50 Now I say this, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will 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 will be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:50-52

We live with three unknowns, things of which we have no control, and God gives us a way to face these unknowns. In the face of the unknown, we must do three things: don’t sin, act righteously, and don’t betray God. 

One. We don’t know when we’re going to die. Look around you. We can’t predict the time and place a person leaves this earth. For some, it’s a long and expected path, and for others, it comes out of the blue. Healthy or sick, young or old, death comes without any warning. Life can go at any moment. And we cannot choose the way we go. Accident or illness or natural causes, we live each day faced with the possibility it might be our last. And that’s how we must live. What if today is my last day? Will I regret doing this? Is this worthwhile? We must put our lives in order and prioritize as if we will die tomorrow. How do we put our lives in order and live without regrets? We must avoid sin at all costs. Don’t sin! We must do the right things by God. Live righteously! And we must not betray God in our thoughts, intentions, and actions. Reconcile with God! 

Two. We can’t control our circumstances. In other words, we can’t control what we will encounter, good or bad. We can’t control life events. Things happen, and sometimes these events drive us to sin, make poor choices, and betray God. We can’t prepare for everything we encounter in life. An accident is, by definition, an unplanned event. But we can imagine, meditate, and pray about everything we see and hear. God shows us those things for us to prepare. Why did I happen to see that? Whatever situation we see, good or bad, we must think, “What would happen if that happened to me? Would it drive me to sin? Would I act righteously or throw God right out the window?” You see someone like Job suffering or someone with a deadly disease. How would you react if it happened to you? In the face of uncontrolled circumstances, would you hold fast to God? Whatever events come our way, we must not compromise on what God’s redemption did for us! We must stay sinless. We must be righteous. And we must stay connected to God.

Three. We don’t know the time or place of the Second Coming. We don’t know when God will come like a thief in the night. “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed.” We must live without regrets if Judgement Day comes. When the dead rise and Armageddon rages on Earth, will you be filled with regrets thinking, “If I knew this was going to happen, I would’ve done things differently!” If that’s the case, live as if He is coming today. Live without sin. Live righteously, and don’t betray Him!

We face many unknowns. “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” We don’t know when we’re going to die. We can’t control the events we encounter. And we don’t know the time of the Second Coming. But amidst all these unknowns, there are three things we can absolutely do in every situation, known or unknown, that will put us in a good place, a place without regret, fear, or God’s curse. Whatever comes your way, stay away from sin, act righteously, and be one with God. If we do these three things, God is our Father, and He will watch over and protect us. 

Click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1980-3-23-full