our hearts,

it'll change our life

and it'll set you free

from the fear

of missing out.

It'll set you free

from needing to build

your kingdom

in this world.

Friends,

when it gets inside of us,

it'll empower us

to live the most radical life

you could possibly imagine

because you'll no longer

be banking your life

and your hope

in the things of this world

but on Him

who has invaded this world

with the world to come.

Let's pray together

before we take communion.

Oh Lord Jesus Christ,

our great and glorious King,

You, O God,

who are Alpha and Omega,

the beginning and the end

and everything in between.

You, O God,

who are sovereign

over days and dominions,

over death and darkness,

but even over tiny flowers

of the field.

You, Lord Jesus,

who are making all things new.

Father, I pray

that You will infuse

and invade our hearts

with the hope

of the resurrection,

that You'll invade our hearts

with the will to come.

God, I pray for those of us

that are in You,

that are in Christ,

that by faith

that we, God,

will live,

not just with the hope

that we can hold on

to the will to come,

but that Your kingdom come

will invade our lives,

that we will live

in heaven

as it is on earth,

that God,

even in our city,

may it be in Hong Kong

as it is in heaven,

because You, God,

have placed us here,

because You, God,

are invading our hearts

with Your kingdom,

power, and life.

Jesus,

won't You come

and fill us

afresh with Your Spirit?

Won't You come

and change our lives?

Won't You make us

courageous and bold

and allow us

to live radical lives

of sacrifice,

because we know

our lives are not

only found

in the kingdom

of this world,

but are found in You.

Jesus,

come and have Your way,

we pray.

Come and open

the eyes of our hearts

in Your wonderful

and Your glorious name.

Amen.