To the World with the Lord of Life (Jn. 20:19-23)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” We are giving worship right before a national holiday, so I hope that you will have a double portion of the grace and that there will be grace upon all of those who are giving worship in a different region.
The title of today’s message is, “To the World with the Lord of Life.” I hope that you are able to hold onto and find sufficient this Word throughout the week, because this is the covenant that God has given to us.
1. Disciples
1) Fear (Jn. 20:19)
(1) The doors locked with the disciples together (Jn. 20:19)
So Jesus had died and the disciples were in fear, so they were locked behind doors, afraid that they would be killed. So they’re afraid and worried that they’d be next. The thing that they did was lock the doors. Do you not die if you’re behind locked doors? No, this actually means that in the face of death, humans can’t do anything. Humans seem so great, but they aren’t. If you’re not standing before the Lord, you can’t overcome this death. This is the situation that lies before the disciples. Their emotions may have resentment towards Jesus as well as this fear. They may have these mixed emotions, thinking, “Oh, I believed in and followed this person, but He’s going to lead me to death?”
(2) Jesus came – Resurrected body (19)
But Jesus, with His resurrected body, is able to go through the locked doors and stand before them.
(3) Doubts in mind (Lk. 24:38)
And if you look in Lk. 24:38, it says there were some who still doubted. What Jesus says before them is “Peace be with you.” Can we have peace in the face of death? This fear of death is something that everyone on this earth has. If you have a disease, you’re not afraid of the illness; you’re afraid of the death that will follow the illness. When your business fails, it’s not that that you’re afraid of; you’re afraid of the death that will follow after your business’ failure. Some parents may have this fear about their children. If you’re in the middle of a criss, you can also be afraid. Then in your everyday life, does that mean you’re not afraid? No, you’re constantly living with it, but you’re not aware of it. When do you become aware of it? When you face a problem or circumstance.
2) Beginning of fear
(1) Adam committed sin – Fear, fig leaves (Gen. 3:10,7)
This is the fear that everyone has, and when did it begin? It began when Adam left God and that is when he had fear.
(2) Result of sin – Death – Held in slavery by fear (Heb. 2:15)
In Heb. 2:15, it says that everyone is held in slavery by the fear of death. Even now, everyone has this fear of death; you may just not be aware of it. So what do people do to try to get rid of this fear? They try to cover themselves with fig leaves. But what happens over time? The fig leaves fall apart. The people of the world try to cover their fear, through their success, intellect, and even their outer appearance. They think they’re afraid because they don’t have money or because they’re failing, or they think they’re not smart enough so they try to cover themselves up with these fig leaves to try to get rid of their fear, or they try to rely on others. That’s the reason why people get married and decide their partners. Then that fear becomes two times greater, because that fear doubles with the two people and continues to pile up in the family.
(3) He who holds the power of death – Devil (Heb. 2:14)
3) Jesus – Garments of skin (Gen. 3:21)
(1) Christ – Death – Ransom
That’s why God gave them these garments of skin to cover their embarrassments. God took a lamb and killed it as a ransom for the sins, curses, disasters, and hell.
(2) Resurrection – Overcame death
As He resurrected, He overcame death and the authority of hell. People can’t overcome this fear of death, and people can’t stop this law of sin and death through their actions. Even if they form a religion and pray to these gods, they can’t get rid of it. Even if you do good works or volunteer, it won’t free you. When you believe that Jesus Christ has finished all of this through His death and resurrection is when you will change.
(3) Destroy the devil’s work (Heb. 2:14, 1Jn. 3:8)
2. Lord of life of the resurrection
1) Disciples
(1) Peace be with you (19)
That’s why the first thing Jesus says when He appears before His disciples is “Peace be with you.” If Jesus were to come before you and say this, would you believe this immediately? So just because Jesus appeared before the disciples and said this didn’t mean the disciples had peace immediately. Just because you say, “Oh, the Lord is with you, don’t be afraid,” doesn’t mean the other person won’t be worried. When do they receive peace? When they begin to believe that Jesus is their Lord and they entrust their life to Him. God is with you, but just this doesn’t mean your fear will go away. When you accept that God is with you in peace and you will follow Him is when all the blessings will follow.
(2) Showed them his hands and side (Jn. 20:20)
After He said this, He showed them His hands and sides, where He’d been pierced, and the disciples believed when they saw this.
(3) The disciples were overjoyed (20)
The disciples were overjoyed when they realized that this was the Lord Who had resurrected. So we can have temporary peace in this world if we succeed or eat something delicious. People try to have more happiness by finding the next best thing or eating the next good food, but these are fig leaves. But people have been created in the Image of God, so we were created to reveal the Triune God. When everything of ours is entrusted to the Lord is when we have this joy and we are able to reveal and glorify Him. It’s the same with this peace. You don’t receive peace because you pray a lot; you might have temporary peace from that. You might feel that God is with you when you continue to pray. Sometimes we listen to praise and there’s comfort in that, but then when you’re not listening to praise, you become anxious again. That’s what we call religious living. Religious living is when you try to attain something by doing actions, and we can’t say those actions are bad but this is something all religions have. You may have temporary peace from transcendental meditation, and people fall into that. The church can also go into religious living. The church may say, “Pray a lot, do a lot for the church, volunteer and participate,” but that is all religion. But the One Who is peace is with me. When you believe in Him, then you will receive this peace. Christianity is talking about this faith, not the actions. So if you pray a lot, you may receive wisdom and that might be true, and that person needs to continuously pray in order to receive this wisdom. You just need to believe in the fundamental root of wisdom, which is Jesus Christ. Then the wisdom of God will come upon you and be revealed. You may do all sorts of activities and actions in order to gain peace and healing, but Jesus Himself is healing. When you entrust your life to Him, then He will heal you. But this religious living and legalistic actions make a person suffer.
You think, “I’ll devote wholeheartedly to God in order to obtain something, but that is what all religions do.” You don’t need to do that. The Lord already has been victorious, so if I believe in Him, I will also have victory. The fundamental root of blessings, He is with me. When you believe in Him, then all of the blessings will be revealed. That’s what we call Life, the gospel. The Lord has given us this life, the gospel; He has never given us religion or the law. When we have the garment of Christ, we don’t have to be embarrassed anymore, but instead we try to cover ourselves with these fig leaves and are still embarrassed.
2) Peace be with you (Jn. 20:21)
(1) The Father has sent me (21)
So Jesus said, “Peace be with you,” He is the King of Peace and when you believe in Him, then regardless of what situation you’re in, you will have peace. He says it a second time, “Peace be with you.”
(2) I am sending you (21)
What is the second peace? He said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” So I have been liberated from this world and from Satan through Jesus Christ, so I no longer have a relation with the world. So the world can do nothing to me, and I have nothing to do with the world. So all of the things of the world, the thoughts, feelings, and emotions I had, are my old self that would have been cursed. Now I have been saved and He said that He will send me out into the world again, with a different motive and goal. He didn’t just send me, but He says, “There is a work you must do.” For the people who try to live in this world with an incorrect sense of pride, it means they’re believing in themselves. The world is controlled by Satan, so can things go your way? You try to live with this confidence, but you completely crumble. You might crumble because of money or different reasons, and you’ll say, “I didn’t know it would be like this. I did so well, so how could this happen to me?” It’s because you don’t know the world. In the world, there are many works that arise that are out of our control, and it’s because Satan is in control. So does that mean we need to be afraid of the world? Then how could we live in the world?
(3) Lord of peace – With
That is why the Lord of Peace says, “I will be with you, and I will send you out into the world.” You need to keep in mind this phrase, “I will send you.” Why did I come to America? You may say, “I decided to come to America,” but God has sent you. You may have had your own goals, but after listening to this Word, instead of my goals, it becomes God’s goals. If you live with “my goals,” then you may live so diligently, but you cannot get rid of this fear. But when you have this faith in the Lord and what He has done for you, then you will be able to overcome and realize why God has sent you to America. God said that He will give you peace from His authority on heaven and earth, and He will send you into the world with that. “I like these things of the world,” then instead of having freedom, you’ll actually be seized by that instead. Even if you have joy in alcohol, drugs, or gambling, because it isn’t God, it will lead to failure and not give you peace. So, even if I were to like a person, like a celebrity, it may give you temporary joy, but if you become obsessed with it, you will be enslaved by it. The freedom of America talks about doing whatever you want to do; then, you become seized by what you want to do. Then you continue to live your life how you want. At first, it seems like freedom, because you’re doing whatever you want, but instead you’re actually enslaved; then you will reach a state where you have no choice but to do that. At first, drugs may feel fun or like ecstacy, and you wanted to do it, so you did it. You may think, “Oh, I made a good decision. I feel joy,” but that’s not God. You become seized by it, and that’s why it leads to addiction. So whenever I think, “I want to live my life however I want,” you become enslaved by it. That’s why you must be bound by the Lord of Peace, Jesus Christ, and that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want, but you follow the ways of the Lord and you will have peace.
There are two ways in the world: will I live my life however I want, or will I live with Jesus Christ, Who is the way, truth, and life. “I am THE way” means He is the only unique way. It is talking about the way to heaven, but it is also talking about the way you can live while you’re on this earth. There are a lot of words that religious leaders say, but only the words of Jesus are truth. That is why we take other people’s words into consideration, but we only follow Jesus’ Word.
Jesus said, “I am Life.” People don’t have this life, and that’s why they become desperate. So Jesus Himself is the Creator Who gives us this peace and healing. So in the things I’m facing right now, why do I regard them as a problem? It’s because I’m not holding onto Jesus Christ, instead I’m holding onto the things that come from Jesus Christ, and that’s why you’re disappointed. Of course, we must believe in people, but we must not trust them because all people come from sin. So we all have this nature of Satan, and that’s why people live with this greed, whether it’s greed of flesh or wealth. So if a powerful person wants to be with you, it’s because they want to use you, because powerful people can only be powerful by manipulating and using others. But if you misunderstand that and rely on that person, that will result in disappointment. Because that is how the world works; they live to satisfy the greed of the flesh. They live according to what they see and desire, and that’s what they base their life on. They say, “Oh, I married this person because they’re so handsome,” they’re just trying to satisfy the greed of their eyes. So when I went to Korea, I met with my aunt, and she was saying, “I have very prominent cheekbones, so I want to marry someone very handsome, so that is how I met my husband. I didn’t want my children to look like me, so that’s why I married a very handsome person.” I asked her what it’s like and she said, “Don’t even ask, it’s hell.” So that’s the greed of your eyes; you choose things because of the greed of your eyes. So there are some men who pick women because of their looks or body shape, and they talk about that, but they end up living in complete hell, but that’s what they decided. Why did they choose that? It’s because they lived trying to satisfy their greed. People try to live to satisfy their pride of life, showing off that they’re well-off or successful in this world. So it’s natural to be disappointed in other humans, because people are not meant to be relied on.
So we are created in the Image of God, which means we rely on God not humans, and that’s when we are able to reveal God, and that is how we were originally created. You know, “Image,” right? That means it’s not the main figure; the main figure is the Triune God living within us. He created humans as an image in order to reveal God. But humans wanted to be like God, and that is rebellion and sin, and that’s why we were separated from God. You’ll feel the aftermath of this sin in your life. Why do people resent others? It’s because they relied on that person. They believed and trusted that person, and I’m not telling you to not believe or trust others; I’m saying you need to believe and trust God. “How could that person do that to me?” It’s because they are naturally wanting to live by the greed of the flesh or their eyes and the pride of their life, and when they’re receiving grace, it covers it up, but when they’re not, these things pop up now and then. So all descendants of Adam have this true nature inside of them. But why do we keep getting disappointed? It’s because we need to quickly turn back to God and live. Believe in God. When you believe and trust God is when you realize that people aren’t what you need to rely on, and instead you turn towards Him and follow Him.
3) He breathed on them (Jn. 20:22)
(1) First creation – Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 2:7)
Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Why did He breathe on them? The New Testament doesn’t speak of things that aren’t in the Old Testament, because the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Gen. 2:7 says, “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
(2) Recreation – Breathed on them (22)
It doesn’t end there; God created humans to live with humans, but as people became separated from God and sinned because of Satan, that is what led to the corruption. So through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that is how you become a new creation. When Jesus breathed into these people, that was Him giving them new life.
(3) Receive the Holy Spirit (22)
Jesus says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit isn’t some sort of energy, He is God. When He is with you, you will receive recreation. Now, we are restored to the form of humans that was created in the Garden of Eden. So God is upon us through the Holy Spirit, so if you don’t have the Holy Spirit, it means you haven’t been saved, because “I have died on the cross with Christ and now I live with Christ, and His spirit is within me.” There are people who attend church for a long time but haven’t received this Word of God; they only listened to it as knowledge but they didn’t realistically accept it. So they know the content of the Bible as knowledge, but they never experienced themselves what it’s like for the Spirit of God to be with them. So they need to live with their own strength, and they may have temporary joy, but most of the time, they are knocked down, they crumble, and they fall into despair and disappointment. But if you’re within God’s Word and worship, then one day you’ll realize, “This is what it means for God to be with me.” There will be a day through the working of the Holy Spirit, and that is when you’ll realize, “It is finished, I can let go of my life because the Lord is my Master.” Entrusting everything to Him and being guided by Him is what we call prayer. So we constantly ask Him, “What should I do?” Sometimes we might get angry, but from that, you can realize, “Oh, I’ve lost hold of it,” and turn back. There were many times this week where I got mad and exploded, and I didn’t do it to anybody else, but it’s within my own family. My daughter’s going to puberty and my anger just boils. It can be like that, but we can turn back to God, saying, “God, I’ve lost hold of it again.” There’s no need to feel oppressed by it, thinking, “Oh, am I still a pastor? How can I be like that?” Of course, I’m still a pastor, I’m a child of God. And if she doesn’t have the gospel, she might think, “Oh, my dad seemed like an angel last week but this week he’s like the devil,” but she needs to realize, “Oh, that’s his old self coming out, and he has lost hold of it. So his old self of not holding onto God, not this new self of him being with God.” This is how we live because we’re not perfect beings, and we need to rely on Christ again. When you lose hold of it, you will go back to your old self, but it doesn’t matter. The Lord knows this and is with us. There’s no need to be oppressed and feel guilty because of the law because the Lord has forgiven us. That’s why we go back to the Lord saying, “We hold onto You again by the grace of God.”
Even for our second generation who are studying, you might say, “Oh, I’m gonna study well so I can make everyone proud,” but those are the words of the devil. So when you win an Olympic medal, there’s only one person who wins it, just this one person among people from all over the world. In order to win that gold medal, they’ve devoted their whole life to it up until then, and with this hope of winning that gold medal, they continued to race towards that goal. There was one Olympian who said they returned to their hotel and cried so fervently. They were saying, “Did I devote my whole life just to get this medal?” For us, we might think, “Oh, it must be great to receive that medal, because then I’ll have money and fame,” but for this person, it was a different story. They can’t fill their emptiness with that; they won this gold medal but they still felt empty. Humans can only be filled with Jesus Christ, so with anything else, you cannot fill this emptiness. So even now, the heroes of the world can’t fill this emptiness and they struggle even though they’ve succeeded.
3. Law of life and Spirit (Rom. 8:2)
1) Old Testament
(1) Put a new spirit in you – Give you a new heart (Ez. 36:26)
In the Old Testament, God gave them stone tablets to follow but their hearts did not change, so God said, “I will put a new heart and a new law into you.”
(2) Remove from you your heart of stone – Heart of flesh (Ez. 36:26)
He said, “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” The heart of stone is referring to your thoughts and your experience, the things you don’t want to let go. You never want to let go of your heart of stone that says, “From my experience, this will happen,” but when the Holy Spirit goes inside of you, God is the One Who will change your heart of stone into a heart of flesh. You can’t do whatever you want with your heart because your heart is already hardened by the things you’ve experienced, because all the things you’ve experienced in your family and your schools have hardened your heart. Then you continue to live with this heart of stone, saying, “This is what I’ve experienced,” but when the Holy Spirit is inside of you, He says, “I will get rid of that. I will give you a heart of flesh,” and that doesn’t mean that you’ll look softer, but you’ll move in the way the Lord wants you to go. Then your stubbornness will go away. Then what happens? God’s peace will continue to come upon you.
(3) Move you to follow my decrees (Ez. 36:27)
2) New Testament
(1) God’s temple (1Cor. 3:16)
In the New Testament, God’s Spirit now lives within us, and we are God’s Temple. God’s Temple is talking about the body that is with the Spirit of Christ. So this building isn’t the temple, it’s just a location for us to gather to give worship. We ourselves are the temple, why? Because the Triune God is with me.
(2) Spirit of truth – Testify Christ (Jn. 14:17, 15:26)
What does this Spirit of truth do? He goes out to give us the Word, and He guides us and teaches us. We do not evangelize, but it is the Holy Spirit Who uses our words in order to testify of Him. So if you think about evangelism from the way the church teaches, it can be one of the greatest burdens you have because evangelism and missions is something that God does. God inside of us is doing this work through me. God is inside of us, so He is the One Who does the work of testifying through our emotions and our will and our heart. He will give you the heart saying, “Oh, go talk to that person.” What will you say to them? The Holy Spirit will give you those words. “That person isn’t doing well today, go and comfort them.” This is what the Holy Spirit does inside of us, but if you ignore this and try to live by your old nature, then one day it will crumble and lead to failure. The life of being guided by the Holy Spirit.
(3) All things – Teach, remind you (Jn. 14:26, Rom. 8:4)
Jn. 14:26 says that this Holy Spirit will teach you and remind you of everything Jesus has said to you. So ask Him when you’re studying, because this is the Lord’s work, and God is revealing Himself through our work and studies and that’s why you must surely ask Him. “Oh, but I don’t know what to ask Him when I pray?” Just ask Him about anything in the name of Jesus Christ. It’s not Jesus Who is far away, but He will give you the answers inside of your heart. And there may be answers that you can see, but if you don’t know prayer, it means you don’t enjoy this life of being with God. “God, I am in fear,” then ask Him about it, and God will answer, “I am your Master, what is there to be afraid of? I have created all of Creation, and I am moving all of Creation. Believe and trust in Me.” That’s what it means to not feel oppressed even if you’re hard pressed on all sides, because the Lord is with you. When I was living my own life, I felt pressed on all sides, but the Lord isn’t afflicted by that. He says, “You are like a precious jewel inside a jar of clay,” so we are just a jar of clay. We’re just dirt, a jar of clay. So you can’t misunderstand that you’re a diamond jar, but Jesus, Who is the precious jewel, is inside of us. So don’t try to make yourself better, but instead reveal Jesus Christ’s light inside of you and then your value will go up.
3) My peace (Jn. 14:27)
(1) If you forgive anyone’s sins – Their sins are forgiven (Jn. 20:23)
The Jesus Christ is inside of you says, “Peace I live with you, My peace I give you.” It says, if you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven.
(2) If you do not forgive them – They are not forgiven (23)
If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. All people live under sin, curses, Satan, and hell, so if you go to them and give them the gospel, they will be saved. If you let them be, then they will continue to not be forgiven and be enslaved. That is talking about the greatest value of saving lives. Is running your business more important or is saving lives? God didn’t tell us to study or run our business well, or to live an upright life well. He said, “I am with you, I am your joy. Save others with this gospel.” That is what He has requested of us, but we changed. Our business or our studies are more important, but that’s not aligned with God. If it’s not aligned with God, can you have peace that way? No. Christ Who has saved me has given me this life, and our businesses are used to save this life. Those people are aligned with God. You need to be aligned with God in order for His works and life to be revealed. God is the One Who moves money, He is the One Who can kill and revive, He is One Who can make you fail and succeed. He has given us this greatest value, which is His life, and He is saying, “I will send you out into this world.”
(3) Jerusalem – Preached to all nations (Lk. 24:47)
So God has prepared all blessings inside of Christ for us to go out and preach it to all nations. That is why the Lord of Life is with me. Everyone knows this, but do you believe it? If you believe it, then you will see the glory of God. People don’t believe it, but they continue to do Bible study. They try to put inside of themselves the knowledge of the Bible. It just becomes knowledge, but do you believe in it? If you believe in it, then that’s it, because the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ Himself, is with me.
Conclusion
1. Lord of life – With me (Gal. 2:20, Mk. 3:14)
So Jesus Christ, His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is inside of me, and He will continue to reveal the Bible to me.
2. Power of life – Preach to the field in life (Mk. 3:14)
He will give me the power of life and give me the power to evangelize inside of my field.
3. Authority of life – Drive out demons in field (Mk. 3:15)
In Mk. 3:14-15, God has given us the authority to drive out demons in the field. And I hope that during this week, you will go out into the world with the Lord of Life Who will give you peace. Let us pray all together, holding onto the Word that we have received. What will I pray to God about, what will I receive answers for, and what will I live this week with?
Offering Prayer
God, we thank You. We are grateful that the Lord of Life is with us as the Holy Spirit. We live with the faith that You are the Lord of faith, peace, healing, and wisdom. May the blessings that come from faith continue to arise in our lives. We return our material blessings to You. Wherever it is used, may the people come to life. May you fulfill the needs of those who have given this offering, and may you work upon them with the economy of light to make disciples of all nations. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Announcements
1. Online zoom early morning prayer (Mon.-Fri. 5:30, Sat. 6AM) – Raise the bartizan of prayer
2. Church officer’s message every Sunday at 1:30PM in Church officer’s room.
3. LA College Retreat on 3rd week of June, North America College Retreat on 4th week
4.6/22-26, 4th week of June – Navajo Mission Camp
5. 7/3-5 LA Children’s Retreat
6. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @Antiochmissionchurch
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of our Father God, and the indwelling, guidance, fellowship, and working of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of all the people of God, the people of all nations, the remnants, and those who are ill who desire to be with the King of Peace and reveal Him to all nations and the entire world, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.