Lesson 220 - Junior
Memory Verse
"God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:17).
Notes
The Tie Between Heaven and Earth
After God had created man in the Garden of Eden, He came down and walked and talked with him. There was a close communion between Heaven and earth, a fellowship between God and man. But when sin entered the Garden, that fellowship was broken, and the nature of man was changed. Adam hid himself from God. God condemned him to leave the beauties and peace of Eden, and to work for a living, tilling the ground in order to get food to eat. His communion with Heaven was broken, and he had to concern himself with things earthy.
Through the years that have passed since the fall of man, people have tried in many ways to get back the perfection that was enjoyed in the Garden, without seeking it from God Himself. Some people even tried building the tower of Babel to reach to Heaven so that they could climb up another way from that which God had planned. But they would not have been happy if they could have climbed in. They were sinners and would have felt very much out of place in Heaven.
Dust to Dust
At the dawn of creation God had meant for man to live forever, but sin brought death and sickness. Ever since that time science has tried to improve the health of the people, tried to make their lives last longer.
But still man must die, and his body go back to the dust. God said to the first sinners: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, tin thou return unto the ground; for out of it west thou taken: for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:19).
The things we eat and drink come from the ground. The clothes we wear are made of materials that will decay. Even our money, if we have any, will not last forever. The Apostle foretold that the gold and silver would canker (James 5:3). There is nothing in this world which win remain forever - not even the earth itself.
A Higher Plane
"Earthy" though we be, there has always been a desire in the hearts of people for a better life. Many philosophers have tried to find a higher plane of living. Some have taught their disciples to deny themselves worldly pleasures, to live on a very strict diet, and perhaps dress very simply, to prove that they were not interested in worldly things. But they still died and returned to dust without finding in this way the way of eternal life.
The way of eternal life is not hard to find. If a man will honestly seek God he will feel life eternal begin in his heart while he lives in this world. Something begins in the heart of a Christian at the time he is saved that will never end, if he continues true to Jesus. In the Bible the way is made so plain that even children can understand how to be saved. The reason the wise men have not found it is that they have tried to comb up "some other way" than that which Jesus made.
God knew that man was not good enough ever to get back to the perfection the first parents had enjoyed in the Garden of Eden, nor could mankind climb to Heaven to learn how to live; so the Father sent Jesus to earth to live among men to show them how they could again come into communion with Heaven.
The Visit of the Greeks
One day some Greeks came to visit Jesus. The Greeks were intellectual people whose philosophers had been among those who had tried to teach a good life; but these men wanted to see Jesus because they believed He had the true secret of eternal life.
Jesus knew the lesson his visitors wanted to learn, and He answered them: "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."
There were big lessons in those words. Let us first consider the kernel of wheat. A person could keep the wheat for years, nicely polished in a dry place; and he might show it to his friends and remark that it was just as it was the day he put it there. But he would always have that same wheat, and no more. But if that same wheat were put into damp ground where it would decay, and seemingly spoil those beautiful hard grains, soon a green shoot would spring up from the germ that was in the decomposed kernel When summer would come there would appear a stalk of many more grains of wheat which would dry and harden just like the one grain that was planted in the earth. The owner would have ever so much more than if he had saved his seed in a showcase.
This happens all the time, to any kind of seed, wherever people plant gardens or fields. No one considers it unusual. In fact, they are disappointed when some of their seeds fall to grow. From the death of the grain there springs new and much more abundant life.
More Abundant Life
Jesus now taught from those words what a person must do in order to enjoy more abundant life. If a person lives as he pleases, using all his time to earn his living food that is eaten, the clothes that wear out, the cars that get old and fall apart -- he never win get any better. And one day he must die without any hope in the hereafter. That is not true living.
The more abundant life Jesus was describing comes from dying to one's self, consecrating his life to the Lord. When one gives his heart to Jesus and forsakes his sins, then eternal life begins in him. He begins to enjoy spiritual things, the things of Heaven. The contact with Heaven which man lost in the fall is established again. He feels Jesus near to comfort and encourage him, to heal him when he is sick. He knows Jesus hears his prayers and the answer comes. The more he consecrates his life to the Lord and the more he lays aside those things which are not sinful but yet which take too much of his time from the worship of God, the more he enjoys that abundant life. And he knows that when he does his spirit will go to Heaven; and in the First Resurrection even his body will be raised to live forever.
When the Trump of God sounds, "the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (I Thessalonians 4:16, 17). Jesus said: "This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I win raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40). The secret of eternal life is recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, and believing on Him to the salvation of our souls.
The First-fruits of Them who Sleep
How do we know for sure that we shad live forever? Can that body that has been buried and become dust, or which has been cremated and become ashes, ever be a body again? What about that wheat we were considering, that decays before the new plant grows and brings forth more wheat? Wheat is planted, and it decays, sprouts, and grows up again; then new grains form which can be planted. There is never a change. And so, too, the body that has gone to dust will come forth in the same likeness it had before.
God has given us very definite proof to His words that the dead shall live again. Jesus died and came back to life. Jesus had warned His disciples that He would die -- that that was His reason for coming to this earth -- but that in three days He would arise again. He said, too, that He would come forth in His body, which they could recognise -- and they did. People saw Him -- as many as 500 at one time. They recognised Him; they walked with Him and talked with Him. Jesus even ate with them, so He was not just a spirit.
If Christ's death had ended His mission to earth, we would have no hope of life eternal. The Apostle Paul wrote: "If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. . . . But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept" (I Corinthians 15:17, 20). Becoming the firstfruits meant that He would rise first, and then others would follow in the same manner. He added those hope filled words, "Because I live, ye shad live also" (John 14:19).
The Glorified Body
Although Jesus had a physical body when He arose, it had many characteristics which were much more glorious than even our complicated bodies. He was not bound by gravity, nor solid matter. He could go through a door that was locked. He could desire to be somewhere else, and there He would be in no time without having to take a train or bus, as we do today. Such is the glorified body that every Christian will enjoy when Jesus comes, whether he lives until that day or dies and is resurrected. That glorified body will live forever.
The Suffering
Jesus was human while He was on earth, even as He was d vine. The thought of the suffering that He knew was before Him in His death on the cross must have troubled Him. He knew it would hurt more than a human person could endure, because He would be bearing the sins of the world upon Himself. If there had been another way by which He could have redeemed man, He might have much preferred it. But there was no other way, so He was willing to suffer.
In this trying hour He prayed to the Father, "Glorify thy name." God answered, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." Through the years of Christ's ministry He had wrought many miracles through the power of God. He said that He had done nothing of Himself. The Father had worked through Him. In this way God had glorified Him as being one with Him. Jesus had said, "I and my Father are one" (John 10.30). More than that, God had spoken from Heaven when Jesus was baptised, and the people had heard the voice of God: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). And again, at the transfiguration, God had spoken the same words.
Jesus said that the Voice from Heaven had come from the Father to help the people believe that Jesus was the Son of God. The time of His crucifixion was now at hand when He would be "lifted up" on the cross; but when His death and resurrection had been accomplished, He would call all men and women unto Himself to give life eternal to all who wanted it.
Questions
- What illustration did Jesus use to explain the resurrec-tion?
- Will our resurrection be only spiritual? or also of the body?
- In what kind of body did Jesus rise from the dead?
- How long will a Christian live after the resurrection to enjoy the blessings of God?
- What must we do in order to have eternal life begin in us?
- How can we enjoy that more abundant life in this world?
- When will the body be resurrected?
- How did God glorify the Son?
- What did Jesus mean when He said He was the firstfruits of them that sleep?
- Upon what great truth is our faith based?