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About Kevin Jesmer

Kevin Jesmer has been a member since July 10th 2011, and has created 2485 posts from scratch.

Kevin Jesmer's Bio

I am a originally from Canada. I am a lay person in the church and I work as nurse. I study the Bible with a few people. My wife, Julie and myself had the pleasure of raising five wonderful children in DeKalb. And now we can enjoy seeing them blossom as adults.

Kevin Jesmer's Websites

This Author's Website is http://christianfamilyonchristsmission.com/

Kevin Jesmer's Recent Articles

… SO WE SHALL BEAR HIS LIKENESS

… SO WE SHALL BEAR HIS LIKENESS

1 Corinthians 15:35-49                Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 15:49                            3-4-24

“Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (ESV)

Dear Lord Heavenly Father, thank you for our heavenly hope in the Kingdom of God. Thank you for granting us assurance that there will be a resurrection, with brand new resurrection bodies. We will dwell in heaven with you, Lord Jesus. Our sins are forgiven. We will be at perfect peace with you in a right relationship. Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ. I am getting closer that day. I am not fooling myself. I am 21 years away from being an 80-year-old man…like many 80-year-old men I take care of at the hospital. It is not far away. But because of the hope of the resurrection, each day brings an ever-stronger living hope in the resurrection. Thank you. Help me to learn more of this heavenly hope that Jesus brings in this message. I thank you and I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

      In this passage, we will learn some things about the resurrection of believers, in particular, about the resurrection principle and the glory of the resurrection. We also learn that, at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus there will be the bodily resurrection of the saints, and at the same time, all the enemies of God will face judgement and be completely destroyed.  May God reveal to us how glorious the resurrection of Christ is and may he help us to live with this glorious resurrection hope in our hearts.

Part 1: God Gives It a Body (35)

       Paul teaches us about the principle of the resurrection. Verses 35-44 read, “35 But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” (ESV)

       First, the death of the body is the prerequisite of resurrection. (35,36) Look at verse 35a, “How are the dead raised?” Throughout history, past and present, no person has ever been permanently been raised from the dead. Yes, Lazarus, along with some other people in the Bible, were raised to life temporarily, but they died again to await the Resurrection. Only Jesus has been raised from the dead permanently to live forever more. He is alive right now. As the old hymn goes…” We serve a risen Savior who’s in this world today.” Everyone else was swallowed up by the power of death.

      But Jesus came to teach the world the reality of the resurrection and eternal life in the Kingdom of God with a resurrection body. John writes of this in John 5:28,29, which reads, “‘Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.’” Jesus teaches us that there will indeed be a resurrection of the dead. Believers will rise out of their graves to enter eternal life. Non-believers will rise too, to be condemned. That is what the Bible teaches.

      Some were not afraid to ask the hard questions. Anyways…They had no idea. The Corinthains were Greek. Greek philosophers were more concerned about finding meaning and purpose in this world and in this life. So, at the time of Paul’s writing, it was inconceivable for the Corinthians to imagine a bodily resurrection. Life after death involved some kind of spiritual reality, like the Egyptian idea of engaging in an underworld journey before facing judgement to gain access to the afterlife. The Greeks thought the soul left the body to a place called the Underworld or Hades. They held onto a hope or expectation that they would be rewarded somehow. But there was no certainty (Google). Again, in their minds, there was a separation of the soul from the body, where the soul would spend eternity somewhere if they were good enough to pass judgement.

      But here, Paul was speaking of a bodily resurrection for those who are saved. Christians would have complete assurance of salvation prior to the resurrection because of what Jesus accomplished for them on the cross. This assurance came at the moment of conversion.

       Some continued onto the next level of questioning. Look at verse 35b, “With what kind of body will they come?” For these Corinthians converts, it was horrible to think that the dead would be raised and walk around like a mummy or one of the zombies in the movie, “The Dawn Of The Dead”. Nobody wanted to die and then be raised as they were at the time of death, old, sick, weak, and prone to sin. No one wants to repeat the miseries and agonies of life over again—never! All people hope for a better afterlife.

Part 2: The Resurrection Principle (36)

       Paul taught them the resurrection principle in order to help them understand. Look at verse 36. “You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” The resurrection principle states that death is the prerequisite to the resurrection. The answer to their question was right before their eyes. God had made it clear to them through what was created. Unless someone or something dies there can be no resurrection. 

       Our present bodies must die before they can be resurrected. This is the hard part about resurrecting. The dying process can be very arduous. People get sicker and sicker for years. One person has Parkinson’s. Another one has kidney disease and diabetes. Another has dementia, cancer, or arthritis. Some become wracked with pain and are bedridden. People despair about life itself, because their bodies are breaking down. For most non-believers, their greatest hope is to just end it all and die, ceasing to exist, so that they can be set free from their suffering. They despair about life itself. But Christians know of a far greater reality. It is the bodily resurrection that Jesus makes possible.

      Christians understand why their bodies are breaking down. It is natural. It is part of God’s plan for he is preparing them for their bodily resurrection. If a person can obtain medical help to help with their physical deterioration, then they should do so. But overall, Christians are not surprised at their slow demise. In fact, the longer they live, the more the hope of glory swells in their hearts.

       This resurrection principle that Paul speaks about also comforts Christians that are facing persecution… even martyrdom. Some Christians are spending years in prisons or labor camps. They are worked so hard that they die prematurely. Some are facing a quick martyrdom or death in a war zone. Despite having to face such a hard cross, they have a living hope in the kingdom of God. They know that though their body may die, they will be raised again with a brand-new resurrection body and spend eternity with their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

       Another aspect of the resurrection principle is the concept of “dying” to one’s self. This principle applies to our present life. When a believer “dies” to themselves, that means that they are denying themselves to serve their calling in the Lord. When they do God bears much fruit in and through their lives. Jesus once said to his disciples in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” It is related to the sayings, “No pain, no gain,” or “No cross, no crown.”

        It is not easy to grasp the resurrection principle. Peter, one of Jesus’ top disciples was one of them. Once, Peter made a confession to Christ, “You are the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16) It was a confession of love for and faith in Christ. But whenever Jesus taught him the meaning of his death and resurrection, Peter was not happy. When Jesus spoke to his disciples about his death and resurrection, Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mk 8:33) Then Jesus taught Peter the right attitude towards the resurrection principle. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Mk 8:34b,35) When Peter lived by this principle, God established him as the leader of the early church. The resurrection principle is indeed a life-giving principle. (Derived from a UBF message).

       Paul also grasped the glorious resurrection principle. He said in 1 Corinthians 15:31a, “I die every day.” When he said, “I die every day,” it did not mean physical death, but it meant that he did not despair in any situation, rather he picked up his cross and followed Jesus. God gave him new strength. Paul also said in 2 Timothy 1:8,9: “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” (NIV)

       There is no fear of death to those who accepted the resurrection principle. Instead, their hearts are filled with expectant hope of the glory of God. Romans 8:18 says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (NIV) Paul thinks that not grasping the resurrection is simply fool. Look at verse 36 again, “36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” (Derived from a UBF message).

      There was one person who found out that if he wanted to grow as a Christian, and even as a person, he needed to deny himself and take up his cross daily. He needed to study hard, work hard, study the Bible hard, and pray hard, embracing his own personal cross. At times it felt almost like dying. The point of doing so was to support himself, overcome school challenges and grow spiritually. Most importantly it would be to glorify Jesus through his life. When he realized this, he found the way to spiritual joy and true victory. He discovered the truth of the resurrection principle.

      Thank you, Lord, for teaching me about the resurrection principle. I truly need to accept this principle to have hope, joy, and peace in my heart. It has been 1.2 years since my hip replacement surgery. I may need more surgeries in the next ten years. But that is OK. I know that because according to the resurrection principle, this body needs to cease being a seed, so that a new resurrection body can arise one day when Jesus calls me home.

       I can also apply the resurrection principle in my daily Christian life. I can “die” to my selfishness and deny myself and pick up my cross daily and follow Jesus. How often do I want to just take it easy and not make the necessary sacrifices to achieve what Jesus calls me to? How often do I get lost in so many distractions? Denying myself to follow God’s word and Gods Spirit, brings me strength and renews me. I can bear good fruit in my life. This brings me joy. Living by the resurrection is truly life giving.

Part 3: The Earthly Body Is the Seed of a Spiritual Body. (37-44)

       Paul goes on to explain the resurrection using the example of a seed. Verses 37-41 read, “37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” (ESV)

        As mentioned earlier, the Corinthian Christians believed in Jesus as the Son of God but they had no idea that the physical body is the seed of the resurrection body. Paul likens a person’s body to a seed that has been planted. Look at verses 37 and 38. No seed is pretty enough to look at with wonder for long. But the bodies that come from seeds have fascinating beauty beyond imagination. Seeds are small, hard dry and shriveled. But the plants that emerge are beautiful and glorious. God, the amazing engineer, made it that way. He revealed the truth of the resurrection through the marvel of the germinated seed.

        The physical body is the seed of the spiritual body. Look at verses 39-41. When God created all things, he gave each living creature its own kind of body and its own splendor or glory. Each body is different. Each has its own kind of splendor.  Likewise, the resurrection body is indeed full of splendor and glorious in its own unique way. Inherent greatness is found in each of God’s works of creation. This reminds me of Genesis 1:24, where God created each living creature according its kind. The same can be said of individual people. We are made each according to our kind. So, a person who discovers themselves in God is indeed great, and, all of creation finds satisfaction as it fulfills God’s sovereign purpose in creation.

       Paul makes a distinction between earthly bodies and heavenly bodies. The splendor of the earthly bodies is physical glory or the glory of the flesh. What is physical glory? It is comprised of human honor, human strength, love, and wealth. People exert great effort to achieve the glory of the flesh. They marvel at the glory of their bodies which are nothing but a seed. Marveling at our human glory can never satisfy a person’s soul. Why not?

       First, people die too soon before enjoying the glory of the flesh. God created people in the image of God with both body and spirit. Man is a soul. But because we have physical bodies that belong to the earth, we need the worldly glory, even though it fades away too soon. But if a person does not know about God’s truth, that their physical body is simply the seed of the resurrection body, they cannot but suffer duress as time passes on. But a person who knows that the physical body is the seed of the resurrection body longs for heavenly glory with joy, happiness, and expectation. Such a person, for example, can be a good spouse to their marriage partner, throughout their lifetime. It is because they know that the person they have married is God’s gift and both are on their common pilgrimage to the glorious heavenly kingdom to dwell with Jesus forever in their resurrection bodies.

Part 5: We Shall Bear The Likeness of Jesus (45-49)

       Paul teaches us more about the nature of our resurrection bodies. Verses 45-49, “45 Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (ESV)

      We believers will bear the image of Christ (49). Knowing this, we must never be deceived about our earthly bodies. But so many people are. It is amazing that each person thinks, that their handsomeness and beauty will last for a century. Young people want to be like international, poetic, teenage travelers and live in this world forever and ever. But the reality is that they too get old and die. We all bear the likeness of the earthly man. If there is no resurrection body, a person’s life is too sorrowful to think about. They will lose everything. Thus is the reality of those with no resurrection faith.

      But we Christians live in hope of the resurrection. Our reality is totally different. What will our resurrection bodies be like? There is more to the resurrection principle. We plant a seed; it dies in the soil. Then it rises to a new and more beautiful life. It is unimaginable what the seed became when it ceased to be a seed. Our old body is a perishable seed. We are descendants of Adam and so we bear his image. As the physical body came first, so the spiritual body also comes. As Adam came from the dust of the ground and gave us a physical body, the Risen Christ, the second Adam, came from heaven and gave us a spiritual body. (45-48) Our bodies are dust. We sin and die, as did he. Our bodies are full of sickness and weakness. But our new resurrection body will be imperishable. It will be glorious and powerful. It is so much more glorious and wonderful than what our present body is.  

     It is the body which God gives. When we belong to Jesus, we have forgiveness of sin and eternal life. We die with him and live with him. When Jesus comes again, he will give us a resurrection body like his. The broken image of God will be completely restored in us. We shall be like him. We will be clothed with the resurrection body by the Risen Christ. We will all look like beautiful Jesus. Not only are we clothed with the likeness of Jesus, but also the Risen Christ makes our inner person to be like him. We will be as humble like Jesus. We will be as gentle like Jesus. We will be as obedient as Jesus. We will be share in his glory forever and ever. We will know and love God perfectly, and be with him forever in our new resurrection bodies. What a great and glorious hope!

Prayer: “Lord, thank you for helping me to realize that my body is just a seed. I am awaiting the glorious resurrection. My various aches and pain will be nothing. Fill my heart with joy and expectation in the resurrection and share this hope with others.”

One Word: We shall bear Jesus’ likeness

… SO WE SHALL BEAR HIS LIKENESS

… SO WE SHALL BEAR HIS LIKENESS

1 Corinthians 15:35-49                Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 15:49                            3-4-24

“Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (ESV)

Dear Lord Heavenly Father, thank you for our heavenly hope in the Kingdom of God. Thank you for granting us assurance that there will be a resurrection, with brand new resurrection bodies. We will dwell in heaven with you, Lord Jesus. Our sins are forgiven. We will be at perfect peace with you in a right relationship. Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ. I am getting closer that day. I am not fooling myself. I am 21 years away from being an 80-year-old man…like many 80-year-old men I take care of at the hospital. It is not far away. But because of the hope of the resurrection, each day brings an ever-stronger living hope in the resurrection. Thank you. Help me to learn more of this heavenly hope that Jesus brings in this message. I thank you and I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

      In this passage, we will learn some things about the resurrection of believers, in particular, about the resurrection principle and the glory of the resurrection. We also learn that, at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus there will be the bodily resurrection of the saints, and at the same time, all the enemies of God will face judgement and be completely destroyed.  May God reveal to us how glorious the resurrection of Christ is and may he help us to live with this glorious resurrection hope in our hearts.

Part 1: God Gives It a Body (35)

       Paul teaches us about the principle of the resurrection. Verses 35-44 read, “35 But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” (ESV)

       First, the death of the body is the prerequisite of resurrection. (35,36) Look at verse 35a, “How are the dead raised?” Throughout history, past and present, no person has ever been permanently been raised from the dead. Yes, Lazarus, along with some other people in the Bible, were raised to life temporarily, but they died again to await the Resurrection. Only Jesus has been raised from the dead permanently to live forever more. He is alive right now. As the old hymn goes…” We serve a risen Savior who’s in this world today.” Everyone else was swallowed up by the power of death.

      But Jesus came to teach the world the reality of the resurrection and eternal life in the Kingdom of God with a resurrection body. John writes of this in John 5:28,29, which reads, “‘Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.’” Jesus teaches us that there will indeed be a resurrection of the dead. Believers will rise out of their graves to enter eternal life. Non-believers will rise too, to be condemned. That is what the Bible teaches.

      Some were not afraid to ask the hard questions. Anyways…They had no idea. The Corinthains were Greek. Greek philosophers were more concerned about finding meaning and purpose in this world and in this life. So, at the time of Paul’s writing, it was inconceivable for the Corinthians to imagine a bodily resurrection. Life after death involved some kind of spiritual reality, like the Egyptian idea of engaging in an underworld journey before facing judgement to gain access to the afterlife. The Greeks thought the soul left the body to a place called the Underworld or Hades. They held onto a hope or expectation that they would be rewarded somehow. But there was no certainty (Google). Again, in their minds, there was a separation of the soul from the body, where the soul would spend eternity somewhere if they were good enough to pass judgement.

      But here, Paul was speaking of a bodily resurrection for those who are saved. Christians would have complete assurance of salvation prior to the resurrection because of what Jesus accomplished for them on the cross. This assurance came at the moment of conversion.

       Some continued onto the next level of questioning. Look at verse 35b, “With what kind of body will they come?” For these Corinthians converts, it was horrible to think that the dead would be raised and walk around like a mummy or one of the zombies in the movie, “The Dawn Of The Dead”. Nobody wanted to die and then be raised as they were at the time of death, old, sick, weak, and prone to sin. No one wants to repeat the miseries and agonies of life over again—never! All people hope for a better afterlife.

Part 2: The Resurrection Principle (36)

       Paul taught them the resurrection principle in order to help them understand. Look at verse 36. “You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” The resurrection principle states that death is the prerequisite to the resurrection. The answer to their question was right before their eyes. God had made it clear to them through what was created. Unless someone or something dies there can be no resurrection. 

       Our present bodies must die before they can be resurrected. This is the hard part about resurrecting. The dying process can be very arduous. People get sicker and sicker for years. One person has Parkinson’s. Another one has kidney disease and diabetes. Another has dementia, cancer, or arthritis. Some become wracked with pain and are bedridden. People despair about life itself, because their bodies are breaking down. For most non-believers, their greatest hope is to just end it all and die, ceasing to exist, so that they can be set free from their suffering. They despair about life itself. But Christians know of a far greater reality. It is the bodily resurrection that Jesus makes possible.

      Christians understand why their bodies are breaking down. It is natural. It is part of God’s plan for he is preparing them for their bodily resurrection. If a person can obtain medical help to help with their physical deterioration, then they should do so. But overall, Christians are not surprised at their slow demise. In fact, the longer they live, the more the hope of glory swells in their hearts.

       This resurrection principle that Paul speaks about also comforts Christians that are facing persecution… even martyrdom. Some Christians are spending years in prisons or labor camps. They are worked so hard that they die prematurely. Some are facing a quick martyrdom or death in a war zone. Despite having to face such a hard cross, they have a living hope in the kingdom of God. They know that though their body may die, they will be raised again with a brand-new resurrection body and spend eternity with their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

       Another aspect of the resurrection principle is the concept of “dying” to one’s self. This principle applies to our present life. When a believer “dies” to themselves, that means that they are denying themselves to serve their calling in the Lord. When they do God bears much fruit in and through their lives. Jesus once said to his disciples in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” It is related to the sayings, “No pain, no gain,” or “No cross, no crown.”

        It is not easy to grasp the resurrection principle. Peter, one of Jesus’ top disciples was one of them. Once, Peter made a confession to Christ, “You are the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16) It was a confession of love for and faith in Christ. But whenever Jesus taught him the meaning of his death and resurrection, Peter was not happy. When Jesus spoke to his disciples about his death and resurrection, Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mk 8:33) Then Jesus taught Peter the right attitude towards the resurrection principle. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Mk 8:34b,35) When Peter lived by this principle, God established him as the leader of the early church. The resurrection principle is indeed a life-giving principle. (Derived from a UBF message).

       Paul also grasped the glorious resurrection principle. He said in 1 Corinthians 15:31a, “I die every day.” When he said, “I die every day,” it did not mean physical death, but it meant that he did not despair in any situation, rather he picked up his cross and followed Jesus. God gave him new strength. Paul also said in 2 Timothy 1:8,9: “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” (NIV)

       There is no fear of death to those who accepted the resurrection principle. Instead, their hearts are filled with expectant hope of the glory of God. Romans 8:18 says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (NIV) Paul thinks that not grasping the resurrection is simply fool. Look at verse 36 again, “36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” (Derived from a UBF message).

      There was one person who found out that if he wanted to grow as a Christian, and even as a person, he needed to deny himself and take up his cross daily. He needed to study hard, work hard, study the Bible hard, and pray hard, embracing his own personal cross. At times it felt almost like dying. The point of doing so was to support himself, overcome school challenges and grow spiritually. Most importantly it would be to glorify Jesus through his life. When he realized this, he found the way to spiritual joy and true victory. He discovered the truth of the resurrection principle.

      Thank you, Lord, for teaching me about the resurrection principle. I truly need to accept this principle to have hope, joy, and peace in my heart. It has been 1.2 years since my hip replacement surgery. I may need more surgeries in the next ten years. But that is OK. I know that because according to the resurrection principle, this body needs to cease being a seed, so that a new resurrection body can arise one day when Jesus calls me home.

       I can also apply the resurrection principle in my daily Christian life. I can “die” to my selfishness and deny myself and pick up my cross daily and follow Jesus. How often do I want to just take it easy and not make the necessary sacrifices to achieve what Jesus calls me to? How often do I get lost in so many distractions? Denying myself to follow God’s word and Gods Spirit, brings me strength and renews me. I can bear good fruit in my life. This brings me joy. Living by the resurrection is truly life giving.

Part 3: The Earthly Body Is the Seed of a Spiritual Body. (37-44)

       Paul goes on to explain the resurrection using the example of a seed. Verses 37-41 read, “37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” (ESV)

        As mentioned earlier, the Corinthian Christians believed in Jesus as the Son of God but they had no idea that the physical body is the seed of the resurrection body. Paul likens a person’s body to a seed that has been planted. Look at verses 37 and 38. No seed is pretty enough to look at with wonder for long. But the bodies that come from seeds have fascinating beauty beyond imagination. Seeds are small, hard dry and shriveled. But the plants that emerge are beautiful and glorious. God, the amazing engineer, made it that way. He revealed the truth of the resurrection through the marvel of the germinated seed.

        The physical body is the seed of the spiritual body. Look at verses 39-41. When God created all things, he gave each living creature its own kind of body and its own splendor or glory. Each body is different. Each has its own kind of splendor.  Likewise, the resurrection body is indeed full of splendor and glorious in its own unique way. Inherent greatness is found in each of God’s works of creation. This reminds me of Genesis 1:24, where God created each living creature according its kind. The same can be said of individual people. We are made each according to our kind. So, a person who discovers themselves in God is indeed great, and, all of creation finds satisfaction as it fulfills God’s sovereign purpose in creation.

       Paul makes a distinction between earthly bodies and heavenly bodies. The splendor of the earthly bodies is physical glory or the glory of the flesh. What is physical glory? It is comprised of human honor, human strength, love, and wealth. People exert great effort to achieve the glory of the flesh. They marvel at the glory of their bodies which are nothing but a seed. Marveling at our human glory can never satisfy a person’s soul. Why not?

       First, people die too soon before enjoying the glory of the flesh. God created people in the image of God with both body and spirit. Man is a soul. But because we have physical bodies that belong to the earth, we need the worldly glory, even though it fades away too soon. But if a person does not know about God’s truth, that their physical body is simply the seed of the resurrection body, they cannot but suffer duress as time passes on. But a person who knows that the physical body is the seed of the resurrection body longs for heavenly glory with joy, happiness, and expectation. Such a person, for example, can be a good spouse to their marriage partner, throughout their lifetime. It is because they know that the person they have married is God’s gift and both are on their common pilgrimage to the glorious heavenly kingdom to dwell with Jesus forever in their resurrection bodies.

Part 5: We Shall Bear The Likeness of Jesus (45-49)

       Paul teaches us more about the nature of our resurrection bodies. Verses 45-49, “45 Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (ESV)

      We believers will bear the image of Christ (49). Knowing this, we must never be deceived about our earthly bodies. But so many people are. It is amazing that each person thinks, that their handsomeness and beauty will last for a century. Young people want to be like international, poetic, teenage travelers and live in this world forever and ever. But the reality is that they too get old and die. We all bear the likeness of the earthly man. If there is no resurrection body, a person’s life is too sorrowful to think about. They will lose everything. Thus is the reality of those with no resurrection faith.

      But we Christians live in hope of the resurrection. Our reality is totally different. What will our resurrection bodies be like? There is more to the resurrection principle. We plant a seed; it dies in the soil. Then it rises to a new and more beautiful life. It is unimaginable what the seed became when it ceased to be a seed. Our old body is a perishable seed. We are descendants of Adam and so we bear his image. As the physical body came first, so the spiritual body also comes. As Adam came from the dust of the ground and gave us a physical body, the Risen Christ, the second Adam, came from heaven and gave us a spiritual body. (45-48) Our bodies are dust. We sin and die, as did he. Our bodies are full of sickness and weakness. But our new resurrection body will be imperishable. It will be glorious and powerful. It is so much more glorious and wonderful than what our present body is.  

     It is the body which God gives. When we belong to Jesus, we have forgiveness of sin and eternal life. We die with him and live with him. When Jesus comes again, he will give us a resurrection body like his. The broken image of God will be completely restored in us. We shall be like him. We will be clothed with the resurrection body by the Risen Christ. We will all look like beautiful Jesus. Not only are we clothed with the likeness of Jesus, but also the Risen Christ makes our inner person to be like him. We will be as humble like Jesus. We will be as gentle like Jesus. We will be as obedient as Jesus. We will be share in his glory forever and ever. We will know and love God perfectly, and be with him forever in our new resurrection bodies. What a great and glorious hope!

Prayer: “Lord, thank you for helping me to realize that my body is just a seed. I am awaiting the glorious resurrection. My various aches and pain will be nothing. Fill my heart with joy and expectation in the resurrection and share this hope with others.”

One Word: We shall bear Jesus’ likeness

A TREASURE IN JARS OF CLAY

A TREASURE IN JARS OF CLAY

2 Corinthians 4:7-12                                                                            Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 4:7                                                                                       2-9-24

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”  (ESV)

Dear Lord heavenly Father. Thank you for teaching us the facts about our human nature and who we were created to be. Thank you for freeing me from compulsive obsessing about my body. What am I? I am both body and soul, created to have a relationship with you, with those around me and the rest of creation.  Teach me more about who I am from your point of view. Help me to find true life direction in you as I get closer to your word and to the kingdom of God. I prayer in Jesus’ name?

Part 1: A Treasure in Jars of Clay (7)

     We possess a treasure in a jar of clay. Verse 7 reads, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” The term, “treasures in jars of clay” is very poetic. What is Paul getting at? Simply put, the treasure is Jesus and his Gospel in us, whose bodies are simply jars of clay, created in weakness, to glorify God. Let us unpack this.

      First, the metaphor of a treasure. A treasure is something of surpassing worth. It is rare. It is valuable. Its worth is unchanging. It requires great sacrifice to acquire. It is not to be squandered nor wasted.  It can be passed down to others. People treat gold, diamonds, and gems as treasures. When the economy fluctuates people want to buy gold because it retains its value. There are family heirlooms that are like treasure. People want to pass those down to their grandkids.

      Contrary to a treasure, jars of clay are common, fragile and of little value. They are like amphorae that in ancient shipwrecks that were once loaded with olive oil, wine, and other trading commodities. Today, jars of clay are used as flower pots. People usually do not put treasures in jars of clay. They put into them items for everyday use. It does not matter if the jars break or not.

      Jesus, his kingdom, and his precious gospel are that treasure. Why is Jesus such a treasure? John 1:4 says, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” Jesus is the Author of life. To thirsty souls, Jesus is the living water who alone quenches (Jn 4:14). To the hungry, Jesus is the bread of life who alone truly satisfies (Jn 6:35). To the blind, Jesus is sight (Jn 9:5). To those who are wandering, Jesus is the way to the Father (Jn 14:6). To those suffering from the sting of death, Jesus is the resurrection and the life (Jn 11:25-26). In Jesus there is no darkness, no sorrow, and no death, but only life, light, love, peace and joy (Rev 21:4). In Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). (UBF message).

      The Kingdom of God is a treasure. It is so valuable that Jesus urges people to do all that they can do to acquire it.  Matthew 13:44-46 read, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”  People are deceived to think that living in a “kingdom” like the USA is a treasure. Or they think their own home or lake cabin, their small kingdoms, are treasures. But these are from treasures. These are small, temporary locales. Living in the glorious and everlasting Kingdom of God is the greatest treasure. Repentance and faith in Christ makes us members of that kingdom.

       The kingdom of God is a treasure within you. Here is what Jesus said in Luke 17:20-21. It reads, “20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.’” “In the midst of you” can be translated “within you”.   

     What is the link between Jesus, the Kingdom of God, and the gospel? Wherever Jesus rules, there is the Kingdom of God. That is how Jesus can say that the kingdom of God is within us who believe. We are not holy, but the holy Jesus can dwell in us and rule within us because of the gospel. His presence in us coincides with the coming of the Kingdom of God. And how does the holy Jesus come to dwell in us in the first place? It is by his grace of forgiveness granted us though the gospel. Because of the gospel we, through repentance and faith, have the complete forgiveness of sins, Then Jesus, the holy God, can come and make his home in us, by his Spirit. He rules as King over our hearts and minds. He works to expand his kingdom in us and through us. And so, we can see the connection between Jesus, the kingdom of God and the gospel. All these elements make up the treasure that we possess, and share with others, by God’s grace.

       Our bodies are jars of clay meant to house God’s priceless treasure. Rember back in the book of Genesis. God made us from the dust of the ground and breathed into us the breath of life (Gen 2:7). Adam then became a living being. That is the truth about living beings. We are not just bodies with biochemical processes following complicated chemical pathways. We are all that and much more. We do not have bodies that will last forever. They are not our future resurrection bodies (1 Cor 15).  They are bodies given to us so that we may live out our lifetimes in this fallen world. They contain God’s treasure.

          If our body is weak like a clay pot, how can God work through our weakness? This was meant to be. God chose humble, weak people to convey his glorious gospel to the world. People put treasures in beautiful, durable, and expensive chests and place them in a secret place. But the jars of clay we were given are our weak and perishing bodies. These jars of clay are born into sin. Prior to meeting Christ, sin robbed us of this treasure. The image of God within us has become marred because of sin. The holy God would not dwell in us. Yet when we are saved, Jesus comes into our hearts and restores all that was lost.

      Jesus is living in us. The Holy Spirit fills us and restores the image of God in us. When God’s Spirit fills us, we are alive and beautiful. The kingdom of God fills every part of us. We become living beings created to have a personal relationship with our creator. Jesus changes any kind of sinner into a prince or princess of the heavenly kingdom. Not only that, we grow in God’s image and are empowered by God’s Spirit to fulfill his will. We are empowered to live gospel centered lives. Wow! Isn’t that amazing! Paul experienced this miracle.

       I thank God for granting me the right viewpoint of my body with all its failings and weaknesses. It frees me from a lot of worrying and from holding onto false expectations. This year I will be sixty years old. I just celebrated my first-year anniversary of my new hip. Things are going fine. But after several twelve-hour shifts, working as a floor nurse, my right leg does ache. Sometimes it cramps. I think to myself, “Can I keep this up for another eight years?” With God’s help I sure can. Every second Sunday I go to church without sleep. It is hard to stay awake and hear the message. The short of it, my body has weaknesses. But that is OK. I can pray. I can trust God that he will strengthen me and sustain me as I live as his disciple. God’s glory is revealed through my aging body.

     My jar of clay is also so prone to sinning. In my weakness, I could complain. I could ignore seeking Jesus in my tiredness. I can avoid the fellowship of believers and studying the word of God because of tiredness and a wandering mind. I could try to get relief from suffering through things in the world. On my own this jar of clay is not worthy to house a treasure nor the Spirit of the holy God. On my own I deserve to have this jar of clay to crumble and fall apart and then face judgment. But yet, God thinks differently. God has chosen to forgive me of my sins. He had determined to bear with my sins, failings, and shortcomings. He is willing to house his precious treasure within my mortal body, so that he can work through me to reveal Jesus and the precious Gospel to the whole world. “Lord, grant me the grace to serve your purpose for my life.”

Part 2: Apostle Paul’s Example (8-9)

       It was very difficult for Apostle Paul to live as a servant of God. Look at his testimony in verses 8-9, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;”  The Lord had said about Paul, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Ac 9:16)

     Paul shares how he and his co-workers were able to carry out the gospel ministry with bodies that were like jars of clay. What they accomplished seems impossible to achieve. He was under constant pressure from his concern for all churches (2Co 11:23-29) In the eyes of the world, Paul looked foolish, pitiful, and weak. Why was he sacrificing himself so much to propagate the Christian message and encourage house churches filled with the poor people and former slaves? He was a highly educated Jewish Pharisee. Surely, he could have poured out his life for a different cause that made more worldly sense. Why not live for Jewish nationalism? Why not spread the message of Judaism? Why not get paid a high salary being a member of the religious elite? The world thought he was foolish, but in the eyes of the Lord, what Paul and his companions were accomplishing was of utmost importance. The Gospel message was a heavenly treasure for all who believe. But to spread the good news of this wonderful treasure required much sacrifice. Because of God’s inspiration Paul and his companions were willing to make the necessary sacrifice and God strengthened them each step of the way until their mission was accomplished.

     Paul testified that he won victory over many hardships through faith in Jesus Christ. God’s power was manifested through his life. When he felt no way out, God delivered him and opened a way. Actually, God opened a multitude of ways. Once, after being stoned, Paul was dragged outside of a city and left for dead. Yet God’s resurrection power surged through his body and he got up (Ac 14:19-20) and went back into city to continue with his mission. It was not because of his own strength. Paul was given new courage and strength to keep on following Jesus and preaching the Gospel. Paul would glorify the name of Jesus throughout the Roman world. The goal of Christian life is not personal glory, nor ease and benefits. It is growing in love with Christ, knowing His glory and making his name known. It is accomplished through living by faith while in a jar of clay.

      Usually, if people are hard pressed on every side they get stressed out and want to give up. In extreme cases, they could become crushed and helpless. It is because they have run out of inner power to overcome life’s hard pressures. But Apostle Paul was able endure so much. He was filled with God’s treasure in his jar of clay, that is, Jesus in a heart full of gospel faith. He testifies that with the Lord’s help that he lived a victorious life of faith despite of innumerable hardships. Praise the Lord.

      Early Christians, also endowed with bodies of clay, were used by God to establish the first century church. They were hunted down, driven out, and martyred. How could they not only survive, but thrive? It was because they had this precious treasure within themselves. Jesus was with them, empowering, inspiring, and delivering them in miraculous ways time and time again. They could faithfully reveal the gospel to a hostile and unbelieving world. What was the point? Verse 7b reads. “…to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” God worked among them to reveal his glory. He wanted the world to know that this surpassing power belonged to Jesus alone. Jesus is the Messiah and the Savior of the world. God’s all-surpassing power can be manifested through our weakness.

     God is accomplishing what he has determined through my jar of clay body. He strengthens me to work as a floor nurse. He strengthens me when there is a lot of pressure. I can glorify him in the hospital, among the patients and the staff, despite of my age and my hip replacement. When I have several shifts in a row, my leg does ache. God also is helping me to be an encouragement to my family, traveling and encouraging. I hope that I can serve the Lord in the new church merge we are part of. But there is one thing I know… I can keep going because of the treasure God has so graciously placed in me. I thank and praise God, that his Spirit dwells in me and his kingdom can grow in my life.

Part 3: What Are Some “Take Aways” For Believers Today?

      Sometimes Christians become confused thinking that their bodies, made of clay, are the source of their own power. This is called humanism. Though they can accomplish very little, they become proud and useless. Jesus even tells us that apart from him we can do nothing (John 15:5). Soon their jars of clay disintegrate as they prepare to leave this world. The declaration on their lips may well be, “It might have been!” Sad.

      Nicodemus was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He became wealthy and famous. His life was akin to painting a fancy design on his jar of clay, like an ancient Greek vase with pictures on it. However, his inner man was miserable–bound and suffocated by the power of sin and death. He lacked the real treasure that could give him true life, spiritual victory, freedom, and peace. He knew he was missing something. That is why he came to Jesus at night (John 3). Jesus told him that unless he was born again, he could not see the kingdom of God. People spend their lives decorating the outward look of their jars of clay. They need to see and have the Kingdom of God. That is a treasure that comes when Jesus reigns in our hearts.

      For those who have faith in Christ, they are not fooled about what their jars of clay can accomplish. They know who their power source is … Christ.  In his word, God reminds us that we are jars of clay, mere containers to carry Jesus to the world. Knowing this fact is impowering. John the Baptist is a good example. He gained popularity through his ministry and people thought that he might be the Christ. Yet he clearly said, “I am not the Christ.” John denied himself more and more, saying, “I am not,” and “no.” (Jn 1:19-28). He knew that Jesus is the treasure and he was only a jar of clay meant to point the world to Christ.

       We need this kind of humble attitude. We must submit to Christ and through faith, have the heavenly treasure dwell in us. Then God’s power works in and through us to accomplish what he has called us to do. We cannot boast of any power or virtue in ourselves. It is only because Jesus dwells us, that we are not crushed nor do we despair when we are misunderstood, persecuted, or struck down. Remember, Jesus can accomplish more through us than we can ever imagine (Eph 3:20). We simply need humble gospel faith.

     God has made each of us ministers of a new covenant. This calling is more precious than any other mission to be done on earth. Yet it can be one of the most arduous tasks. Sometimes Christians get burnt out. But knowing God is with us, we should never lose heart because of our weaknesses. We can do God’s work, not by our own ability, but by God’s power.

       How easy for gospel workers to say that their environment is too challenging or unfavorable, due to persecution, pressure, or other perplexing difficulties. However, the real problem is not outward, but inward. If we have Jesus in our hearts, we can overcome all hardships and God can create a new history through us. The Lord promised his disciples, “And I am with you always to the very end of the age.” (Mt 28:20). We can boldly follow the Lord Jesus because of His promise and his all-surpassing power. Do you feel too weak to do God’s will? Great. Because you are in exactly the right condition of heart to take hold of Jesus by faith and allow God to reveal his glory through you.

Part 4: Always Carrying Around the Death of Jesus (10-12)

       In this passage we also discover a phrase, “carrying around the death of Jesus.” Verses 10-12 read, “10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.” What does that mean? It sounds a little heavy. But it is a lifegiving teaching. We can learn from Paul’s example.

      Paul’s daily life was truly difficult. As we have already discovered, though Paul was often persecuted and misunderstood, he never despaired, never gave up, and was never crushed. It was because he always trusted Jesus and God helped him overcome hardships by the all-surpassing power of God. In this way God enabled him to live a victorious life of faith.

       In addition to this, Paul always carried around in his body “the death of Jesus.” Here “death of Jesus” means Jesus’ self-denial and suffering that Christ endured to fulfill God’s will for world salvation. Paul saw that through Jesus’ self-denial and suffering, Christ’s glory was displayed. God’s plan for salvation was complete. So, Paul wanted to know Christ by participating in His sufferings and so experience Christ’s resurrection power. He said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings…” (Php 3:10). When Paul shared in Jesus’ sufferings, he also experienced Jesus’ resurrection power and he became a blessing to the Christian church (12).

    That is another way to carry around the death of Jesus. Jesus’ people love Jesus’ cross. It is Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection that sets us free from the power of sin. We die with him daily, so that his life may be revealed in us, and the gospel shared with the world.

       Carrying around the death of Jesus also indicates how serious we are about the Gospel mission. If this gospel message was not so serious, if it was one option among many, Jesus would not have to suffer, die, and resurrect. It would just be a matter of writing on a philosopher’s scroll. But the gospel that saves sinners is matter of eternal life or death. Lives and families and nations depend on it. We need gospel faith if we are ever going to make it into heaven. We must declare the gospel message like Paul did.

    It also tells us what the message is about. Paul carried around the message of the death of Jesus. When I say, “the death of Jesus”, I automatically include “the resurrection of Jesus”. It is the Gospel. The death of Jesus was at the forefront of what Paul preached. It was at the forefront of how he lived. It was the basis of his attitude towards his mission. Paul’s whole life was focused on carrying the death of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

       How important it is for Christians to keep the message focused on the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection. They need to know it, preach it, and live it, like Paul did. But often the message is something else. There is the health and wealth gospel. There is the message that Jesus wants to give you a better life while living in this world. He may. But for many people in this world, a conversion to Christianity makes their lives a lot more difficult. There is a TV evangelist in the early morning hours that consistently encourages people to make a money offering so that God can solve their financial problems. Paul different. He was determined to carry with him the death of Jesus.

     Prayer: Lord, thank you for filling this jar of clay with a wonderful treasure, your own presence… your Spirit. Help me to love your cross, and die daily to myself so that your glory may be revealed to the whole world.

One Word: The greatest treasure in jars of clay is Jesus Christ our Lord.

FROM THE DUST OF THE EARTH


Genesis 2:4-7                  Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 2:7                          1-12-24

“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.”  (ESV)

Dear Lord, heavenly Father, thank you for teaching me that our bodies are made from the dust of the earth. They serve a great purpose, but they are not eternal in their present form. Thank you for shedding light on this issue and giving me the proper perspective on my own body. Grow in me a heavenly hope that longs for the return of Christ, the resurrection and eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Plant your words in my heart today. I thank you and I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: No Man To Work The Ground (4-5)

Verses 4-5 read, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground,”

     This seems like a strange paragraph. Verse 5 is filled with “no’s”. There was “no bush”, “no small plant”, “not caused”, “no man”. When an author puts all of these “no’s” in a sentence, there is reason. One can picture that the seeds were in the ground and everything was ready to spring to life, waiting to be watered–but there was no man to work the ground and take care of the earth. I believe that this is a literary method to let the reader know that the world was prepared, yet empty and imperfect until mankind appeared.

        Let us use a wedding as an analogy. Imagine organizing a huge wedding party. You get caterers to make food. The invitations are sent out. The hall is decorated. The families and friends are gathered. The DJ is ready. The officiating pastor is there. But until the bride and groom show up, there is no wedding. The preparations are made, but everything is in waiting. No one can say that a wedding is happening. But when the bride and the groom show up, then everything is put into motion. A beautiful wedding erupts. Joy is everywhere. The celebration of this new family begins. It is all about the bride and groom coming onto the scene.

      This shows the importance of mankind in God’s plan. God made man to work and take care of the garden (Gen 2:15). Mankind was meant to be the steward of God’s world. This world could not fulfill its purpose in God, until mankind was created and began to serve his ordained purpose. God made it thus.

       Nowadays there are a growing number of people who think that this world would be a better place if mankind never existed. We can see how they can feel this way with global warming, plastic garbage, wars, pollution, deforestation, criminal activity, urbanization etcetera. But that is not how God feels about mankind. God feels that mankind is the crown and glory of creation. When Adam and Eve were created God saw all that he had made and said that it was very good (Gen 1:31). Yes, God knows that in this fallen world, people are led astray because of sin and that they do cause a whole lot of suffering and damage.  But God also knows of mankind’s potential to grow in the image of God and become a blessing when they are redeemed. He looks on us with faith, hope and love. God loves this world with mankind in it, and co-working with him. His love for us is why he sent Jesus to be our Savior (John 3:16).

     God made mankind in his image with a wonderful and glorious hope. Mankind was made a little lower than the angels (Heb 2:7-9). Adam and Eve were endowed with a huge brain and heart capacity so that they could be the stewards of creation (Gen 2:15). God had an immense vision for them. Adam and Eve were to work together with God to spread the blessings of the Garden of Eden around the world and glorify the name of Lord throughout all generations. Their descendants would love one another as well as worship and love God their creator, who loved them first (1 John 4:19).  That is why human beings were created.  God is love (1 John 4:7-21). He was so full of love and hope for us, right from the beginning.

     I must always have the right viewpoint of humanity. I read a lot of news. Every day I browse the news and almost all of it is bad news … sad to say. Mankind and our sinful nature is ruining God’s creation and causing a whole lot of pain and suffering. It has been like this ever since the fall of mankind, when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden. It is so easy to be a casualty of daily news watching. But I must determine to see things from God’s point of view. I must maintain hope and love for humanity and even for myself. I must see us as God’s sees us, people full of potential to do good and bring glory to God’s name. It all begins by fixing our eyes in Jesus (Heb 12:2-3) and holding onto the word of God. “Lord, give me a heart full of faith, hope and love for those around me and for myself. I know that it all begins with you.”  

Part 2: God Formed Adam From The Dust For His Glory (6-7a)

Verses 6-7a read, “and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground…”

       The time came for God to bring forth mankind. The gentle mist signaled that the rest of creation was nurtured and beginning to bloom. The whole face of the ground was moistened. Life flourished.  Now it was time for God to usher forth the crown and glory of his creation, mankind. Everything is accomplished in God’s right time.

      God chose to form man from the dust of the earth. Being made from dust is very significant. God could have made humans, right from the beginning, with eternal, glorious heavenly bodies in a flash, in a twinkling of an eye (1 Cor 15:52), but he did not. He chose to make us out of the dust of the earth. Why?

     It was a humble beginning. God’s way always takes the humble path. The Israelites started out as humble shepherds and then were formed as a nation while in slavery in Egypt. The Tabernacle was a portable tent. Jesus was born in manger, grew up as a poor carpenter apprentice, and had no place to lay his head. The birth of Christ was first announced to poor shepherds in the fields. The kingdom of God grew through Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. The early church met in house churches and suffered persecution. All great things in God began from humble beginnings, even the formation of mankind.

      Dust reminds us of our weakness. The fact that we are dust tells us that our bodies are weak. Strength is relative. Yes, there are some people who appear very strong. They work out a lot. They eat well. But no matter how much they exercise, they will have physical weakness. There were some athletic people who succumbed to a tiny COVID virus. Their muscular strength and endurance only lasts for a short time. One day they will need help getting out of a chair. Later their weak bodies will give out and they will die. Our bodies are only made of dust. We are very weak in and of ourselves. We desperately need God.

     I always thought that my body was strong. I did a lot of walking and light weights. My nursing job kept me moving. I ate healthy breakfasts and climbed lots of stairs at work. But this arthritis pain in the right hip was more that I could bear. It made me weak. In the end I had a limp and I could barely climb stairs. I could hardly lift my leg to get into the car to drive. I could not escape the pain, no matter what I did. But I knew that I should not be surprised about this hip degeneration. What is so unusual about that? My hip is only the dust of the earth. It is only by the grace of God that I have been able to do some exercise and continue working over the decades. But dust crumbles. And I know that I must depend on God’s strength alone every day that I live.

      God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. Paul testified to this fact. He had many weaknesses. He faced incredibly difficult circumstances as he ministered the gospel. Yet he gave this testimony in 2 Corinthians 12:9-11, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” This was Apostle Paul’s personal testimony about how God’s was working through him despite all his weaknesses. God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. That is what we are here for. We are to draw near to God and glorify God. That is, we are to reveal God. We think that we can glorify God in our strength. But the opposite is true. We can more fully glorify God in our weakness.

     Dust shows our utter dependence on God. We are weak but God is strong. We are barely strong enough to take care of our own needs properly. God made it this way too. He may choose to not take away our weaknesses for through our weakness, we will cry out to God in prayer and he will deliver us in his way and in his time.

     Despite my pain I needed to keep working as a nurse. I still needed to exercise to control my weight and glucose levels. I could not stop and just live a sedentary lifestyle. Before the replacement, the hip hurt a lot, but God always gave me strength. I could work and exercise. I could remain active. Swimming was God’s gift. After my surgery, a person on the OR team told my wife that they were surprised that I was still working. “He must have been in a lot of pain.” I was, but I tried to give glory to God whenever people saw my limp and asked about my condition. How could I not? It was faith in him that enabled me able to carry on. As Apostle Paul said, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Part 3: God Made Our Bodies To Be Special, Though They Are Dust

    There is nothing innately precious or valuable about the stuff of which we are made. Our bodies are made of dust. But the hand of the Master Workman molded us. His touch makes our dust special. There are physical reasons why our bodies are special. On a biological level, this pile of dust is an amazing feat of bioengineering. There is no machine in this world that is able to accomplish what God has accomplished. With our bodies we can fly to Mars. We can do amazing works. And these bodies of dust can function for over one hundred years.  It is simply amazing!

      There are also spiritual reasons why our bodies of dust are amazing. The Bible says that our bodies are the temple of the Lord (1 Cor 6:19-20). We need to honor God with our bodies. Because of sin, our bodies became unholy, yet they are meant to be a place that God chooses to dwell (John 14:23). That is possible when we repent of our sins and receive God’s grace of complete forgiveness. Then, when we are completely forgiven by God and declared holy. Then, through faith in Christ, the holy God comes to dwells in us through faith. When God dwells in us, we love God for freeing us from the power of sin and death and granting us a new life. We yearn to follow him. This begins our eternal relationship with Christ. It begins now, as we live in this body of dust and it continues on into eternity. The point is, if God chooses to dwell in this body of dust, and making it holy, then it must be very important to him.

     I need to have the proper perspective of our bodies. Being a nurse, it is easy to fall into negative thinking about bodies. After spending 25 years working in the hospital, I have seen so many things. I have seen peoples’ bodies at different stages of breaking down and approaching death. I am also highly aware of the ageing of my own body. The other day I was struck by the fact that in twenty-one years I will be eighty years old. Wow! But instead of falling into negativity about this pile of dust I live in, I need to stand in amazement and awe at what God has accomplished. Life in this body is the best that it can be accomplished in a fallen world. My hope is in eternal life in the kingdom of God.

Part 4: One Day We Will Have Resurrection Bodies

      I say, “in this fallen world”, because there will be a time when we will be given brand new resurrection bodies. 1 Corinthians 15: 50-55 reads, “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ 55 ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’”.  

      Yes, when Jesus comes, we will be given imperishable, powerful, glorious resurrection bodies. There will be no more weakness, pain, and disease. But for now, we do our best to live in these bodies made from dust, glorifying God in our weakness, as we await the Second Coming of Jesus.

       When Jesus comes again, I will be set free from physical concerns. I will be free from further joint replacement surgeries. I will not have to worry about weight loss and insulin resistance. I will not feel tired. I will not want to keep my titanium hip as a souvenir. All of that will be in the past, as I launch out into eternal life in the Kingdom of God with my brand-new resurrection body (1 Thess 4:17).

     Every ache and pain, every moment of weakness can be a reminder of what is to come. Such things can grow our faith and our longing to be with Jesus. I don’t want to downplay the plight of many whose pain is unbearable and whose weakness makes live unlivable. They suffer so much. Their quality of life is severely diminished. They need to find some relief with pain meds, and treatment. But, even in the worst of cases, the real hope is a brand-new resurrection body granted to those who have hope in Christ. This is the best medication our physical degeneration.

     There is one obvious, final point. God created us and therefore he owns us. He is our creator and therefore we belong to him. He created us because he loves us. His heart overflowed with joy as he saw Adam rise from the ground after receiving God’s breath of life. His heart with brimming with love like a parent loves their newborn. He has wonderful plans for us as well great joy and hope in us. We can trust God and we follow him and serve his divine purpose for us. 

Part 5: God Breathed the Breath of Life (7b)

Verse 7b read, “…and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature.”

     God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being–an immortal soul. There are so many things to discover about God and us through this short text. Let’s see.

        First, God is intimate with us. He chose the hands-on approach. The imagery of this verse moves us to imagine God placing his lips over the nose and mouth of the formed man. It is almost like infant CPR. God could have done it some other way. He could have simply blew his breath of life over the body of the man and brought him to life standing away at a distance. But no…he chose the intimate way.

     Our God is a personal, intimate God. We can see that through his acts of creation. The spirit of God hovered over the waters (Gen 1:2). The Ark of the Covenant traveled among God’s people (Ex 13:17-18; 21-22). Jesus, our Savior, came from heaven to take on the form of a man to dwell among sinners and die among them in order to save people from their sins (John 1:14). By his grace God can dwell among in us in deep communion. Our God is an intimate God. 

      Deism is a belief system where God is believed to be disconnected from his creation. He may have created it and set things in motion, but he is not intimately involved with his work. He is not dwelling with creation. He dwells somewhere out there in the cosmos and we are on earth. But that is not the way the God of the Bible operates. He is right here with us. He dwells among his people, in the hearts of the faithful. He is at work in all of creation in a very intimate way.

      Second, mankind has two natures. There are two parts to being a human being, body and spirit. We have a physical aspect and a spiritual aspect to our being. Both are important. We cannot ignore either of our two parts. God wants us to take care of both, living a balanced life. Our bodies are the temple of the Lord (1 Cor 6:19). We must honor God with our bodies. We must offer up our bodies to God as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him.

      But we also need to take care of our spirits. That involves living in a vine and branch relationship with Christ. He is the vine. We are the branches (John 15:5). It involves feeding our souls with good things, like the word of God, faithful prayer and good, Christian Fellowship. We need to be strong in the grace of Christ Jesus (2 Tim 2:1). Then the spirit within us will be healthy and strong. Our souls will be nourished. We must thank God for breathing on us with his spirit.   

     I thank God for helping me to realize that I need to take care of both body and soul. We are surrounded by messages to simply take care of your body and the enjoy life with our bodies to the max. People are in the gym. They consume supplements. They are forever practicing mindfulness. They are obsessed with beautifying their bodies. If they cannot take care of their bodies they despair. I would be the same way. I would trying hard to focus exclusively on the preservation of my body to the detriment of my soul and my relationship with God. Focusing in on preserving my body is a losing game for my body is perishing away. My hip was severely arthritic. My other hip has a narrowing of the cartilage. There are other ailments. All of this is happening even with all my best efforts. I need to focus on my soul too.

     But Jesus taught me another way. Matthew 6:33 reads, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” The Bible teaches me, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2 ESV). The NIV version says “Fix your eyes on Jesus…” Take care of your body…yes…but don’t forget about your soul. Seek Jesus and God’s kingdom as top priority in your life and fix your eyes on Christ.

     We are not fully alive until God fills us with the breath of life. He breathes into us both physical and spiritual life. We cannot just think that our bodies are everything and our souls are nothing. It is quite possible to be biologically alive, but spiritually dead. In fact it is possible to be dead in one’s sins (Ephesians 2:1-3). Jesus once told a prospective disciple to “let the dead bury their own dead” (Luke 9:60).  And so, it is very possible to be biologically alive and yet be spiritually dead. Adam was not declared a living being until God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Then he became a living being.

      There is a hymn called, “Breath On Me Breath of God”, written by Edwin Hatch in 1878. The lyrics are a prayer.

1 Breathe on me, Breath of God,

fill me with life anew,

that I may love the way you love,

and do what you would do.

2 Breathe on me, Breath of God,

until my heart is pure,

until my will is one with yours,

to do and to endure.

3 Breathe on me, Breath of God,

so shall I never die,

but live with you the perfect life

for all eternity.

Prayer: “Father, I am only dust, so I cannot be proud nor self-reliant. But because your life is in me, I know that I am precious to you–and so are my neighbors and all human beings. I also know that I can find strength, new life and hope in you to live by faith and bring you glory.”

One Word: Made from dust–but God-breathed

Blessed People With A Heavenly Hope

1 Peter 1:39           
Kevin E. Jesmer                                    

Key Verse: 1:3-4               12-27-23

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” (ESV)

Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, thank you for granting us a living, real and solid hope in the Kingdom of God. This world is full of perishing things. My body is slowly perishing. My memory in this world will surely fade away. All of our works fade away. Our love for one another fades away. But I praise you Lord, for giving us a new birth into a kingdom that never, ever spoils and fades away. Please plant this glorious hope in my heart today. I thank you and I pray in Christ’s holy name. Amen!

Part 1:  New Birth Through Jesus’ Resurrection (3)

Verses 3 to 4 read, “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,…”

      In this first letter attributed to Peter, the apostle, writes to believers who were scattered throughout Asia Minor by persecution. He wanted to encourage believers who were suffering for Jesus’ sake because they were standing up for the gospel.  In this letter, Peter reminds us that Jesus suffered for us. Suffering cannot be avoided. Peter tells us that those who challenge the secular world with their “gospel centered” lifestyle can expect to suffer persecution. Christians nowadays may or may not have to endure persecution, but all will face suffering.

     One important way to stand firm in our faith in the midst of suffering is to have a heavenly hope. This is where God helps us to lift our eyes from the perishing things of this world and place them fully in his eternal Kingdom. Jesus makes this possible because when we are made into new creations (2 Cor 5:17), we are given a new identity, new hope and new life direction. We become dead to sin and alive in Christ.  We become children of God as well as his servants. We have a new hope in God’s Kingdom where we will live with Jesus for eternity in our resurrection bodies. (1 Cor 15). In this life, we have a new direction to live for God’s glory and expand the territory of his Kingdom. This is done by ministering the gospel and living a “gospel centered” lifestyle as we hold onto our heavenly hope. It is amazing! It is transformational! It is lifegiving! It is all made possible because of the wonderful grace of Jesus.

    How foolish it is to put our hope in the perishing things of the world. Why invest in things that cannot last? Perishing things only bring disappointment as they slip out of our fingers like sands in an hour glass. Once, we put our hope in worldly things, in jobs, in our societal systems, in our bodies and abilities or in relationships. We were slaves of fear because all that we hoped in was perishing, spoiling, and fading away (1 Peter 1:4b NIV) right before our very eyes. They were escaping from our grasp. Though we denied it, our hearts knew and were sad.

     Without God’ eternal hope, we are always losing something valuable. We loose loved ones, possessions, our homes, our health, and memories. Julie and I are trying hard to maintain our home. The furnace and air conditioner were recently replaced. The roof and the siding were done a few years back. The garage needs renovations as well as some electrical. It does not end. You fix some things up and it all deteriorates and needs to be fixed again. A big chunk of the income goes to home maintenance. That is because the home is perishing, spoiling, and fading away with us in it.

      Our relationships are subject to decay. Our beloved pets pass away after about twelve years. In our youth we visited our uncles, aunts, and cousins. We spent our valuable vacation time visiting family. But as you get older the visiting drops to zero and we lose touch. We actually lose all knowledge of family history and the good times we had as kids. Yet our hearts long for those times.

      Memories of our existence fade away to nothing too. Knowledge of who we were, is at the mercy of some future genealogist, or an obituary on the internet. Or, I have been seeing bronze plaques on headstones telling a couples’ short life story. Sometimes people write their own biography and have it printed as a paperback book which they hand out. My dad tried very hard to label slides of our first thirty years of our family. I really appreciate his efforts. But even his slides will fade away. Especially if my kodak slide projector breaks down or there is a fire in my house. Everything we hold dear is reduced to a picture. How sad! But that is the reality of life in this world. A reality we cannot escape outside of Christ. We all need something solid eternal to hold onto.

     Our bodies degenerate, getting weaker. When we are young, we think that we are immortal at the pinnacle of health. We tried enjoying this world to the max. But then aches and pains don’t leave. We get the diseases of the rich, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and insulin resistance and later, diabetes. Then comes wrinkles, arthritis, grey hair, and whole host of things. Dementia will set in for the majority of those who live long enough. Let’s face it, we are slowly dying physically and our demise will come sooner than we think. 

      I think that for us in the west, the slow deterioration of our bodies is the most frightening aspect of aging. Our heathy bodies are linked to our exercise of freedom and our desire for peace and pleasure. With our healthy bodies we travel, enjoy nature, seek friendship and intimacy. We also gain acceptance from our peers as we continue feeding the culture of youth. When their bodies perish spoil and fade away, most despair.

    Some people are in shock when their bodies get old. “How can this happen to me?” resonates in their minds. If we lose our youth, we panic. In the west we think that if we just exercise enough and eat healthy foods than we will not get old, or we can stave off aging for thirty more years. This is the fruit of secular humanism. But aging will come no matter how much we exercise. This philosophy of doing more and more exercising also makes us merciless. There are people with illnesses that are purely genetic. They cannot overcome on their own. They need lots of medical help. But there are some who will condemn them, saying, “It is all their own fault. They just did not exercise enough and they ate crap all their lives.” That may not be true and it is merciless judgement. One day the avid exerciser will be in a hospital bed and someone will say, “I guess they never exercised enough.”

     The fact is everything in this world is perishing, spoiling, and fading away. This should not surprise us. Our bodies are simply jars of clay that are cracking, crumbling, and disintegrating back to dust. They were never meant to live forever. They were meant to breakdown. It is inevitable. This helps us to cry out to God and place all our hope, faith, and trust in Christ.

      I have been having a rude awakening with my own body. I take regular meds for various chronic ailments. It is battle to keep the weight off. But the most recent debilitating illness was extreme arthritis to my right hip in December 2022. The pain started seven years ago and slowly progressed to the point where I could barely climb stairs or go for a hike. I exercised a lot for most of my life. I eat healthy and my work is constant exercise, walking and doing stairs. I stretched and swam. And so, shouldn’t I be well right up to one hundred years old? But no matter what I did, the pain in my right hip just got worse. I started taking pain meds just to go to go work. I kept putting off surgery because I thought I had a torn ligament. I also passed the cancer test. What is this cancer test you may ask? It is when you do nothing for your pain and If I was not dead after five years, then it was not cancer. I did nothing for my right hip pain. I reasoned, “I can still work, swim, and walk. I am mostly pain free 80% of the time, like when sitting down, walking on level ground, or sleeping. And so, I am o.k.” And so, the hip pain progressed to a debilitating point over seven years. But why should all of this surprise me. After all, the Bible says that my body is a jar of clay. It is expected. God is allowing this to happen, so that I can know my weaknesses, vulnerability and mortality and reach out to him in humble prayer.

Part 2:  Jesus Saves Me From This Decaying World (4)

      I did not despair about my worsening physical condition because of my Christian faith. I could have. Nothing was helping to stave off the pain in my right hip. Walking was a major part of my job, for I am a nurse. I was facing losing my job that I have had for thirty years or spending a decade behind a computer, gaining weight. I could have developed ulcers from taking Ibuprofen. What would I do then?

     Where would I be without Jesus’ amazing grace? I try my best to navigate this world and get some enjoyment from perishing things. But I know that these can never satisfy my soul. Where would I turn to when the emptiness sets in? Before meeting Jesus there would be no place to go. Everything in my life would be perishing, spoiling, and fading away. But by God’s grace I am no longer deceived.  I know where I can go. I can seek the Lord. I can take hold of my heavenly hope. I can engage my heart in eternal things, like Bible study, devotional writing, prayer, and ministering to others. I can draw near to God.

      Faith in Christ saved me. The Bible taught me that I am body and soul. My present body is just dust of the earth. My body was never meant to last forever in this world. God made it to be just a jar of clay. As a young man, before meeting Christ. I thought that this body of mine was more than just a jar of clay. I thought it was everything. I was like a single seed. God meant for that seed to fall to the ground and die and became many seeds. But I spent most of my life polishing that seed and keeping it on the shelf. (John 12:24) How foolish and how fruitless! Now, after coming to know Christ and understanding his eternal plan for all believers, I keep the value of my body in the proper perspective. My soul and relationship with Christ is of utmost importance.

      An dear elderly man passed away in 2020. He was getting increasingly frail. In his final years he was on 3 liters of oxygen and used a walker. It was hard for him to do basic things like grocery shop and laundry. He was a very self-reliant person all his life, He worked hard, enjoyed himself, invested his money.  He had a hard time enduring other peoples’ weaknesses. But in his later years he was made very aware about his own weaknesses. It humbled him. He became thankful for help. The lesson God wanted him to learn is that in this world, things are only perishing, spoiling and fading away.  He needed to cry out to Jesus for salvation and eternal life. I pray that he experienced death bed repentance and one day I will see him in heaven where we will both have brand new resurrection bodies.

    Our God is merciful. Look at verse 3 again, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,…” God could have left us to wander in our miserable, hopeless, condition all of our lives. I am thankful that he did not. Each day would be mind-numbing for me if that was the case. But God intervened into this fallen world by sending his One and Only Son, Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross and rise again (John 3:16) It was for his glory and for us, to rescue us from the perishing things of this world.

Part 3: God’s Eternal Hope is Assured By His Grace (5-9)

      God’s power guards our eternal inheritance. Look at verses 5, “who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  God not only keeps our salvation for us, but he also protects us by his power until we can claim it fully. For the believers in Peter’s time, this did not mean that they would be saved from death. Look at verse 6, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,…”  Many suffered privations and died as martyrs. God may choose to protect some from death. It is all according to his will. But we can be certain that God will bring us home to be with him. Our everlasting, almighty Father has made it so. His promise is sealed in the blood of Jesus. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:38-39) … nothing…not even ourselves! That is my faith every time I take communion at church.

     God is not going to prevent me from the affects of aging. He will not protect me from the slow erosion of diabetes, nor the aching pain of arthritis. He will not shield me from being ignored by loved ones because they are uncomfortable around my Christian faith. My body will perish in this world. But to be certain, because of Christ and his suffering, death, and resurrection, I will dwell with Christ in the everlasting kingdom of God. It is not about my disciplined Christian living. It is because of God’s power, grace, and love for me.

     We can see the point of all that God is doing in verse 7, “…so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Through all the suffering in life our faith is being forged. Our faith is being proved genuine. And when we get to heaven, Jesus will greet us and say, “Well done my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).  Yes, I had excruciating right hip pain. But I did not blame God, saying, “How could he let this happen?” God helped me to find spiritual meaning in each painful step. He strengthened my faith by gracefully providing for my surgery and recovery. Now I can comfort other patients in the hospital who have had their hip replaced. Jesus helped me to limp into church after a night’s work and serve him at church every week.  All of this strengthened my faith. I hope it gloried Christ. It was all by his power alone.

      The greatest outcome of living by faith in this perishing world is that we grow in our love for God. Look at verses 8 and 9, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Even though we have not seen Jesus, we love him. He is our source of joy. Even though we suffer painful and difficult trials, our faith grows brighter and purer because we love Jesus and he loves us. Even though we do not see him, we believe in him and are confident that he will keep all his promises. Jesus is everything to us. Where would we be without him? Without him there would no hope. But with him and his great love, we have everything! Especially, we have eternal life in Christ’s kingdom and strength and inspiration to live each day in this world as victors.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the living hope you have given me. Thank you for giving me your sure promise to hold in my heart as I live by faith in this world.

One Word: Love Jesus and live by faith.

Adele “Della” Jesmer Obituary

Obituary of Adele “Della” Rose Mary (Sawicki) Jesmer

Return to Ted and Della Jesmer’s page

     On November 10, 2023, in Winnipeg Manitoba, Adele “Della” (Sawicki) Jesmer passed away peacefully holding the hand of her daughter, Karen. She was 92.  Della was born on June 8, 1931, near Bield Manitoba to Leon John Sawicki and Emily (Dobranski) Sawicki. She was born into a farm-family where she had seven, half siblings and a brother, Ed. It was an active home where everyone spoke Ukrainian and English. There were large meals. Ed played the fiddle. They loved polka music and Ukrainian weddings. The family attended the Roman Catholic church where young Della won a bible for bible verse memorization.

    The family farmed in Bield until 1948 when the moved to Valley River, north of Dauphin. As a teenager, Della moved into Dauphin. She worked odd jobs, visited relatives, and attended dances in surrounding towns. She had a lot of dignity, always dressing well. She was close to her mother, Emily, who moved to Dauphin after becoming a widow.

       Several of Della’s siblings had moved to Toronto. In 1963, they encouraged Della to come there also. Della decided to go, but first she had to make a trip to Thompson, to say goodbye to her brother, Ed Sawicki, who had recently transferred there with INCO Metals. She would stay for a short time, taking a job at a lunch counter and enjoying her brother’s family with two young nieces. The time approached for Della to leave, when Ted stopped her in her tracks saying, “You can’t go because you will be marrying me.” They were married on December 7th, 1963. Immediately, they built their family. First came Kevin in 1964 and then Karen in 1965.

       Della’s career began with managing the Thompson Co-op Store in 1969. They operated out of a basement until 1970 when it moved into a double trailer. Later, it moved to a building at 32 Nelson Road. Della managed the store through each transition. She had never been a manager before and had a grade eight education, but agreed to do it for a short time. Well, that short time turned into two decades! She did a wonderful job managing a store with five full time employees and hundreds of loyal members.

     Della enjoyed cooking and hosting her brother’s family on holidays. She spoke two languages, English and broken Ukrainian. Della loved to garden and had a great work ethic. She loved good times with friends at socials and liked to swim. The family went on distant camping trips. She introduced her family to her Roman Catholic faith.

     Della and Ted retired in 1991 and moved to Winnipeg. She was happiest with her grandkids. They set up swings, wading pools, and their motorhome for them. They took the grandkids swimming to the city pool and surrounding beaches.

      Della was very caring. She and Ted had the names and birthdates of every grandchild on a list. They never failed to send birthday and Christmas gifts. Loving and serving her family was one of Della’s joys of life.

     Della and Ted kept busy in retirement. They danced at “Old Time” dance gatherings. Della loved it! They camped around southern Manitoba with the Good Sam Club. They regularly drove to Illinois to visit their grandkids. They went on several international trips, like Cuba (twice), Columbia, Venezuela, Thailand, and Ireland. They were able to drive the Alaskan Highway.

      In her final years Della become weaker. Ted took good care of her. After Ted’s passing in 2020, Della needed skilled nursing care. In the end, dementia took its toll. She passed away peacefully Nov 10, 2023. Della was the last of her generation.

      Left to mourn her passing are her children, Kevin Jesmer (Julie) of DeKalb Illinois and Karen Landon of Winnipeg. Della has seven grandkids, Jennifer Fulford, Augustine Jesmer, Sarah Jesmer, Hope Jesmer, Mark Jesmer, Britney East, and Zack Landon. Della would have been thrilled to have met her first great-grandchild, Corrie Fulford, who was born this September.

      We give our thanks to the nursing and support staff at Riverside Lion’s Estates and the Golden West Centennial Lodge run by the Salvation Army. An interment will be made at a later date at the Glen Lawn Cemetery on Lagimodiere Boulevard in Winnipeg Manitoba. There she will rest in peace alongside her husband, Ted.

Church Membership Photo
With Jen, Britney, and Sarah

Rosanna Nancy (Jessmere) Greenwood

Link to Benjamin and Nancy (Premau) Jasmin Duhaut

Louis and Mary (Jesmer) Kirkey

Mary married into the Kirkey family. I have also posts that Kirkey stands for Cartier. It could be an anglicized form of that name.

Link to Benjamin and Nancy Jasmin Duhaut, Mary’s parents

Children of Louis and Susanna Jasmin Duhaut

This couple had many kids, as did most French-Canadian Catholic families.

Link to Louis and Susanna Jasmin Duhaut’s main page

Infant Jasmin, Marie Suzanne Jasmin, Jean Baptist Jasmin (1.5 years old), Louis Jesmer, Jean Baptist Jasmin, Benjamin Jasmin, Antoine Jasmin, Joseph Jasmin (Jesmer), Julia Jasmin, Marie Jasmin, William Jessemain, Basile Jasmin, Catherine Jasmin (1year old), Augustin Charles or Justin Jasmin.

Mary (Jesmer) Kirkey

Marie Suzanne Jasmin

Amos V. and Lena Jesmer

 Amos V. and Lena Jesmer

Mark Terra-Thomas’ mother, Mary Alice Thomas (Jesmer) was the daughter of Amos V Jesmer the son of Benjamin Jesmer.


John Damas and Ann Jesmer (christianfamilyonchristsmission.com)

                                Different Names on the Internet

Amos Jesmer

Amos V. Jesmer

Lena (Shenell) Jesmer

Children of Amos and Lena

Russel Jesmer

Helen Jesmer

Rose Jesmer

Mary Alice (Thomas) Jesmer

Benjamin and Louise Jesmer

Benjamin Jesmer; son of John Edward and Ann Jesmer

Link to John Damase and Ann Jesmer, Benjamin’s parents

     Different Names on the Internet

Benjamin Jesmer

Benjimon Jessmer

Ben Jessimer

                                                          Louise Jessmer (born Felio)

Children of Benjamin and Louise (Felio) Jesmer

Bernadette (Jesmer) Christman

Tressa Lottie (Loukes) (Jesmer) Britton

Pearl M. Jelly

Amos V Jessmer