Testify the Living Lord

Acts 10:34-43

Hallelujah! Jesus Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Today is the most joyous day and most important day. Easter is the biggest celebration in Christian calendar, and without Easter there would not be Christianity. Long before the church celebrated Christmas, the church was celebrating Easter.

But to be honest with you, there isn’t a day that brings pressure to pastors like Easter. Two seasons that pastors are pressured the most are Easter and Christmas. Many Christians do not know all that much about other festivals and seasons. Feast of the Tabernacle, Feast of the Weeks, etc. These are not all that well known, so pastors can teach congregation about these festivals and preach from it. But Christmas and Easter are different story. Texts are limited, and the purpose of these days are well known, even to the new believers. So it is difficult to talk about something new and something different.

But few days ago, I received an email from the Fellowship, which is an organization within our denomination that is working to renew and revive our denomination. The email told us to read this blog, if we are burdened by having to preach Easter message. It promised to give new idea for Easter. So I opened the blog with excitement. This is what it said. Preach the resurrection! “Duh!” was the first reaction, but more I thought about it, this was the truth.

What else should be preached on Easter Sunday? The resurrection needs to be preached. In fact, the resurrection should be the message that gets preached every week. What else is there to preach other than the Gospel? Would God be happy if a pastor kept talking about things other than the Gospel?

One person spoke to Charles Spurgeon, a famous preacher, after a service. He said that Spurgeon’s sermons were same every time. The only thing Spurgeon ever talked about was the cross of Jesus and the resurrection. Spurgeon responded with thanksgiving. He said, he should be ashamed if he were ever to preach something else.

A pastor can talk about ethical things, current affairs around the world, or how to live a right life. But if they are not based on the Gospel, then it is useless. The church should be preaching the Gospel only. And at the heart of the Gospel is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without resurrection, everything is worthless.

This is what Apostle Paul said, concerning the resurrection.

I Corinthians 15:12-19 – “But 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? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More 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. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”

Paul says, without Christ’s resurrection, everything is useless.

Yesterday, I read a newspaper article, titled “Why Do Christians Still Believe in Resurrection?” The article seems to suggest that Christians are fools for believing in something that is so hard to prove from historical perspectives. But there is one thing this article got right. That is, if Christians did not believe in the resurrection, there will not be Christianity. Whether the resurrection is true or false is irrelevant. Without belief in the resurrection, Christianity would not have survived.

If we were to take this one step further, the resurrection of Jesus is an absolute truth. After the resurrection, Jesus showed his resurrected body to many different people. And when the Gospels were written, those eye-witnesses were still alive. So if the Gospel writers fabricated the story of the resurrection, it would have been refuted by those eye witnesses. But, they received the Gospels. It is because there were those who saw resurrected Jesus with their very own eyes.

This is the heart of the Gospel. We need to bear witness to this message.

Why is the resurrection, then, the most central aspect of the Gospel?
It is because through the resurrection, the redemptive work of God has been completed. If there was no resurrection, then Apostle Paul says our faith is futile and we would still be under the power of sin. Jesus Christ took our sin upon himself and died on the cross, but if there was no resurrection, then the death has won and we would all be under the dominion of death. Death is the biggest weapon of the enemy of God. To be under the dominion of it means that God’s redemption has not be fully carried out. Because Jesus defeated the power of death and rose again, we are completely freed from sin. And we have hope of the resurrection, where our bodies will rise again, like Jesus, and enjoy eternal life with God.

Many people believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but not their own bodily resurrection. But our bodies will be resurrected. Our bodies are linked with our spirits. And all of us will be completely made new. On the Day of the Lord, we will have new bodies and new spirits, and will spend eternity with God. The first fruit of this hope is the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But before there can be resurrection, there must be something else. It is death. It’s the cross. Without the cross, there is no resurrection. Because Jesus died on the cross, there is the resurrection.

Why did Jesus die on the cross? Jesus took our sins upon the cross, so that he can offer forgiveness to us. This is something that we have heard over and over, and is easy to dismiss. But I challenge you to think deeply about it. What does this mean? What does it mean that Christ took our sins upon himself? He took my sins and went to the cross. The King of kings, my Lord, suffered for my sake. The one who was sinless took the judgment and punishment of God. The one who forever existed in perfect loving relationship of Trinity was forsaken by God because of my sins. He was torn from that perfect relationship. Why? Because of my sins. Because of me.

As we have looked at in our study of the book of Judges, the tree represents a place of judgment. That is why the first commandment given to mankind involved a true. At the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, a man stood to be judged by God. To die upon a tree meant the curse of God. Absalom, after he rebelled against his father David, was caught on the tree and killed. But our Lord Jesus also died on the Tree. He took the curse of God upon himself on the cross. As he was suffering the most painful and excruciating death, his spirit was thoroughly rejected and dismissed by God, causing him to suffer spiritual pain that is beyond anything he was going through physically.

Dear friends, do not look upon the cross lightly. That was where we belonged. But Jesus went to it in our stead. He died because of our sins, which means it is us who caused him to die.

As a director of The Passion of Christ, Mel Gibson did not appear in the movie, except once. It is the scene of nailing Jesus to the cross. There was a hand that was holding onto a hammer to nail Jesus, and that hand was Mel Gibson’s hand. It was his confession that he is the one who nailed Jesus to the cross.

We should never forget the amazing love of Jesus upon the cross. And the sovereign God, who allowed Jesus to die on the cross raised him up on the third day. The death could not contain Jesus. Jesus defeated death, which was the biggest weapon Satan had. That is the reason we can gather here and worship and celebrate Easter.

The life God wants us to live, as he showers us with great love, is to thank God and testify the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

When we look at our text today, Peter meets Cornelius, a Gentile, and shares the message of the Gospel. Peter shares who God is, and how Jesus ministered on earth, fulfilled God’s law, and displayed God’s righteousness by being obedient to God’s will. People crucified this Jesus, and God raised him up on the third day. And this is the calling God has given to people.

vv. 42-43 – “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Those who received the love of God and those who believes in Jesus and his Gospel must live the life that testifies Jesus. We need to testify the One who came to give us hope. We need to reveal the one who came as the True Light to this dark world. I pray that we will all be able to reveal Jesus to this world, as we live the life worthy of the love we have received.

There is a Korean praise song titled, “You Were Born to Be Loved.” There is a response song to it, and it’s titled, “Desiring Another Fruit.” If we received God’s love, then we need to bear fruit of that love. And that fruit is the increase of God’s people in God’s kingdom. We are the love letter of God, sent to this world. We need to do our part well for the Lord.

I pray that our church will be able to carry out this calling well. God has made things new through the resurrection of Jesus. I pray that we will be the renewed church with the hope that God can only give.

In light of this, we have decided to change the name of our church from Korean Central Presbyterian Church of Denver to True Light Community Church. I know what a special place the name KCPC have in the hearts of many people. And it was a big decision to change the name of our church. There are still some who wish that the name remain the same as KCPC. It is because KCPC has had many influences in the Korean Christian community in Denver. And I am eternally grateful that God used KCPC that way.

But I also believe this is a time for a fresh start. Some might say that the changing name doesn’t really mean a lot. But names are important. Biblical, names are so important. There is nothing wrong with the name KCPC, but we wanted our name to be reflective of the ministry God called us to be in. As Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Jacob became Israel, Simon became Peter, and Saul became Paul, KCPC is now becoming True Light Community Church, in order that we may serve God better in the places he called us to serve. KCPC is not disappearing, as some fear. I promise one thing to those who might worry that KCPC will disappear. Our roots, our history, and our identity will always be remembered. So let us go forth in one mind and heart. Even if there are things I may disagree with, let us keep the unity going. Then we will be able to do what pleases God.

We are now going forward as the True Light Community Church. As our name suggests, may we testify Jesus, who came into this world as the True Light. With Jesus at the center of our lives, let us seek after God’s will and God’s Kingdom, rather than pushing our own thoughts and agendas. Let us be a church that testifies the sacrifice on the cross and the resurrection of our Lord. Let us testify Jesus, who came to give hope to the hopeless and light to this dark world. Let us bear fruit that our God desires.

Jesus Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Let us start anew, preaching and testifying the True Light of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, and his resurrection. May God’s glory be filled in the greater Denver area through the True Light Community Church.