The 42nd Bible Study Meeting 4   This sermon is taken from the evening sermon on July 26, 2010 during the 42nd Bible Study Meeting for All from Home and Abroad.    It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body     1 Corinthians 15:44       Twice Repeated Incidents in the Bible that Testify of Jesus In an earlier sermon, in reference to the verse that says, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord," (1 Corinthians 1:9) we said that there were several meanings embedded in this passage. The point of emphasis was that when it says, "by whom you were called into," this is not about a person-who didn't know God or Jesus-who started going to church after thinking about attending church while walking down the street. When it says, "by whom you were called into," the subject that is being called upon is specific. On a large scale, this refers to the Church and then the people who are born again. People who are born again can say with confidence that they have been called upon because they've experienced this truth in their hearts individually. The issue of fellowship comes next. But in this verse, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord," God and Jesus is distinguished. Jesus is the mediator between those who were called upon and God who called them. Jesus is the God who proclaimed everything and accomplished everything. He called upon us and has fellowship with us. There are two things we need to think about when we talk about us having fellowship with Him. In John's Gospel chapter 8, there is a lady who was caught in the act of adultery that was brought to Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees brought the woman to test Jesus and asked, "Now Moses, in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" Then Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground and when He stood up He said, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." Basically He was saying that there was no one amongst them who could stone her, however, Jesus wasn't playing with words and He didn't thoughtlessly say those words. And when He stooped down another time to write something, everyone left. Only Jesus stood in front of the woman. He performed this action twice. Jesus who was born into this world in the image of a man had the authority to stone this woman. This is because He has no sin. But He said these words of forgiveness to her: "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."We are able to see two images in this incident?words of condemnation when He said, "thow a stone," and then words of forgiveness, which are words of life. In the Bible it says, "who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification." (Romans 4:25) First He was delivered up. Jesus was definitely delivered up because of our offenses. Then in order for us to be justified, He was raised up. Romans chapter 4 talks about these two facts. So when it says, "by whom you were called into," this calling is premised on the death of Jesus. In order to enter this calling, we need to know about Jesus who was born into this world in a physical body with blood. For us who have been called upon, we have fellowship with Him who is called Jesus Christ. He died once and was resurrected and became the head of the fellowship. Now He does not have blood in His body. He was resurrected and ascended into heaven and is sitting on the right side of God the Father.  We have been called into the fellowship of Jesus who was resurrected. "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." It distinctively uses the expression "you" and "our," and "called into" and "fellowship." As we read such passages that are described in two ways, we should be able to realize that when God created man, the blood in our bodies and the way our body functions, the nervous system in our body, also has two components. In the Old Testament, there are many references about two situations. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai after receiving the tablets of stone from God, he broke the tablets of stone when he saw the Israelites worshipping the golden calf that they had made. And he went up Mount Sinai once more and received the second stone tablets and came down. The first stone tablets were cut by God and was written with the finger of God, but it was broken. Moses cut the second stone tablets and God wrote on it. We may think from our own humanly perspective and wonder why Moses had to break and waste the tablets that God cut and wrote Himself, however, this was in order to explain the promise that is given to us, not the first covenant, but the second covenant. God showed this through history in order to explain the fact that He established this second covenant. And when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, they had the tabernacle. They built the tabernacle as instructed by God and the Levites carried it on their shoulders as they lived in the wilderness. But after they entered the land of Canaan, king David prepared to build the temple-wood and gold. Many other materials were prepared to build the temple. And king Solomon built the temple. Even though there was the tabernacle in the history of Israel, ultimately, the temple was built. First there was the tabernacle, then the temple. Also, it was only king David and king Solomon, only the two of them, who appeared as the king of Israel from the tribe of Judah. There was king Saul as well, but he was not prophesied. Just as Jacob prophesied about Judah in Genesis chapter 49, David was born as a king from the tribe of Judah. After king David and king Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided. Why was it that they went through two kings? Why twice?When we read the Psalms or the New Testament, we are able to see that king David is a shadow of Jesus. Jesus was in the same physical body as man and had blood in his body when He was afflicted. There was no beauty to desire in Him when He was born as a man and died in obedience. And Jesus was resurrected and appeared in glory. Although He is the same, we see Him being afflicted, and then see Him coming in glory. These are two different images. In order to express these two images, the close to one hundred year history of the two kings, king David and king Solomon, was utilized. There are many other incidents in the Bible that occur twice. Why is that the case? Just as it says in the Bible, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me," (John 5:39) everything that appears in the Bible and the mysteries all testify of who Jesus is. In Romans it says that Jesus is the second Adam. When something is repeated in the Bible twice, that is in order to testify of Jesus who was born into this world as the second Adam. Everything in the Bible is directly connected to Jesus; however, we are simply unable to understand this.    Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.  (Romans 5:12)   It says, "through one man sin entered the world." And this one man was Adam who was the first person created by God's hands.   For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.  (Romans 5:13-14)   When it says, "Him who was to come," this is referring to Jesus who was to come to this world instead of the first Adam.   But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.  (Romans 5:15-17)   God commanded Adam, "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:17) But Eve who was created from the rib of Adam was deceived by the serpent and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and she also gave the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to Adam and he ate it. Through this one action all of mankind died. Death reigned over everyone and people were born into this world. That is why all of us are born as sinners through this one man Adam.   For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.  (Romans 5:17-18)   The first time Jesus stooped down to writing something and stood up He said, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone," and then when He stooped down the second time and got up He said, "Neither do I condemn you." Similarly, we were all condemned as sinners, but through one Man's righteous act we became righteous and received life. Contrary to Adam's act of eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, Jesus Himself entrusted His body on the cross. And through this, many became righteous resulting in justification of life.   For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)   It says, "by one man's disobedience." As descendents of Adam, because he was disobedient we were born as descendents of disobedience. Even though we are not taught these things, from a very young age we get angry and tell lies. The moment Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the spiritual connection with God was disconnected and his eyes were open. He had children, and his children had children, and this continued on and now we have come to exist. Everyone is a descendent of Adam. Through his one offense all of us were born as sinners in this world. And because we were born as sinners through this one offense, it is impossible for us to overcome this hurdle with our own efforts. No matter how intelligent, strong and powerful one might be, you can't reverse the crime that our very first ancestor Adam committed. It's absolutely impossible. None of the great historical figures that appeared throughout the history of this world could reverse the situation even if they tried. But through the act of this one Man Jesus who was born in Israel, by His crucifixion and death, the sin committed by Adam was swallowed and covered. Adam disobeyed God's commandment to not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He turned his back on the words that God said to him. But Jesus acted according to God's wishes and withstood the shame and embarrassment of the cross and was afflicted and died in obedience. And for those of us who believe in this truth have entered into the life of the second Adam.   The Glorious Body Promised Now I'll talk about the resurrection. The reason why I'm talking about the resurrection is, in the passage, "by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord," "our" refers to the Church. Having fellowship with Jesus Christ. When we say that we live in the fellowship of Jesus Christ or we are communicating with Him, it is based on the fact that Jesus shed His blood and died and then He was resurrected into a body that didn't have blood in it and is alive. We need to clearly know whom we are communicating with as we live our lives. When we say we have fellowship with Jesus we think of Jesus in the image of someone who has no beauty to desire for and looks ordinary. Just like we see in movies where Jesus is shown getting whipped and shedding blood in a pitiful state, this is not the Jesus we are having fellowship with. God was delighted with His obedience and He was brought back to life in a body that has nothing to do with blood and is able to see and understand everything beyond time and space. And Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God with that kind of body. The body of the Church is growing as it spreads the gospel with the mind of Christ. And the resurrection is an absolute prerequisite to fellowship with Jesus. If we only think about Jesus as our Savior who came to this earth in the flesh with blood, we might take pity on Jesus. But we shouldn't do that. The reason Jesus was born in this world was because God took pity on mankind. Jesus is a gift that God has given to us. God did not send Jesus for us to take pity on Him. How could we take pity on Jesus? We need to think about the fact that Jesus suffered for our sake and all we can do is be thankful for the things that He's done for us. When we say that we live in the Church that is fulfilling the thoughts of Jesus, that means that although we are still living in bodies that will perish, it is through the Church that is fulfilling the will of Jesus. He already died in obedience, was resurrected and ascended into heaven; He swallowed death and is next to God the Father in His perfect body. And because we are aware of this we are studying about the resurrection. In order to understand "resurrection" you can't do that without knowing about Adam. And in order to understand resurrection you need to understand the blood that is flowing in our bodies. Without that, you aren't able to understand what resurrection is. Because it is expressed as someone dying and coming alive, some people think of it like a scene in a movie where a dead body pops out from a coffin and starts walking. Our eyes are blind like that. Let's take a look at First Corinthians chapter 15 verse 42.   So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.   (Verses 42-44)   It says, "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." There are these two bodies. It's very strange, isn't it? We were definitely created in God's image, but there is a natural body and also a spiritual body. There are two kinds.   And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.  (1 Corinthians 15:45-47)   When it says, "the first man was of the earth," this is about Adam. The name Adam has the same origin with the Hebrew word Adama which means earth. Just as it says, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed in

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