CONTENTS
I. Introduction 7
II. The Value and Purpose of Our Life 11
1. God and Human Beings 11
2. We Have Intelligence 12
3. We Have Spirits 14
4. We Are Created in God's Image 17
5. God Loves Us 21
6. God Never Wants Our Spirits to Perish 25
7. We Have Spiritual Desires 27
8. We Shall See God outside Our Body 31
9. God Has Determined the Times of History 33
10. God's Purpose Will Be Realized within the Period 34
11. We Have Come to the World in Order to Receive Eternal Life 36
III. The Human Fall and the Consequent
Punishments 40
1. Jesus Came in Order to Find the Lost Sinners 40
2. The Meaning of a Sinner 46
3. We Are Essentially Children of Wrath 48
4. The Heart of Corruption 51
5. Human Life is Abominable and Filthy 53
6. Transformation Through God's Life and Power 55
7. Human Righteousness Is Not Acceptable to God 57
8. Human Righteousness Is like a Soiled Garment 60
9. We Are Thoroughly Fallen 61
10. God's Judgement Comes After Death 66
11. Sin Surely Reveals Itself 71
12. The Eternal Hell Is Entered after the Judgement 74
13. The People Condemned to Hell 77
14. The Condition of Salvation 85
IV. God's Love Revealed in the Gospel 88
1. Eternal Life is the Purpose of Studying the Bible 88
2. What is the Law? 96
3. The Law Brings Us to a Self-Discovery before God 98
4. Those Who Rely on Observing the Law Are under a Curse 104
5. The Law and The Grace 107
6. God's Righteousness and My Righteousness 111
7. The Road to Salvation 112
8. The Christ Came in Order to Take Away Our Sin 116
9. God's Justice and God's Love 124
10. The Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World 127
11. One Died for All 131
12. Jesus Purified Our Sin 133
13. Eternal Redemption and Complete Salvation 135
14. God No More Remembers Our Sin and Lawless Acts 143
15. Salvation Is the Gift of God 149
V. The Way of Cain and the Way of Abel 151
1. The Way to Eternity and the Way of Life 151
2. The Narrow Gate and the Wide Gate 152
3. Two Kinds of Sacrifices 154
4. Faith Is to Hear and Understand the Message 158
5. Prayer of a Pharisee and Prayer of a Tax Collector 163
6. The Passover Lamb 168
7. The Christ Is the High Priest for Us 172
8. Redemption Is for the Sake of God's Glory 175
VI. Liberation from the Condemnation of the Law 180
1.Accusers of Jesus 181
2.Our Life Is under Condemnation 183
3. The Law Makes Us Realize Our Sins 185
4. God Sees the Sins in Our Hearts 186
5. Jesus Has the Authority to Judge 190
6. Jesus Takes Charge of Our Sin 192
7. Liberation from the Condemnation of the Law 193
8. The Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World 197
9. Leave Your Life of Sin 198
10. In the New Life 199
I. Introduction
In the preceding volume (The Way to God), we have seen in light of the
Bible that God is the Creator of the universe and all things therein and the
prime mover of the history. A good reading of the The Way to God must have
enabled you to understand the Bible as the word of God.
Although there are a great diversity of religions and religious
scriptures in the world, they all take the same basic stance that we receive blessing
by doing good works (or through ascetic practices). This is also echoed in a
Korean saying, An earnest effort can move the heaven. Unlike
other scriptures, however, the Bible was not made by human hands, nor does it
seek to teach doctrines or ethics of a specific religion. The Bible is the
truth given by God, the Creator of the universe, and tells us the path towards
salvation shown by God.
The words in the Bible have been fulfilled exactly as recorded
throughout the history, and surely the future of the world will unfold as
mentioned in the Bible as well. Because we know that the Bible and history have
been in agreement so far, we can hardly doubt that the future events will come
to pass as foretold in the Bible. Just as the universe follows God's law
whether we know it or not, so does the history move according to the Bible.
The Bible, which contains the past and future of the human history, not
only records the destiny of the humanity but also the eternal destiny of each
one of us. The Bible strikes fear in our hearts because it is the truth
revealing the living God and clear facts deeply concerned with our individual
destiny. Is it wrong to feel fear, however? No, it is very natural to tremble
while studying the Bible.
A lie of a false prophet need not be feared because it has never been
tested or realized; however, the Bible, written through inspiration of the
Spirit, must be feared because it has been tested and realized (Deu. 18:21,
22). Isaiah 66:2 says that God will take care of the one who is humble
and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my [God's] word.
He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command
is rewarded (Pro. 13:13).
Nobody will be happy when as a seriously ill patient he hears from a
doctor that he will die unless he quickly receives a surgery. He will be
greatly shocked. He will say, Although I have seen many people dying
out of sickness, I can't believe that I have such a serious sickness.
If the doctor keeps asserting his opinion, however, he will try to have another
accurate diagnosis. If this diagnosis confirms his serious condition, he will
have to make the hard decision. Will the sickness disappear just because he
keeps saying, I don't want to hear this. I don't need to think about
this. I think I am healthy?
You can heal your illness only when you know that you are ill. There is
a saying, It is not the unhappiness but an ignorance of your
unhappiness that truly makes you unhappy. If you know that you are
unhappy, then you can try to find happiness and will be able to find one. If
you do not know about your unhappiness, however, you will never be able to
escape from the plight.
We have serious problems with God and are under His judgement and
condemnation. Hence, we must understand our destiny and solve all the problems
through the Bible. The Bible tells us details about the human destiny and
eternal destiny of I among the humanity. Whether we like it
or not, it is God's word and God's decision.
Can we stop the rising sun by shouting, stop? Will
this scare the sun into a retreat? The sun rises irrespective of our wishes.
Nor can we tie up the sun setting in the west. Likewise, we have no way of
stopping our destiny from unfolding as determined by God and recorded in the
Bible. Because we are born as human beings and living in God's plan and
history, we have the responsibility of God's creature. Hence, rather than
trying to run away from God, we should try to go back to Him.
Although parents may want to give children something good, if children
go against the parents and run away from them, parents cannot give it to them.
The reason why we perish is not the sin and evil things opposing God but our
own betrayal of God's forgiving and saving love and our refusal to return to
Him. Whoever returns to God can find all the solutions in God. God wants to
give us eternal life and eternal hope. The problem is our own defiance of God.
This is a greater sin.
We should return to and kneel down before God, who has created and rules
over the universe, takes charge of our life and eternal destiny, and seeks to
save our souls. And we must receive God's forgiveness and grace of salvation.
For the plan and purpose of God's historical providence is to enable every
individual in history to understand God, plant God's love and life in them, and
make them God's children worthy of the eternal heavenly kingdom. Hence, a study
of the Bible that does not aim at salvation of the soul can only be a
purposeless work and betrayal of will of the Creator.
In a nutshell, the Bible is a set of words spoken about God's love. As
there is a hymn verse that goes, God's love for me is written in the
Bible, the most essential message of the Bible is God is
love. (1 John 4:8) The message proclaims that God unconditionally
loves all, even sinners. And it is Jesus who has manifested this love on earth.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not
send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through
him (John 3:16, 17).
When we sinned and became God's enemies, lost far away from God, He sent
His only son to us as a propitiation, thereby showing His love for us.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us (Rom.
5:8).
In the present volume, The Way to Eternal Life, I would like to explain
how we can attain eternal life by considering the miserable human destiny and
God's love.
II. The Value and Purpose of Our Life
1. God and Human Beings
The fool says in his heart, There is no God. They are
corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks
down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any
who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there
is no one who does good, not even one (Psa. 14:1 ~ 3).
We live in the world only for a short while, but as I look at people's
lives, they all have very much work and many desires. I think, however, that at
least once in our life, we need to ponder deeply about the value and purpose of
our lives, and what we must attain and what is the most important for us. I am
sure that our readers also have much work and a determined goal and are working
hard towards it.
We have come to the world certainly in order to attain something. But it
would not be just something visible, physical and practical such as things to
serve the body, which only has a short life. Animals are satisfied when they
have food, free and comfortable environment, their mates and conditions for
reproduction. Since we have a spirit, which seeks what is spiritual and
eternal, we can never be contented just with practical, material, and bodily
things. God has given us a spirit and intelligence, which animals lack.
2. We Have Intelligence
But no one says, Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the
night, who teaches more to us than to the beasts of the earth and makes us
wiser than the birds of the air? (Job 35:10, 11)
When a train roars by, frogs and insects by the track will have no idea
about how the train was produced, how it moves, and where it is going. With our
intelligence, however, we can know not only this but even more. We know that
the earth is floating in the space and running at an incredible speed of
108,000 kilometers per hour and that a galaxy contains one or two hundred
billion stars, and moreover there are over a hundred billion such galaxies.
Science is revealing more and more secrets of the universe.
Many people, however, neither ask about nor look for God, the source of
the great and unique intelligence of ours.
For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of
everything (Heb. 3:4).
If every house has its maker, and automobiles and airplanes their
manufacturers, the earth, the sun, the stars and the entire sublime universe
must have their Creator, and this is why we must know about God.
The fool says in his heart, There is no God. (Psa.
14:1)
Foolishness lies in having darkened reason and being unable to see
things as they are. Fools reject the truth and accept the lie, and mistake a
truth for a lie and a lie for a truth. Hence, they deny clear facts and insist
on their absurd views.
The greatest of all the fools in the world are those who deny the
existence of God. Who would believe you if you say that a house simply has
appeared on its own? How did all the trees and flowers come into being? How
about the birds in the sky, all kinds of fish in the water, and all kinds of
animals? How could they have sprung into existence spontaneously without God?
This magnificent universe is alive and moves in strict order harmony.
This is because the absolute Creator has designed and created it and is ruling
over it with His wisdom and power. The Bible says that God is sustaining
all things by his powerful word, (Heb. 1:3) and God's laws endure
to this day, for all things serve you [God]. (Psa. 119:91) All things
absolutely obey God's power and word. God has given us the intellect in order
that we may come to know about God.
Since we live in the world created by God, it is extremely important to
know and have the right relationship with God.
Success in life can be determined by whether we make a good human
relationship and maintain it well; hence, more important than making earnest
individual efforts would be to make a good human relationship with sincere and
able people. We may meet good and able people and live successful lives, or
meet wrong people and end our lives in failure.
When relationship has such importance in this life, how much more
important it is to form a good relationship with the eternal God? We cannot be
too concerned about knowing God correctly because it is a matter of our eternal
destiny.
Some people say, What does it matter whether I know about God
or not? Those believing in God may be living well, but so are those not
believing in God. Evil people and people ignorant of God may have a
trouble-free life on earth. The Bible says, He causes his sun to rise
on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
(Mat. 5:45) This is why their lives may be trouble-free. They will have no
problem eating food, breathing the air, and wearing clothes in the God's world,
for God has made it available to all humanity.
The problem comes, however, after the end of our short life on earth.
You may think, What is there to be feared after death? Isn't death the
end of everything? There is the eternal destiny
waiting for you after your death, however.
3. We Have Spirits
Unlike the other creatures, we have spirits. Plants just have life;
since they are without the sense, they have no pain when they are cut. Animals
have both life and senses, through which they can recognize their youngs and
feel hunger and pain. Human beings, however, have spirits.
A Chinese philosopher teaches, Human beings are the most
precious among all things in the heaven and earth. Why does he say
that human beings are the most precious? Some animals live for hundreds of
years, while we do not even live for a hundred years. Birds in the sky and fish
in the water seem to be more adorable, joyful, and free. Compared to this, how
miserable we human beings are, who struggle, suffer, and travail! Moreover, how
evil and base we human beings are!
Birds have no struggle over philosophy or ideal, and they can fly
wherever they want to because they know no national borders. Wild animals also
run freely through mountains.
If we only have the body, we are very much inferior to animals in many
respects. To say that human beings are the most precious means that they have
dignity, which is based on the spirit created for the plan and purpose of God.
Without the spirit, we are little different from animals.
Communists strongly insist on the theory of evolution, saying, Where
is the spirit? Rather, didn't Human beings evolve from apes? In a
conversation with Chinese communist party members, I heard about the theory of
evolution they had learned. I retorted, If it is true that apes have
evolved into human beings, shouldn't there be at least one ape somewhere in the
world that is in the process of evolving into human beings?
The modern science has revealed that what was discovered and presented
as a link between humans and apes is a fake. Now that the fallacy of the evolutionary
theory has been shown, evolutionists are unable to make strong claims. They
still hold on to the theory, however, in order to deny God the Creator.
Evolutionary theory is a theory of the devil, which denies God and
spirit and makes us think, What is so special about human beings? They
are just like animals. I can just live and die like an animal, thereby
leading us to fall. Why did we fall and become evil, and why do we have to live
in misery and in raging contradictions and lies? It is because our departure
from God and consequent loss of human value and purpose is giving rise to all
the sins. We must return to God, and start our lives again with God.
The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are
any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together
become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one (Psa. 14:2, 3).
Although God looks around to find someone seeking God, the fall has
deprived us of the ability to recognize God. Instead of animals evolving into
human beings, human beings, created in the image of God, degenerated into
animals. Look at the animals. Do they not always hold their noses and mouths
down to the ground, constantly looking for food? Human beings, who are supposed
to behold the above and have their ideals and hopes in the divine and eternal
world of God, have fallen, having hope on the earth and only living for such
hope. We have debased ourselves, and driven ourselves into falsity and misery.
Since we have left God and lost the intelligence through which to find
God, we have become unable to find God on our own.
Wherever there are people, there are religions. Religion is a human
striving to find God. It is said that there are eight million divinities in Japan .
Japanese people worship all kinds of objects. When asked if they are gods, they
say that of course they are not. When asked why, then, they serve them, they
say in order to find god, who must be somewhere. They are looking for God in
their own ways because they do not know about God.
We have a desire to find God. Despite such desire, however, since we
have lost the ability to know God and are unable to reach Him through our own
wisdom, He has shown us the way to come to Him.
God has given us the Bible as His revelation in order to inform us,
living in the physical bodies, that He is the absolute Creator and to teach us
about the plan and secret of God, purpose of creating us, His will towards us,
His forgiveness of our sins, and the way to reach Him. Hence, we must learn the
Bible and solve fundamental human issues through it.
4. We Are Created in God's Image
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, Be
fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the
fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that
moves on the ground. (Gen. 1:27, 28)
God created the universe and so arranged everything that life can prosper.
It says in the Genesis 1:2, Now the earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering
over the waters. We have learned at school that at the beginning of
the earth, there was a point in the process where the earth was a long-burning
fireball, with the lava rising up and simmering. The Bible calls it formless.
When it says, the earth was formless and empty, it calls empty
the state of the earth where there was no life, not even a grass leaf or
insect. It also says, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and
the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. As the earth gradually
cooled down, the fire went inside the earth, and the earth came to be
surrounded by a thick layer of vapor and clouds. This is why the Bible says
that God clothed the earth with clouds (Job 38:9). Vapor and clouds are all
water. When water was surrounding the earth, the Spirit of God was hovering
over the waters. Hovering over means that God was embracing
the earth as the hen broods on the eggs. Raw eggs only have the white and the
yolk, and yet after twenty-one days of brooding, chickens come out of them;
likewise, the Spirit of God was hovering over the earth in order to give life
to it.
In order to make it possible for human beings to live on the earth, God
brought forth light in the first day, and on the second day divided the waters
above and below the firmament, with the latter becoming the ocean, and the
former a transparent layer surrounding the earth. God made plants first and
then animals. It was for animals that God created the plants, without which
animals cannot survive. When you look at flowers, do they not boast of their
beauty? Why did God create them? Without the one to behold their beauty, they
will find themselves useless.
When a young lady goes out, she styles her hair, puts on cosmetics,
wears earrings and necklace, and pretty dress and shoes. If, however, there
were no one to behold and admire her, she would not take such pains to decorate
herself. The savory fruits on the trees are asking us to eat them.
Are plants and also flowers made for themselves? Flowers are there
because there are people to appreciate them, and fruits because there are
creatures to eat them. How about rice? They also exist to serve our appetite.
God created humans after creating according to their kinds the birds in the
sky, fish in the water, and all the creeping animals in the land. This is
because these creatures are made for us. In order for us to live, we need
plants and animals. Suppose there are only plants and no animals. It would be
quite boring if there were no cows, horses, dogs, pigs, birds, or fish. When
God commissioned humans to dominate the birds in the sky, fish in the water,
and all the moving creatures on the land, he meant that we could eat, use, or
do whatever we wanted with them. It is because all of them are made for us.
Why did God create us? God created us for the sake of God. When the
Bible says that we are created in His image, it is not referring to our
physical shape. As it says, God is spirit, (John 4:24) to be
made in God's image means to be made as spiritual beings. To be spiritual
beings means that we are divine and immortal like God so that we can be
glorified eternally with God. This is the purpose for which God has created us.
In other words, God has created us for the sake of His plan and purpose.
The creation in God's image contains enormously important and profound
secrets. Parents rejoice when they hear that their children resemble them. When
they hear, He looks just like his father, like an imprint,
they become very happy. You will run into big trouble if you say that the child
looks like someone living next door. Parents never say that because they are
ugly, their children should not resemble them but some handsome neighbor. When
they hear about children's taking after them, they are filled with joy.
Children are a part of the parents to inherit and continue parents' legacy and
life. To the children, who resemble parents, parents want to give everything.
Although we may not be able to give our children everything we desire
to, however, God can give us everything He wants to. Do you know why God
created us in His image? It is in order to give us everything. It is so that we
can live eternally like God, be glorified eternally with God, and receive
everything from God. How foolish it would be if we, created in His image with
such privileges, simply think that several decades of bodily life is all there
is and live for the flesh only!
God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to
himself... A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that
perish (Psa. 49:15, 20).
Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that
perish (Psa. 49:20 KJV).
To be in honor (KJV) is to be highly precious, and we
have honor because we have spirits created in God's image. his spirits is
created for the sake of God's plan and purpose. The message says that the one
who fails to realize how noble his spirits is is like the beasts that
perish. When we are created for eternal life with God and glory, says
the Bible, and yet fail to realize this and simply live for the body, seeing
nothing beyond it, we might just as well have been born as a beast.
It is because we have the spirits that the Chinese philosopher could
proclaim, Human beings are the most precious among all things in the
heaven and earth, as I mentioned earlier, and it is because of the
spirits that there can be a saying, Man is the lord of all creation.
The word lord here is translated into young jang in Korean,
where young(젤) means spirit, and jang(鈐) means long, adult or supervisor. Hence, this word means that
we live long because of the spirit. We are the most precious of all creation
because we have spirits in the image of God, which make us immortal.
Just as we can see our faces only through a mirror, so can we see who we
are only by coming to know God. Ignorance of God leads to ignorance of our own
value, and ignorance of our value leads to ignorance of our purpose of life and
hopelessness. In hopelessness, we pursue almost anything to serve our selfish
goals, saying, What is so special about man? I live and die, and there
is no more.
In Korea ,
once there was a group of youths in the early twenties called Chijon
Faction, which indiscriminately committed homicides. When I saw them
on TV, they were really young. They took random people on the street, killed
them, cut them in pieces, and burned them. They built a burning facility and
were even trying to buy machine guns to slaughter even more people. It even
seemed that they had been born for murder. Initially, they hated the Oranges
and Yatas, (playboy groups of Korea ) and decided to butcher them.
After all, they were all arrested. People thought that when they were scolded, You
murderers, did you think you could slay so many people and still be safe?
they would bow down their heads and say, We are sorry, we deserve to
die. On the contrary, however, they held up their heads straight, and
even shouted back their voices, saying, How much longer can we live,
fifty years? What does it matter whether we live fifty years more or die
earlier? That seems right. Since they were in the early twenties, they
had fifty years before reaching seventy. It occurred to me that if physical
death was the end of everything, they were right, and it did not really matter
whether we lived here a few decades longer or retired from life a few decades
earlier. Is death the end of everything, however? Definitely not. All the
members of the Chijon Faction were executed.
Afterwards, there appeared something called Mack Ga Faction.
The Korean word mack ga here means to live and die
recklessly. Why do such impetuous people appear? Because they had lost sight of
the true human value and made themselves evil through ignorance of the spirit,
even such heinous crimes could not move them to shame and regret. If one loses
sight of his own value, he thinks light of others' lives and destroys them
indiscriminately as if killing flies. All sins sprout from being ignorant of
the human value and dignity.
5. God Loves Us
O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think
of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow (Psa. 144:3,
4).
If we are to know who we are, and what our worth and purpose are, we
musk ask God, our Creator. Human beings cannot solve fundamental human problems
themselves. It is of no use to ask philosophers. Can a cow ask another cow what
its prices are these days? Can a black pig ask a white pig how much it is going
for? Neither cows nor pigs know their own prices. Their prices are determined
by human beings. Since it is up to humans to eat them, use them, or do whatever
with them, humans are free to raise or lower the animal prices.
How about the human worth, then? Can we fix the worth ourselves? As the
saying goes, There is no man above man, nor any man below man,
below us there are animals, and above us God. Hence, our worth is set by God.
In order to know who on earth we are, we must ask God.
Sincerely ask God the following difficult questions: God, why
did you create us human beings? Why did you not make us more perfect, but so
wretched that we are tormented by ourselves? Why did you create the world in
such complexity? If you indeed exist, why do the immoral get ahead of the
virtuous, and the good suffer injustice? Why is the truth being trampled upon,
while contradiction and unrighteousness engulf the world like surging waves?
Some people harbor grudges in their hearts for life and die undeserved death,
what a contradiction! God will answer these questions for you in the
Bible.
In the book of Psalms, we meet a person sincerely asking these questions
to God. Asked why the wicked are always carefree, they increase in
wealth, God answers that He will cast them down to ruin
after death (Psa. 73:12, 18). As Job says, They spend their years in
prosperity and go down to the grave in peace, (Job 21:13) (They spend
their days in prosperity, and suddenly go down to Sheol, NASB) although they
may have glamorous life in the world, they will be condemned to hell after
death.
If we just look at the world, it is full of contradictions. This is what
inspired Nietzsche to proclaim the death of God. He argued that to acknowledge
the existence of God was to profane His name, for God could not have made such
a wretched world. This sounds quite convincing. The Bible, however, has answer
for this. When will be the time when good is repaid with good, and evil with
evil? It will not be in this world. The several decades of human life on earth
is but an instant in the eyes of God of eternity. Therefore, at the moment, He
leaves alone the contradictions and injustice in the world because there will
soon be eternal judgement upon all the good and evil.
The poet in the Psalm 144 asked, What is man that you care for
him, the son of man that you think of him? He also inquired why God
loved us when we were so vile and insignificant. If you are a miserable person,
and yet a noble one such as king loves you and bestows favors upon you, you will
feel so out of place and say, Who am I that you bless me with such
generous favor? In the eyes of God, the Creator of universe, humans
are not even as important as insects or dusts. What would the Creator of the
immense universe think when He sees you and me, living in a tiny corner of the
small earth? Isaiah 40:15 says, Surely the nations are like a drop in
a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as
though they were fine dust. If nations are like water drops, people
must be almost nothing at all.
Nevertheless, God loves us deeply, and the Bible says, For God
so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16) Since God loves
each one of us, God gave His only Son and led him even to death in order to
save our souls from destruction and guide us to eternal life. To love the world
means to love the people in the world. Even if there were no one but me in the
world, still Jesus surely would have come to save me. We should know that God
loves one person and the entire mankind with equal love. We are unable to give
equal love to one person and hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of
people. Since we are imperfect, we cannot even memorize their names. God,
however, sees no difference between loving one person and the six billion
people around the globe. He determines the number of the stars and
calls them each by name, (Psa. 147:4) and even counts our hairs
(Mat.10:30). In short, there is nothing about us God does not know.
Even before our birth God knew all about us. Since God knew that we were
going to commit sin and go to hell, He sent His only son in order to deliver us
from ruin and give us eternal life. God so arranged that those realizing and
believing in God's grace would receive eternal life, and this is the love of
God.
Parents love their children even before their birth. When a wife becomes
pregnant, the couple start talking about the child: Honey, how shall
we name the child? Let's make it so and so if it's a boy, and so and so if a
girl. Let's be well prepared with baby's clothes, wrapping blankets, and so on.
Which school shall we choose for the baby, and how shall we raise it?
Parents also draw pictures about the future of the child. The fetus has no idea
about who the parents are and how much they love it, and yet parents love it.
Likewise, even when we were ignorant of God, He still loved us. No matter how
grave our sin is, God's love is larger than our sin. It is for no other reason
than that we have spirits created according to God's holy plan and purpose that
God loves us so much. Parents love their own children albeit the children may
be uglier and more troublesome than neighbors' children. If their lives are
threatened by a sickness, parents are agonized. Even handicapped people receive
love and sympathy from their parents. No matter how heavy the burden of our sin
may be, God does not want our spirits to go to hell, for although He loathes
sin, He loves us. It may seem that human life is vain, passing by like a
shadow, and yet in such life there is the spirit, which is precious in God's
eyes.
For I am honored in the eyes of the LORD... (Isa. 49:5)
It may be that I am nothing in my own eyes, and even less in others'
eyes. God, however, finds me dear. Without understanding this, that God created
us for our spirits and loves them so deeply, we make ourselves miserable and
bestial, and perish.
Five-year-old Bok Nam
in a small village is a slow boy with runny nose and a loser who gets beaten by
other children and cries. When he goes home, however, he is the only son in a
family that has had only one son for seven generations, a son that is as
precious as a jewel and the sole heir of the family. Each one of us is like a
jewel for God.
6. God Never Wants Our Spirits to Perish
For this is what the high and lofty One says - he who lives forever,
whose name is holy: I live in a high and holy place, but also with him
who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to
revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse forever, nor will I always
be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me - the breath of
man that I have created. (Isa. 57:15, 16)
God, the high and lofty One (meaning He is the highest
with none higher than Him) and who lives forever, whose name is holy
has said that he lives in a high and holy place, but also with him who
is contrite and lowly in spirit. Although He dwells in the high and
holy place, He sees the lowly humans, and stays with those who are contrite and
humble. To be contrite and lowly in spirit means to realize
being a sinner and desire to be forgiven by God after committing a sin. This is
to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the
contrite. However malicious a crime a child has committed, if the
child sincerely begs for forgiveness, the parents would never put him to death.
Although all the other people may think that the child more than deserves
death, when asked about the child the parents will surely plead, Please
save him. Please save him. He is a deviant man, but he is my precious son.
Love transcends law. God saves unconditionally all the sinners who sincerely
seek forgiveness and aspire to salvation. This is God's love.
At the time of Jesus, the worst criminals were nailed to the cross
alive. Although Jesus was crucified innocent, the other two on the cross,
murderous robbers, had committed a great deal of crimes. One robber challenged
God and derided Jesus until death, saying, If you are truly the Son of
God and have saved many from death, why can't you save yourself? If you are
God's Son, come down from the cross right now, and save me as well.
The other robber, however, rebuked him and said, You and I deserve
death for our crimes. But this man is innocent. Do you not fear God yet?
Seeing Jesus praying for sinners even while dying in pain on the cross, he came
to believe that Jesus was God's Son and righteous man dying for the sake of
sinners, whereupon he became struck with the fear of God and realization of his
sin to hurl him down to hell. Thus, he seriously repented and entrusted his
soul to Jesus at the moment of death, asking Jesus to have pity on him and
remember him in his kingdom.
If I were Jesus, I would have said, You want to go to the
heavenly kingdom when you have killed and committed evil deeds for all your
life? and yet Jesus allowed the robber to accompany him to the
paradise that day. Because Jesus said it, the robber surely went to the
paradise. His salvation is at the same time our own salvation. We are saved
unconditionally through God's grace. The merciful love of God saves any sinner
as long as he truly desires salvation. This is why God dwells with the penitent
and humble and saves their souls, created in God's image. As He says, I
will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man
would grow faint before me - the breath of man that I have created, He
never wants the spirits He has created to perish.
When the first human ancestors committed sin in the Garden of Eden, God
cursed the earth, and gave the woman the pain of child labor, and the man the
toil of work. It is not because God hated human beings that He cursed the land
and subjected them to the travails and death. The Bible says, For he
does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.
(Lam. 3:33) Parents scold and sometimes discipline children not out of hatred
but in order to help them repent and change their ways and lay aside
foolishness. Likewise, God has given us pain so that we can repent our sins and
drop the attachment to the earth, cursed through sin. God cursed the land and
subjected us to pain in order to help us realize the hopelessness of the earth
and return to God, thereby embracing eternal hope. To say I will not
accuse forever means that that God will not be angry with us forever.
He had wrath for a short while and gave us pain and discipline, and yet this is
not forever. God's will is to bring us to eternal life with Him.
7. We Have Spiritual Desires
My spirit, created in God's image for the sake of God's holy plan and
purpose, is my true self. Some people regard their body as the only self, and
do their utmost to take care of it, assiduously feeding and clothing it. They
eat whatever is supposed to be good for health such as natural food, and take
medicine even for slight sickness; they decorate their bodies, adorning their
faces and even receiving cosmetic surgeries to remove wrinkles. They, however,
have no idea about the existence of the spirit, and thus make no preparation
for the spirit.
According to Jesus, when a rich man accumulated much wealth to last for
many years and said to himself, I have plenty of good things laid up
for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry, God said to
him, You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.
Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? Jesus then
says, This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for
himself but is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:19 ~ 21) Our spiritual
needs are not met by material things.
As I mentioned at the beginning, animals are satisfied when there is
food, comfortable environment, and mate to reproduce with. They have no needs
beyond bodily drives.
Human beings, however, are never simply contented with fulfillment of
physical conditions. One may say that a beautiful house, sumptuous food and
clothes, and great cultural facilities will make a family happy, but will not
bring them full happiness. For we have a spirit as well as the body, and thus
spiritual needs in addition to bodily ones. Spiritual needs will not be met by
material things. We come to commit all kinds of sins when we try to resolve our
spiritual longing through the body and thereby get into excess.
As the Bible says, May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify
you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Th. 5:23) human beings have
the body, the soul, and the spirit. The bodily desires are for food, sex,
honor, etc. The soul refers to the emotional and mental activities, and desires
of the soul are manifested through knowledge, love, noble thoughts, and so
forth. The desire of the spirit is to find God, however. Hence, Romans 1:19
says, Since what may be known about God is plain to them. We
have a desire to find God, while animals do not.
Also, among the desires of the spirit is the pursuit of goodness. As
Romans 2:15 says, Since they show that the requirements of the law are
written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their
thoughts now accusing, now even defending them, when we commit a sin,
our conscience accuses us. Our conscience says, You wretched soul, you
should not take others' possessions. You should not steal or do other evil
deeds. This is why the Bible says that conscience is law written
in their hearts. (Rom. 2:15) Conscience pursues goodness.
Finally, the desires of the spirit include yearning for the eternity. He
has also set eternity in the hearts of men. (Eccl. 3:11)) While the
flesh seeks and is satisfied with what is visible, practical, and material, the
spirit seeks what is eternal, complete, and divine. Since the spirit is created
in God's image, it will not be satisfied until it becomes like God.
In the old China ,
when Xi Taihou(the Chinese Queen) was ruling the land for forty years, she made
an artificial lake in Peking . The lake was so
immense and boundless as to look like an ocean, and yet it was created in
purely human hands. When there were no excavators or trucks, they dug out all
the earth, erected a mountain, and built a magnificent palace on it.
The Forbidden City was a palace
of Chinese
We will experience no fulfillment until we become like God. To be like
God does not mean to become God himself, but to become able to live eternally
like God. When we are saved, we will become like God, receiving glory with God
and experiencing full contentment. It would not be just the rich man mentioned
by Jesus that tries to serve his spiritual demands with bodily things, saying, You
have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink
and be merry. The people like him do not understand our spiritual
desire.
If we give a candy to a child who has lost his mother and is crying, the
sweetness of the candy may be able to silence the child for a while;
momentarily, however, he will burst into tears again, crying out for the
mother, and this time throwing away candies and toys. He will never be pacified
until he finds himself back in the mother's embrace.
Since we have lost God, we have the desire to find God, and this
spiritual thirst will never be quenched by anything that is of the world until
death. This is why God said to him, You fool. Those who deny
the existence of God and those who try to appease the spiritual longing by
following the bodily drives are all absurd. God continued, This very
night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have
prepared for yourself? Although we may pile up riches as if we could
live for tens of thousands of years, God can claim our spirits any time, even
tonight.
As for the heads of states and people in high positions, after their
retirements they will receive special treatments and have plenty of nice food
and clothes for the rest of their lives. This should be enough to make them
happy, and yet why do many of them try to amass enormous wealth as if they
could use it for thousands of years and as if to inherit it to thousands of
generations? Because people have a desire to become like God, they find no
satisfaction no matter how much they have. If you have a building, you will
then want to have another, and if you have two, you will then want to have ten.
If you have a new car, you will next want to have a better model. And then you
will start thinking that perhaps a private airplane may satisfy you completely.
Even with all these things, however, you will still find yourself hungry.
8. We Shall See God outside Our Body
And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh(1) I will see
God... (Job 19:26)
I will see God outside my body (Korean Bible).
And after my skin has been destroyed... When we die
from old age, sickness, or accident, our hearts will stop, and our corpses
start rotting. However beautiful or famous a person may have been in this life,
death will return him to earth. When the body decays, what departs from the
body? It is the spirit, rising from the body towards God.
And the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns
to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7).
It is death that separates the body from the spirit. The body returns to
dust after death. Since it is made out of earth, it goes back to earth (Gen.
3:19), while the spirit returns to God, from whom it came from. Even those who
deny the existence of God will have to meet God very soon. The problem is that
we must stand before God prepared.
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring
forth (Pro. 27:1).
Even healthy and young people can meet a sudden death, not to mention
sick and old people. Some people may live long, but none more than several
decades. But death is not the end of everything, for thereafter we must go to
God, receive judgement, and proceed to hell or heaven for eternity. My hands,
feet, body, face, etc. are but my shells. Just as people live inside a
building, so does the spirit dwell inside the earthen house (Job 4:19).
As in the verse, And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in
(outside) my flesh I will see God, after death the spirit actually
rises from the body and meets God.
I have met four people who have died and come back to life. Among them,
a grandmother from Mokpo
died and revived in two days, on the eve of the funeral. She told me in detail
what had happened during her death. Another person was a fifty-seven-year-old
man living in Panwol, a city near Su Won. Amid his sickness, his heart stopped,
and he died, after which he saw his own dead body, said he. He said he saw his
family members sitting and crying around his body, covered with a sheet, and it
was real and not a dream.
I have also heard about someone who had served for forty years as a
doctor in the Soviet Union and who had
patients with an experience of reviving after death. The doctor's notes of
their after-death stories have been on the newspapers. According to the
stories, it takes about five to fifteen minutes to move from life to
death, during which people vividly experience the process of leaving the world.
After the departure, they come to look down upon their own corpses.
American doctors also collected after- death stories, which talk about the auto-scope,
whereby the dead people can see their own bodies and people around them so that
they can tell who those people were after waking up from death. This is
identical with what I heard. Furthermore, the SBS-TV's program I Want to Know This,
which features people coming back from death, also gives same accounts. The
other world surely exists, and many people have experienced it.
9. God Has Determined the Times of History
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the
whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places
where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps
reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For
in him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:26 ~ 28).
When it says, From one man he made every nation of men, that
they should inhabit the whole earth, it means that we are the
descendants of one person, Adam. It is true that we are all descendants of
Adam. Human beings and apes are not of the same lineage, so there is no ape
with the same blood as ours. Human beings, however have the same blood, whether
they are from Asia, Europe, Africa, or United States . If the blood types
match, an African's or American's blood can be transfused into a Korean, and a
Korean's blood into a European without any problem. Not even a drop of monkey's
blood, however, can be inserted into the human blood vessels.
Determined the times... To determine the times means
that God set the beginning and end of history. As it says, In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Gen 1:1), and I
saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away; and there was no longer any sea (Rev. 21:1), God has
decreed that the history come to an end when the time comes that is set by God
instead of continuing endlessly. What do you think will happen to human history
after a few hundred or few thousand years? Doubtlessly, the earth will have
turned into a living hell.
O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the
work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out
like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be
changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end (Heb 1:10 ~12).
The earth is bound to perish according to this word. As we have examined
in the first volume, The Way to God, we are living in the final age of history.
God has determined the times of history and the the exact
places where they should live. In other words, God has decreed that we
live within the earth during the ordained duration of history.
The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to
man (Psa. 115:16).
God has commanded us to conquer the earth while living on earth and not
the heaven. No matter how far science develops, we cannot emigrate to the Moon,
Mars, or Jupiter. For God does not allow us to conquer the heaven. When the
time of God arrives, the history of the earth will come to a close. God has
determined the bounds of human habitation so that men would seek him
and perhaps reach out for him and find him He does not abide far away
from us.
10. God's Purpose Will Be Realized within the Period
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under
heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to
uproot... (Eccl. 3:1, 2)
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the
heaven... (KJV)
To determine the time of the earth is the same as there being a time for
everything. To say, There is a time for everything, and a season for
every activity (purpose) under heaven means that the purpose will be
realized within the set period. Would there not be God's purpose during this
period of history? History has a purpose, and so does the life of each of us.
The purposes for which God has created our life and God leads the history are
closely interconnected.
What is the purpose of history?
The human history exists in order to prepare the people to enter the
heavenly kingdom. Therefore, when the gospel has been spread throughout the
world, and the number of the people to enter the heavenly kingdom through
salvation has been filled, the history will conclude. As a skylark builds a
nest, lays eggs, hatches the youngs, and flies away with them, never to return,
when God's purpose of history is realized, He will eliminate the earth because
He has no more use for it. As a temporary building is demolished after the
completion of the main building, the heaven and earth we see now will be
removed like a temporary building once the people have become ready to proceed
to the new heaven and earth.
Just as countless people have come and gone throughout the history, so
will you and I. Then, what is the purpose of our existence in history? The
purpose of human life converges with that of history. We do not live for sin,
nor for suffering or some worldly pleasure. Our purpose is not determined by
us, for it has already been by God. In short, our several decades of life on
earth is for the sake of preparing ourselves to go before God by coming to know
God, receiving salvation of the spirit, and living a life worthy of children of
God. When the people of the heavenly kingdom have been prepared after the long
history, God's purpose is fulfilled, and the history will close.
11. We Have Come to the World in Order to Receive Eternal Life
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity
in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning
to end (Eccl. 3:11).
God has created everything beautifully according to different times; for
instance, flowers blossom in the spring, and fruits such as melons and
watermelons provide coolness in the summer. Summer fruits such as watermelon
are low in calories, and their rich water content helps people, who sweat much
in the summer. Because they go bad quickly, they must be eaten soon. Autumn
fruits, on the other hand, are storable so that they can be kept for food
through the winter. By the time we run out of them, God provides us with new
fruits of the next year. This shows us the remarkable reason with which He has
created the whole nature.
God, who has created everything beautifully according to seasons, has set
eternity in the hearts of men, that is, endowed the human beings with
a yearning for the eternity. When there is a yearning heart, there is bound to
be the object of the yearning, just as when there is a thirst, there is water
to quench it, and when there is hunger, there is food to satisfy it. When a
baby is born, he looks for milk, although he has never learned that there is
milk or how to suck milk; while giving him a desire to suck milk, God has also
provided the mother's breasts for the baby to suck lying comfortably in her
arms. Moreover, the temperature, nutrition, and taste of the breast milk are
designed to fit the growing baby's needs exactly. This is revealed in a
research showing that the nutrition content of breast milk changes over time as
the baby grows, at the time of his birth, after one hundred days, and after ten
months, for instance. This is another skillful work of God. When you enter the
puberty, a desire for members of the other sex sprouts forth in your heart. A
yearning heart is never without the object yearned for. When our hearts have a
desire, there is bound to be an object that can fulfill that desire.
Why has God given us such a yearning for the eternity? It is because we
possess a spirit, which never dies, and there are eternal world, eternal truth,
and eternal God. God has created us in His image and instilled in us a desire
to seek the eternity in order that He may give us that eternal, complete, and
holy world, which is God's everlasting kingdom. Just as there is a song called,
I want to live with you forever, we have a desire to live
with God endlessly.
We are thirsting for eternal life.
Why have we come here to the world? We have come in order to attain
eternal life. Why did Jesus come to the world? He came in order to open for us
the way to the eternal God. This is why Jesus said, I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(John 14:6) It is surely the Bible that teaches the way to eternal life.
The truth of the Bible leads to life. We have come in order to find that
way, realize that truth, and attain that eternal life. We may lose or give up
many things, but we should never lose the eternal life that Jesus seeks to give
us.
After a short while, all of you and I will have left this world and find
ourselves in an eternal abode.
The Bible says, Man is destined to die once, and after that to
face judgment... (Heb. 9:27) Although the body returns to dust, the
spirit ascends to God, receives His judgement, and moves on to an eternal
place. The heaven is an eternal place, and so is the hell. However, in the
heaven we live in everlasting glory with God, whereas in hell we suffer
never-ending agony with devils. We are to go to one of the two places, between
which light and darkness, life and death, truth and deception, and happiness
and misery are perpetually divided. We must choose between going to the heaven
by receiving the eternal life from Jesus and going to hell by losing the
eternal life.
Where would you like to go? Where would you spend your eternity? You
work so hard, strain yourselves, and make assiduous preparations for the sake
of the several decades of your life in this world, and yet why are you so
nonchalant about the eternity of your life?
Our short earthly life is but a process of preparing to advance to the
eternal world. Just as there is tomorrow after today, so is there another world
after this world. Today is the time to prepare for tomorrow. We are here to
find the way to the eternal world, and those who have found it are surely
blessed with true happiness.
III. The Human Fall and the Consequent Punishments
1. Jesus Came in Order to Find the Lost Sinners
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors
and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the
Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, Why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'? On hearing this, Jesus said, It
is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this
means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners. (Mat. 9:10 ~ 13).
At the time of Jesus, there were many Jews who were known for their
devoted service to God. Priests, elders, and lawyers kept the sabbath
meticulously, made strict tithing, fasted twice a week for God, and worked hard
to save souls. They made long prayers and strove to live by the law. Even the
most diligent religious practitioner today would find himself belittled by the
religious fervor of the priests, lawyers, or Pharisees at that time. In
contrast, there was another group of Jews who were considered low life
in today's expression. Publicans, as running dogs of the Romans, collected
groundless taxes, offering some to the Romans and keeping the rest for
themselves, similar to some of those tax officials of today who take from the
national treasure and stuff their own pockets. There were also prostitutes and
sinners who mingled with the tax collectors, who could not have used the unjust
money in a decent way. These sinners could not be in the company of the
aforementioned people of dignity, for they took pride in their own holiness and
disdained those sinners.
Jesus, however, went to sinners' homes and befriended them, eating and
talking with them. This is how Jesus earned the devout people's accusation.
They reasoned that if Jesus was from God, as he revived the dead, healed
lepers, and opened blind eyes, he should be with them, and even more so if
Jesus was intent upon initiating a political movement to revive Israel. To
their disappointment, however, Jesus was indifferent towards political matters
and simply mingled with sinners. This is why they complained to disciples of
Jesus why their teacher was eating with the tax collectors and sinners.
When he heard this, Jesus replied, It is not the healthy who
need a doctor, but the sick. Does a doctor need to visit a healthy
person? Doctors are for sick people. Jesus is a doctor of spiritual disease
rather than physical. Spiritual illness means sin.
Sickness weakens and pains people, eventually bringing them to death.
Many people die from illness. Sin, on the other hand, separates us from God,
makes us fall, and eventually brings us to the hell. To say that Jesus came to
save the sinners means that he came to extirpate sin.
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).
But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And
in him is no sin (1 John 3:5).
Jesus said, For I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners because the priests, lawyers, elders, Pharisees, and scribes
thought that they were earnestly serving God and therefore righteous. They may
have been righteous in others' eyes as well, but definitely not in God's view.
Because they were self-righteous, Jesus did not associate with them. Jesus
befriended those who knew of themselves as sinners.
When Jesus was teaching God's word, elders questioned with what
authority he taught, whereupon Jesus answered, The tax collectors and
the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. (Mat
21:31) Since the tax collectors and prostitutes had nothing righteous to show,
but only sins, they could easily recognize their being sinners, which made
their salvation that much easier. You have to be a sinner to be saved from your
hell-bound fate.
How wonderful it will be if there is a doctor who can cure all the
sicknesses! If there is a doctor who can heal the so-called incurable illnesses
such as cancer and AIDS, all the patients will rush to see him. They will have
to. Jesus is a doctor of the spirit, who can save any sinner.
Why did the Jewish religious leaders reject Jesus, when he can save any
sinner?
Born as members of the chosen, they earnestly observed the sabbath,
offered tithing, piously worshipped in the temple, fasted for God, and did
alms. They were admired by the people as sacred religious dignitaries. They
were already assured of their own righteousness. Hence, they did not feel the
need for salvation, and adamantly refused to admit that they were miserable
sinners fated to eternal hell after death. This is why they oppressed Jesus.
We can see from the Bible that while the religious leaders persecuted
Jesus and failed to receive salvation, grave sinners such as tax collectors and
prostitutes were saved. This is ironical, and yet true.
The Bible relates that a murderer and robber crucified besides Jesus was
saved (Luke 23:39 ~ 43). Cross was a means to publicly execute serious and
vicious criminals in the Roman colonial period.
When Jesus was nailed to the cross, two robbers were crucified with him
to his right and left. One robber derided and berated Jesus until the moment of
death: Jesus, when you claim yourself to be the Son of God, and have
raised the dead and healed lepers, why are you getting killed on the cross like
a dumb? If you are God's Son, jump off the cross right now, and try to save me
as well.
The other robber must have committed all the horrible crimes just the
same way throughout his whole life, and heard about Jesus. He saw that while
people around Jesus including the robber on the other side were,
finger-pointing, spitting at, and ridiculing Jesus, Jesus did not fight back or
curse them. He also saw Jesus praying, Father, forgive them, for they
do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34) Such experience must
have convinced him that Jesus was the Son of God.
When the first robber was laughing and cursing at Jesus, the other
robber rebuked him: Don't you fear God... since you are under the same
sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.
But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. (Luke 23:40 ~ 42)
Before death one robber had faith in God and fear of God. He realized
that Jesus was the savior sent by God, who was praying for sinners and able to
save them all. He desired to entrust his spirit to Jesus at the closing of his
life, that is, in front of the gate of the hell. This naturally produced his
plead: Jesus, please remember me when you arrive at your kingdom. Your
grace can save me.
Did Jesus say, No. You have been committing vicious crimes all
your life, and you still desire an admission to the heavenly kingdom? It is too
late for you? No. Jesus did not even utter a word of blame. Instead,
he said, today you will be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)
We can have no doubt that the murderer and robber received salvation
because Jesus does not speak lies. It is amazing that a robber with heavy sin,
who neither had had time to do good deeds nor served God, directly received a
promise of salvation from Jesus. Upon the death of Jesus, he ascended directly
to the paradise with Jesus.
No sin is too heavy for salvation. Everyone will receive the same
salvation from Jesus as the robber did. It is only human opinion what kind of
sinners we are, but the power of salvation lies with God, the Creator of heaven
and earth. It is important to know that the giver of salvation is not the
sinners themselves but God. Redemption is entirely God's business.
Some people say, I have such an atrocious sin that I am not
free to believe in Jesus. I will start going to church after I stop doing bad
things, discontinue drinking and gambling, and change my hearts. This
is like saying, I cannot take a shower because I have too much dirt. I
will wash it off with tap water first. There is no one so seriously
sinful that Jesus cannot save him.
What we must do before attaining salvation is to deeply feel the need
for salvation. We simply have to feel its need sincerely and desire it. This is
all we have to do, just as all that a drowning person can and must do is to
say, Help me.
When somebody is drowning, the rescuer takes whatever measures to bring
him out of the water irrespective of the rescuee's wishes. God's way of
salvation, however, is different.
God saves only those who cry out for help in realization of their own
powerlessness, and not those who refuse to be saved. This is the difference
between God and humans.
And whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life
(Rev. 22:17).
Why, then, do people reject salvation? It is because they are ignorant
of the fact that they have a destiny to perish before God.
Ask people around you going to the church, Are you saved?,
or Are you born again?, and listen to what they have to say.
There is a verse in a hymn, How shall I answer the question
whether I am saved, when my sins are still not forgiven. When you are
asked whether you are saved, how will you answer the question? Not knowing
about your own rebirth is a proof that you are not born again. This is a sure
reasoning. The saved ones know that they are saved. For salvation is not
something vague. The saved ones know that they will ascend to God any time
their lives end.
Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart.
Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has
not believed the testimony God has given about his Son (1 John 5:10).
Salvation and rebirth appear frequently in the hymns. For instance: I
rely on Jesus my savior and received my salvation. I received comfort and
eternal life all from my Jesus, I took Jesus as my savior and
was born again through the blood and Holy Spirit; then, my soul enjoys the
heavenly glory while on earth. These lines are living testimonies of
saved Christians. Hymns were composed as the saved ones expressed their hearts
in poems and put melodies to them. When people whose hearts are dry try to sing
these hymns, they will find no connection to what they sing, for the song will
not match what is in their hearts at all. Our readers also must be clear about
this.
Why have you not yet attained salvation when you have been going to
church for decades? I have to point out two important things. First, you have
never even once deeply and seriously reflected upon the fact you are bound to
hell after death. Have you ever pondered upon your destiny towards hell?
Second, you have never even once listened to the word that surely leads
to salvation. You simply go to church as a habit, thinking, To believe
is simply to go to church and diligently attend to duties of faith. I will go
to the heavenly kingdom if God takes me, and won't if He doesn't. But wouldn't
He take me because I am working so hard? Faith, however, is not like
this.
Comparing the religious people and tax collectors and prostitutes, who
are representative of sinners, I have explained that salvation requires our
being sinners. I think there are two most difficult kinds of people to save:
The first kind either give up, believing that they have too much sin, and
therefore God will not accept them, or they are nonchalant, thinking that they
can just live freely and die whether it may be heavenly kingdom or hell that is
waiting for them.
Still another difficult group, however, is sincere Christians who are
born and educated in Christianity and diligently attend church services and
who, without being born again, believe themselves to be God's chosen. Having
received baptism, and acquiring positions of deacon or elder or other high
ranks, they receive praise and respect from people for their good faith. They
have a tremendous obstacle against salvation because they are self-righteous.
Salvation demands that we become sinners. This is the qualification for
salvation.
2. The Meaning of a Sinner
Then, what does it mean to be a sinner? You will not be happy when
someone asks you if you are a sinner. You will think, I have been
relatively good. I didn't commit any major sin, nor did I kill, cheat, or
fornicate. To be a sinner, however, does not refer to how much sin you
have committed.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived
me (Psa. 51:5).
We are sinners already from inside the womb. It does not mean having a
sinful mother. The Bible teaches that every one of us is a sinner already at
birth. The above verse declares that I was in sin at birth
and from the time of conception.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death
through sin...(Rom. 5:12)
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for
all men... (Rom. 5:18)
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made
sinners... (Rom. 5:19)
The one man refers to Adam. God has installed the
first ancestor Adam as the representative of the mankind. We can say that Adam
contained the seed of the entire mankind. The word Adam means
human being. The disobedience of the one person Adam has severed the eternal
relationship between God and us and degraded us as sinners. The law of God,
which determines life and death, has been breached, and in Adam we have been
demoted as sinners before God.
Adam betrayed God's love by accepting Satan's lie rather than God's
truth. Because of one man's disobedience, all the people born through Adam have
become sinners even before birth regardless of their intentions or actions.
Adam became a sinner by committing sin, and his descendants simply because they
hail from Adam. One man Adam's deed has determined the fate of the entire
mankind.
Through Adam's iniquities, the entire mankind in Adam have transgressed,
through Adam's expulsion from God, the entire mankind have become expelled, and
through Adam's curse, the entire mankind have come under doom. Therefore, to be
a sinner means to be a descendant of Adam or seed of sin.
As the family name of my ancestors determine my family name, spiritually
we have Sin as our family name. The descendants of Adam are Mr. or Mrs. Sin
because of him. This has endowed us with inclination for sin.
Hence, the word sinner represents our spiritual status and means that we
are descendants of the fallen Adam and a bad tree.
We yield bad fruits because we have been abased into bad trees and
commit sin because we are descendants of the fallen Adam, that is, sinners.
Children, especially new borns, all look like angels having nothing to
do with sin. Some people say that we are born innocent and become sinful as we
see, hear, and learn about evil things while growing up. This is promulgated in
the Mencius' theory of good human nature. In short, they say that children are
born innocent, and yet become corrupted by the environment.
Then, how about bringing infants to no man's island immediately after
their birth and raising them there? Will they become saints because they will
be free from evil influences? They must, if the theory is correct. They,
however, will go in the opposite direction and become like beasts.
Even tigers and lions are calm after birth. Baby tigers and lions will
play joyfully with puppies. A tiger called Ho Soon at the Kwang Ju Park had
three babies, out of whom one had to suck a dog's breast because Ho Soon did
not have enough milk.
A picture of the baby tiger sucking a dog's breasts appeared on
newspapers. So baby tigers will suck dog's milk and play with puppies. Will a
tiger, however, keep calm and mingle comfortably with dogs throughout its
growth? Youngs do not show the nature of ferocious beast; after a short while,
however, the tiger will devour the dogs.
Likewise, when little, human beings may seem innocent, and yet they
contain within themselves inclination for sin, which will drive them into sin
throughout their lives. They are filled with the propensities to all kinds of
sin such as greed, jealousy, lasciviousness, arrogance, hypocrisy, etc. They
just do not show at early ages; however, sin will raise its ugly head little by
little over the process of growth.
3. We Are Essentially Children of Wrath
Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and
speak lies (Psa. 58:3).
It is the same with the wicked as with sinners. The wicked have left God
far away already at the womb. They prefer going sideways to straight, evil to
goodness, what is dirty to what is clean, and speaking vicious words to kind
words. From birth, they take a stray route instead of the main path. As a crab,
which walks sideways, still scolds its young for going sideways, we are born to
go astray.
Indeed, we loathe doing good things when we know of their goodness,
while indulging into evil things when we know of their evil. This is because we
are in the grips of inclinations for sin.
Children's sins grow together with them. When they start having teeth,
what do they do with them first? If milk does not come out smoothly from
mother's breasts, they bite the nipples. Augustine is known to have repented
even for the sin of biting his mother's nipples. As they become able to take
their own food, they try to eat everything and even take from others. Although
they have not been taught greed, they try to grab everything.
Furthermore, when they start recognizing their aunts and uncles, they
try to detect their moods. They start seeing who likes and who dislikes them,
and having jealousy. They have never learned how to be jealous, and yet these
feelings naturally erupt in their hearts.
They start telling lies as they become able to speak. You can see this
when you raise children. You try hard to raise them good and clean in vain. How
shrewd they are in telling lies! They have never been taught how to tell lies;
they flow out from within.
As they receive formal education, their misdemeanor becomes
sophisticated. Higher education produces smart criminals, and overseas studies
and modern disciplines help them perform high-level crimes, although those who
have grown up under educated parents and learned ethics, religion, etc. might
control themselves better and know how to maintain dignity.
They know that committing sin undermines their own reputation and
character, and have learned and know well about punishments, which helps them
discipline themselves better than less educated people. They manage and
suppress their feelings fairly well, although some unruly inclinations may
crack out through the barrier of repression.
On the other hand, in some people born in adverse circumstances with no
opportunity for proper education, their sin runs a full course. Uneducated
souls succumb to the irresistible temptation of sin into committing heinous
crimes.
Then, what is the difference between the uneducated people committing
outrageous crimes and well-educated people? Their insides are the same, and
just their external appearances differ. For instance, when we paint windows
red, yellow, and blue, their differences will be seen from outside, and yet
they only have one light from inside. Sin appears differently in different
people, and yet these appearances have the same inner root.
What does God see? Before the appearances, He sees our hearts first.
Whether we manage or fail to suppress the sin inside us, God does not consider
us clean because He sees our inner core.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart (1
Sam. 16:7).
All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the
LORD (Pro. 16:2).
Proverbs 26:24, 25 says, A malicious man disguises himself with
his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do
not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. As in this
verse, people have seven abominations although they embellish their speeches
and make them plausible. Some have described the seven abominations in terms of
seven animals, that is, a peacock, goat, swine, snake, leopard, frog, and
turtle.
A heart like peacock refers to arrogance, boasting, and pride; a heart
like goat stubbornness and lasciviousness; a heart like swine greed and
fondness for filth; a heart like snake wickedness and cunning, and lies as a
snake has forked tongues and says two different things with one mouth; a heart
like leopard impulse for murder; a heart like frog propensity for back talk,
slander, and contempt; and a turtle opportunism.
We all have such tendencies and inclinations. Those who control these
vices well are called people of character, and yet their core is the same as
any other. There is no difference between a prostitute and a nun except that
the former has her sin exposed, while the latter has her sin covered with
religious veil. Since God sees our hearts, no one can appear before Him clean.
4. The Heart of Corruption
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can
understand it? I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to
reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.
(Jer. 17:9).
Human heart is much more deceitful and depraved than all things. As in
the verse, who can know it, we do not know even ourselves how
dirty our hearts are. Hearing this, some people may opine thus: People
are said to be bad, but I am not so bad myself. Those who cheat, steal,
fornicate, or murder must be hopeless scoundrels, but I am not so because I
don't do those things. Those who think light of their own sinfulness,
however, may commit even worse crimes when the right circumstances arise.
Murders are not pre-determined. Everyone has an inclination to kill.
Whether out of revenge, anger, survival need, or self-defense, we have the
capacity to do anything according to the situation. If there is a laser gun
that can hit a target in the eye hundreds of meters away without leaving any
trace or evidence, and furthermore if killers are not punished by law, not so
many people will be able to stay alive.
A few years ago there was a murder case in Pusan where a woman was chopped into pieces.
The offender of the crime was put in the Taegu Prison. A believer happened to
cause a traffic accident and share the prison cell with the offender. You must
suppose that such an offender has a sinister and terrifying look, and yet he
looked gentle, making it impossible to imagine him as being able to commit such
a heinous homicide, according to the believer. This shows that anybody can
murder, fornicate, or steal; when we have the proclivities, we will manifest
them when the right circumstances arise.
The other day, I was riding a crowded local train, and saw paddlers
moving up and down the aisle. Sitting near me was a seemingly respectable
woman, in a graceful Korean dress and even white bosons (Korean socks) and
calmly looking down. A paddler, however, stepped on her foot by mistake,
leaving a big black imprint on her white boson, whereupon she went ballistic
and cursed at him, saying, You bastard, where are your eyes?
My heart almost stopped to witness such a ferocious outburst of anger from a
woman who had seemed to be so tender and noble. It was her inner core that
exploded upon being touched.
I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind.
Since God searches the heart, examines the mind, and weighs our motives (Pro.
16:2), who can dare to claim himself clean before God?
God knows that our hearts are steeped in wickedness: This is
the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes
all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in
their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. (Eccl.
9:3) Since God knows it all, He rewards a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve.
Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one (Job 14:4)!
What is clean cannot come out of what is unclean. What is clean comes
out of what is clean. As it says, Do people pick grapes from
thornbushes, or figs from thistles? (Mat. 7:16) a bad tree cannot
produce good fruits. When our hearts are so seriously vile, and we are born
sinners worse than all things, how can anything good come from us?
Jesus said to Israelites, You brood of vipers, how can you who
are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth
speaks, (Mat. 12:34) and But the things that come out of the
mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart
come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false
testimony, slander. (Mat. 15:18, 19) When we fail to suppress the evil
filling our hearts, it generates fruits of sin. That is, what is in our hearts
are expressed in our actions. Proverbs lists the tools of sin as follows:
There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that
devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness
who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers (Pro. 6:16
~ 19).
As in this verse, how many evil deeds we perform through our hearts,
eyes, mouths, hands, and feet! After realizing the depth of his sin, a writer
in Psalter says, For troubles without number surround me; my sins have
overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my
heart fails within me. (Psa. 40:12)
5. Human Life is Abominable and Filthy
What is man, that he could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could
be righteous? If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are
not pure in his eyes, how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up
evil like water! (Job 15:14 ~ 16)
Let us compare the blue sky and the human heart filled with sin. If the
sky is not clean in God's eyes, how much less will we be able to claim
ourselves clean before God, as we are detestable and corrupt and drink iniquity
like water?
All the religions of the world teach good deeds. They teach that
accumulating good conducts will earn us blessing and bring us to the paradise.
The Bible, however, does not teach good deeds, although, of course, it does not
teach evil deeds, either.
Then, what does the Bible speak about? While not telling us not to do
good acts, it affirms that we do not have the power to practice goodness in the
true sense. It proclaims that we are unable to be good in the true sense
because nothing good can spring from the fallen and corrupt hearts we are born
with.
We can be compared to a bad tree. You will never tell a bad tree to bear
good fruits. Rather than teaching good deeds first, the Bible declares that
judged from God's standard we are unable to practice goodness.
Some people may object and say, people don't just commit sin;
they sometimes perform good actions. A human action may look good in
human sight, but the problem is that this is only from human viewpoint and not
God's. When we put together the Chinese characters in (), which means human
being, and wee (棨), which means action, we get a word wee
(), which means falsity. This means that human actions of goodness are false
goodness. It is a kind of goodness and yet mixed with sin. We cannot stand
before God in this condition. Then what can we do?
We must first receive salvation. We must receive salvation amid our sin
and be grafted unto God's life. Instead of investing our efforts into bad trees
to harvest good fruits, fertilizing and watering them, we should graft them
unto a good tree. Then, they will yield good fruits. When we become saved and
born again, we become forgiven before God and grafted unto God's life.
6. Transformation Through God's Life and Power
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has
gone, the new has come! (2Cor. 5:17)
To be in Christ means that I am in Christ, and Christ is in me. When we
are thus united with the Christ, that is, when the life of Christ comes to us,
he creates us as new persons. Hence, the above passage says, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! We must become new
persons in order to be able to live a new life. We must receive God's life in
order to be able to truly obey God's word. There are many who try to live
a Christian life before they become one, and many who try to observe
God's word before they receive God's life. They, however, will end up being
hypocrites.
We must receive God's life in order to be able to keep God's word. When
you are inundated with sinful desires, just because you make efforts on your
own power, suppressing these desires and promising yourself only to do good
deeds, it does not mean that you live a Christian life. When God's life enters
you, however, God establishes you as a new person, whereupon you move farther
and farther away from sin, and a desire to obey God's word effortlessly springs
forth in you. Then, you have the power to obey God's word.
It is natural that a good tree bears good fruits. Does a good tree make
some special efforts to bring good fruits, shaking its branches to and fro, for
instance? No, it simply and naturally bears good fruits. Likewise, when we
receive God's life, we become naturally empowered with an ardent desire to obey
God's word. Some readers may have difficulty understanding this, but this is
true. Of course, I am not saying that when we become saved, we immediately turn
around and becomes holy like angels; however, once we are saved, and God's life
starts in us, we will move gradually towards holiness. A good tree also needs
time to grow before bearing good fruits.
To say that faith grows after salvation means that our hearts start to
change from that time on. God's life transforms our hearts and thoughts. It
changes our characters, and this manifests itself in our actions. This is a
life of faith.
Some people go to church for decades, and there pray and promise
themselves to live by God's word, and yet outside the church they commit sins,
tell lies, become greedy, and perform other evil deeds. Back in the church,
they repent, make another determination to live by God's word, and struggle not
to repeat sinful conducts, but again outside the church they commit another
sin. They do evil things outside the church, and sing holy hymns inside the
church. Their religious life is tragically caught in this vicious circle. If
such a life continues, it will destroy their conscience, not to mention
bringing no true transformation of life. What is the reason for such dilemma?
Is it because they do not pray enough, have weak will, or have not made
enough donations? Or is it because they still have not gone to the church long
enough? Even going to church for the entire life will not solve the problem,
however, as long as the power of God is missing in them, which brings about a
true transformation of the heart and life. Only those who have become a new
creation in Jesus can enter a new heaven and a new earth
(Rev. 21:1). God saves those human beings who only deserve to go to hell and
infuses them with life and new power. God desires that they keep God's word in
the life newly gained. For no will, efforts, determination, or training on our
part will make possible the life of faith wherein we abide by God's word but a
rebirth and receiving of a new life.
7. Human Righteousness Is Not Acceptable to God
If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive
from your hand? Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your
righteousness only the sons of men (Job 35:7, 8).
Although we may be righteous, what can we offer God, and what can God
gain from us? Although we may perform a good action from our standard, will God
accept it, when we are born amid sin with a heart filthier than all things and
drink iniquities like water?
If a child gives a cake to his mother right after fumbling with clay,
would the mother be delighted? No, she would rather say, Thank you,
but it is too dirty to eat. Why don't you give it to a dog? A dog
would of course welcome it, and even follow the child around for more, but the
mother cannot. To say, your righteousness only the sons of men
means that our goodness will look respectable only in the sight of sinners like
us and not in God's sight.
It is a serious error to think that we can please God when we simply
make earnest efforts of goodness. What will God receive from fallen sinners,
whatever they do? People worry about making donations when they go to church.
The Bible says, however, that donation, tithing, etc. are to be done after the
salvation. What qualification do we have to offer anything to God, when we are
destined to hell in case we die tonight, and what will God receive from such
sinners?
To Simon, who thought that he could buy God's gift with money, Peter
said, May your money perish with you, because you thought you could
buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry,
because your heart is not right before God. (Acts 8:20, 21) One may
boast of his huge wealth, and yet the redemption of human life is too precious
to buy, that is, no material can redeem a human spirit (Psa. 49:6 ~ 8). As God
says, Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under
heaven belongs to me, (Job 41:11) there is none who can give God
without first receiving from Him. When we receive the gift of salvation from
God, out of gratitude we act and make offerings to God, and this God receives.
Salvation transforms sinners fated to hell into children of God, and
imbues them with hope of the heavenly kingdom. To think of the immense grace we
have received from God, we cannot repay him even by dying a hundred times. It
is after our salvation, out of the overflowing joy and gratitude and with
voluntary heart, that we make donations and live for the Christ. What would be
the problem with making material donations for the sake of the gospel, when we
can even live and die for the Christ?
Before paying tuition to Seoul National University
(the most prestigious university in Korea ), you have to be its student
first. It is the same with faith. We must be born again with God's life before
we become qualified and able to do everything for God's glory and through God's
power.
It is the same with prayer. There are people who pray all night without
even being born again; such prayer will not even go beyond the church ceiling.
There is only one prayer we must make before attaining rebirth: Please
save me. Please help me realize the truth. No other prayers have any
meaning at this point.
Does a drowning person say, Please employ me, Give
me some lunch money, or Buy me a cold medicine? He
must shout, Help me, help me, so he can be pulled out of the
water. Likewise, the sinners doomed to hell must first scream for rescue and
then become actually delivered. As in the verse, Dear friend, I pray
that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your
soul is getting along well, (3 John 1:2) the first issue is the
spirit, and the issue of prosperity and health comes next. People, however,
lead a blind religious life while neglecting the destiny of their spirits.
Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves
with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in
their hands (Isa. 59:6).
Their cobwebs are useless for clothing... As mentioned
in the preceding verse, the cobwebs are made of spider's thread
(Isa. 59:5), and also symbolizes the actions people perform in order to cover
their iniquities. Just as we cannot weave proper clothes out of spider's
thread, so never can we cover the shame of our conscience with our good deeds
and zeal.
For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against
us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities (Isa.
59:12).
For our offenses are many in your sight... How much
sin we must commit during our life! We normally forget them, but if we can
remember all our sin, which is more than our hairs (Psa. 40:12), we will not be
able to bear the agony. Since our sins testify against us,
the sin separates us far away from God.
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too
dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins
have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear (Isa. 59:1, 2).
It is not that God's hands are too short to reach us, nor are His ears
too dull to hear us. Since sin is separating us far away from God, we are God's
enemies, and God will not hear us whatever we ask until we become cleansed of
our sin.
8. Human Righteousness Is like a Soiled Garment
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous
acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our
sins sweep us away (Isa. 64:6).
This verse affirms that we are all unclean people or sinners.
All our righteous acts are like filthy rags... We know
that sin is filthy, but not that even human righteousness is dirty before God.
The Bible affirms that human righteousness is just as dirty as sin in God's
sight. Human acts of goodness and righteousness are filthy rags in God's eyes.
We cannot cover our shame with filth rags.
Within us there is fallen heart, shame of conscience, guilt, etc, and we
think that doing good actions will free us from them. This is useless, however,
because it is like a dirty person's trying to cover his dirt with a stinking
rag. Our righteousness is like a soiled garment and thus cannot be used to
cover us before God.
We all shrivel up like a leaf... Genesis 3 narrates
that Adam and Eve after eating the fruit in disobedience of God's word
discovered the shame of their nakedness and made skirts out of fig leaves.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were
naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves
(Gen. 3:7).
Although there were only two individuals, Adam and Eve made clothes for
themselves. The first clothes human being made were manufactured neither for covering
human nakedness against animals nor for protecting against cold. They made
their clothes in order to cover their shame.
When the day was cool, God called Adam and Eve, and they hid themselves
from God in the trees of the garden. When God asked their whereabouts, Adam
answered, I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was
naked; so I hid. (Gen. 3:8 ~ 10)
At that time, however, Adam and Eve were wearing fig-leaf clothes; then
why did he say that he was naked? What does this signify?
It was in the day that they ate the fruit and made the fig-leaf skirts.
During the course of the day, however, the sun dried up the leaves, and their
movements shook and stretched the clumsy skirts and ruined them, making them
almost naked. All our good acts and hard endeavors are like trying to cover our
shame with a fig-leaf skirt. The fact that the fig-leaf skirt failed to serve
as a proper clothes means that none of our ethical and religious strivings and
acts of righteousness is enough to cover the shame of our sin.
We all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep
us away. Because we are unable to cover our sin with our good deeds
and earnest endeavors, our iniquities drives us to hell like the wind. No one
can escape from this destiny.
9. We Are Thoroughly Fallen
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better ? Not at all! We have
already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin (Rom. 3:9).
Jews are the people chosen by God, the Israelites. The Bible declares
that both Jews and Gentiles are alike in being under sin. This is a public
declaration of their being sinners.
As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away,
they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even
one. (Rom. 3:10 ~ 12)
When God looks upon the world, there is none righteous, and all are
sinners. As it says, For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory
of God, (Rom. 3:23) we are born sinners and have actually committed
sin. A righteous person means someone who not only practices goodness but also
stays away from committing evil. We, however, are sometimes good and sometimes
evil, sometimes love and sometimes hate, and sometimes help and sometimes hurt
others. We cannot call somebody righteous who practices good and evil together.
A mixture of good and evil is evil, and thus the one who behaves sometimes good
and sometimes evil is a sinner. This is why it says, There is no one
righteous, not even one. This is why the writer of the Ecclesiastics
declares, There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right
and never sins. (Eccl. 7:20)
There is no one that does good, not even one. This
says that there is no one who does good to the extent of reaching complete
goodness in God's sight or meeting God's standard of goodness. Human goodness
is a false goodness. The falsity and pretense lies in making up good actions
from a heart that is turned away from goodness. This is what God hates the
most.
Jesus did not tell the tax collectors and prostitutes, saying, Woe
unto you, tax collectors and prostitutes, but berated religious
leaders, saying, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! (Mat. 23:25)
Hypocrites are those who pretend to be good and put up good appearances.
Although they show facade of piety and righteousness, their inner core has a
glut of arrogance, greed, false goodness, lasciviousness, and lies. One is a
hypocrite when his heart teems with all sorts of foul things although outwardly
he seems to be God-serving, righteous, and pious. His heart is like a whitewashed
tomb, whose outside is clean and white but inside is full of rotten
corpses and foul odor. You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but
inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. No matter how clean
a cup may be, if the content is dirty, nobody will want to drink it. Likewise,
God cannot take hypocrisy.
Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and
then the outside also will be clean. Our spirit must be washed first
before our hearts and lives become clean. Hence, when we are dirty, we should
admit our being dirty, and present ourselves to God as we truly are. When we
have sin, we should appear before God exactly as sinners. Then, the Christ will
remove our sin, cure our fallen and wicked heart, and make us holy.
When Jesus was on earth, he raised the dead and healed lepers. Likewise,
Jesus has the power to save our dead souls and purify and transform our fallen
hearts. Gamblers, swindlers, gangs, playboys, and all other people drowning in
iniquities will become new human beings once they become awakened in the
gospel. As in the verse the old has gone, the new has come! I
have witnessed Jesus' guidance of the saved towards new life. Jesus establishes
the redeemed as holy children of God, holy people, and new human beings,
thereby leading them to the heavenly kingdom. And that is what some of
you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor.
6:11)
Since God can solve any problem of sin, we should never hide our sin,
and candidly acknowledge it. It is in order to correct us that the Bible
exposes our sin as it is. Furthermore, it is to clothe us with God's
righteousness that Jesus strips us, to build us as true souls that he
demolishes us, and to plant us in eternal blessing that he uproots us.
Therefore, each of us must first acknowledge before God that we are wretched
sinners.
Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison
of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the
way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes (Rom
3:13 ~ 18).
In making graves, the Israelites dug caves in the rocks, and kept dead
bodies of their ancestors there, closing the cave entrance with a rock. When
open, the rotting smell of corpses would leak out from the cave. Hence, the
expression, their throats are open graves means that whenever
they open their mouth, obscenities, slanders, and other abominable speeches
come out like foul odor.
People tend to enjoy damaging stories, shameful tales, and scandals more
than edifying words and virtuous stories. Whenever open, their mouths throw out
pungent smell like open graves. Their tongues practice deceit. The
poison of vipers is on their lips... The poison coming out of human
mouth can be more deadly than that from vipers.
Some famous man said on the TV that when we are enraged, cursing and
shouting, our mouths become filled with poison. The bubbles coming out a
furious mouth can even kill a cow when injected, said he. This is how scary
human poison is.
A while ago I heard a story about a happening in the countryside. There
was a severe drought, so severe that the crop field cracked up like turtle's
back. In such times, people would get into fights trying to bring even ditch
waters to their own fields as much as possible. People would not even recognize
their own brothers or close neighbors. When someone turned a water channel
towards his field, next morning he would find the channel diverted to another's
field.
Hence, a fight broke out between the owners of two adjacent fields. One
owner shouted, You bastard, I will sickle you down. It was
just a verbal onslaught, and yet the other owner fell dead. This is quite a
strange tale, but a real story. People can shoot invisible poison. Someone can
even throw down an animal with a yell, which delivers an invisible impact. The
bloodthirstiness of one farm owner struck the other with a fatal poison.
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are
swift to shed blood. People kill and are killed by others even when
their survival is not at stake. People are fonder of taking life than giving
it. Ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not
know... On the road of ruin and misery, they choose self-destruction.
They run along the road of destruction without being aware of the road of peace
God prepared for them.
Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their
thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. The way of
peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned
them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace (Isa. 59:7,
8).
There is no fear of God before their eyes. They boldly
challenge God, saying, Where is God? In the movie, The
Bible...In the beginning, we see a scene where during the building of the Tower
of Babel, a person called Nimrod shoot arrows into the sky, shouting that he
would kill God. This is a human challenge against God. We commit sin
audaciously without fearing God.
We are born as sinners. In fact, the entire life of a sinner is a sin.
We are not sinners because we commit sin; rather, we commit sin because we are
sinners. Just as a bad tree yields faulty fruits because it is a bad tree, so
we commit sin because we are sinners. After such wicked life, we pass on to the
other world some day.
10. God's Judgement Comes After Death
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment...
(Heb. 9:27)
That is right. Death is not the end of everything, for there is a
judgement. The dust (body) returns to the ground it came from, and the
spirit returns to God who gave it. (Eccl. 12:7) We are to stand before
God for judgement.
For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: 'As
surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue
will confess to God.' So then, each of us will give an account of
himself to God (Rom. 14:10 ~ 12).
When we stand before God's judgment seat, every knee will bow down, and
every tongue confess to God. There, we do not need prosecutors because we will
be directly confessing our own transgressions to God.
At that time, we cannot say, I have not done such things then,
for how can we make such denials when our entire life will be clearly shown
like a movie? Through this we will even be able to see things we have forgotten
entirely and the state of heart we considered sinful. We will have a panoramic
view of what the secret camera of life has filmed all throughout our life. God
has installed the conscience in us, a device that is more sophisticated than
any machinery.
As Romans 2:15 says, their consciences also bearing witness,
and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them, our
wrongdoings are filmed in our conscience. You know that when a tape recorder is
recording, a red light flickers. The light flickers according to the strength
of the voice being recorded, signifying that the recording is in process. We
can also videotape visual images.
Our trespasses are recorded in our conscience in toto. This is not a
metaphor but an actual fact. Proverb says, The lamp of the LORD
searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being. (Prov.
20:27) (The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward
parts of the belly. - KJV) The conscience belongs to the spirit. The conscience
is different from the heart. Heart, thought, mind, etc. belong to the soul,
while the conscience is in the domain of the spirit. People have different
hearts, and yet the same conscience.
The conscience in the spirit is looking into our inner being as a lamp
of God. Just as a radar detects an enemy plane, so the conscience vibrates when
a wickedness surfaces. Sin shatters the peace of the conscience, and provokes
blame. I have read a book that relates that an atheist was converted into a
theist while studying the conscience. He discovered that people become agonized
and afraid after committing sin although there may be no one accusing them,
from which he concluded, The conscience is God's supreme command. To
experience it is to see the divine presence.
On a summer night with full Moon, a father and a son went up the mountain
to see the Moon and saw watermelons by the trail. Father wanted to eat one, and
told his son, Son, keep watch. I will go and get a watermelon.
When the son said it was others', the father said, It's OK to eat just
one. Just keep watch for me. When the father was approaching a
watermelon, the son screamed, Father, someone is watching.
When the father asked in dismay, Who? the son said, God
is. It is as though the Moon were saying, 'you thieves.' So I am terrified.
Next, a newspaper article. A young man, having starved for two days,
snatched a woman's handbag and took money from it. As soon as he took care of
his hunger with the money, however, he turned himself in at a police station.
He did the snatching out of hunger, and yet started feeling guilty when his
stomach became full. The conscience fears God even when we are not aware of it.
They show that the requirements of the law are written on their
hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now
accusing, now even defending them. Law points out sin, and the
conscience is the law inscribed in the heart.
This will take place on the day when God will judge men's
secrets through Jesus Christ... (Rom. 2:16) When we stand before God's
judgment seat, we will confess with our own mouth all our sins recorded in the
conscience. It will be like playing a tape recorder to hear the testimony of a
witness.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is
uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account
(Heb. 4:13).
These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was
altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face (Psa.
50:21).
This verse means that it is a mistake to think that God turns blind eyes
to our sin like some of our fellow human beings just because He keeps silent
about it. God says that He will rebuke and accuse us at the time of judgement.
All our iniquities will be revealed to God and holy angels, even including
those known to me alone, those known only to two, and those committed long time
past.
If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand (Psa.
130:30)?
Will we be able to bear the judgment? We will scream, Please
let this end. Unable to head for the heavenly kingdom even when we are
allowed to, we will just walk into hell on our own.
In this world, justice is not always served at judicial courts.
Therefore, some with severe crimes are able to avoid punishments, while some
with minor offences receive heavy sentences. Corruption exists even in places
where public justice is implemented. And I saw something else under
the sun: In the place of judgment - wickedness was there, in the place of
justice - wickedness was there. (Eccl. 3:16) The world is full of
contradiction and injustice.
The Bible says, however, God will bring to judgment both the
righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time
for every deed. (Eccl. 3:17) Before God's judgment seat, there is no
injustice like what we see in the world. Earlier, we had a Bible verse saying
that there is none righteous. Then who is the righteous
mentioned in the above verse? The spiritual status of the reborn is the righteous.
Instead of the judgment that sends one to hell, the reborn will be judged as to
how they have lived from the day of their rebirth onward. For people live
different lives although they receive the same salvation.
Salvation will invariably bring us to the heavenly kingdom, and yet we
will receive different rewards from God. Reward refers to glory. Among the
attendants of a king, for instance, some serve him closely, and some at a
distance, and some share the king's glory together, while some only live on the
fringes of the glory. Likewise, we will receive different degrees of glory when
we go near God. The Bible explains this in detail. Therefore, after attaining
salvation, the saved should live correctly for the sake of God's glory instead
of lying content with their salvation. For they will be judged with regard to
their earthly lives.
The wicked, that is, those not reborn, will all be judged and proceed to
hell. Those whose entire life has been sinful, on the one hand, and those who
have gone to church and tried to live a good life for the whole life and yet
have not been saved, on the other, will all be sent to hell alike. In hell,
although all the spirits live eternally in the pond of fire and sulfur and
under great pain together with the devil, different spirits will have different
degrees of pain. This is natural because in hell the amount of torment is
determined by the seriousness of the sin committed. Hence, if you are not going
to be saved, you should at least try to keep your sin to minimum.
Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you
joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your
eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment
(Eccl. 11:9).
I am sure many of our readers are young. Everybody has youth in their
lives, and even after they become old, their hearts are still young. For even
grandmothers approaching death like to dance and sing, Let's be merry
and have fun, for you can't once you are old. At any rate, enjoy your
life if you will, and do whatever you please.
But what can a person do when he lives as he wishes? What is being
enjoyed when we talk about enjoying the world? In a close look, everything is
sinful pleasure. If your life follows your passion, which is more perverted
than that of animals, what will you do other than sinful deeds? The said joy is
none other than the thrill and pleasure of committing sin.
People think that money brings happiness. But what do they use the money
for? Mostly for committing sin. They sin while earning money, and again while
using it. In short, the earthly life is nothing more than suffering and
sinning. They never stop committing sin with eyes of lust and greed.
God leaves them alone, whether they go straight or sideways, disobey
their parents, fornicate, murder, steal, or commit suicide. God does not try to
stop them.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts... Furthermore,
since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave
them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become
filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full
of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers,
God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil;
they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, and
ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such
things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also
approve of those who practice them (Rom. 1:26, 28 ~ 32).
People are bold in practicing evil because God does not intervene. They,
however, will have no way of escaping the judgment thereupon once they stand
before God's judgment seat. They are free when practicing wickedness, and yet
bound when being judged.
11. Sin Surely Reveals Itself
You may be sure that your sin will find you out (Num. 32:23).
Some offenders think that they have committed a perfect crime. Someone
committed a homicide, buried the victim in his courtyard, and planted a tree on
top of it. Who could have found it out? Such stories often decorate newspaper
pages. After such a secretive concealment of the criminal act, it was strangely
discovered, and the offender had to perform a site reproduction of the crime.
There is another story. Someone murdered a young woman, carried her in a
car trunk, and buried her in the deep mountain. No one else knew about this.
Strangely, however, after a few years this was discovered.
There are many perfect crimes that are later exposed
under broad daylight. True, some of them may go concealed permanently. Will
they, however, stay hidden even from God? Your sin will find you out.
Every sin surely reveals itself.
The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead
of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are
obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden. (1 Tim. 5:24, 25)
I heard another horrible story. A poor woman was married to a rich man.
These days, the husbands' families often complain about insufficient bridal
contribution, and this must have been the case also for the couple in the
story. The husband family's repeated maltreatment and contempt planted grudges
in the wife. Her heart turned vicious as she thought that such a treatment was
due to her poor family background.
One day, when her husband returned from a business trip, she prepared a
sumptuous meal as if to give him a special treatment. In fact, the food had
sleeping drug, and the husband fell into a deep sleep after the meal. Then she
closed the gate tight, drew the curtain, and took out a large nail and hammer.
She brushed aside his hair, and banged the nail into his vertex. The husband
died silently, as he took the nail while in a deep sleep. Not even a drop of
blood came out. When she covered the nail with his hair, there was not even a
mark.
The house fell into a big commotion at the notice of the sudden death,
with the wife wailing in a loud voice. Asked what had happened, she made up a
story, I don't know. He came back from the trip, had a nice meal, and
died during sleep. Then the people thought that he had a sudden death
and consoled her. They had a funeral and made a large grave for the deceased.
The wife sold his inheritance, went to a remote and unknown place,
married a man of her choice, and lived happily together. As if nothing had
happened, she was living in peace and comfort with nice family and children.
After a while, however, there started a city planning and development
project around the area of the graveyard. The city office sent notices to
families concerned to move the graves in the area. One grave, however, was left
untouched, and office employees dug into the grave in order to move the corpse,
whereupon they discovered a skeleton with a nail in the skull. Out of
suspicion, they checked his identification, and found out that he had been a
man of great wealth in the town and died a sudden death without a clear cause.
Later on, a detective came to knock on the wife's door amid her happy
family life. She came out with two children. The detective asked for her in her
name, but she, having already changed names, said in a composed manner that
such a person was not there. Then the detective took out a large nail, black
with rust, asking, Do you recognize this? whereupon she
fainted with a sharp shriek. She had to be arrested in handcuffs.
Why did she swoon at the sight of the nail? The nail was not only in the
husband's skull, but also in her conscience. Although she never told anyone
about this, the nail could never be removed. You may be sure that your
sin will find you out. That is right. Sin will surely seek out the
sinner. When sin is exposed before God, who will be able to escape the
judgement?
His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. There is no
dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide (Job 34:21, 22).
12. The Eternal Hell Is Entered after the Judgement
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and
sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the
dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged
according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the
dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them,
and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades
were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If
anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire (Rev. 20:11 ~ 15).
The great white throne refers to God's judgment seat.
As it says that God sat on the throne, and Earth and sky fled from his
presence, and there was no place for them, the place in question here
is not this world but the domain of God. I saw the dead, great and
small, standing before the throne... Regardless of their statures, the
dead are all standing before God. We should understand that the dead are
revived to stand before God. [Before the throne,] books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book of life... If anyone's name was not
found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
(Rev. 20:12 ~ 15)
It says that the books were opened. This is the same as earthly criminal
courts have lawsuit documents and books such as criminal records and criminal
laws prescribing the crimes and punishments. There, sentences are made
according to the criminal acts and pursuant to the laws. Similarly, at the
judgment seat there will be records of sin for each one of us and the law as
the basis of the sentence. This law is the word. Therefore, Jesus said, There
is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very
word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. (John 12:48)
The word judges, that is, the law judges. The Bible contains both the
words of salvation and of judgment. Everyone will have to be either saved or
condemned as recorded in the Scripture.
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades
gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to
what he had done. As it said earlier, But know that for all
these things God will bring you to judgment, (Eccl. 11:9) our verse
now says, Each person was judged according to what he had done
and were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second
death.
Physical death is called the first death. But this is not what is
fearsome. How trouble-free it will be if this were the end of everything? The
reason why Jesus said of Judas Iscariot, It would be better for him if
he had not been born (Mat. 26:24) is that if not born, he would not
have had to go to hell. The first death is bodily death, and the second death
means combining the revived body and the spirit, judging them together, and
sending them to hell. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy
both soul and body in hell. (Mat. 10:28)
If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he
was thrown into the lake of fire. No one who is not born again will
have his name in the book of life when he stands before the judgment seat. Some
think that having their names on the baptism list is identical with having them
in the book of life, but this is nothing but a misunderstanding. The Bible only
says that those whose names are not found in the book of life will be hurled
into the lake of fire.
The so-called Jehovah's Witness and Seventh-Day
Adventists claim that there is no hell. Their argument is that God of
love could never have created hell. The Bible, however, clearly states that
hell exists. Moreover, it is Jesus that spoke most about hell. He says that
hell is a place where their worm does not die, and the fire is not
quenched. Everyone will be salted with fire. (Mark 9:48, 49)
You might have seen that when a mudfish is put in a basin and becomes
sprayed with salt, it wiggles to and fro in pain, turns red, and dies. The
Bible is saying that the condemned must receive a similar torture for the rest
of eternity. The Bible mentions hell, where the fire never goes out,
(Mark 9:43) and fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. (Mat. 13:42) It also says that they will be
tortured day and night for eternity.
The Bible has more to say about hell than about heavenly kingdom. We
talk about God of love, and hell, which is a place of eternal torment, does not
seem to square with the love of God. The reason why hell is mentioned more
frequently is simple, however: everyone ends up in hell unless they are saved,
and thus the warning to flee from hell precedes any explanation for the
heavenly kingdom.
It is true that God is love, and no sinner is unforgivable for God.
Towards those who betray God's love until the end, however, His love turns into
wrath. For these people there is only ruthless and acute retribution of hell.
There is no more forgiveness.
Hell is a place where there is not even a thread of love. Originally,
God created hell in order to punish the fallen devil and angels. Jesus called
hell eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
(Mat. 25:41) The hell is a place of the fiery lake with burning sulfur.
Many people say that hell is not real to them because they have not
experienced it. Some people think light of God's warning, saying, Am I
the only one going to hell? Many others are coming with me. Some even
joke about it, saying, It will be nice and warm there. But we
are not totally without means to test the severity of the affliction and
intensity of the heat in hell. For instance, put your finger to a burning coal
or flames of a gas range for a minute, and it will give you a slight taste of hell.
Do you know how dreadful hell is? The gospel of Luke conveys Jesus'
remark about hell. According to him, a rich man died and went down to the
Hades, where he begged, Father Abraham, have pity on me and send
Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am
in agony in this fire. (Luke 16:24) How tormented he must have been in
the fire that he begged to be cooled in the tongue with a finger? What is said
in Luke 16 is not a metaphor but a real fact.
13. The People Condemned to Hell
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually
immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars- their
place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death
(Rev. 21:8).
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their
part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone...(KJV)
sIn this verse, the Bible tells us what kind of people will go to the
hell, a place of fiery lake of burning sulfur. The first on the list is the
cowardly (fearful). What are they cowardly about? They are afraid of God. It
may sound strange, but those who do not believe in God do not fear God, either.
Those who do believe and go to church and yet are not born again, however, fear
God.
When people go to church for a while, learning the Bible and hearing
about God, most of them believe that God is alive. It is because as Romans 1:19
says, What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has
made it plain to them, we have a mind to come to know God.
What is the fundamental difference between human beings and animals? It
is that humans have the spirit.
Monkeys look and act similar to humans. The other day, I saw on TV a
monkey getting dressed, sleeping in the bed, smoking a cigarette in the
morning, and watching TV. It used a flush toilet, and went to work in outdoor
garments. Working as a bartender, it served cocktails on the rock and lighted
customers' cigarettes. It acted exactly like human beings. Moreover, there is a
band composed of monkeys. I saw them blow trumpets and play drums in the
picture. Some monkeys can drive a car, and some in an American farm drive a
tractor.
No matter how much they are trained, however, monkeys can never pray.
There is no monkey in the world that prays. Have you ever heard about a monkey
offering a sacrifice or worshipping something? Why are they unable to pray,
when they can perform feats that are much more challenging? It is because they
have no religiosity. I heard that when monkeys sit by humans at a meal table,
they will never follow people to a prayer, no matter how much people try to
teach the monkeys. It is because monkeys have no spirit. Animals have no
spirits. They neither have a desire nor a need to find God.
We have a spirit, created in God's image, however, and the spirit seeks
God. Regardless of the level of civilization, people in all places and ages
have been seeking and worshipping an absolute being even without being taught.
People have bowed down to the sun in the morning and moon at night, thinking
that they might be gods. On the stormy sea, they bowed down to the sea, and in
drought, they went up to the mountains and offered a rain sacrifice.
Everyone has a desire to find God, though to different degrees. Hence,
when they are taught about God, most of them at least believe in His existence.
There are many who believe that God exists without going to church. I have met
such people many times. Also, some people pray to God without going to church,
and some keep meal prayers without believing in Jesus.
In the hearts of those who believe in the existence of God and the
spirit and yet are not born again, there dwells dread. They feel a blockage in
the heart when they close their eyes for prayer at church. God is the judge and
they are the sinners. How terrifying it must be for them to stand before the
judge! They feel stifled because of their iniquities, and yet they feel even more
so when they close their eyes for prayer. They pray in tears, What can
I do? What can this sinner do? and yet no difference is made, although
they may feel fresh at the time of prayer.
Because the believers wail till late every night and every morning in
the church, I heard that land price goes down when a church is built in the
land. How can the neighbors live when people cry all the time next door? I also
heard some people even say, Because these followers of Jesus are
crying so much, Jesus must be really dead. They are really unwise.
Some people say that they cry because they have received God's grace. Is
it true that their tears are due to gratitude for grace? They may be in some
cases, but not in most of the cases. What is the grace they claim to have
received? Rather, they cry out of frustration and agony. If some one were to
cry at his father's door, shouting, father, father, would the
father appreciate this?
If you look from below at the faces of those who pray like this, they
look like a rag wrung and squeezed. I am not talking about other people; this
is what I was like in the past. Before receiving salvation, and while I was
serving as an evangelist in a countryside church, I had once knelt down on the
hard floor in the dark and early morning and offered that kind of prayer, so
long a prayer as to get a hardened skin on the feet. I prayed, saying, I
will crawl on my knees to the heaven. I even had wrinkles on the face
at young age because I contorted my face so much during the prayer. I sometimes
went up to the high mountain and prayed in tears by the rock, not so much out
of gratitude for the grace as out of frustration.
We can easily see the existence of God. James 2:19 says, You
believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe thatand shudder.
Even demons believe that God is one. They shudder, however, because while
knowing about there being one God, they also know about their going to hell.
When two demon-possessed men met Jesus, they yelled aloud, What do you
want with us, Son of God, and then, Have you come here to
torture us before the appointed time? (Mat. 8:29) Although the Jewish
religious leaders did not recognize Jesus, these two men saw that Jesus was the
Son of God.
During the mission activities of Paul, a girl with a fortune-telling
spirit followed Paul and his company and shouted, These men are
servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved,
and she continued this for many days (Acts 16:17). How accurately she knew it!
Demons know it better. Those who know about God and yet have not received
salvation fear God. Even demons have this kind of faith.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear
has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love (1
John 4:18).
The complete love of God expels any fear of punishment. Just as turning
on a light in the darkness removes darkness, so when God's love fills our
hearts, fear vanishes. If someone comes to know about the existence of God and
his being a sinner subject to the judgment of hell, he cannot but fear God.
Some people even ruin their sleep out of terror after becoming aware of this.
As if they could see the hell already, they even get up in the middle of sleep
and tremble.
One day, I had a religious gathering in a farming village of the province of Chon Buk
Later on, I asked her why she stood up during the sermon. She said that
it was because she had felt so suffocated as if the fire of hell had been
burning in front of her. How can you be anything but afraid once you come to
learn about the hellish punishment? The fear will ebb away only when you listen
to the gospel and realize God's love. The complete love of God will drive out
the terrors of sin, death, and judegment.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Rom. 5:5)
When we realize God's grace from listening to the gospel, God pours out
his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The love of God, which I used to
hear only in words, actually fills me up and expels fear. Even a sinner like me
becomes saved - my hope for the heavenly kingdom does not end in
disappointment. After the savior's love filled my heart, the Holy
Spirit dwells in me, and after the Lord defeated my fear, my hope lies in the
heaven. (hymn)
When the Holy Spirit of the Christ blossoms God's love in my heart, the
fears of sin, death, judgment and hell will disappear, and the hope that even a
sinner like me can go to the heavenly kingdom becomes more certain. This is the
proof of coming of the Holy Spirit.
Some people say that the Holy Spirit is received through an experience
of fire. They say that during prayer their bodies became hot, and fire shot
through their sides, or they saw a vision of the cross. These mysterious
experiences and others such as speaking in tongues and prayer healing, however,
have nothing to do with salvation. It is odd that people rely on abnormal more
than normal things and on strange experiences more than the Bible. The Holy
Spirit does not come through any bodily experience but to our spirits as a
spirit.
When the Holy Spirit comes, it helps us realize God's love. All the problems
will be resolved the minute we are able to believe in God's love through the
conscience. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
The one in whose heart dread of God's judgment lingers has not yet fully
realized God's love. The cowardly (fearful) refers to those
who believe and yet are not born again.
Next, the unbelieving literally refers to those who do
not believe. Not believing in God at all is a condition of judgment.
Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not
believed in the name of God's one and only Son (John 3:18).
Furthermore, the vile and the murderers
cannot avoid the judgment of hell. Some people think of others' lives as those
of insects and commit abominable acts. We frequent hear people say, Those
brutes should go to hell, and of course, they will be rushed to hell.
Is there none among you who has performed despicable acts? Is it true
that everyone who says, I have not committed any murder,
really has never murdered? Not so. How many people these days kill human lives
even without guilty conscience? In Korea alone, over 1.5 million
fetuses are being slaughtered each year in the good name of family planning.
When mothers are so loving towards their children, how can they kill the unborn
babies so mercilessly? Is someone not a child, and his life not a human life
just because he is not yet born?
A few years ago, during the presidency of Reagan, a film was made
available to the public that had been taken on an abortion procedure by the
presidential commission. An ultrasound monitor showed details and even the
beating heart of a fifteen-week-old fetus. All the important parts had been
already formed. When an abortion device was inserted, the fetus instinctively
shrank from the device. When the device forcefully grabbed the fetus twisting
to and fro, it opened the mouth and screamed.
The title of the film was A Silent Scream, which was
introduced in Korea
with the same title. Watching the film, Reagan saw the screaming fetus and
judged that abortion was a murder. Had the fetus been able to speak, it would
have begged, Mother, save me. Please don't kill me.
The fetus was brutally slaughtered by the machine, under the collusion
of the mother and doctor. Its head was crushed and sucked into the inhaler. The
pieces of the fetus were sorted and put in the container. A gynecologist
watching the scene said that he had performed many abortions, and abortion was
a homicide. He then vowed never to perform abortion again. The same film had
another abortion on an older fetus.
After watching this, Reagan became determined against abortion and
started a campaign to stop it. Still, however, abortion is permitted in the United States
now, and this is very regrettable. Fathers also say, drop the baby!
Everyone is a murder in the plot. Wait and see. They may be able to avoid the
retribution here, but not in front of God's judgment seat.
Also, although one may not have been involved in physical killing, it
also constitutes a manslaughter to hate someone to the extent of wanting to
murder him or to defame others' character. This is to kill with the heart.
Those who murder people, created in God's image for the sake of God's glory,
will be quickly ushered to hell.
The sexually immoral, that is, those who fornicate
cannot flee from the torment of hell. God considers sexual immorality a grave
sin. The old cities Sodom and Gomorrah were cities of lust, even with
rampant homosexuality. Hence, God annihilated the cities with fire as a warning
for the future. In a similar way, Sodom
and Gomorrah
and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and
perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of
eternal fire. (Jude 1:7) The tragedy of Sodom
and Gomorrah
foreshadowed God's judgment of the world to come. If there is a sin that
necessitates God's judgment of the world, it is the sexual iniquities.
In ancient Italy ,
there was a city called Pompeii ,
which is recorded in history for being a city of lechery. One day, the volcano
of Vesuvius erupted and covered the entire city with ashes. It was God's
judgment upon the city, teeming with fornication and sexual perversion.
I have been to that place, too. Under the ashes, the walls and other
structures were preserved fossilized. There were lustful wall paintings. I also
saw the well-preserved fossils of people who had died crouching and of a
pregnant woman. I even heard that there had been co-ed public baths that could
hold hundreds of people, which shows the degree of their depravity. God swept
away the city of raging sin.
How is the situation of today? It is no less serious than those of Sodom , Gomorrah , and Pompeii . There is a
survey finding that over seventy percent of the husbands have an experience of
extra-marital affair. Under the slogans of age of open sex, age of free sex,
and age of sexual indulgence, people say, What is problem with sex?
The Bible, however, says, You shall not murder and You
shall not commit adultery, listing adultery as the next heaviest sin
after murder.
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside
his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body (1 Cor. 6:18).
Sexual immorality corrupts and destroys our personality. All the sexual
intercourses except for those engaged in by married men and women are a
fornication, and those who fornicate are bound hellward.
These days, inns and hotels are crowded day and night, and they extend
business hours. A housewife who had sold her body under the pretext of earning
her son's tuition was arrested and shocked the public. Sexual immorality is so
severe as to melt the bone marrow. Furthermore, most of what we see and hear in
our surroundings encourage sexual misdemeanors.
Those who practice magic arts, that is, fortunetellers
and shamans and those who are trustful and fond of them are all subject to
judgment. The idolaters are those who serve something other
than God or those who believe in God but love other things more than they do God.
All liars will also have to plunge into the fiery lake
of burning sulfur. It is said that all lies originate from the devil. The Bible
says that devil is the father of falsity. How about you? Are you not telling
lies as easily as eating cakes? Is there anyone among you who falls under none
of the sins mentioned?
Everyone must have a sin forgotten after being committed long time ago,
a sin deeply buried in the heart, or a secret sin supposed to be known to none.
These sins, however, are known to the conscience and to God. They will be
judged for these sins. It is unavoidable. What will you do?
14. The Condition of Salvation
Salvation requires that we admit our being sinners before God. I have
been born as a sinner, have committed many sinful acts in the world, and will
face death someday. I may have a sudden and unexpected death through an
accident or incurable disease. At any rate, we will all die after several
decades. Our death will not be the end, however, for afterwards there will be
judgment waiting for us, which will sentence us to the second death in the
fiery lake. This is the fate of sinners. We must acknowledge this if we desire
to be saved.
To receive salvation means to be delivered from such a fate. Everyone
must be saved before death, for upon death the judgement is pronounced upon
them. In order to receive salvation, we must acknowledge this fact and
desperately desire to be saved. God saves all those who have a deep thirst for
salvation. This is God's will and promise. Dear readers, if you can believe
through the Bible that God exists, and God's judgement is waiting for you after
death, please pray. Please pray to God desperately and from the depth of your
heart. Pray, God, please save me. Open my eyes for the truth of the
gospel. Please help me and have pity on me.
When the robber crucified with Jesus repented, he offered but a simple
prayer, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
(Luke 23:42) Jesus, however, accepted his sincere and desperate heart. If we
seek the grace of Jesus only, he will accept our hearts. For he never despises
a wounded soul. Try to pray sincerely and eagerly to receive salvation. God
saves those who truly aspire to salvation.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed
in spirit (Psa. 34:18).
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise (Psa. 51:17).
Some people protest, however, saying, I have been going to
church for decades and yet have not been saved. Now, do I hear that salvation
can come only after a few days of learning the Bible? This is a baloney.
This is based on a misunderstanding of God's power and salvation. The giver of
salvation is God, and the power of salvation belongs to God. It is for simple
reason that people reckon whether sinners can be saved and how long it takes to
attain salvation: they reason from their own human viewpoint rather than from
God's.
They do not understand that I do not save myself but am saved by God.
This is God's business conducted through the work of Jesus. Once we are ready
for salvation, we do not need to wait even for a few days. How long did it take
for Jesus to save dead people? It happened instantly. Likewise, would God need
a long time to save us?
It is we who take much time. We need to go through a process of
preparation for salvation. There are a few things we must know If we are to be
rescued from the destiny of hell: We must know that God exists, the Bible is
God's word, there is eternal world, there is God's judgement and heaven and
hell, and we are under the destiny of hell.
Through the Bible, we can confirm that God is alive, who has created and
is governing the universe and leads the human history. From this, we come to
believe that the Bible is God's word, and we have spirits, created in God's
image. Further, we come to realize that we have drifted apart from God and are
condemned to judgment because of our trespasses.
The first purpose of learning the Bible is to awaken an eagerness for
salvation in our hearts by learning these things. Learning the Bible is an
effort to turn our hearts back to God amid our life of alienation from Him.
Just as a radio catches the right channel when it hits on the right frequency,
so will our hearts be aroused with God's love and Holy Spirit once it turns
back unto God's direction. We only need to have an eagerness for salvation. To
those who are truly thirsting after salvation, the Holy Spirit will stretch out
a helping hand.
IV. God's Love Revealed in
the Gospel
So far, you have come along a fairly long spiritual journey. As I
promised at the outset, if you continue on this path without giving up on the
way, you will have found a way to salvation by the time you are finished with
this book. I am grateful to God for His grace of helping you continue up to
this point after starting with the first volume, The Way to God. Again, I am
grateful to Jesus as I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit will save all those
who passionately long for God's word and eagerly desire salvation.
Through the Bible, we have gained an understanding about God and His
plan and secret and about who we are before God. We have further realized that
the Bible reveals our individual as well as the human destiny. We have also
learned that history manifests God's plan to save our souls, and He has shown
us the way to salvation and the truth to believe. Therefore, what each of us
must do at this point is to accept the word of truth, which leads to salvation.
1. Eternal Life is the Purpose of Studying the Bible
You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you
possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me... (John
5:39)
As Jesus explains, the ultimate purpose of studying the Bible is the
salvation of our souls. We need salvation in order to attain eternal life, and
we need eternal life in order that we participate in God's glory and in His
plan and purpose. God has spoken through the Bible about the way of human
salvation, and we receive salvation through this word. Receiving salvation,
being reborn, possessing eternal life, and having the right relationship with
God all mean the same.
When Jesus says, You diligently study the Scriptures because
you think that by them you possess eternal life, he means that it is
right to study the Bible closely for the sake of salvation. The purpose of
studying the Bible is to attain eternal life, and this means that only through
the Bible can we enter into the right relationship with God.
Here, the Scripture at the time of Jesus meant the Old
Testament because the New Testament had not been written. The Old Testament
contains God's promise to send Jesus, and the New Testament Jesus' work of
redemption, the grace allowed to those who believe in it, and Jesus' promise to
come again in the last days.
These are the Scriptures that testify about me... The
foremost purpose of the entire books of the Scripture is to tell us about
Jesus. The Bible is the book of instruction for salvation through Jesus.
Therefore, no matter how much knowledge we gain from the Bible, our study of
the Bible is without purpose unless we unearth therefrom the truth of
salvation.
Many people who are supposed to have a great deal of knowledge of the
Bible still have no idea about their salvation and rebirth. This is because
they have not yet penetrated into the core of the Bible. In fact, before we are
reborn, we cannot fully realize the message of the Bible. The Scripture is said
a source of spiritual food. Food is needed only by living beings. Since the
Bible is a spiritual food, rather than a set of ethical codes or moral
injunctions, it becomes relevant to us only after our spirits come to life
through salvation. Only after then, will the words of the Scripture start
touching our heart and mind.
We receive salvation through the word. As it says in the Colossians
1:16, All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing,
just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood
God's grace in all its truth, to be saved is to realize God's grace by
listening to the gospel, and the moment of such realization is the day of
salvation.
What is the gospel? Among the messages of the Scripture, there are the
special words that concern the salvation of our spirits. In Acts 10, God sends
an angel to Cornelius and tells him to send for a man named Simon who
is called Peter so that he can convey the word to bring his whole
household to salvation. Peter visits the house of Cornelius and his word saves
his entire family. As exemplified here, the word leading to salvation is called
the gospel. When we realize such word, we will attain eternal life.
We will have one day in our life when we listen to the gospel and
understand the grace of God. The verse in the hymn, Is it not a day of
joy, a day when we first received the word of the Lord? means the
same. The day when we first received the word of the Lord
does not refer to the day when we first went to the church and heard a biblical
message. While some realize the gospel after decades of life of faith, some do
fortunately only after a short church life. On the other hand, there are even
some who fail to hear the saving word even after a lifelong church attendance.
A day I embraced the way of the Lord, is this not a day of joy?
This day, my vile body turned into a new body of rebirth. (hymn) A
saved person certainly has a day of awakening to the gospel, or the day of
rebirth.
As it says, He (God) chose to give us birth through the word of
truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all He created,
(James 1:18) God gives birth to His children through the word of truth. The
moment we become touched by the gospel, our spirits are saved and born again,
thereby becoming children of God. This is God's begetting us through the word
of truth. As it says, For you have been born again, not of perishable
seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God... And
this is the word that was preached to you, (1 Pet. 1:23, 25) the imperishable
seed for the born again is the gospel, that is, the living and
enduring word of God. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in
Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father
through the gospel. (1 Cor. 4:15) (For in Christ Jesus I have begotten
you through the gospel.- KJV)
In Luke 8, Jesus explains a secret of God's kingdom through a parable of
a seed-sowing farmer: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was
scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the
birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants
withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew
up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came
up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.
Then, Jesus deciphers it by saying, The seed is the word of
God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and
takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be
saved. (Luke 8:11, 12) Some people hear the word without taking it to
the heart, eventually forgetting all about it. Jesus explains that just as a
bird ate up the seeds thrown on the road and left unsown, if we hear the word
without clearly grasping it, the devil comes and takes it away from us. Like
the path, rock, and thorns, the heart where God's word is not planted has no
life of God and no relationship with salvation. But the one who
received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and
understands it. (Mat. 13:23) Salvation lies in understanding the word.
The word is a seed that plants God's life in our hearts.
A seed has no unique shape, and almost looks like nothing when it is
found here and there. When it is planted under the fertile ground, however, it
can give rise to a magnificent tree. Although it is nothing but a little grain
by itself, once planted it grows to produce flowers and fruits. The biblical
messages and the speeches of the biblical transmitters are planted in the heart
of those prepared. The good soil is the heart of the prepared souls.
No ground is fertile from the beginning. Every ground of the heart is
hard like a road, hides sin like a stony field, and teems with greed like the
brambles. Just as we reclaim a barren ground by removing thorns, picking out
stones, and plowing the soil, when we learn the Bible, the message softens our
hearts so that the word can take roots, grow, and produce fruits there. God
uplifts our hearts so that they become eager for the word and sincere for
salvation.
When the word of salvation enters the prepared heart, life begins to
sprout. Just as the seed sprouts under the right temperature and humidity, the
life of the word takes roots and grows in the prepared heart. The message of
the gospel mysteriously brings about understanding. It is truly mysterious that
the word plants God's life in the heart.
Inaudible electric waves are passing by our ears all the time. When a
radio is turned to the right frequency, however, it can catch them and make
them audible and even recordable. Likewise, when we are eagerly turned towards
God, and comprehend the word of salvation, the word becomes recorded in the spirit.
I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their
minds. (Heb. 10:16)
The message written in our heart and mind is eternally preserved. This
is called understanding, a point where God's life begins. This is how God saves
us, a deeply mysterious process.
When asked, Are you saved? many people say, How
can you know that? You will find out after you die. Such people are
certainly not saved, however. Salvation, or rebirth, is an event of spiritual
birth and a clear experience. Every event has its time and space. If an event
is without time and space of occurrence it can only be a chimera.
Some people say that they are saved, and yet try to slur over the matter
when asked, How were you saved? Or some of them say, I
am saved because I believe in the Christ, and I believe because I am saved.
When asked, When did you start believing? they answer, From
birth, or I am saved because I have been baptized.
Still some people say, I have seen a vision of the cross during
my prayer. My body became hot during then, or I had a queer
miracle. My illness is gone. There are all kinds of such stories.
These miracles may indicate the power of God or devil. Furthermore, even if the
healing was God's work, by itself it has nothing to do with salvation.
Salvation occurs always through a realization of the word of truth in
the Bible. Unless the content of salvation conforms to the biblical message,
that salvation is a misunderstanding and falsity. I have seen many times that
the faith of those who claim to be saved does not actually point to true
salvation when checked against the word. The problem becomes more serious when
someone who is not saved thinks that he is.
These days there are a plenty of counterfeit money, false checks, and
fake cards that are very similar to the real things. When the forgery or
alteration is discovered, big commotion is aroused. Often people try to use
fake passports or visa and end up getting arrested at the immigration office.
We may be able to cheat people, but never God; hence, we must be complete and
thorough. We should realize and believe in the way of salvation through the
Bible exactly as God has prepared it.
As I mentioned earlier, God's work of salvation proceeds unconditionally
on the basis of God's power, love, and grace. Therefore, the first thing we
must do for salvation is to deeply feel the need of salvation. As a promise is
realized only when both parties keep faith, God's promise in the Bible requires
that we first perform our part of the duty. Because the Old and New Testaments
are God's promise of salvation through Jesus, we must prepare our hearts if we
are to meet God.
If, for instance, one makes a promise to meet someone at a certain place
and time to give something to him, the parties to the promise must show up at
the set time and place in order for the promise to produce a result.
God always keeps his side of the promise, and the problem is that we do
not keep our side of it. The Bible says that in order to save the sinners, God
has sacrificed His only Son and waits in such a way that with the Lord
a day is like a thousand years. (2 Pet. 3:8) It also says that God
wants everybody to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). We fail to receive the gift of
salvation, however, because we refuse to.
After hearing the same word of salvation, some are moved to awakening,
and some do not. Whether one understands is not a matter of how smart he is;
rather, it is a matter of heart and conscience. God sees how passionately we
seek God's grace, and plants the gospel truth only in the earnest seekers.
Since Jesus came to find the sinners, he visits only those who know of
themselves as sinners. Jesus saves only those who know of their being sinners
and desire to be saved. Those who are confident of their own righteousness and
devotion to God will fail to attain salvation. Such people will reject Jesus.
Therefore, for the sake of salvation we must first acknowledge our being
sinners. We have learned that we are transgressors from birth and born with
fallen hearts, and the totality of our life is a transgression.
We have also noted that the word sinner signifies being a descendant of
Adam rather than how much vice we have practiced. It signifies that we are
disconnected and lost from God and under the divine judgment, and our spirits
have died. This is the first thing we realize through the Bible.
We turn our backs against God, and follow the fallen bodily drives and
drink iniquities like water. This is the shape we are in. No matter how
righteously we live, we only live in human rather than divine righteousness.
Our fate is to commit sin throughout the whole life and die and become judged
before God.
And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God...
(Job 19:26)
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden
thing, whether it is good or evil (Eccl. 12:14).
The minute our hearts stop, our body starts decaying, and our spirit
rises from the body and meets God. The reborn spirits will enter the heavenly
kingdom, whereas those sinful spirits not reborn will be judged and sent to
hell, a place of fire and burning sulfur, never to come out from there.
Therefore, we must first acknowledge our destiny, whereby we are born in sin,
commit sin throughout the whole life, some day die, and go to hell after the
judgement.
Then, how can our souls be delivered from the fate of the eternal
condemnation? What we must be clear about is that there is no way whatsoever
that we can be released on our own from the destiny of judgement and
destruction.
Although some people think that their tears, fasting, and other forms of
bodily mortification may move God to forgive them, and yet forgiveness is not
earned by such things. As the hymn 343 says, Tears do not help. Even a
heap of tears do not remove our fears or wash our sin. So tears do not help,
no matter how much we cry, not even an iota of sin will be erased from us. Just
because a criminal under death sentence cries many days and begs the judge to
spare his life, will the judge set him free?
Can we be purified of our trespasses by practicing good manners and
performing many good deeds for others? Unfortunately, no righteousness of ours
is of any help at all. Good works do not help. Even good words,
intentions or deeds do not bring us rebirth. So good works do not help.
(Hymn) Even good endeavors, or sincere and kind words, intentions, or deeds
cannot help us be born again. Rebirth is not something to be worked for.
Some revivalists teach, You should shed many tears. Do you
think you will receive grace without shedding even a drop of tears? Also, you
must work hard in order to enter the heavenly kingdom. But nowhere in
the Bible does it say that we are saved through tears.
How about endurance? Will our sins be forgiven if we go to church for
tens of years, overcoming all the hurdles, rain or shine, and regardless of
other people's accusation? Endurance doesn't help. How can a sinner
drowning in ugly sin live? So endurance doesn't help. (Hymn) As the
hymn says, even endurance is ineffectual. We should understand that whatever we
do, we cannot save ourselves.
Faith will help. Believe in Jesus and rely on his work, and
when you go to him, you will receive eternal life. (Hymn) It says that
faith will help, while tears, good works, or endurance do not. Having faith
does not refer to any actions we perform. If salvation is possible through an
action, then why would we need faith in addition?
The misunderstanding starts when we think that faith is something we do
with religious zeal. Believers have brought confusion to the meaning of faith
and action. They teach that going to church and diligently performing good
actions are a part of having faith. While teaching faith on the one hand, they
teach that hard work of goodness brings blessing. This brings fundamental
confusion as to whether action constitutes faith, or faith leads to action.
This is the beginning of the problem.
2. What is the Law?
sIn order to comprehend what faith is, we should first understand that
there is nothing we can do for the sake of the salvation of our soul. In order
to help the Israelites understand this first, God told them about His existence
and gave them the law. The most representative of the law is the Ten
Commandments.
John 1:17 says, For the law was given through Moses; grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ. Romans 7:12 also says, So
then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
Since the law reveals the holiness and goodness of God, it is in itself holy,
righteous, and good. The law commands people to live a holy and good life. One
who can keep the commandments can be called holy, righteous, and good.
I started going to church when I was a middle school freshman. Whenever
I went to church on Sundays, we recited the Ten Commandments with the pastor
and were told to observe them. Believing that I must keep them to enter the
heavenly kingdom, I made earnest efforts to keep them; later, however, when I
read Matthews 5, I came to a conclusion that it is humanly impossible to keep
the law.
You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, Do not
murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell
you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.
Again, anyone who says to his brother, Raca, is answerable to
the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire
of hell (Mat. 5:21, 22).
Jesus says that although one may refrain from murder, even anger will
subject him to judgment, and calling others Raca (an
expression of contempt and ridicule, meaning brainless) or
fool will throw him into the hell fire. The Bible also says that hatred
constitutes murder (1 John 3:15), for the basis of murder is hatred.
God reckons from the root, which is formed before actions. In other
words, people confirm murder by looking at its concrete results, whereas God
scrutinizes our hearts, and if we harbor a thought of murder, God sees it as
murder even before it is acted upon.
You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery,' But
I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed
adultery with her in his heart. (Mat. 5:27) This verse also says that
even without an actual action, when one harbors lust in the heart has already
fornicated.
Moreover, Jesus says, If someone strikes you on the right
cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take
your tunic, let him have your cloak as well, (Mat. 5:39, 40) and Love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute you... (Mat. 5:44)
The law can be summarized as: Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength, and Love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark
12:30, 31) Would it be possible, however, for the sinners, born selfish and
possessing Adam's character, to love God with all their heart, all their soul,
all their mind, and all their strength and love their neighbor as themselves?
Those who fail to love their neighbors as themselves have violated all the laws
regarding human beings, and those who fail to love God with all their heart and
soul have breached all the commandments regarding God.
What, then, is the purpose of God's giving the law? Many people answer
this by saying, Of course, so that we may practice them. The
Bible, however, says that no one can keep the law; hence, the law is not given
for actual keeping. The law has been given so that we can realize that we are
unable to reach God's standard by ourselves, for those born with an inclination
for sin are never able to keep the law.
We are comparable to a bad oak. Born as transgressors and endowed with
viciousness, we are immersed in sin. To say to us, be holy, good, and
righteous is like saying to a bad oak, bring grapes,
or bring tangerines and apples. Is this a possible demand?
3. The Law Brings Us to a Self-Discovery before God
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For
I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out (Rom. 7:18).
What we come to realize clearly through the Bible is that in God's view
there is nothing good in us and only the heart that is deceitful above
all things and beyond cure. (Jer. 17:9)
Like the apostle Paul, who made the above remark, we should clearly
understand that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful
nature. Since there is nothing good in us, we cannot but exclaim, I
have desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Although we
know that we should be good and even strive hard to put the knowledge into
practice, we have no power to do so.
People practice vice even when they know that it is bad. Why? It is
because they have the evil root. Do bad trees bear faulty fruits because they
want to? Bad trees have the nature to yield spoiled fruits; therefore, they
cannot bear fresh and delicious fruits even if they want to. Would God, then,
expect to see from us sinners fruits of goodness?
When God gave the law to the people, He knew very well that they would
not be able to obey it. He did not expect even one person to be able to keep
the law. Even Moses smote a human being to death. Who else kept the law?
Then, why did God give us the law that we could not even abide by? The
purpose lies in somewhere else.
Even after going to church for tens of years, people still do not know
this and say, He gave it to us so we may keep it. We are to follow the
law. When asked, Then, have you been able to follow it?
they ask back, You must at least try to; otherwise, shall we violate
it at will? Have you been able to keep it yourself? You will soon
reach a conclusion that it is an impossible task. It is admirable to strive to
live a good life under the law, and yet such an effort has nothing whatsoever
to do with being justified before God.
Let us imagine a situation where you stop and talk to a passerby: Sir,
excuse me. What is the matter? Please do
not kill. I am on a moral campaign. Then, would he say, Right.
It is in the Ten Commandments. Thank you, or go mad, saying, What?
Do I look like a killer? Do I look like a member of those bloody gangs?
Also, if you say to someone, Please do not steal, he
will be enraged, saying, Do I look like a thief? Have you seen me
steal? although some may be dismayed and say in the heart, How
does this guy know I have robbed? To say, Do not steal
implies, You look like a thief, and you are likely to steal.
Further, if you say to someone, Sir, do not covet your
neighbor's wife, he will not leave you in peace, although he may
wonder in the heart, How does this scoundrel know that I like the
woman? Worse, if you say to a lady passing by, Lady, excuse
me. Please do not fornicate, she will probably break your leg. This is
a bad insult.
People humble themselves and listen to the commandment because it is
God's message. Had it come out of a human mouth, it would have created a great
trouble. To say, Do not kill implies that we look like
killers, and to say, Do not steal implies that we look like
thieves. To say, Do not covet is to ask, You are
coveting, aren't you? to say, Do not lie is to ask, You
are lying, arent' you? and to say, Do not lust after your
neighbor's wife is to ask, You are lusting after her, aren't
you?
The verse, It [the law] was added because of transgressions
(Gal. 3:19) means that because we do not see our own evil-doing, God gave the
law as an addition in order to make it clear to us. Since the law was added
because of the breach of the law, learning the law enables us more clearly
perceive our sin. Without a code to define what a sin is, there would be no
basis for punishing an offender, nor would we know that we have sinned after
committing one. There is sin because there is the law.
We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers
and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who
kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for
slave traders and liars and perjurers-and for whatever else is contrary to the
sound doctrine (1 Tim. 1:9, 10).
Good people do not need the law, for the holy, the righteous, and the
good have no sin. As this verse says, the law is set forth for the sinful and
not for the righteous.
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under
the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held
accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by
observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin (Rom.
3:19 ~ 20).
Death (which is the judgment upon the sin according to the law)
came to all men, because all sinned. (Rom. 5:12) Because all the
sinners are under the law, the law speaks to all those under the law. The law
renders speechless all the transgressors under the law.
Some people raise their voice even after doing evil, saying, What
have I done wrong? Ignorance of the law makes you bold. After you
encounter the law, however, you become speechless. This means that you stop
claiming to be sinless.
You cannot drive recklessly and say, Why do you bother me, when
I am just doing what I want with my own car? What does it matter to me whether
there is a green light or red? because there is traffic law. If you
violate the traffic law, you will be penalized whether you knew it or not.
You'd better stop under the red light and not turn left where it is prohibited.
You cannot protest against being arrested after breaking the traffic law.
In a prison, two in-laws met. How ashamed they must have been! One asked
the other, How did you come here? and the other answered, Because
of something very unfair. They continued: What was the
offence, anyway? Something small. I picked up a string in
someone else's yard. Picking up a string puts you behind the
bars? Well, I then realized that a cow was tied up at the end
of it. He is a cow thief, but he says that he knows nothing about the
cow. He just picked up the string, and the cow followed along unfortunately,
according to him.
Then the other in-law asked the one who had been questioning: By
the way, how did you end up here? I am also fairly innocent,
but suffered injustice. But what really happened? I
wore a big jacket to a supermarket, put stuffs into my pockets, and walked out.
I just forgot to say, 'This is on credit.' That's all. He is a
shoplifter. Would the law agree with them? Would the judge record that he
simply forgot to mention on credit? One is a cow thief, and
the other shoplifter. They will not be able to insist on their innocence before
the law. They will have to shut their mouths and prepare themselves for the
punishment.
The law silences all the claims of innocence and enables the people of
the whole world see their existence under God's judgment. Through the
law we become conscious of sin. (Rom. 3:20)
When you go to a hospital, they first make a diagnosis before giving you
a medicine. A medical intervention comes after an exact diagnosis is made.
Likewise, the law is in charge of giving us a spiritual diagnosis and telling
us why we need salvation before God heals our spirits. When we study the law,
we become able to see our wickedness and our being under God's judgment, and
aroused with a desire to receive salvation.
Suppose that you go to a hospital and doctor asks you about your
condition, and you say, Where would I be sick? I am fine. Nothing is
wrong with me. Then, the doctor can only say, Why did you
come here, then? Out from my office? You know what you should say
instead: Well, I feel strange here. Please check it out for me.
After the diagnosis, you will get a certain result. The doctor may say, It's
good that you had an early check-up. You have incipient cancer, and a surgery
can take care of it. Then, you will have to say, So! I will
take your advice. When shall I get the surgery? If you understand, and
know that you have a sickness, you will follow the doctor's direction, agreeing
to have a certain part of your body cut off, or lie on the bed for an
operation. You do this because you know that it is necessary for your healing.
If you keep insisting, Don't give me that. What do you mean, I am
sick? I am just fine, the doctor cannot help you. This, then, is what
the law does-giving us a diagnosis that we can understand.
A little child comes back from playing outside with his face stained
black. When the mother sees this, she says, Son, your face is dirty.
Go and wash your face. If the child defies her without seeing his
face, however, saying, I have nothing on the face. Why are you
bothering me? what would be the best way to prevail on him? Tell him
to see his face on the mirror, and he will immediately realize that the face
needs a wash.
The law works like a mirror. It shows us how sinful we are in the
presence of God. By seeing our own shape against the standard of God's
holiness, righteousness, and goodness, we come to realize how false, wicked,
and miserable we are. We see the filth of our iniquities with the law, and we
are purified of them with Jesus. For the mirror only reflects our dirt, and do not
wash it.
Likewise, the law only helps us perceive our sin, without being able to
resolve the problem of sin. The law can neither make us good nor obedient to
God's word. The law only enables us to comprehend sin and the consequent
judgment. The remark, Through the law we become conscious of sin
reveals the purpose of the law-for us to come face to face with our wickedness
so that we may proceed to Jesus to be purified.
So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be
justified by faith (Gal. 3:24).
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we
might be justified by faith (KJV).
Here, the law is said to be a schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ. (KJV) The schoolmaster means an elementary-level teacher in
charge of educating small children. He prepares them with the basics so that
they can move on to assume the real study. Likewise, the law helps us realize
our sin, and leads us to the Christ, who can cleanse it.
To say that the law leads to the Christ, however, does not mean that we
can go to him by keeping the law; rather, it means that we simply realize our
sin before the law, and become clean in the presence of Jesus. The role of the
law is to help us understand sin and judgment so that we can proceed to Jesus
in faith and be called righteous by him. Regardless of such teaching of the
Bible, however, people construe the law as that which is to be kept and strive
to live by it all their lives, thereby misunderstanding God's intention.
4. Those Who Rely on Observing the Law Are under a Curse
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: Cursed
is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the
Law. (Gal. 3:10)
All who rely on observing the law refers to those who
attempt to reach God by keeping the law as the standard of God's righteousness.
We cannot call such people bad when there are many who indulge in wickedness
lifelong and many who do not even believe in God. They are surely good people
from the human standpoint. It may seem odd, then, to say that such people are
under a curse instead of under blessing.
Rather, would it not be correct to say that those who strive to follow
the law will be blessed? Of course, you will be blessed if you always practice
all that is prescribed in the law. It is out of question that if you can carry
out perfectly, you will receive blessing and go to the heavenly kingdom. We,
born with sinful nature and soaked in the sin of the world, however, are never
able to carry out all the injunctions of the law.
It is humanly impossible to fulfill the commandments exactly and at all
times; hence, the curse. It is sin to violate the law. As the Scripture says, For
the wages of sin is death, (Rom. 6:23) the sin of violating the law is
paid for with death. This is the curse imposed upon those who attempt to
receive God's justification through the practice of the law.
The reason for the curse upon such people is clear. If they can keep the
law in toto, they will be blameless. The problem, however, is that they cannot.
They cannot just keep some of the law and not others. If they are to obey the
law, they must continue to do everything written in the Book of the
Law.
The verse, For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at
just one point is guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10) declares
the same principle. Suppose that someone is holding on to a chain of ten rings
to the heavenly kingdom and he will fall into hell should the chain break.
Suppose that the ten rings represent the Ten Commandments. How many rings must
break for the chain to snap? The chain will fail equally whether just one or
all ten rings break. A cattle or pot is equally useless whether it has only one
or as many as ten holds in the bottom.
How many of the Ten Commandments do you have to violate before going to
hell? It says, the wage of sin is death. Then what is the
price of a great sin? It is death. What is the price of a minor sin? It is also
death. That is, it is to receive judgment and be thrown into the fiery lake
after death. Although you may not have actually performed any evil action, even
simply being angry or saying Raca to others will send you to
hell. Those who have lust in the heart have already fornicated. Then, who can
be said to be observant of the law? We have cursed with our mouth, hated with
our heart, and acted out our lust for sin. We have already thoroughly disobeyed
the law in our hearts, words, and actions. For this reason, those who seek to
gain righteousness through the law are under a curse.
There are many good swimmers, but is there anyone who can swim from the port of Pusan
(Korea ) to the United States ?
Suppose that about a hundred people start swimming to the United States ,
thinking that they would rather do this than going through complicated paper
works and paying for an expensive plane ticket. If any of them can make it, he
will be a hero, let alone save money; if they fail, however, they will die. How
many of the 100 will make it? They will all die. How about if a ten thousand
people try? It will be the same. Then, how about if the entire mankind try? Of
course, they will all die. This is an impossible project from the outset. It is
not cowardice or foolishness to fear what must be feared. Rather, it is
foolishness not to know it. It is wisdom not to start something that is
impossible. To warn against misunderstanding, I am not saying that keeping the
law is utterly useless; rather, I am simply talking about the law as the
condition of salvation.
Those who try to go to God by practicing the goodness of the law are
even more foolish than those who try to swim from Korea
to the United States .
As it says, All who rely on observing the law are under a curse,
they will all go to hell after all the struggles for goodness.
Therefore, we should abandon the notion that God wills our salvation
through the law. No matter how many merits of goodness I have accumulated, and
how empty it may feel to realize that they are ineffectual in opening the
heaven's door, I have to shake off what must be shaken off. I do not have to
feel frustrated that my accomplishments and concepts are being brought to
nothing.
Sometimes, even a business that has sucked in a lot of capital may turn
out to be hopeless. Even after becoming aware of this, however, some people
still try to push it through because they are tormented by what they have
already put in, thereby losing everything they have after all. I have read a
book, Jewish Sales Skills. It says that when Jews start a business, which does
not go well, they will try again. If it shows no hope even after about three
trials, however, they will boldly put an end to it, no matter how much money
has been poured in, and say, I feel relieved.
Among Koreans, however, there are many who continue recklessly even
after a few failures and end up putting in everything they own. In gambling,
someone who keeps losing small amounts often bets a huge sum in order to take
back at once what he has lost. Why? He only thinks about what he has put in so
far.
A wheat flour dealer bought a large amount of flour. Then flour price
tumbled, and he came to a point of bankruptcy. Thinking that it would be better
to disappear than going bankrupt and bringing disgrace to his family, he bought
a rope in order to hang himself. When he tied the rope to a crossbeam and put
his neck to the loop, he heard a radio news saying that the flour price had
soared, whereupon he stopped the suicide and earned big money by selling the
flour.
Would it make sense at all, however, if he had gone ahead with the
suicide out of reluctance to waste the rope? Who would do that kind of silly
thing? We would throw away that string with no hesitation, no matter how much
money we may have paid for it out of tight budget.
Although we might have been reliant on the law for attaining God's
recognition, we should promptly give it up once we see that it is useless. We
can grasp what God gives us only when we release what we have a handful of.
Losing it does not mean letting go of the rope to the heavenly kingdom but
switching to God's rope of grace.
Even after this explanation, however, there might still be people who
repeat, But the laws must be kept, as far as we can, holding
on to the pride in their accomplishments of decades of church life. These
people are like those who say, swimming to the United States, Now that
I am already here, I should swim further as far as I can. If they go
too far, however, they will go down, unable to return.
5. The Law and The Grace
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be
gained through the law, Christ died for nothing (Gal. 2:21)!
If we could become righteous through the law, Jesus did not have to come
to the world or die on the cross, that is, he died in vain. Jesus received
punishment on our behalf because the law cannot earn us righteousness. Clearly
no one is justified before God by the law because, 'The righteous will live by
faith.' The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, 'The man who does these
things will live by them.' (Gal. 3:11, 12) Grace decrees, Believe,
and thou shalt live, and the law, Act, and thou shalt live.
Hence, the law and grace are the opposites. And yet many people bring confusion
to their faith by not being able to distinguish between them.
You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from
Christ; you have fallen away from grace (Gal. 5:4).
Who are the ones trying to be justified by law? They
are those who earnestly try to practice a faith. Those who do not have a faith
would not try to practice the law, still less try to be justified by it. The
Scripture, however, says that those who rely on the law have been
alienated from Christ and fallen away from grace
rather than saying that they will receive a great award.
The Scripture says, all our righteous acts are like filthy rags,
(Isa. 64:6) and they cannot cover themselves (their shame) with what
they make. (Isa. 59:6) This is a declaration that our endeavors to
become righteous is like a dirty person's wearing a soiled garment in God's
sight, and thus our righteousness cannot hide our shame. The garment is like a
worn-out clothes of a leper contaminated with all kinds of germs from him. We
will not be able to stand before God in such a rag.
The devil whispers to unbelievers thus: Hey, do not listen to
anything said about God, spirit, heaven or hell. Those are fabrications of idle
people. Who could have created the universe? It existed from times immemorial.
The Sun, Moon, and stars came forth spontaneously. So did the earth, after
which it got on the track of rotation. Amoebas evolved into insects, and
insects to fish and birds. This is also how animals, apes, and human beings
appeared.
The falsity continues: What is so special about human beings?
They are a product of evolution, and this is why they are called a higher
animal. They only represent a bit of progress from animals. What do you mean,
spirit? Show me if it exists. So you can just live and die basically like
animals, by the law of nature and survival of the fittest. And death will put
everything to rest; it will be the end of it all. So you do not have to live in
such a narrowness and worry. Enjoy your life.
Those who succumb to such a deception pursue pleasure without being
aware of their being cheated. Since they have no hope in what is eternal, they
eat and drink just for the body. Singing, Drink, and drink, and dance
and dance, through the night, till the morning, they drink, vomit, and
space out. The devil does not allow a spare time for them to think about such
matters as concerns God and spirit. It drives us wild and dizzy until the
moment of our arrival at the hell.
Then, what would the devil say to believers of Jesus? Would it say, Will
you believe in Jesus? OK, then believe in him and go to heaven, bye-bye?
To those who desire faith, devil does not tell them not to believe; rather it
says, believe hard. This is because it has a second weapon
called religion. It says, Go to church, and believe hard, if you will.
Join the early morning prayer, keep the Sundays, serve in the church, and offer
donations. Build many churches, and appoint many pastors and deaconesses.
Beautify your choir and offer solemn ceremony. For the devil is not
intimidated by such things.
However, the devil will counsel them, Do not try to be saved.
Do not be concerned with being reborn. You do not have to know such things now,
for you will find out as time passes. What is special about faith? Doesn't it
simply mean going to church and working hard for goodness? This will be enough
to earn you the heavenly reward. And if a pastor praises such people,
saying that they deserve a great heavenly reward, they even show condescending
modesty, saying, I am hardly worthy of it, while agreeing to
it wholeheartedly in their mind.
They are on a plane ride without being aware that it is piloted by the
devil and bound to hell. Will God praise them just because their pastors do?
While we boast of our cleverness about worldly affairs, we are in the dark
about the spiritual affairs.
When buying something, people go to different stores to check the
prices. They go to the cheapest place and try to make bargains even there. Even
after buying it with such a fuss, if they still find out that the price could
have been cheaper, they become outraged. They try hard and show their utmost
wits to avoid deception as regards things of the world, and yet embrace devil's
lie as regards faith in Jesus. It is not a serious problem to be cheated a
little about other things and incur some material loss, but we should never be
cheated with respect to faith.
Our readers should not entirely trust words of their pastors,
revivalists, or theologians. Whoever the speaker, believe only when his
messages conform to the Bible. Of what worth are human words, when the heaven
and hell are not affairs of the world? There is no truth other than the Bible,
which is God's word. Rather than believing something because others do, we
should believe it after checking whether it is supported by the Bible.
There are many people who are dismayed when told, You must be
saved and born again. Although Jesus teaches, No one can see
the kingdom of God unless he is born again, (John 3:3) they are still
offended when they hear that they must be reborn to go to heaven. This is
really strange. When they hear such things, a wise response would be: Ah,
that's right. I must be born again. How can this happen? I have no confidence
about salvation, although I desire it. What shall I do? Instead,
however, these people react by saying, Are you the only one saved?
What kind of salvation do you have, that you are so arrogant? Plus, it is none
of your business whether other people are saved or not. There is
something wrong when they are so repelled by the talk of salvation.
6. God's Righteousness and My Righteousness
For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their
zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that
comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's
righteousness (Rom.
10:2, 3).
What happens when someone is zealous for God, and yet his zeal is not
based on knowledge? He will try to establish his own righteousness without
knowing God's, thereby failing to obey God's righteousness. Serving God
diligently, and zealously going to church and practicing the law belong to my
righteousness. We cannot reach God through my zeal and righteousness.
What is God's righteousness? God has made all the preparation through
which we can go to God and have the right relationship with God. This work of
preparation is God's righteousness. We come to God through God's righteousness.
As in the hymn, When I ascend to the desired heavenly kingdom and see
God, I will stand before him relying on the righteousness of the Lord the
savior, we can stand before God not upon our own righteousness but
upon that of the Christ. We fail to obey God's righteousness while trying to establish
our own without comprehending what God's righteousness is.
There are many who go to hell even after serving God assiduously. This
might seem strange-to be eager for God and go to hell. But this is true. To
realize this fact is very important for our salvation, for only after the
realization can we understand what salvation is. Now it should be certain that
we cannot avoid the judgment and destruction and go near God through our own
righteousness, zeal, efforts to keep the law, or any other merits. Otherwise, I
must keep talking about this until you realize.
The hymn said that tears, good works, and endurance are all ineffectual.
We are sinners who can do nothing but die like someone who fell into deep water
without knowing how to swim. He will die a hundred percent unless someone comes
to rescue him-he has no other way. Likewise, we will live if God rescues us
unconditionally from our hell-bound fate, and if not, we can only perish. Only
God can save us, and if He does save us, we can only receive it without
offering anything in return.
7. The Road to Salvation
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst (1 Tim. 1:15).
The apostle Paul, who authored fourteen books of the New Testament
including the 1 Timothy, had been a leader in executing followers of Jesus.
This is why he says that he is the worst of the sinners. At the same time, he
says this as an indication that all other sinners can be saved. The Christ came
to the world in order to save sinners and give his
life as a ransom for many. (Mat. 20:28)
Jesus came to save sinners like a rescuer of a
drowning victim. Then who are the sinners? They are those bound hellward, who
are in fact every one of us. Therefore to say that Jesus came to save sinners
is to say that he came to save me.
Although there were no one but me in the world, Jesus would still have
come to save me. As the Bible says, For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son, God sent Jesus for each one of us.
Therefore, when Jesus came to save sinners, this was for me. Because I
am under the destiny to be born in sin, live in sin, and live in hell after
death, Jesus came to release me from that destiny.
What should a drowning person do when someone comes to a rescue? He
should stay still to make the rescue work easy. When someone falls into water,
he holds fast to whatever is within reach, and in desperation he can generate
an enormous force. If a rescuer is caught in his grips, both will die. So I
heard that lifesavers do not touch the victim when he is pawing and splashing
to get out of the water until he becomes too tired to struggle.
Inexperienced people will urge the lifesaver to hurry, but he will say, It's
OK for him to swallow some water. Let's wait. When the victim becomes
exhausted, then the lifesaver can pull him out just by dragging his hair. I
even heard that if the victim struggles too much, then he gets hit out of his
consciousness.
The same applies to how Jesus saves sinners. Although Jesus wants to
save them, they are pawing and slashing hard to establish their own
righteousness; they work hard, strive, and serve loyally, so
much so that Jesus leaves them alone until they run out of their strength. Until
I fall down exhausted, carrying my heavy load alone, (hymn) Jesus
simply watches me. So when the rescuer comes, the drowning victim will be
wisest simply to stay still and relaxed.
To have faith means to rely on, entrust myself to, and make request upon
the object of faith. It is to relax all my strength and entrust myself
completely to him. It is up to him whether he drags my hair or pushes me out.
If he is a capable lifesaver, I will live, and otherwise I will die. My life
depends on him. Therefore, I should let him completely take over. What happens
next is the business of Jesus, and all I have to do is simply to watch his
performance.
The Israelites came out of Egypt under the leadership of
Moses. After a while, they saw the Red Sea
blocking their way, while the Egyptian army was chasing after them. Then the
people complained to Moses, Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you
brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of
Egypt ?
(Exo. 14:11) Moses answered, Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will
see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today...The LORD will fight for
you; you need only to be still. (Exo. 14:13, 14)
When Moses held up his staff and spread his hand toward the sea
according to God's direction, the sea split and a path appeared. The Israelites
safely passed through the passage between the waters. God moved back the pillar
of cloud and kept the Egyptian army in darkness so they could not chase the
Israelites any further. After their crossing was completed, God sent waters
back upon the Egyptian army, then crossing the sea on the dry path, and drowned
them all. The Israelites watched God's work of salvation while staying still.
We can also watch God's work of salvation for sinners.
Jesus came to save sinners, did the work, and departed. When the
Scripture says that God so loved the world as to give His only Son (John 3:16),
the world here does not only mean the people of Jesus' time but all the people
to come until the end of the world. For God treats people equally regardless of
time. Jesus came to the world and departed. Then, did Jesus complete his work
of salvation or not? Of course, he did.
If Jesus finished his work, then why is it that there are still people
not saved? It is because people do not know about his work. They do not know
what Jesus has done for the sake of their sin. As the hymn said, Tears
do not help, Good works do not help, and Endurance
doesn't help, we cannot do it ourselves; as the hymn continued,
however, Faith will help. Believe in Jesus and rely on his work, and
when you go to him, you will receive eternal life, we simply have to
believe.
The work Jesus has done is the grace given to us by God. Jesus completed
the work of salvation. To have faith in Jesus means to believe in the work he
did. To rely on his work is to rest upon what he accomplished. We will receive
eternal life only by relying on the work of Jesus and going to him. People
believe in Jesus and yet fail to attain salvation because they do not believe
in his work while believing in him.
When asked, Do you believe in Jesus? some people
answer, Yes, I am a deaconess. When asked, Are you
confident about your going to heaven? they try to be humble and say, Well,
I am not worthy. I believe, but my faith falls short. They are saying
that they are not sure because they do not have enough faith. Does this mean
that the work of Jesus is not good enough to send them to heaven, or that their
merits are still short? This means after all that their own merits are not
enough.
They say, Others attend early morning prayers, but I am too
lazy to do so. I sometimes skip Sunday service because I have to keep my store
open. I am too stingy to make tithing. I am unable to live by the Bible,
either. Sometimes, I even tell lies. So I do believe, but my faith is short.
In short, they are not confident about their eternal destination because their
faith is not strong enough. This, however, is not humility.
To say, not enough means there being something rather
than nothing, though not in the amount that will merit the heaven. Is that
something faith? Although they call it faith, its essence is work. Talks of
sufficiency and deficiency only apply when reckoning with work. Hence, not
having enough faith can only mean not having accumulated enough merit through
their own work.
Of course, our merits fall short. We need a hundred points to go to
heavenly kingdom, and yet how many points do you have? I only have
fifteen. I raised it to thirty through early morning prayers, vigils, singing
hymns, and making donations in the last spring revival, and then lost about
twenty points while selling ice in the summer. Again, in the autumn revival, I
repented deeply and gained thirty-five points, and then lost twenty points or
so while selling sweet potatoes in the winter. I am surely unworthy.
Of course, we are lacking, to the extent of going to hell.
In light of the Bible, how many points have we scored so far for
heavenly admission? Zero. Then, how many for hell? One hundred. We have a
perfect score to go to hell. So we do not need more wrongdoings for admission
to hell.
Sometimes we are good and feel as if heaven is beckoning us, and
sometimes we turn evil and feel as if we are summoned by hell. This is to trust
our own self in reality while trusting Jesus in words, for the one who turns
good or evil is we. We are relying on what we have done rather than what Jesus
has done.
To believe in his work is to believe in what Jesus has done in order to
pay for my sin. It is entirely irrelevant how serious a sinner I am, how much
sin I have committed, or how well I have practiced the law before God. Since I
am a transgressor, the key is what Jesus has done to liberate me. Our being
able to see the work he did is God's grace for us. Salvation comes through this
realization. What, then, has Jesus done in order to save us?
8. The Christ Came in Order to Take Away Our Sin
But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And
in him is no sin (1 John 3:5).
Jesus came to this world in order to remove our sin. Coming to save
sinners is to come to remove their sins. Because we are judged and sent to hell
because of sin, Jesus has to root out our sin if he is to save us.
Then, how can he remove our sin? Just with God's boundless love? Not so.
This would ruin God's justice. Sin must be paid for. Until then, sin cannot be
resolved.
Can a criminal under death sentence be released from execution by making
a sincere and serious plea? How about if he says that he will perform many good
actions and pay for his crime? It will not work. As his crime and punishment
has been determined by the law, if the criminal is to live, there has to be a
law of substitution, according to which someone else can take the punishment on
his behalf.
In principle, the punishment must be suffered by the one who committed
the crime, for only this way, will justice be served. Hence, the sentence has
been announced, and the offender has no way to avoid it. He is to die. However,
if human beings, created in God's image for the sake of divine glory, go to
hell through sin, God's justice may be served, and yet God's love will crumble,
and His plan of creation fail. God's justice does not allow any exception to
the rule that sin be paid for. On the other hand, God's love cannot bear to see
a sinner being punished. Therefore, God has promulgated a law that serves both
justice and love. This is the law of substitution, whereby the payment for the
sin is made vicariously. A criminal sentenced to death can keep his life if
someone else can die in his place. From such a consideration, God has
established the law of substitution.
For instance, suppose that someone failed his business and filed for bankruptcy
for a debt worth around one billion won. He has to go to prison because he
cannot repay it. What must be done if he is to be set free? If some rich
relatives or acquaintances of his can pay it on his behalf, he will be
released. Likewise, the law of substitution says that death, which is the price
of sin payable to God, can be suffered by someone else. The one who dies in
substitution will do away with all liabilities. Since the wage of sin
is death, there is no other way to resolve it than through death.
I heard that such a law has been used in the past. Suppose that someone
who has a friend sentenced to death comes to a judge and says, Sir,
please let me die in his place. His family has no way to make their living once
he dies. I am single, and I am deeply indebted to him. I want to repay the debt
of love owed to him by dying in his place. Please allow me. If the
judge approves his vicarious death, then the sentenced criminal will not have
to die. The judge can say, A friend of this criminal has offered his
life for execution on behalf of the criminal. So he is now free. This
release is fair. The law God has prepared for us allows vicarious death. This
way, God establishes his justice and fulfills his love at the same time.
If Jesus, who came to save sinners, is to take
away our sin, obviously he must be free of sin. A sinner cannot take
over the sin of another, just as one inmate sentenced to execution cannot die
in place of another such inmate and set the latter free. Hence, the one to die
for our (sinner's) sake has to be innocent.
To say that a righteous person dies and pays for another's sin implies
that forgiveness of sin requires a payment of life. Sacrifice of life is death
and bloodshed.
Just as it has been God's law ever since Genesis that the price of sin
is death (you will surely die), it is God's law that without
the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (of sin). (Heb. 9:22) By
saying, For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given
it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that
makes atonement for one's life, Leviticus 17:11 explains that blood is
life. In other words, when a living being sheds blood and dies, this blood pays
for the sin. Today, scholars also say that life of the body, whether of human
beings or animals, resides in the blood.
The Israelites in the Old Testament Age sacrificed animals as a sin
offering in order to expiate their sins of violating the law. For this many
lambs, goats, and calves were slaughtered. They killed a clean animal without
defect, sprinkled its blood over the alter of atonement, and prayed to God,
thereby making atonement for their sins.
They laid the burden of human sin upon these animals and killed
them-sins of idol worship, murder, disobeying parents, adultery, theft, and so
forth. They could be forgiven by sprinkling their blood and praying to God.
Such a sacrifice was a part of the law imposed upon Israelites. Can human sin
be washed away through animal's death, however?
The sacrifice of sin offering did not have true effect. An animal cannot
die in place of human beings, nor can animal blood wash away human sin. It
is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
(Heb. 10:4) If animal blood is unable to wipe out human sin, then why did God
command them to make the sacrifice?
Although it was not a true sacrifice, it was a ceremony performed under
the promise that a real sacrifice would be made in the future. The Bible says, The
gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the
worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial
washings-external regulations applying until the time of the new order,
(Heb 9:9, 10) and, The law is only a shadow of the good things that
are coming... (Heb. 10:1)
We can find an example of this in business. When a dealer buys goods to
sell, he normally issues bills of debt in lieu of the cash payment because the
dealer must sell these goods before having the money to pay. The bill says that
the money will be paid at a certain time. A bill is not cash, and yet it is a
promise that will work like cash when the time comes.
Of course, a bill may be dishonored because it is a human arrangement.
The bill issuer may go bankrupt or deliberately engage in a bill fraud. In that
case, the bill turns into garbage, and the trust of the bill bearer breaks
down. This is an unusual case, however, and normally a bill is money of the
promise that will be fulfilled on the due date. Moreover, because of the trust,
it works like cash even at present. The bill bearer may cash it through a bill
discount or use it to make a payment. This is possible because the promised
money will be paid when the bill is due.
Likewise, the animal sacrifice was not a true sacrifice, but worked
because it was God's promise. It had been God's promise that worked like a bill
until the true sacrifice was offered by Jesus.
If we are to be absolved of our sin, a person must die in our place.
Since the descendants of Adam are all sinners, however, some righteous person
outside the fallen lineage must offer his life. So God prepared a sinless
person outside the lineage of Adam. This is Jesus Christ. But you know
that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin
700 years before the coming of Jesus, God promised through the prophet
Isaiah, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin
will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
(Isa. 7:14) The one born from a virgin was also the offspring
of the woman promised by God before the fall of Adam and Eve. Since the
descendants of Adam are all sinners, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in
the virgin's womb in order to be born as a sinless human being. God borrowed
the virgin Mary's womb for ten months and called him sinless because he was not
a descendant of Adam.
Many people ridicule this by saying, What a baloney! How can a
baby be conceived without a man? For they cannot comprehend the
immaculate conception from their own experiences. But God can make it happen.
Is God unable to cause a virgin conceive a baby?
God created the universe and life from nothing. We do not even fully
understand the information contained in one of the seventy trillion cells
making up the human body. Did I put in that information, or my parents? If we
stop thinking from human viewpoint and consider God's standpoint, what is
impossible becomes simply possible.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own
way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53:6).
Ever since Adam, everyone has been a sheep lost from God. Just as a lost
sheep becomes powerless and wonders around aimlessly, we, lost from God, have
been wondering around on the road to ruin. We have followed the greed of the
fallen body, but God has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all, a sin that we
have been committing through a reckless life away from God.
What we should take note in the above verse is that it is God who loaded
our sins upon Jesus. This did not happen because of our desperate plea, Lord,
please atone for our sin. Because of such and such sins, we will all perish
unless you help, nor because we confessed all our evil-doings and
begged for forgiveness. Would our sins disappear just because we make a
confession, when not a tiny iota of it can be taken away even by a full
exertion of human religiosity?
Some revivalists say that we must confess our sins in order for Jesus to
carry them away. When no work can help, however, of what use is confession, and
is there anyone capable of confessing all his vice? Sins are committed
knowingly, unknowingly, in action, and in heart. Even failing to do good
constitutes sin. Can we remember even one-hundredth, or one-thousandth of them?
No one can ever confess all his sin.
Even before we confess our sin, however, God knows all about us. Even
before their birth, God knew about the birth of all the people. He also knew
that they would be born as sinners, commit such and such sins, and go to hell
because of these sins. Since God transcends time, he knows all these things.
The omniscient God has had Jesus bear our sin in transcendence of time,
that is, even the sins of the future as well as those committed so far. The
LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
If God has laid our iniquity on Jesus, then who is to suffer the
retribution of sin? Of course, Jesus is. God should certainly impose the
judgment upon Jesus, and he ought to take it voluntarily.
Let us say that someone has failed his business and incurred a debt of a
half million dollars. Since he has no way of paying even the interest, not to
mention the principal, he is tormented every day. Concluding that there is no
way out, he decides to commit suicide. Somebody finds out about this, however,
and offers to pay his debt. He says to the creditor, I will pay the
half million dollars, and please write a receipt in his name and
clears the debt.
Then, the debtor has no more liability. It is the payer of the debt that
is subject to whatever setback may ensue, and the debtor has been liberated
from its burden. Likewise, since God commissioned Jesus to take over our sin,
the judgment was transferred to Jesus from us. For God decided to receive the
payment for our sin from Jesus.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are
healed (Isa. 53:5).
The crown of thorns on Jesus' head scratched his face, and the whip
slashed his entire body. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross, and he
was pierced on the side, pouring out blood and water. The Bible says that his
stabbing wounds were on account of our iniquities and defects. My sin stabbed
and wounded Jesus, and my sin killed him.
God laid our sin upon Jesus and struck him with the whip of judgment. We
are the ones who deserve the whip, and yet Jesus took it on our behalf, and his
taking the whip has healed us. In other words, because he took over the
judgment that originally belongs to us, we have become released from the
liability of judgement.
At that time, under the rule of the Roman Empire ,
there was a capital punishment that nailed the criminal to the cross alive.
When an offender was sentenced to an execution by cross, on the eve of
execution soldiers stripped him naked, tied him to a pillar, and whipped him.
Two soldiers struck in turn with a leather whip that had a horn or metal at the
end, and it tore apart the offender's skin. Sometimes weak people died out of
pain during the whipping.
Jesus took that whip. God struck Jesus with the whip of judgment that
originally belongs to us sinners. His stabbing wounds were on account of our
sin, and this has set us free from the judgment. This prophecy through Isaiah
had been given 700 years before the coming of Jesus, and he came to fulfill
that prophecy.
Now, there is something we should stop and think about. Some people say,
If God wants to save us, why can he not simply go ahead, for God has
the power to do everything He wills, and there would be no one to oppose or
criticize Him anyway? Why does He not say 'I will save you' with His absolute
authority? Why does He have to go through such an ordeal to erase our sin,
making His only Son carry the burden and leading him to death with whip and the
cross? Why does he not cancel our sin unconditionally?
True, God is omnipotent, and He has created and governs all things with
word. I, however, have discovered one amazing thing in the Bible: there is
something even the omnipotent God cannot accomplish with word alone.
As far as salvation of sinners is concerned, God cannot achieve it
simply with word. This God cannot do at discretion. Otherwise, would He have
had to sacrifice His only Son? What if God could forgive our sin just with His
word?
Then, God's justice and furthermore dignity and honor would be seriously
undermined, for not only will God have infringed His own law, but also
tolerated sin. The law has authority only when it is strictly enforced; if used
according to convenience, it may as well not exist at all. If some powerful
person applies the law at his own discretion, this would be another form of
violence. From the standpoint of the weak, who would say that the law is just?
9. God's Justice and God's Love
The Bible reveals two important attributes of God. One is justice, as in
the verse, LORD is a God of justice, (Isa. 30:18) and the
other
is love, as it says, God is love. (1 John 4:16) God
has two attributes, which are justice and love.
God's justice has manifested itself through the law, and the law
expresses God's justice. Love, on the other hand, appears as grace. Although
every one of us is doomed to perish as a transgressor before God's justice,
that is, the law, any transgressor can be forgiven and saved through God's
love. The justice and love are each complete in itself.
If God were only just and not loving, nobody would receive salvation,
and all of us would be put to judgement and eternal doom. On the other hand, if
God were only loving and not just, He would be able to save us without
condition. Of course, Jesus would not have had to offer his life on the cross.
Since God's justice and love complete each other, however, one cannot be
ignored for the sake of the other. Rather, they must work together in harmony.
If God of justice judged and decimated the mankind, where would God of
love be? This would only destroy God's love. On the other hand, if God of love
tolerated and forgave sinners unconditionally, salvation may be accomplished,
and yet God's justice would become completely violated. Then, there would arise
a contradiction within God's nature, which is inadmissible. Justice and love
must be realized together.
For instance, suppose that someone is taken to the court after
committing a crime, and he happens to be a son of the presiding judge. The
audience watches with acute concern how the trial will proceed. The judge
starts questioning the accused: What is your name? I
am so and so. Then the judge realizes that it is his son. If the
defendant says, Father, it's me. Please forgive me, and the
judge says, OK, my son, I will take care of it, then will
this be a fair trial?
If the judge were to remit his punishment, saying, You are free
because you are my son, would the audience accept it, perhaps out of
sympathy, and say, It is unfair but understandable because blood is
thicker than the law? No. They will immediately rise up in riot,
shouting, Kick out that judge. We cannot entrust him with the law.
Powerless people may follow the law, and yet justice is already shattered.
The judge and the accused are related under justice, while the father
and the son are related in love. The latter relationship means nothing in the
court, however, for they are facing each other as the law, rather than the
blood, defines who they are. What matters is what punishment is pronounced
against the offence. Even if the son says, Father, it's me,
the judge will have to turn a clod face and advance the trial: The
defendant shall keep silent and only answer the question. What is your name?
Yes, sir. My name is so and so. Have you
committed the crime you are accused of? If the defendant acknowledges
it, or there is a clear evidence, the judge will pronounce the appropriate
sentence according to the law. Suppose the judge says, Pursuant to the
so and so Paragraph and Article of the so and so Criminal Act, the defendant is
sentenced to so and so imprisonment or fine. Then, the audience will
cheer the trial and respect the judge as a man of justice.
The son thus went to the prison. Because he could not afford to pay the
fine, he had to live in prison for so many years. The justice had been served.
Then the judge visited the criminal, this time as his father. The father asked
the son, You wretched soul, what have you done? The son
repented and answered him, Father, I am sorry. I am really sorry.
Please forgive me. I will never do this again.
Then the father said, It's OK. You are my son, anyway. I will
try to get the money for the fine. He gathered up all the money and
even sold his house, and paid the fine on behalf of the son. Thus, the son was
released; the father's sacrificial efforts liberated him. This way, father's
love has been realized. This is how justice and love are both fulfilled as each
of them should be.
I will provide another example - an incident that is said to be real. A
king announced a strict law over the entire country, declaring that any
transgressor thereof would lose both of their eyes. Unfortunately, however, the
one who broke the law first was the prince. He was then brought to the king in
chain. The king decreed, Take out his eyes as prescribed in the law.
King's officers prostrated themselves and begged the king, however, saying, Your
majesty, he is the only prince to inherit the kingdom. Please pardon him.
But the king insisted, It is impossible. The law cannot be
compromised, even for the prince. Take out his eyes, now.
The officers then tied up the prince and took out one of his eyes. As
they moved on to the second eye, the king exclaimed, Stop. Spare the
other eye, and take one of mine instead. The father did not want to
see his son go blind. But who would dare to touch the king's eyes? The officers
prostrated again and said, Your majesty, it is impossible.
Then the king took out one of his own eyes himself with a gimlet. The officers
could not say, It is impossible when the king was doing it
himself.
It was justice to take out the eye in accordance with the law, while it
was love for the king to take out his own eye, although it would have been a
complete love had the king offered both of his eyes. Once declared, the law is
absolute even for its promulgator. Even now, the law applies equally both to
the legislators and judicial officers. God is a just legislator and judge.
Collapse of God's justice would mean the loss of His authority and honor.
The justice of God says, The wage of sin is death,
while His love says, Someone can die in your place. It is
love for a righteous person to die for a sinner. Hence, the crucifixion of
Jesus means a complete fulfillment of both justice and love of God. It is
justice that sin must be paid for by death, and it is love that God's only Son
has died for our sin. The cross represents a simultaneous realization of God's
justice and God's love.
10. The Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look,
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
As John the Baptist said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world! Jesus came to the world in order to fulfill the
promise of the Old Testament. Look at the lamb of God, carrying the
sin of the world! (Hymn)
Look! To believe is to see. When we see Jesus through
the Bible, he is a lamb of atonement prepared by God and upon whom God has laid
the iniquity of the world. The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
all. The lamb of God died on the cross with the sin of the world. In
order to fulfill God's will to save sinners, Jesus was slaughtered as a lamb.
When Jesus was carrying the burden of sin, did it include the sins of
you and me? Of course, it did. Whether I know this or not, that is how God
arranged it. Whether I acknowledge or believe it or not, Jesus took upon
himself my sin, for the burden he carried included the sins of the entire
mankind. When I came to Jesus in sorrow and toil, Jesus took over my
burden. His love became a joy in my heart. He took over my sin. He took over my
sin. (Hymn)
I came to Jesus with a turbulent heart, but when listened to him, I saw
that he had already carried my sin away as well as sins of all of us. This holy
person became a lump of sin, and where did he go with that sin? He carried the
cross and went to Golgotha , the field of
execution, in order to take the punishment. For the sin could not be expiated
without a penalty of death.
As I explained earlier, Jesus was subjected to all kinds of abuse and
contempt the previous night, and on the day of execution he personally carried
the cross and was taken to the execution field. Because of the torture of the
previous night and the heavy cross and merciless whips of the Roman soldiers on
the way, he stumbled over and over while walking up the hill of Golgotha. His
face was covered with blood exuding from the wounds of the crown of thorns.
I remember how painful thorns can be. When I was traveling through Israel , the
tourist bus driver stopped the bus and pointed to a bramble. Its thorns looked
like that of a hardy-orange, but much sharper. Some of our company went out and
broke off a thorn. While I was also trying to break one off, a finger of mine
got stung and bled immediately. They made a crown out of such terrifying thorns
and put it upon Jesus, and the thorns were driven home into his head. Why was a
crown of thorns put on his head?
Genesis narrates that through the fall of Adam and Eve, the ground was
cursed to produce thorns and thistles (Gen. 3:17, 18). Therefore, by wearing
the crown of thorns, Jesus wore on his head the curse of sin incurred by human
beings. As Isaiah says that human thoughts are always evil (Isa. 59:7), the sin
committed by human brain placed the crown of thorns upon Jesus.
On the hill of Golgotha, Jesus was nailed in the hands and feet to the
cross he had carried. He was raised high between the heaven and earth and
between God and the people. The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
all, and Jesus took the punishment voluntarily. He took the cup of
death for the sake of God's glory, his own glory, and the glory of the heavenly
kingdom to be given to us.
The large nails pierced his holy hands because of the sins of our hands,
the nail penetrated his feet because of the sins of our feet, the spear pierced
his chest because of the sins of our hearts, and the whip struck, and the cross
lifted his body because of the sin of our bodies. In short, our iniquities
brought him to death.
He was crucified at nine in the morning and breathed his last at three
in the afternoon; for six hours, he suffered extreme pain and insult. He seems
to have died a bit early because of the torture he had received the previous
night. With the final word, It is finished, (John 19:30) he
dropped his head and breathed his last.
When a Roman soldier stabbed his side with a spear from underneath, his
heart was punctured, and the remaining blood and water gushed out. At
that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The
earth shook and the rocks split. (Mat. 27:51) The Bible relates that
this terrified a Roman centurion into saying, Surely he was the Son of
God! (Mat. 27:54) If I had been there, what would I have said?
Two thieves were crucified next to Jesus, while Jesus was placed in the
middle because he was considered the heaviest offender. His face under the
crown of thorns was being washed with blood. Blood was streaming from his hands
and feet, torn by the nails and bodily weight, from wounds of the whip, and
from the chest pierced by the spear. The ground below the cross was a puddle of
blood.
Had you been there to watch the scene, you must have thought, Ah,
truly miserable. What kind of crime had he committed that he had to die like
this? What was the crime? won't you? Did Jesus have a crime? The Bible
says, In him is no sin. He is the one who has said, Can
any of you prove me guilty of sin? (John 8:46) Then why did he have to
die such a gruesome death? Whose sin did he atone for? For the sin of the
sinful, that is, for my sin.
The miserable shape of Jesus on the cross is my own shape; that is how
wretched I am as a sinner before God. So I do not have to try hard to see how
wretched a sinner I am because I can just bring up the image of Jesus on the
cross. His image is my own image under punishment; this is how frightening my
curse of sin is before God. Although I am the one who must suffer such a
dreadful curse and punishment, God imposed it upon Jesus instead of me. All the
curse and judgment belonging to us was taken over by Jesus.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man
someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in
this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:7, 8).
He was crucified with all my sin. Why? What a grace! His love
is boundless. (Hymn) The death of Jesus for sinners like me fulfilled
God's love to save us. The cross completely fulfilled both justice and love of
God.
11. One Died for All
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for
all, and therefore all died (2 Cor. 5:14).
Here, the one, of course, means Jesus. If Jesus died
for all, then does this include you and me? God has included us. He
(Jesus Christ) is the atoning sacrifice (propitiation - KJV) for our sins, and
not only for ours (Christians) but also for the sins of the whole world.
(1 John 2:2)
The one person Jesus died for all. The holy one, and not an ordinary
person, received punishment on our behalf. This is the love of the Christ for
us. When there is someone who has died for us, is it right that we go on
without knowing him? If the one person Jesus died for all, and therefore all
died, then did we die or not before God? We are all sinners deserving death,
and when Jesus died, we died with him. God made a law that allows a righteous
person to expiate others' sins, and offered Jesus for the sake of the
substitution.
On the way to the execution field, Jesus did not complain about the
injustice; instead, he declared, No one takes it from me, but I lay it
down of my own accord. (John 10:18) In other words, he did not die
from injustice but voluntarily in order to remit our sins in accordance with
the law. And through his death, we have been judged and died as sinners before
God.
Some people may say, How can one person die for all?
So let us reflect on this. Through how many people's sins have we become
sinners? Through the one person Adam, the first human ancestor. Through his
sin, Adam first became a transgressor before God, and then the entire
descendants of his. As we learned earlier that sin entered the world
through one man, the result of one trespass was condemnation
for all men. (Rom. 5:18) In consequence, we are all sinners in Adam
from the very birth.
God chose Adam as the representative of the mankind. As a result, Adam's
becoming a sinner rendered the entire mankind sinners, and Adam's being
expelled drove away the entire mankind from God. In short, One person's destiny
determined the destiny of all. Just as we were not born by choice, we have
become sinners not by choice but by the sinful lineage, and commit sin not by
choice but by being a sinner.
Therefore, it would be unjust if, under such circumstances, we were to
be judged and sentenced to hell with no assistance. In that case, we might even
wage a demonstration in hell, saying, God, this is not fair!
or Go away, God. So God prepared a measure to eliminate the
unfairness.
The measure was sending one representative like Adam, and this was
Jesus. 1 Cor 15 refers to Adam as first man Adam, and Adam
means a human being. It then calls Jesus last Adam. Just as
the first Adam represents the mankind, so does Jesus, the last Adam. Adam is
the representative who sinned, and Jesus is the representative who has made
amends for the sin. This is why it says, one died for all, and
therefore all died. Just as God included all the mankind in Adam when
we became sinners, God placed the sin of all the mankind in Jesus, who is an
Adam, and put him under judgment.
Without even knowing, we have become sinners in Adam, and again
unknowingly our sins were resolved in Jesus. This was God's arrangement, and
for whatever reason God did this, we do not have to argue about it. At any
rate, whereas we had been born sinners and living sinful lives in Adam, our
sins have been expiated in Jesus. Adam's destiny was over at this point, and
this is why Jesus is called the last Adam. All the sins of Adam and the
consequent penalties have been cancelled at the cross of Jesus.
When Jesus was punished on our behalf by the suffering of the cross, are
we subject to punishment or not? We should be exempt from the punishment. When
Jesus took care of our retribution by death, if we still suffered another
penalty, then what good would be his blood? Did Jesus die meaninglessly? No. By
means of his blood, God has made our punishment or hell unnecessary. This is
explained in the Bible as the measure God has taken in order to save us.
12. Jesus Purified Our Sin
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of
his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided
purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven
(Heb. 1:3).
The utterance of Jesus at the final moment of death, It is
finished, means completion, accomplishment, or paying off; it meant
that Jesus completed the payment for the sin and thereby the work of saving
sinners. Jesus, after he had provided purification for sins,
resurrected and ascended to the heaven and sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty in heaven Jesus shed his blood in order to make the
substitution for our sin, and rose from the dead and ascended to the heaven in
order to have us believe in our complete absolution. As we pay tax and get a
receipt as a payment certificate, the resurrection is a certificate of the
expiation of our sin.
The resurrected Jesus appeared to his disciples. Showing his hands and
feet, he blessed them, saying, Peace be with you. (Luke
24:36) By this he meant that they could rest in peace because their sins had
been pardoned by God. Suppose that someone went into a heavy debt without any
means to repay it, and another person appears and says to him, I have
paid off your debt. Look at this receipt and the seal. If this is
certain, then the debtor will be able to rest in peace. Notwithstanding the
remark, 'There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked,'
(Isa. 57:21) Jesus has liberated us from the retribution of sin and brought us
peace by finishing the work of redemption.
The Old Testament is God's promise to forgive our sin, and the New
Testament the certificate of its extirpation. Jesus stamped on the promise with
his blood, and with the Holy Spirit put his seal in the hearts of those who
accept it. Without expiating our iniquity, Jesus would not have been able to
rise from the dead; hence, his resurrection is a proof of the forgiveness of
our sin and God's acceptance of the sacrifice of atonement.
After his ascendance Jesus is alive as a witness for us before God. He
testifies to the expiation of our sin, saying, God, look at this
blood. I have shed it and died for the sake of this individual,
whereupon God says, It is good. What is the Bible? It is
another receipt given to us that records the fact of atonement.
There is a hymn line: I have received many proofs for faith in
Jesus. Then what are these proofs? These are the Scriptures
that testify about me... (John 5:39) The Bible, which bears witness to
the works of Jesus, is a receipt God has given us, and when we come to believe
in Jesus, we receive it as a proof.
The blood of my Lord is so pure. The Lord has purified my sin
and beckons me. (Hymn 186) Which is right, the Lord will purify or has
purified my sin? The Lord has purified my sin. Is he
beckoning me in order to purify my sin or because he has purified all my sin?
He is asking us to believe that he has cleansed our sin.
Our sins are not removed because of our faith, however. For what merit
does faith have? Before our having faith, God was already paid by Jesus the
price of our sin, which cleared all our debts of sin. Jesus is asking us to
believe this. The blood that purified me contains much love.
(Hymn) Jesus purified me; his blood cleansed me whiter than the snow.
(Hymn)
As the Scripture says, Do not call anything impure that God has
made clean, (Acts 10:15) can we call ourselves impure
when Jesus has purified us with his blood? Whether we believe it or not, this
is a fact already realized by God.
13. Eternal Redemption and Complete Salvation
Christ... went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is
not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by
means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once
for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:11,12).
The Israelites in the Old Testament Age offered a sacrifice of atonement
with lambs, goats, or calves. This, as we considered earlier, is like issuing a
bill of debt. They believed in Jesus by beholding him from afar. But we cannot
keep receiving just bills. Just as the bill must be turned in for cash when it
is due, Jesus as the substance of sacrifice had to come in place of the goats
and calves.
Hence, Jesus came and completed at once the eternal sacrifice of
atonement with his own precious blood like a lamb without blemish, rather than
with animal bloods. Jesus achieved eternal redemption that is effective in
transcendence of time, from the beginning to the end of human history, and entered
the Most Holy Place once for all.
Redemption means that Jesus has atoned for our sin, through which we
have been forgiven of our sin before God. I sing hymns in great peace
because I am redeemed through the blood of Jesus the lamb. Oh, redemption.
Jesus has redeemed me. (Hymn 189) Jesus has made the substitution for
us, and there is no more amends to be made for our sin. In other words, God has
so arranged that we no more have to fear God because of our sin.
The blood of Jesus has purified the sins of all the people to come after
him until the end of the human history, not to mention those of the people
before Jesus. Through Jesus, God has absolved the entire mankind, from Adam to
the last person to be born; in short, Jesus has achieved eternal atonement.
The biblical meaning of eternity is twofold: one simply refers to a long
time or history, and the other infinity, which continues without beginning or
end. We have time distinctions, talking about a few thousand years before and a
few thousand years after. God, however, does not have such a thing. In the
heavenly kingdom there will be no clocks of calendars; there, we will enter the
eternity with God.
God is eternal. The eternal God started human history. We can say that
human history is a result of carving out and unfolding a fringe of the world of
eternity, which is like a circle. The history thus started will some day come
to an end, and eternity will resume. Hence, the history including the lives of
you and me is nothing but an intermission between eternities. From God's point
of view, the time of Adam's birth and time of the world's end are but one. Time
is long only from human point of view, and even a long time is but an instant
for God.
The eternal atonement is possible from such a viewpoint of God's. By
offering for all time one sacrifice for sins, Jesus has made
us perfect forever (Heb. 10:12, 14) because all our sins have
been forgiven by God eternally and completely. This is effective in all ages
and for all human beings, and for an individual, over his past, present, and
future.
It is out of question that God has removed all our sins, committed from
birth until now. The people of the Old Testament Age believed that their sins
would be forgiven, and we believe that ours have already been. We, however, may
commit sins again as we live on because our living bodies may err or
transgress. Although we may vow never to slip again, we may still repeat our
evil ways regardless of our determination. So what happens to our misdeeds in
the future? God has forgiven them as well.
Whose teaching is this? It would be a serious problem if you say, It
is pastor Lee's teaching because this is explained by God in the
Bible. The Bible is testifying to this, and God takes responsibility for what
the Bible says. God's word that Jesus has obtained eternal redemption
never changes, nor does God's promise. Because it is eternal atonement, our
forgiveness also has eternal validity. God has absolved us of the sins of the
past, present, and future. What I can say for eternity is that it is
only through the blood of Jesus. Also our purification is only through his
blood. (Hymn)
After preaching for two years, I realized that I still had not been born
again. I was deeply tormented by the thought that I would go to hell after
death. Although I had heard over and over again and also preached that Jesus
had died for us, my eyes had been still closed to the gospel.
I was quite grateful for Jesus to have offered his life, but I could not
rest in peace. I even had a thought, Wait. Jesus died almost 2,000
years ago, and his blood dried up. Then what does this have to do with me now?
although I did not express it in words. This made me feel that the death of
Jesus was one thing, and my agony was another. In short, I could never understand
what the death of Jesus meant for me. I kept wondering, What does
Jesus, who died almost 2,000 years ago, have to do with me? This may
sound strange, but I believed and yet could not believe. Jesus died, and yet I
was still suffering on the other side. Can you understand this predicament?
We go to church, professing a faith in Jesus, but we still feel stifled
and troubled in the heart because of our trespass. We keep shedding tears of
repentance in the church, asking, Lord, what shall I do? We
believe, and yet we cannot believe. What is the reason for this? It is that we
have not clearly realized what effect the blood of Jesus has on us.
Amid this confusion, at 8 p.m., on October 30, 1962, the verse, He
did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the
Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal
redemption fell on my ears and struck me to the bone. That night, I
saw the verse for the first time. Although I had read the New Testament for
about fifty times and Old Testament thirty times just during my seminary years,
still that night was the first time I had ever seen that special verse. As
there is a saying that beans are stuck in the eyes, I had not been able to see
it because of the blockage in my eyes. We do not see the Bible just because we
have eyes, but only when God opens our eyes with spiritual wisdom.
Hearing the word that he entered the Most Holy Place once for
all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption and he is
still living as my guarantor, I exclaimed, That's right! Now I am
well. That night, I truly believed for the first time the word that my
sin had been eternally erased. The cross, the cross. When I beheld it
for the first time, it removed the great affliction in my heart.
(Hymn) That night, I saw the cross of Jesus for the first time, and became rid
of the torment of sin in my heart. I believed today, and my eyes
opened; my joy is eternal. (Hymn) How delighted I was! Jesus made an
eternal atonement for my sin! I pinched myself to see if it was a dream or
real. Ah, this is real!
For a criminal sentenced to execution, death is imminent. When his
inmate number is called, it may his last day. If the call, however, is for
special amnesty, he will keep his life. In our society, some prisoners are
released through a special presidential pardon. If their pardon is a real one,
the inmates will jump with joy. They will want to dance around on the way out
of the prison gate.
That night, I was so happy that I was not even aware that what I was
experiencing was salvation or rebirth. I was certain about one thing, however:
my sin had been eternally removed. I sang and sang the hymn 189, which goes, I
sing, shattering the doubts filling my mind and in a deep peace, for I am
forgiven through the blood of the lamb. Oh, the atoning grace! Jesus has atoned
for my sin. Of course, I had sung it before. During revivals, I
clapped hard and sang it with doubts filling my mind and in a deep
frustration. It had been a song outwardly, but a lamentation inwardly.
Whereas I had sung it with doubts filling my mind and in a deep
frustration, now I was singing it, shattering the doubts filling my mind and in
a deep peace. The third verse goes, I surely believe I am forgiven
through the blood of the lamb, and the second verse, Not
through such perishables as gold or silver, but through the blood of the lamb
of holy God. I sang and sang, and still wanted to sing again. I knew
that I could not go to hell any more because I had no sin, which associated me
with hell, and I could only go to the heavenly kingdom. How grateful, how
grateful I was!
I understood later that this was salvation and rebirth. It has been
thirty-six years since that experience, but the joy is still fresh every day.
There is no greater wonder in the entire Bible. What can be more amazing than
the fact that God's only Son gave himself to the cross, shed blood, and
eternally atoned for our sins? What can be added to the blood?
Some people object, Although Jesus atoned for us, this is not
enough to qualify us for the heavenly kingdom. We need to understand something
more. And some insist that despite the atonement of Jesus, we must
complete our salvation with good deeds. Is this true? Do we have to add
something to Jesus' blood in order to complete the salvation? What can we add
to his work? Can we dare to add anything from us to the merit of his blood?
The blood of Jesus released us from sin and uplifted us as children of
God. Although I am not worthy, I rely on his blood to be able to pray to and go
to God. His blood is enough from the beginning to the end, not only for freeing
us from the destiny to hell but also for bringing us to the heavenly kingdom.
It is not in order to add any support for our heavenward journey but out
of boundless joy and gratitude that after our salvation we strive to obey God
and live and even die for Jesus. There is truly no other reason than the joy
and gratitude. Anyone who insists that we need to add something to the blood of
Jesus is sure to be a liar.
Salvation cannot be achieved except through eternal atonement. In other
words, if only the sins of the past are atoned for and not those to be
committed in the future, salvation cannot materialize. For without an expiation
of the future sins, what if I stumble again after being absolved? Since the
wage of sin is death, new sins will nullify all the atonement made so
far. So if the atonement is only for the sins up to the present, we will have
to die immediately after the atonement lest we slip into wickedness again and
lose the ticket to heaven.
If this is inadmissible, then Jesus will have to die over and over again
in order to take care of our failures after salvation. Concerning this, the
Scripture says, Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and
again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood
that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the
creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the
ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb. 9:25, 26)
If the blood of Jesus were unable to make an eternal atonement, Jesus
would have to die repeatedly just as they slaughtered the lambs continuously in
the Old Testament Time. Jesus, however, offered himself as the sacrifice of
atonement once and for all, putting it into effect for the eternity. Jesus
appeared at the end of the world in order to remove sin eternally by dying
once, and this has concluded the judgement. The cross put an end to the sins of
the Old and New Testament people. It is finished at once for eternity, and this
is the eternal atonement.
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb. 10:10) God willed to
pardon us through the death of Jesus, and following this will, Jesus sacrificed
his own body and made us holy. To be holy means to be sinless.
Through computers, we can see criminal records of offenders. They hang
around shamelessly, but if their records show on their faces, would they be
able to do so? What if someone's criminal records are erased through some
special policy, and the computers shows a clean record for him, however? Then
how joyful he must be! Likewise, God has removed our records of sin kept with
God.
If we commit a crime, although it may be a human affair, it is brought
to God. Because this constitutes a violation of God's law, God must forgive
them, and human forgiveness will have no meaning. If we are to be forgiven, our
sin must be completely removed before God. To say that we are made holy does
not mean that our hearts and lives have become holy; in other words, it does
not mean that sin is removed from us, but removed before God. Have you attained
holiness? You can put yourself in the phrase, We are made holy,
and say, I am made holy. God has purified my sin that is
recorded with God.
Again, the reason why we fail to reach salvation despite our faith in
the death of Jesus is that we do not believe in eternal sacrifice and
atonement-because we believe in the blood only partially. Only eternal
atonement can bring eternal forgiveness, and only eternal atonement can bring
eternal salvation. The gospel is complete. You can substitute your name for the
so and so in the following statement: Only for the
sake of the sin of so and so, did Jesus Christ offer one eternal sacrifice and
sit on the right hand of God. God will not find fault with the
statement.
When asked, Whom did Jesus die for? some people say, for
the sake of the sin of the whole world. When asked the same question
again, they answer, For the sins of all people. When asked
the same question once more, they say, For us. Now, when
asked, How about your own sin? they answer, I am
deeply troubled for my sin. They know the world, all people, and we,
and yet forget about their own self. While they are focused on themselves in
grabbing things of the world, they omit themselves in talking about salvation.
My sin is forgiven. My sin is forgiven. Through the blood shed
by the Lord, My sin is forgiven. (Hymn) Faith believes that the
substitution performed by Jesus has atoned for my sin along with that of the
world. Faith makes one-to-one connection between me and Jesus. I will take an
example. At night, all the houses were lighted up except for one. The owner of
this house called the energy company and asked, Why aren't you sending
electricity just to our house? It is dark here. The company replied, It
cannot be. Electricity goes to all houses. The conversation continued:
No. We didn't get it here. Please send it quickly. Did
you turn on the switch? What is switch? Turn
on the switch, please.
Later on, the house owner called the company again: Hello. I
climbed up the pole, shaking the cables and banging on the pole, and yet no
light comes on. Don't you know what a switch is? It is a
little thing sticking out by the door. Flip that on. OK.
He turned on the switch, and the light came on. Wow! Why was
it so difficult to turn on the switch? When was the electricity invented, power
plants built, and electric cables connected to every house? He simply had to
flip the switch.
Having faith is just as easy as turning on the switch because it is to
believe what has been all accomplished. Faith is making an individual
connection to what God has already achieved. It believes that not only has God
forgiven the sin of the world but also my own sin.
14. God No More Remembers Our Sins and Lawless Acts
Then he adds: Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no
more. And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any
sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:17, 18).
The Bible says that Jesus has made a complete payment for sin. Then,
where is it that my sin is removed? Is it in my heart or in God's heart? Does
sin disappear from the heart of the forgiver or the forgiven? It is in the
heart of the forgiver that sin disappears. For instance, let us say that I hit
a boy very hard for almost no reason. I will forget it quickly, although I may
regret a little for having been so harsh. But this is like a sin to the boy
because he did not deserve it.
The boy will be living with a grudge and every time he sees me, he will
think, You beat me for nothing. Wait and see. When you get old and I
become a man, I will get back to you. In this case, where does the sin
reside? Not with me, but in the heart of the boy, and it will not disappear
until the boy forgives me in the heart. Just as sin disappears from the boy's
heart through his forgiveness, so must our sin be removed from God's heart, who
is the forgiver.
What is the reason why God does not remember their sins and
lawless acts? It is because these have been forgiven,
that is, God has forgiven our sins and lawless acts through the blood of Jesus.
This is a matter already completed. This is why it says that there is
no longer any sacrifice for sin. Sin and lawlessness do not vanish
without a sacrifice of the righteous, and God has received all His due from
Jesus. Therefore, there is no further need for a sacrifice of atonement.
Despite this explanation, there are still people who say, OK,
the Bible may say so, but I want to see if the sin is really removed.
After looking into themselves, they say, Well, I have the same filth
inside. They will find nothing within their hearts, however. The Bible
says, He who trusts in himself is a fool... (Pro. 28:26) Why
do they look into their hearts? Rather, we should believe in God's heart. Do
you see God's heart? This message of the Bible is God's heart. Look. Does His
heart not say that He no more remembers your transgression?
Suppose that I have wronged someone. This suffocates me, and every time
I see him, I become anxiously struck by the thought, What will he
think of me? He may put me into prison for that. So finally I decide
to visit him and confess, Sir, I have betrayed you a few years ago.
Please forgive me. I am here because I have been so agonized. Then he
says, What are you talking about? I have forgiven and forgotten it
long time ago.
Really? Is this true? Surely, it is.
Thank you, thank you. Then do I have to worry any further
about the wrongdoing? If he has forgiven it and taken it out of his mind, then
it is resolved. In this case, if someone comes and threatens me, saying, You
have wronged him. I will tell him to get even with you, or give me some money,
will this frighten me? What can scare me when I am already forgiven by him? I
would say, Go ahead, tell him. But upon hearing him, the
forgiver would say, You scoundrel, I have forgiven him, and it is all
resolved. Why are you making trouble with it? Go away.
The devil drives us into sin and accuses us, I will tell God
about it. God will not accept a wretch like you. You are not eligible for the
heavenly kingdom. But a believer of the word can say in confidence, You
devil! God has said that He no longer remembers my sin. The supreme judge has
acquitted me, not because He overlooked my offence but its penalty has been
paid pursuant to the law. So don't fuss around. God did not lie when
He said, I will remember no more.
What is faith? Was my sin not forgiven when Jesus, the only Son of God,
laid down his life for a sinner like me? Of course, it was. No matter how large
my sin is, the accomplishment of Jesus is even larger, and so is God's love.
Jesus' blood is more than enough to expiate my sin for eternity. God said that she
[Israel] has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. If
the debt was one billion won, two billion was paid, and if the debt was ten
billion won, twenty billion. In other words, our sins have been amply paid for.
Since God says that He will no more remember my sin, faith says, Yes.
Your word is truth. Thank you so much.
Even after listening to all the message of the Bible, some people still
wonder, But I heard that something hot comes to you when you believe.
Is there not something hot? Does the Bible say that we are saved by
believing and receiving something hot, however? Or do we need a hot experience
to be able to believe something? Suppose that a son has made some mistake for
his father, and begs for his forgiveness. The father forgives him, and yet the
son says, Although you say you will forgive me, I am still missing
something hot. Then the father will have to slap him in the face,
saying, I will make you hot. Now, I forgive you.
Why do we need something hot in addition to forgiveness? These days,
people tend to rely on strange things. The Bible is God's word and even God
himself. Although my eyes see no proof, and my ears hear no sound,
when I stand firm upon God's word, giving up my emotions, the incomplete
salvation will become complete, and what I hold will be held by the lord.
(Hymn) That is right. When we stand upon the word, without relying on emotions,
the incomplete salvation becomes complete. I believe, standing firm on
God's word that Jesus has redeemed me from sin. (Hymn) Where do we
stand firm and believe? On God's word. We simply have to believe the word of
the Scripture. This is faith.
Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through
the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17).
We just have to believe the word as it is. When the Bible says that God
has forgiven our sins, then He indeed has. Just because someone says, Jesus
has not atoned for my sin, is his sin not forgiven? Yes it is. When
the Bible declares that his sin is forgiven through the crucifixion of Jesus,
his sin indeed is, no matter how he responds to it. When God says that He will
no more remember the sin, then He indeed will not, and when He says that he has
absolved us eternally, then He indeed has.
Are you still not assured even with God's word? Those who still do not
believe this think of Jesus' blood as ditch water. Those who challenge, How
can his blood expiate my sin? think of God's word as a total lie.
While they recognize the graveness of their sin, they fail to understand the
immensity of the achievement of Jesus and God's love. The blood of Jesus is
more than enough to atone for our sins for eternity. To reject this love is the
greatest sin a human being can commit.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in
accordance with the riches of God's grace (Eph. 1:7)
In the Christ, in accordance with the riches of God's grace, that is,
the grace God gives without limit, and through the blood of Jesus, we have
attained redemption, which is the forgiveness of sins. It does not say that we
will receive it in the future; God has redeemed us already through the blood of
Jesus.
If you are asked at night, Is this night or day? or Do
you believe that it is night? you will surely answer, It is
night, or Yes I do. If you are asked further, Is
it really night? Do you really believe that it is night? Why do you believe it
so strongly? you will answer, Because it is night, my friend.
Even if the questioner persists, It's quite bright, though, so can we
not just believe that it is the day? you will still give the same
answer. It is night not because you believe so but because it is really the
night. It is because of the clear fact that it is night.
Our faith is also based on the realized fact. As the night does not
become the day just because someone insists on it, our faith is not something
to be forced. We firmly believe in the forgiveness of sin because it is a fact.
It is a fact that Jesus came to the world, was crucified and resurrected, and
ascended heavenward while many people watched him. The Bible explains the fact.
God has absolved us through his blood. Our sins are forgiven because the
atonement is a fact, and not because of our faith or for other reasons. And
because the forgiveness is a fact, we believe the fact as it is. To say that
not everything is forgiven is to deny the fact. We have been redeemed, or
forgiven, through the blood of Jesus.
Some people may find this unbelievable because it is such an incredible
fact. If someone gives you for free a lump of gold of the size of the Bible,
would you believe it? You will probably say, Please don't joke around.
People seem to feel similarly about salvation. After attending days of Bible
lectures or reading faith literature, they believe that salvation is very
difficult to attain; upon encountering the gospel, however, they hear that salvation
is easily available. They then walk away from faith saying, after
speaking so seriously about salvation, is it this simple after all? I thought
it was almost like picking up a star from the sky, and now I feel so empty.
Salvation is easy for us, but do you know how difficult it is for God?
As I explained earlier, although God created the universe with his word, He
could not achieve the human salvation with his word. For this, He had to send
His only Son to the earth and lead him to death on the cross. When God paid
such an incredible price after having planned it for a few thousand years, can
you say that it was easy? The receiver of the gift of salvation can simply
receive it, and yet it was prepared through the sacrifice, torment, and death of
the only Son of God.
It is easy for the users to turn on electricity, but we should consider
how much effort, time, and money had been spent before the electricity became
easily available for us. The invention of electricity, building of the power
plants, bringing electricity to the consumers all involved no simple
procedures. Likewise, believing is simple because it is not doing or creating
something but simply accepting something that is ready-made.
15. Salvation Is the Gift of God
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast
(Eph. 2:8,9).
Earlier, we have learned that in him we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins is the same as
salvation. Whether you believe it or not, your sin has been paid for. However,
this becomes yours only if you believe it. If you believe that God has forgiven
your sin, you will be forgiven. This is salvation, and this is how God saves
us.
I have explained that it is purely through God's grace that we are saved
through faith; hence, this is God's gift to us and not something we have
obtained ourselves. You must have received gifts. When you receive them, do you
pay for them or are they free? When you receive expensive gifts, do you have to
pay at least a little bit because you are so grateful and also feel sorry for
the giver? No. If you did, then it would only hurt the giver's feelings.
However expensive the present may be, its giver has paid for it, and the
receiver can simply take it for free.
Salvation is God's gift. God has paid an expensive price for it, a price
that is too high for any human beings. In order to save me, God has sent His
only Son and led him to the cross, and through his blood I have been saved. To
believe this is to receive the gift from God. A gift is something that is
simply received, after which it becomes mine. Without receiving it, however, it
will not become mine.
For instance, suppose I give a watch to someone for a present, but he
declines it. I can offer it again, but if he keeps refusing to accept it, I
will have to take it back. He may regret this later, but it will be too late
then. It is a good manner to receive a gift with gratitude when it is offered
with sincere heart. If the recipient keeps rejecting it, how offended will the
giver be?
Faith accepts the gift of God. When God offers us forgiveness of our
sins, that is, salvation, faith receives it with gratitude. To receive is
obedience, and not to receive disobedience. To receive the gift of forgiveness
leads to salvation, and not to receive it to destruction. We do not go to hell
because of the heaviness of our sin, but through rejecting the rich grace of
God.
The gift of forgiveness is not by works but from God;
therefore no one can boast of it. I was destined to hell, no matter what would
do, and yet I am saved through God's grace. My life-long pride is only
the cross. (Hymn) I live my life for the sake of the Christ in joy and
gratitude for the grace. In the next chapter, I would like to examine salvation
in more detail from another perspective.
V. The Way of Cain and
the Way of Abel
Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to
Cain. She said, With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.
Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked
the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as
an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the
firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very
angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, Why are
you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be
accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it
desires to have you, but you must master it. Now Cain said to his
brother Abel, Let's go out to the field. And while they were
in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said
to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? I don't know,
he replied. Am I my brother's keeper? The LORD said, What
have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to
receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will
no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the
earth. Cain said to the LORD, My punishment is more than I
can bear. (Gen. 4:1 ~ 13)
1. The Way to Eternity and the Way of Life
Genesis 1 describes how God created the heaven and earth, plants,
animals, and human beings. Genesis 2 narrates God's giving of the commandment
to the first human beings in the Garden of Eden, and Genesis 3 the first sin
committed as they broke the commandment. Genesis 4 then talks about how human
beings can be restored back to God after committing the sin, that is, the way
of salvation. Hence, if we are to title the first few chapters of Genesis,
chapter 1 can be titled the order of creation, chapter 2 the beginning of the
law, chapter 3 human sin and the consequent pronouncement of curse, and chapter
4 the first gospel.
After the fall of Adam and Eve, Abel was the first one who was saved
through God's grace, formed the right relationship with God, and found the way
to eternal life.
Adam and Eve had their children outside the Garden of Eden. Among them,
Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to God, but God received Abel's sacrifice and
not Cain's. In today's terms, between two people equally going to church,
praying, and believing in God, God accepted one and not the other.
Many people know that those without faith in Jesus are judged by God and
sent to hell, but not so many seem to know that there are many even among the
believers who are to be judged and expelled from God.
You must be well aware that the Israelites rejected Jesus, although they
were born as chosen people, learned the law as soon as they started to speak,
and fervently served God through such practices as reciting the Scripture,
offering tithing, fasting, and praying. You may think that this was a
foolishness practiced only by the Jews long time ago and is irrelevant to the
present, but it is not so. Even today, there are many among the ardent
practitioners of faith who are condemned to the inferno.
2. The Narrow Gate and the Wide Gate
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the
road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the
gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Mat. 7:13,
14).
The narrow and the wide gates do not refer to the distinction between
believers and unbelievers; rather, it warns us by pointing out that among the
faithful there are two kinds of people. Some believe and go to heaven, while
some believe and go to hell. There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death. (Pro. 14:12) There are many roads
that look right in human view but are wrong in God's sight.
Churchgoers say, I believe in both God and Jesus, so I will go
to the heavenly kingdom. Jesus, however, said, Not everyone
who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,
'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out
demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew
you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Mat. 7:21 ~ 23) Those who say, Lord,
Lord are the believers, and to do the will of God is to believe in His
Son Jesus Christ and attain eternal life (John 6:40). No one can enter the
heavenly kingdom through his own righteousness. Somebody asked Jesus, Lord,
are only a few people going to be saved? and he said, Make
every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will
try to enter and will not be able to. (Luke 13:24) By this he meant
that among those who seek to enter the heaven, there are more who will fail
than succeed. What would be the reason for this, and how can we find it out?
This is a very serious and important problem. We should examine whether we
belong to the group of believers to ascend heavenward or to the other,
hell-bound group.
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.
Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you-unless, of course, you fail the
test? (2 Cor. 13:5)
As this verse says, we should examine in light of God's word whether my
faith is one that God acknowledges. We do not become Christians by going to
church but only by having the Spirit of Christ as it says, And
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
We should have a faith such that the Spirit himself testifies with our
spirit that we are God's children (Rom. 8:16)-that is, a faith testified to by
the Holy Spirit. Although I may be praised and respected for my faith in the
church, without having Jesus in me I am deserted by God.
3. Two Kinds of Sacrifices
He replied, Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted
will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind
man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit. (Mat. 15:13,14)
Those who take pride in their baptism, church positions, and faith
without having God's seed and the new life through the Christ will be plucked
out by God. Do you know today how many people are blind in Christianity and how
many people have turned blind by following the latter?
Why do you think that God received Abel's sacrifice but not Cain's? Some
theologians argue that God predestines the people from whom He receives a
sacrifice and the people from whom He does not. Genesis 4, however, is not
setting forth a theory of predestination. If we do want to talk about
predestination, we can say that rather than God predestines an individual in
such and such a way, his destiny falls into either group as a result of his
choice.
Cain was the elder brother and Abel the younger brother. The elder's
sacrifice God did not accept, and yet the younger's God did. Abraham, the
founder of the people of Israel, had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, and Ishmael,
the elder son, did not receive God's promise, while Isaac, the younger son,
received it. Moreover, Isaac had Esau and Jacob as twins, and Esau, the earlier
born, lost God's blessing to Jacob, the later born. Then, what is the meaning
of this pattern-failure of the first born and promise of the second born? The
question for us is not whether we are first born or second born.
The first Adam in the Garden of Eden failed, but Jesus the second Adam
accomplished God's will. The question is whether we as an individual are in the
first Adam or the second Adam. To be in the first Adam signifies an
individual's destiny wherein he stays not reborn under sin, death, and God's
wrath and judgement from the very birth. No matter how hard they may pray to
and work for God, they in fact have nothing to do with Him. We can gain God's
blessing and eternal life only when we are in Jesus the second Adam.
With his death on the cross, he put an end to the fate of Adam, and with
his resurrection, he became the second Adam and a new representative (1Cor.
15). The first Adam was a sinner, and the second Adam a righteous person.
We are born sinful in Adam at physical birth, and born righteous in
Jesus at spiritual rebirth; just as we have become sinners in the one person
Adam, so we become righteous in the one person Jesus. Through our spiritual
rebirth, we move from Adam to Jesus, and from death to life. To those who abide
in Jesus Christ, all of God's blessings are promised. So the story of Cain and
Abel demonstrates these two moments of life rather than a divine choice for or
against an individual with respect to his eternal destiny. For salvation is
determined by the responsibility of each individual.
Many people misunderstand the sacrifice of Cain and Abel. When I was
little and going to a Sunday school, I heard my teacher saying, Folks,
Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to God, Abel devotedly, and Cain carelessly.
So God accepted Abel's sacrifice only. Hence, we should worship God with all
our heart and zeal. And I believed it.
When I learned the Bible later, however, I realized that the teacher's
view was incorrect. What is at issue is not whether we are devoted and zealous
for God. When it comes to zealousness, I think Cain worked much harder than
Abel. He could not have offered a careless sacrifice because it was the first
sacrifice for establishing the right relationship with God. In eagerness for
God, Cain must have toiled to prepare the cream of his crops for the offering.
Abel, on the other hand, simply slaughtered a lamb from his flock, an effort
that must have been much lighter than Cain's.
When I was pastoring a countryside church for the first time, people
would bring the finest of their harvests in the time of Thanksgiving-the
largest pumpkins, thickest radishes, best-looking cabbages, and so forth. They
brought to God whatever was the best, the best-looking and best-colored, piled
them up before the pulpit, and sang praises to God: Give thanks. Give
thanks. Give thanks to God, offering the best to Him. They were indeed
very rich and charming offerings, and Cain's offering must have been the same.
He must have made special efforts in order to bring the finest of his yields.
Abel, on the other hand, offered a lamb. Animal youngs are cute only
when alive, and turn ugly when dead. God accepted the ugly offering, with
streaming blood, loose intestines and blood smell. I think I would have
preferred Cain's offering. Some people may say, It was because God
liked meat than plants. In Psalms 50, however, God asks whether He
would be delighted by offerings of sheep or cow when all the animals are His.
This, then, contains a secret.
Genesis 4 does not give a clear answer to the question why God only
accepted Abel's sacrifice. The answer, however, is found in Hebrews:
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he
was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by
faith he still speaks, even though he is dead (Heb. 11:4).
Now, do you see the reason for God's favoring Abel's sacrifice? The
answer is found in the word, by faith. By faith Abel offered
God a better sacrifice than Cain, and was commended as a righteous
man. This means that God said to him, You are righteous.
God accepted him as a person with no record of sin but only of righteousness.
This is salvation. Whereas Abel sacrificed by faith, Cain
lacked that faith. What, then, is faith?
Many people have incorrect or vague understanding of faith. Some equate
going to church with faith, and some regard religious fervor as diligent faith.
The term faith, however, cannot be qualified by such a word
as diligent. For is it right to say, I believe
diligently that I am a Korean citizen, or I believe
diligently that this plane is going to the United States while on the
plane? There is no such a thing as diligent faith in the Bible. Rather, there
are even people who work intensely all their lives without having even a thread
of faith.
The faith involved in Abel's sacrifice is the same as the faith when we
talk about believing in Jesus. Faith is not merely to acknowledge a fact, but
to trust and to entrust ourselves. It is neither knowing nor doing something.
The faith acceptable to God is to rely on and entrust ourselves to God after
understanding His heart and will and realizing how He has prepared the path
whereby we can reach Him. Where, then, did Abel acquire such faith?
4. Faith Is to Hear and Understand the Message
Romans 10:17 says, Faith comes from hearing the message, and
the message is heard through the word of Christ. The Scripture, which
is a message about God, tells us about the heart of God, what God desires and
wills, and how we sinners can go before God. God has spoken to us about the way
to God, and planned and prepared the way to salvation. Faith understands this
through the word.
Abel must have had chances to hear from God, and Adam and Eve must have
told their children often about the Garden of Eden: How nice it would
be had you been born in the garden! In the garden there were no travails or any
curses like here; it was just full of joy and happiness. We were talking with
God daily and lived in bliss. The children then must have asked why
the parents became so miserable now.
Adam probably said to them: Well, one day, your mother was
tempted by a serpent to eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of
Good and Evil, and then pressed me to eat it also. Being a sympathetic man, I
took the fruit. Then, do you know what happened? I started to feel what I had
not before-I felt ashamed of my nakedness. It did not matter before, but now we
started to see our nakedness and started to fear God. So we made skirts out of
fig leaves, and it was the first clothes ever made. But during the day, the sun
dried up the leaves and just a few of our getting up and down ruined the
skirts. By the night, only stalks were hanging, and it was just as good as not
wearing them.
Adam went on: All of a sudden, God called us, 'Adam, Adam.'
Terrified, we hid ourselves in the forest. But God kept calling us, and I had
to confess, 'I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked;
so I hid.' Then God scolded me, saying, 'Have you eaten from the tree that I
commanded you not to eat from?' I tried to put the blame on your mother,
saying, 'The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree,
and I ate it.' Then God rebuked her, saying, 'What is this you have done?' He
said to her, 'I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you
will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will
rule over you.' And to me he said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate from
the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat of it,
cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food,
and to dust you will return.' After this our couple got expelled from the
garden, and curse and travails started in the land from that time.
Adam's tales continued: Before our expulsion, God brought two
animals. While we were still hiding in the forest out of shame, God slaughtered
them, and they died with a shriek and gushing blood. That was the first time we
had witnessed death; how surprised we were! Then, God skinned them and made
clothes out of the skin from His own design, and you see, this is the clothes.
The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed
them (Gen. 3:21).
The leather clothes Adam and Eve wore were the first clothes God made.
Why, then, did God make the garments for them instead of casting them out
naked? Good leather clothes are expensive, and how much more fascinating their
clothes must have been when they were made in God's hands?
God's making clothes for them meant that although God was driving them
out because of their sin, He promised to prepare a measure in the future
whereby human sins could be covered. He promised that after people fully
experienced the consequence of their disobedience, He would cover their sins by
sending Jesus Christ and leading him to death for the substitution. Redemption
means to cover or conceal. God promised to cover our sins with the blood of
Jesus, although, of course, Adam and Eve could not have realized the deep
meaning of the clothes.
During the story Abel must have realized something. Ah, that's
it. In our common expression, He got the idea.
Although we may hear the word, it would be of no use if we end with simply
saying, It was a nice talk. For we also have had the
gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no
value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
(Heb. 4:2)
It is because the hearer fails to combine what he hears with faith that
he does not grasp the word. Just as a bowel turned upside down cannot contain even
a drop of rain, no matter how much of it falls, so the ears without faith fail
to take the word into heart. Even if we may pick up a big diamond, we may give
it away or lose it without regret unless we know its value. Hence, it is
important to understand the value of what we receive.
After hearing Adam, Cain and Abel probably had a discussion: Our
parents lost communication with God and were expelled from the garden through
disobedience. But is there any way we can be reconciled back to God? Right, let
each of us offer a sacrifice to Him. So the two brothers decided on
the sacrifice, and Cain gathered fruits of the soil, while Abel slaughtered a
lamb.
When Abel was offering the sacrifice, must he not have prayed: Lord,
I cannot dare to pray to you because of the offenses of my parents. When they
were too ashamed to stand before You after their fall, You clothed them with
animal skins in order to cover their shame. I know that the innocent animals
shed their blood in order to cover their sin. Likewise, I have also slaughtered
and bled a lamb for the sake of forgiveness of my sin. Lord, behold this blood,
and cover my sin as well and accept me.
A sinner cannot go before God with sin still residing in him. Even an
iota of sin in me will set me as an enemy of God. Since sin is remitted only
with price, forgiveness of sin requires a shedding of blood or sacrifice of
life; since the wage of sin is death, (Rom. 6:23) and without
the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness, (Heb. 9:22) there is no
other way of atonement than through blood.
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you
to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes
atonement for one's life (Lev. 17:11).
Only death through shedding of blood can atone for sin, and Abel
understood this. During the story of his parents, Abel hit upon the principle
of redemption as God's method of human salvation. This is why he slaughtered
and offered a lamb as the carrier of his sin. Through the faith in this truth,
Abel was justified before God.
Abel sought forgiveness, relying on the blood of the lamb, and God
accepted the faith with joy. As a sign of God's favor upon the Abel's sacrifice
of atonement, God sent fire from the sky and consumed the offering. The
assurance, Abel, you are now righteous, and your sin forgiven. I have
now saved you meant his salvation.
How glad Abel must have been! Thank you, Lord, for receiving my
sacrifice and accepting me. Abel now had a spiritual and living
communication with God. Abel then must have asked his brother, Cain, I
am all done, and how about you? Cain probably answered, I am
still in the process, and continued to pray intensely, saying, Lord,
please answer me, please. But there was no news, although before, when
he had seen Abel's simple offering, he had been so proud of his own offering
and looked down upon Abel's.
Cain thought that since his offering was superior and much better
looking, and had been prepared with sweat and zeal, God would welcome it with
joy. When this expectation was shattered, however, he started to complain
against God: How can this be? God accepts my brother's poor offering,
and yet He turns deaf ears to my earnest prayer. How can this be? Abel
could have added fuel to his frustration, saying, It's too bad for
you. It went well for me, but too bad for you. This must have stirred
up thoughts of murder and anger against God in Cain's heart. Genesis narrates
that Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then God
rebuked him, saying, Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If
you do what is right, will you not be accepted?
While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel
and killed him. In other words, Cain became the first murderer. With
regard to this, the Scripture admonishes, Do not be like Cain, who
belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him?
Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. (1
John 3:12) The evil one is Satan; after splitting God and the humans and
causing their expulsion by tempting Eve, now Satan incited their son to kill
his own brother. This was a work of the devil.
As Jude 1:11 says, Woe to them! They have taken the way of
Cain..., how many people are like Cain? Even after decades of church
life, they are still in the dark about salvation and rebirth, and even with a
devoted service to God and efforts to improve their faith, they are still
frustrated and uncertain about their own salvation; if these people hear that
someone who had been evil and staying outside the church until only a few days
ago understood the gospel and were saved, or born again, they will never be
able to digest it. Moreover, they will become offended and even hateful when
they hear that a lifelong membership with the church is useless without
salvation, and they must be born again.
What did such hatred lead to? Jesus says that the one who hates murders,
and we often see an escalating hatred consummated in murder. The devil, who
worked through the Jewish religious dignitaries to murder Jesus and his
disciples, infuses jealousy in the hearts of the worshippers who are not
reborn, and inclines them to persecute the believers. Jesus spoke about this
when he said, Anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service
to God. (John 16:2) If they are given an authority over the fate of
the believers, they may even attempt to decimate Christians.
There are simple religionists with the name of believer, and Christians,
who have been awakened to the truth of salvation. Religionists exert their
passion to earn an admission to the heaven, whereas born-again Christians live
their lives as a return for God's grace with a full assurance of their heavenly
entry. It is common throughout the ages that the one without God's promise
persecutes the one with God's promise. For instance, Cain killed Abel, Ishmael
beat Isaac, and Esau, after losing the blessing by voluntarily selling his
birthright to Jacob, tried kill Jacob. At that time the son born in
the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the
same now. (Gal. 4:29) Hence, rather than thinking of it as odd, we
should understand that this is in accordance with the Scripture.
5. Prayer of a Pharisee and Prayer of a Tax Collector
Luke 18:9 ~ 14 tells us about a Pharisee and a tax collector, who form a
sharp contrast.
Although we may think of the Pharisees as vicious killers of Jesus, they
were admirable people in keeping religious duties. Even the most diligent
worshippers today will find themselves lagging behind the Pharisees. Fasting
twice a week, making strict tithing, refraining from such deeds as extortion,
injustice, and fornication in accordance with their prayer, they intensely strove
to live by the law, and lived a holy and righteous life. They made long prayers
and eagerly engaged in charitable activities as well.
On the contrary, tax collectors exacted unfair taxes from their own
brethren, keeping some of it and offering the rest to the government. Hence, we
can say that prostitute and tax collector were like a pronoun for sinners.
Although the tax collector in the story had much sin, he seems to have been
desirous of salvation from sin.
A Pharisee and a tax collector pray in the temple. The Pharisee prays
with his hands raised, looking up to the heaven. His posture is solemn and
graceful. He goes to the front of the temple, spreads his hands, lists his acts
of righteousness as I mentioned earlier, and thanks God for his righteous life
and not being like that tax collector.
What he uttered in the prayer was not incorrect. Compared with the
sinful tax collector, the Pharisee was much more righteous in anyone's
assessment. Anyone seeing the two pray would have nodded in approval. But the
Pharisee was ignorant of one thing: despite all his endeavors to live a more
righteous and law-abiding and better life than others, this cannot be accepted
by God as righteousness.
Jesus says, Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the
Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom
of heaven. (Mat. 5:20) What kind of righteousness surpasses that of
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law? The Pharisees thought that murder
only consists in the act of killing, but Jesus says that even harboring hatred
constitutes murder, and feeling lust counts as fornication. In other words, the
higher righteousness decrees that we be blameless in heart not to mention in
action.
Such righteousness, then, is humanly impossible, for it demands that we
surpass the Pharisees and the teachers of the law in heart as well as in
action. Therefore, Matthews 5:20 in fact implies that human beings are unable
to attain such righteousness. The righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers
of the law may look admirable in human eyes, but it is like filthy
rags in God's sight (Isa. 64:6). Anyone trying to stand before God in
such a rag, which cannot conceal shame and disgrace at all, is like a Pharisee.
Now, how about the tax collector? But the tax collector stood
at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and
said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' (Luke 18:13) Standing afar
off, and beating his breast with his face down, he prays, God, have
mercy on me, a sinner. Whatever misdeed he performed in plundering the
weak, his sins are too many to count. The tax collector deplores, calling
himself a heap of sin.
God, however, justified the tax collector, and this seems utterly
incomprehensible. How did the sinful tax collector become justified before God,
whereas the self-righteous Pharisee was not?
We should first understand what the righteousness means when we talk
about being justified or being called righteous before God. God does not
justify us because we perform righteous deeds; rather, justification issues
from God's grace through faith. God justifies us for free when we clearly
recognize our being sinners and go to God, relying on God's mercy. God
justifies us when we confess our iniquities as the tax collector did and go to
God, completely depending on His decision and grace for our forgiveness and
life, and this is God's righteousness.
I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has
clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of
righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride
adorns herself with her jewels (Isa. 61:10).
When Adam and Eve confessed their nakedness, God clothed them. That
clothes was God's righteousness. When Adam said, I was afraid because
I was naked; so I hid, God bled animals and made a garment of skin for
him. Likewise, when we discover ourselves as wretched sinners, confessing our
wickedness to God and seeking His mercy, He will answer us, I have died
for your sin and redeemed you with My blood. Rest in peace, for I have
justified you. God's righteousness consists in clothing us for free
with the garment of salvation to cover our sins. By God's
righteousness, we can go to God.
The tax collector relied on the mercy of God, who had pity on him,
whereas the Pharisee relied on his own righteousness and work. Like the
Pharisee, Cain came to God with what he had prepared with sweat and zeal. This
makes sense from a human standpoint-the thought that we have to do something in
order to be worthy of God.
There is one thing we should know, however. Can the yields of the cursed
soil gained through the sweats of the doomed human beings please God, other
than being needed by such human beings? Would God accept what He has cursed? If
you are righteous... what does he receive from your hand?... your righteousness
only the sons of men. (Job 35:7, 8) No matter how hard a cursed person
tries, he can only produce cursed results. This point Cain did not understand.
Cain represents those who rely on their own works, and so does the Pharisee.
Like the tax collector, on the other hand, Abel relied on God's
sympathy, forgiveness, and mercy. Rather than his own work, he depended on
God's grace. He knew that if God showed mercy, he would live, and otherwise he
could only die. No matter how grave one's sin may be, God's mercy does not come
with condition. God could not take Cain's offering, however, because there was
no sacrificial offering, which is blood, but only his work. Because there was
only his work, there was no room for God's sympathy, mercy, and grace to enter.
God has prepared a way whereby sinners can come before God, and this is
the blood of the Christ. Without the blood, our sins cannot be forgiven. Without
the forgiveness of sins, there is no salvation, and we cannot come before God.
Without forgiveness, we can only be condemned. And for the sake of the
forgiveness, the price must be paid with death.
Before the liberation of the Israelites from the 400 years of Egyptian
slavery, God struck down the eldest sons of the Egyptians. Why did He kill the
eldest sons? The eldest son is the heir, and the eldest son of Egypt signified
the heir of the world. God did not create human beings in order to bring bliss
and hope to the earth. There is no hope or happiness in the earth, and thus it
is not a place for us to be attached to. What God wants to give us is the
eternal new heaven and earth and eternal life, and yet we have abased ourselves
into beasts. As such, we seek only what we can sense, that is, worldly and
physical things, and this is the sin for which we will be judged before God.
We may think that we go to hell by doing something radically evil, but
those who pursue only earthly things and seek worldly happiness, although they
may not be seriously evil, are already violating God's providence and purpose
of creating us. For instance, if a father prepares something precious to give
to his son, and yet the son refuses it and goes around begging for his daily necessities,
this is a great betrayal of the father and serious offence. It is a sin
deserving destruction for the human beings, created in God's image to attain
eternal life and glory, to debase themselves into beasts. The Scripture says, A
man who has riches (who is in honor - KJV) without understanding is like the
beasts that perish. (Psa. 49:20)
6. The Passover Lamb
In the night when God struck down the firstborns of Egypt, God
instructed the Israelites to slaughter their lambs and put their blood on the
sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses, according to Exodus 12. In the
past, Korean people cooked bean pastes in the winter solstices, and sprinkled
the paste here and there in order to cast out demons, and this might have
originated from the Israelites' putting lamb blood on the doorframes. God told
them to put the blood this way and stay still in the houses. That night, every
Egyptian household went into mourning because all their eldest sons, from the
king's son to slaves' sons, turned cold.
Israelites, on the other hand, put the blood outside the house and
safely enjoyed the lamb meat inside. They spent the night of the judgment
eating lamb meat with clothes, shoes, and canes, and in exuberance of leaving
the loathsome land of Egypt the next day. Meanwhile, their Egyptian neighbors
were sending screams, and the entire land of Egypt was covered with the wailing
for the firstborns. A majority of households had eldest sons, but why were the
Israelites spared? It was because of the blood on the doorframes. Although
there could have been people who did not feel safe even with the blood, all
those who followed God's instruction escaped the calamity. For God never lies.
The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I
see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when
I strike Egypt (Exo. 12:13).
It was God's promise when he said: When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you... No matter what
they thought, the households that had put the blood escaped the judgement of
death, while those who had not were struck. It was God who saw the blood and
who sent the judgement. God's word gave them security and assurance, and
averted the plague for them. It was because their lambs died and shed blood in
place of their eldest sons. God looks for blood.
The Bible refers to Jesus as a Passover lamb: Christ, our
Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Cor. 5:7) As the word literally
means to pass over, the Jewish Passover commemorates the
passing of God's judgment over the Israelite households because of the lambs
slaughtered in place of their elder sons. The Bible, then, means that just as
the lamb was slaughtered in place of the Israelite firstborns, Jesus became a
Passover lamb by dying in order to liquidate the curse and judgement to be
inflicted upon the mankind.
In the night before his death, Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, My
Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. (Mat. 26:39)
Jesus was facing a cup of judgement, which contained the curse of all human
sin. If Jesus was to accomplish God's will according to the purpose of his
advent, he had to drink the cup. Just as in the traditional Korea they gave a
bowl of deadly poison to a major traitor, so Jesus had a cup filled with the
curse of human sin. Jesus knew very well what this cup of punishment meant, and
because he had a physical body like us, he could not have been indifferent to
pain. Had Jesus refused to take the cup, then we would have to drink it and
fall into hell.
Saying, My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be
taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done, (Mat. 26:42)
however, Jesus obeyed God. God's will was that Jesus drink the cup and die so
that we can be spared the judgment. Just as the death of the lamb kept the
Israelite firstborns alive, through the death of Jesus God's judgment passed
over us. What does God look for? Neither our sin, nor our good deeds. He sees
the blood of Jesus, as He said, When I see the blood, I will pass over
you. The lambs slaughtered in the Passover symbolized Jesus.
The Old Testament people had a day once a year when they sought before
God a forgiveness of their sins of the past one year, and this was called the
Day of Atonement. On this day, they slaughtered two goats and drew lots,
according to which one goat was made to carry the sin and thrown away in the
desert, where it was bound to be devoured by wild beasts or starve to death.
Looking at this scapegoat being sent away to the desert, the Israelites thought
that the innocent goat was carrying away their sins. The other goat also
carried the sin, and was slaughtered on the square bronze altar and presented
as an offering of atonement (Lev. 16:8 ~ 10, 18 ~ 22). Then, with the blood of
the goat, they made a sin offering in the Most Holy Place.
The Israelites had the tabernacle, where they made the sin offering as
well as other worships and sacrifices. God dictated to Moses the pattern of the
tabernacle. As shown in the picture, right after the entrance there is a bronze
altar (alter of burnt offering), where they made burnt offerings by
slaughtering animals. After the basin comes a tent looking like a provisional
structure and contains the Holy Place before the curtain and the Most Holy
Place behind the curtain.
The goat's blood was poured out to the ground except the amount the high
priest took with him to the Most Holy Place through the Holy Place. Inside the
Holy Place, there were a table of showbread, seven lampstands, and a golden
altar of incense. The Most Holy Place behind the curtain had the ark of the
Testimony, which contained the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, Manna,
and Aaron's rod that budded. Above the ark of the Testimony, there was the
atonement cover (whose Hebrew word is Kapar, which means to
cover), over which they sprinkled the blood and sought the forgiveness
of sin. The atonement cover was also called, seat of grace,
which means a place where grace is given. The seat was made in such a way that
two angels looked down from there.
As for the Most Holy Place, where sins are forgiven by God, the high
priest entered there once a year with the blood, and sprinkled the blood seven
times over the atonement cover on top of the ark of the Testimony and prayed to
God. This was like receiving the final stamp on the sin offering with the blood
of the goat that died on the altar of burnt offering for the sake of the sins
of the Israelites. Meanwhile, the people were fasting all day and praying
outside the tabernacle. The high priest wore on his neck the breastpiece of
decision, which contained the names of the twelve tribes, and his robe had gold
bells around its hem. If the high priest entered the Most Holy Place without
the blood, he would die.
The fact that the high priest was alive in the Most Holy Place, where
God was present, sprinkling the blood and praying, meant that God accepted the
sin offering. The sins committed after this sin offering was to be atoned for
on the Day of Atonement next year.
The sin offering, made once a year, was a symbol of Jesus' substitution
for the human sin through crucifixion. The scapegoat, carrying the sins of the
Israelites, symbolized Jesus, who, according to John the Baptist, was the
lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) Although
the scapegoat took away one year's sin of Israelites, however, Jesus took away
the sins of the entire mankind for eternity and once and for all. The square
shape of the altar indicated the entire world in all four directions, and the
goat slaughtered on the altar symbolized Jesus, who was to die on the cross.
The high priest, who poured out the blood and then carried some of it in
the bowl to the Most Holy Place, symbolized Jesus in resurrection and heavenly
ascension. After Jesus had provided purification for sins, he sat down
at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Heb. 1:3) He did
not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most
Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
(Heb. 9:12) The high priest's annual offering in the Most Holy Place as copies
of the heavenly things (Heb. 9:23) used goats, but the Scripture says,
heavenly things themselves [shall be purified] with better sacrifices
than these, (Heb. 9:23) which means that the true sacrifice to be
received by God should be made with the blood of Jesus Christ, a lamb without
blemish.
7. The Christ Is the High Priest for Us
For Christ (after his death and resurrection) entered heaven
itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. (Heb. 9:24) After
making the sacrifice for the humanity, Jesus appeared before God. Instead of
following the method of the high priest of the Old Testament Age, which
required death every year, Jesus has appeared once for all at the end
of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb.
9:26)
Even now, he is praying for our sake, sprinkling the blood before God.
The gospel says that Jesus died, resurrected, and ascended, and is now praying
for us. The gospel says that he has atoned for my sin as well.
Had Jesus not made the substitution, he would not have resurrected. The
living Jesus is still ceaselessly pleading with the Lord to forgive my
sin before the holy throne. (Hymn) To say that he is praying for our
sin means that he is guaranteeing the completion of the payment for the sin. He
prays, Behold, Father! I have died for them. I have died for the sins
of Mr. Chung, Mr. Park, and such and such a person. Look at this blood,
and God says, It is done. The Bible is guaranteeing this for
us.
Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he
is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always
lives to intercede for them (Heb. 7:24, 25).
Through whom do we go to God? Through Jesus. To go through Jesus means
to rely on the work of Jesus, in which he emancipated us from sin by dying in
our place and resurrecting. Do we rely on our own work? No. Although I
am unworthy, God will receive me as I rely on Jesus... I go
with empty hands and hold on to the cross. (Hymn) Although I have no
righteousness, I proceed as a miserable sinner with empty hands, only waiting
for his help.
Faith relies on his work. If I go to God, relying on my own zeal,
devotion, and righteous acts, I will be cursed and die. So I go only by
depending on the work of Jesus. The Christ, who has died for us and
resurrected, is living before God.
Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high (Job 16:19).
Suppose that I have become indebted to someone for about one billion
won. In such economic crises as now, such a thing can happen quite commonly
through business failure. I am struggling day and night because the interest is
increasing like a snowball, and yet I have no ability to repay even a fraction
of the debt. Nor can I run away or commit suicide. Someone generous and rich
who knows me well, however, comes along and says, Alas, he can't go on
struggling like this over the debt. He may even die out of the worries. I
should pay his debt, and clears his debt including the interest.
Suppose, however, that after clearing my debt, the benefactor dies in a
traffic accident on the way to visit me with the good news. Do I still worry
about the debt? Of course, I do because I have no idea about the payment. The
debt has been removed, and yet the witness is not present. I cannot but
continue in the torment because there is no witness or proof. Even if the
creditor finds out about this and demands another debt payment from me, I will
have no way to stop him.
Had Jesus not been resurrected, we would have no way of knowing whether
he died for our sin or simply through some unjust conspiracy. I even heard that
a grandfather, when asked, Why did Jesus die? said, Probably
because of his own sin. He cannot help saying this because he does not
know that Jesus died for him. The resurrection of Jesus is a guarantee of God's
having received his sacrifice and forgiven our sins.
What if the benefactor is alive and well and comes to me and says, Now,
your debt have been all erased, and here is the receipt? No matter how
wicked the creditor may be, he will not be able to come to me and demand
another payment. Likewise, Jesus, who made amends for our sins, is living as
our witness, and the receipt is here-the Bible. The Old Testament was a promise
that our sin would be forgiven, and the New Testament a confirmation that our
sin has been forgiven through Jesus, for Jesus has put his stamp upon the
Bible. I have many proofs for believing in Jesus. (Hymn) This
proof is the Bible. As it says, I know that my Redeemer lives, and
that in the end he will stand upon the earth, he will come back to us.
8. Redemption Is for the Sake of God's Glory
There is one thing we should know in relation to God's forgiveness of
our sin through Jesus.
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and
remembers your sins no more (Isa. 43:25).
For whose sake does God say that He blots out our sin? For His own sake.
It is for His own glory that God liquidates our sin through the death of His
only Son and saves us. This is not to say that He has no regard for human
beings, but this is a matter to be considered later.
If human beings, created in God's image for His glory, all go to hell,
God will become someone who has failed. If children go astray or die, then the
parents suffer in their hearts as well as the children themselves. So parents
give their utmost to the children for their own sake as well as for the sake of
the children, and children's success brings honor to the parents. Likewise, our
suffering in hell does not glorify God; our salvation, then, is for the sake of
God's glory. Therefore, for His glory, I myself must be saved first. God blots
out and forgets our transgressions for the sake of His own glory.
A prodigal son lost from the father afflicts and saddens the father's
heart, and his return is wholeheartedly welcomed by the father. Because God
saves us for His own glory, the salvation is very surely complete and certain.
When I buy a watch, I make sure of my ownership by making the payment because
it is for me that I buy it. Also, when in case of a fire parents desperately
try to rescue their own children, it is for their own sake as well as for the
children. Likewise, God's salvation has to be thorough because He does it for
His own sake as well as for us. This is why He said, I, even I, am he
who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no
more. It is not salvation if I feel beckoned by the heaven when
tilting a bit towards goodness and summoned by hell when tilting a bit towards
evil. Rather, salvation is carried out by God 100% completely and thoroughly.
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning
mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you (Isa. 44:22).
There was a thick cloud of sin between God and us. Although sin is
committed by people, it is placed before God because the law violated by it is
God's law. To blot out is to erase off. God is not asking us to return in order
to be forgiven but because we are forgiven. We believe the fact of forgiveness,
and to believe is to return.
Many people, however, return to the church but not quite as far as to
God. Although they pray in the church and profess faith in God, they still hold
on to their sin and keep asking for forgiveness. They always carry the
consciousness of sin, and thus tremble with fear, although God has already
forgiven them.
Let us say that a son stole ten million won from his father. The parents
will be outraged, but if the son does not come back, and a few years pass by,
will they be agonized over the money or over the son? As time passes by, the
parents' love for the son will melt away their grudges about his wrongdoing
like snow in the spring. They will perhaps put an advertisement on the
newspaper with a heart that says, You bad boy, just come back and show
me you are alive: ***, I have pardoned you completely, and
please come back with peace. Your mother got sick because you did not come
back. Do we not see such advertisements often? If the son does come
back, will the father accept him or not?
God's love is greater than any parents'. God's love, which says, Can
a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she
has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! (Isa. 49:15)
is more than enough to forgive our iniquities. God is asking us to come back
because we are completely forgiven. To this effect He has put an advertisement
in The Isaiah Daily, for can we not consider the Scripture God's newspaper? He
calls everyone back, speaking to them in all the languages of the world.
When the prodigal son of the Bible returned to the father, father
welcomed him: But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the
best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this
son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'
(Luke 15:22 ~ 24) Does the son not represent us, and the father God? To put the
best robe on him means clothing us with the garment of salvation through Jesus
so that God no more sees our transgressions. The ring on the finger is a sign
of promise that says, You are my son, and by putting sandals
on the feet, God says to us, Never leave Me again.
Slaughtering the innocent fattened calf for the son indicates the death of the
innocent Jesus in order to bring back a sinner like me to join God's delight.
To say that the son was dead and is alive again and lost
and is found means that whereas I had been spiritually lost and dead
away from God, I became living and found by coming back to God. To return to
God means to believe in the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus
and show gratitude, for when we believe this fact, God will accept us. Apart
from the grace, we cannot go to God or attain salvation; hence, we should rely
on the work of Jesus alone.
If the son sees the father's advertisement, and yet only thinks about
his sin and refuses to return, which is more grave, the sin he committed
already or the sin of not returning? It is much greater offense not to return.
If the son refuses to return despite the forgiveness, he will become a child
eternally lost.
Did God absolve only those who believe in the work of Jesus? No. He absolved
even those who do not believe. He is the atoning sacrifice for our
sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
(1 John 2:2) Hence, there is no one who goes to hell on account of his sin.
Does this mean, however, that no one will go to hell at all? No. A new sin has
appeared in hell-sin of not accepting this fact and not believing in God's
love. There is no way that the sin of not believing in the work of Jesus and
refusing to return to God can be remitted.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one
and only Son (John 3:18).
We can be spared the judgment by believing our forgiveness through
Jesus' blood, for Jesus has already suffered it. He says, however, that those
who do not believe stand condemned already because of the sin of unbelief. The
condemnation means that they are sentenced to death, which will be executed
after death. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever
rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
(John 3:36)
The sin of not believing in the profound grace provided through the
sacrifice of God's only Son will be eternally unforgivable, and God's wrath and
judgment will descend upon the unbelievers.
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the
wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when
he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart
from works: Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose
sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count
against him. (Rom. 4:5 ~ 8)
David expressed by beholding from afar how immense the bliss of those
forgiven without work is. Their happiness is eternal and glorious blessing of
God and true happiness, which cannot be compared with anything in the world.
I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him
who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over
from death to life. (John 5:24)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In
his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can
never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you... (1 Pet. 1:3,
4) Hallelujah.
VI. Liberation from the
Condemnation of the Law
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the
temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to
teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught
in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, Teacher,
this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to
stone such women. Now what do you say? They were using this question
as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and
started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning
him, he straightened up and said to them, If any one of you is without
sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Again he stooped
down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at
a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still
standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, Woman, where are
they? Has no one condemned you? No one, sir, she
said. Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go
now and leave your life of sin. When Jesus spoke again to the people,
he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never
walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:1 ~ 12).
John 8 explains well about what the law is, what the work of Jesus is,
and how the people emancipated from the condemnation of the law should lead
their life.
Then each went to his own home. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered
around him... (John 7:53 ~ 8:1, 2)
When Jesus was working in Israel, he frequently slept in the Mount of
Olives under night dew. The fact that each went to his own home,
but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives means that he did not turn to anyone for
a shelter.
After sleeping in the Mount of Olives, Jesus returned to the temple of
Jerusalem in the morning to teach the people who came to him. Then, a woman who
had been caught in the act of adultery in that early morning was brought to
Jesus. The man involved could have run away or have been taken to another
place, and only the woman was brought to Jesus.
1. Accusers of Jesus
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought that woman to Jesus
and asked him, Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?
Deuteronomy 22:22 says that if a man is found sleeping with another man's wife,
both the man and the woman shall be beaten to death in public, in accordance
with which the Israelites stoned such people to death.
Since the Law of Moses already commands them to kill her, they could
have taken her to a judge and then killed her following the verdict, but they
took her to Jesus instead. According to the Bible, this was because They
were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him
(Jesus).
The Israelites highly valued the Law of Moses and strove to abide by it.
They, however, had to keep the Roman law because Israel was under the Roman
Empire at that time. Roman officials ruled over Jerusalem, and the governor
dispatched from Rome had the judicial power over them. The Roman law gave the
judicial authority only to the Roman governor to the exclusion of the
Israelites.
We can also find such a situation in John 18. The Jews took Jesus to the
Governor Pilate to accuse him, saying, We have found this man
subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be
Christ, a king, (Luke 23:2) and asked him to execute Jesus for treason
against the Roman Empire. But Pilate was certain that Jesus was innocent, and
the people were lying. Moreover, he also knew that it was out of envy
that they had handed Jesus over to him. (Mat. 27: 18) So Pilate said, Take
him yourselves and judge him by your own law. Then, the Jews objected,
But we have no right to execute anyone... (John 18:31)
Therefore, if Jesus had said to them, Stone the adulterer,
she surely would have been killed instantly and brutally by the crowd,
bloodthirsty like starved lions, and Jesus would have been charged with
instigation of murder, facing a trial as a criminal. Had he said, Do
not stone her, however, then he would have stood a religious trial by
Jewish religious authorities for defying the Law of Moses.
Telling to kill her was against the Roman law, and yet telling them not
to was against the Law of Moses; to find grounds for accusing Jesus, the Jewish
leaders tried to put him in a situation where he could not make any choice.
Their real intention was not to kill the adulterer but to entrap Jesus.
How odd it is! When that long-awaited Messiah finally came to the land
of Israel, the chosen people and, what is more, the religious leaders esteemed
for their devotion to God persistently slandered Jesus and made schemes in
order to kill him. They took the adulterer to Jesus, thinking that they had a
good chance to ensnare Jesus.
Since the Jewish religious leaders did not fornicate physically, they
must have thought that they were not guilty of adultery. That is why they
condemned her and intended to kill her. That woman must have been shaking with
the fear of the flying stones and impending death.
2. Our Life Is under Condemnation
Jesus did not say anything to them. He just bent down and started to
write on the ground with his finger. That was the first time for him to write
something in front of the people. Most of them must have looked down to see
what he was writing, and the shouting must have quieted down. Then, what did
Jesus write on the ground? We could ask him, Jesus, what did you write
at that time? when we meet him some day. We will be able to obtain the
right answer then, of course, but how about using our imagination now?
In the Bible we read about a writing that God Himself made with His finger.
As in Exodus 31:18, it is the Ten Commandments, which God inscribed on the
stone. Since Jesus was God who came down on earth in the shape of a man, we can
understand Jesus' writing on the ground in the same context as the Ten
Commandments. In other words, he must have written the seventh commandment: Thou
shalt not commit adultery. As Jesus knew those bent on stoning the
adulterer were just as corrupt in heart as she, he must have written the
seventh commandment to make them aware of their own sins.
Adultery is having a sexual relationship with someone one is not married
to. The New Testament also sternly warns against this sin: All other
sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against
his own body. (1Cor. 6:18) That woman had to die because she had
broken the promise with God and committed adultery.
In Jesus' eyes, however, not only she but also the religious leaders
surrounding her were all fornicators, for he said, You have heard that
it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at
a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
(Mat 5:27, 28) People condemn someone only by his visible acts, but God, who
surveys our inner core, decrees that even just a lustful look constitutes sin
of lechery. So, who can dare to claim purity before God?
What is more fundamentally sinful than harboring lust or acting upon it
is spiritual fornication, however.
In the Garden of Eden, by accepting Satan's lie human beings betrayed
God's love, with which God created them and gave them everything. That was the
first fornication. God told the Israelites that no physical adultery of man
could be worse than spiritual fornication, deploring that although He was their
husband, they deserted Him and served other gods.
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is
hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an
enemy of God (James 4:4).
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15).
Hence, the New Testament teaches that loving the world more than God and
becoming friends with the world all constitute adultery.
After writing on the ground, Jesus got up and said, If any one
of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.
It was very appropriate to say that the sinless should throw the stone first.
Since a sinner cannot condemn a sinner or execute a sentence, Jesus said a
person without sin should do it. However, who in the world is without sin? The
Bible has already declared this, saying, There is not a righteous man
on earth... (Eccl. 7:20) and There is no one who does good,
not even one. (Rom. 3:11, 12)
Not only the adulterous woman and the Jewish leaders but also those who
turn their back to God are all sinners who cannot avoid the judgement and
destruction before God. All have sinned already... (Rom.
3:23) and like criminals under a death sentence waiting for execution, they are
sinners doomed to fall into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
3. The Law Makes Us Realize Our Sins
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under
the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held
accountable to God (Rom. 3:19).
The law enables us see how filthy, wicked, and dishonest we are in the
eyes of God who is holy, good, and righteous. If we see ourselves against the
law of God, who is the standard of justice and judgement, we will then find our
sin and close our mouth that says, I am blameless.
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing
the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin (Rom. 3:20).
The law enables us realize our sin and pronounces the verdict to a
sinner. In the phrase, For the letter kills, (2Cor. 3:6) the
letter indicates the law that brought death, which was
engraved in letters on stone... (2Cor. 3:7) It condemns us for our sin
and brings us to death. The verse The wage of sin is death is
the curse of the law.
In front of God's law, who can boldly say, I am without sin,
or I have abided by the law?
By saying, If any one of you is without sin, let him be the
first to throw a stone at her, Jesus pointed out the fact that they
also were sinners like her. When Jesus said, Why do you look at the
speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in
your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then
you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye,
(Mat. 7:3, 5) he meant to question us if we can condemn other people or punish
them while concealing the plank in our own eyes. Jesus pointed out the
wickedness of the deceitful and arrogant religious leaders with this one word,
intended to make them aware of their own iniquities.
Their hidden agenda was to satisfy themselves by stoning the adulterous
woman to death and to entrap Jesus in the charge of instigating murder. In
other words, they schemed to bring the Messiah to the court, unaware at all
that they themselves were the sinners to be brought to the court of God. Such
is the heart of untruthful religious people. So, it is very true to say that a
corrupted religious person is more vicious than unbelievers.
4. God Sees the Sins in Our Hearts
He... said to them, 'If any one of you is without sin, let him
be the first to throw a stone at her.' Again he stooped down and wrote on the
ground. Again, we are curious what Jesus wrote at the second time.
There is no way to know it, but we can always imagine. If his first writing was
Thou shalt not commit adultery, I think his second one might
have been You have heard... 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you
that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with
her in his heart, which we considered earlier.
The people must have looked down at what Jesus wrote on the ground.
Jesus' point that anyone harboring lust has already fornicated threw light upon
the sins in their hearts, and they finally began to realize their sin. They
came to see that they were patent sinners in front of God and had already
committed adultery at least in their hearts. This happened as Jesus pointed out
their trespasses, which led them away from God as His enemies, respecting Him
only with tongues.
At this, those who heard began to go away... The
people felt pangs of their conscience. Had Jesus only said, If any one
of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her,
they would have hesitated to go away, but his admonishment that they were no
better than her appealed to their conscience. Conscience is a good thing God
endowed us with; though our hearts are fallen, our conscience is good.
Conscience seeks God, and fears Him and His judgement. When a man
commits a sin, his conscience will file suit against him. The lamp of
the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being
(Prov. 20:27). God searches our hearts through the spirit He has planted in us,
and the spirit accuses us before God for our offenses. Our conscience knows how
terrifying the judgment of God is although our hearts may not.
The people, in a wild rage as if to kill the adulterer immediately while
ignoring their own sins, began to see their wickedness, and their conscience
started to impinge upon them. Then, they helplessly dropped the stones about to
fly upon Jesus' order to kill her. One after another the stones hit the ground
with sound, and the people gradually left the temple. The Bible says, Those
who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first...
Then, why did the older ones go away first?
What do we experience in our long life? If there are two common kinds of
experience in life, one is an experience of hardship, and the other committing
sins. The older one is, the more hardship he has experienced, and the more
misdeeds he has performed; hence, the older ones tend to feel more guilty than
the younger ones. Staring from the guilt-ridden older ones, all left that place
including the younger ones.
Jesus did not need to talk about their sin directly. He is wiser than
Solomon. Jesus is the very one to reveal our sins and judge us in the end.
After angry crowd disappeared, Jesus straightened up. Seeing no one was
left but the woman, Jesus asked, Woman, where are they? Has no one
condemned you? Then, the woman gathered herself and looked around. No
one, sir, she said.
5. Jesus Has the Authority to Judge
Who is without sin? Only Jesus is. He is not a descendant of sinful
Adam, born through the Holy Spirit; he is an incarnation in human form of holy
God, who existed as the Word. But you know that he appeared so that he
might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. (1John 3:5) He
committed no sin. (1Pet. 2:22) Jesus the Son of God... was
without sin. (Heb. 4:14) Jesus himself also said, Can any of
you prove me guilty of sin? (John 8:46)
Jesus is indeed a completely righteous man and the only one without sin.
So, if a sinless person was allowed to strike her, only Jesus could do so, not
only because he is sinless and righteous but also he has the exclusive
authority to judge. Jesus said, The Father judges no one, but has
entrusted all judgment to the Son (John 5:22) and He has
given him the authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. (John
5:27)
As a righteous man, Jesus can judge a sinner and only he can die for
sinners because only a righteous person is entitled to die in place of a
sinner. And only Jesus has the exclusive authority to forgive a sinner and
erase his sin. In sum, Jesus has the right to judge, to forgive sins, and to
save a sinner. You may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth
to forgive sins . . . (Mark 2:10) Now, this Jesus was standing face to
face with the sinful woman. She could die or live by one word of Jesus because
he has the right to condemn or to absolve.
6. Jesus Takes Charge of Our Sin
'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. Since
the accusers of the adulterer were all gone, only Jesus could condemn her. But
he said, Then neither do I condemn you.
Then, did he mean that he would slur over her sin? No. Since God is a
righteous judge, He does not connive at any sin.
To God, sin means nothing other than death, and this is the justice of
holy God. If God overlooked iniquities, He could not be called just, and Jesus
would become a destroyer of God's justice on earth. The Law of Moses commanded
the Israelites to stone the adulterers as the order of God; therefore, letting go
of the woman would constitute a violation of the Mosaic Law. Would Jesus have
done it?
Jesus' word neither connived at her sin, nor violated the Law. For there
was a deep meaning behind the word, Neither do I condemn you:
It meant I will be condemned instead of you and take charge of the
payment of your sin. In other words, Jesus said it on the premise that
he would take the responsibility for her sin.
God allowed an atonement offering to pay for sin on behalf of the
sinner, and Jesus came in order to be offered to God as the atonement offering.
The Bible says, But you know that he appeared so that he might take
away our sins. And in him is no sin (1John 3:5). As in the verse, Without
the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness, (Heb. 9:22) the price
of sin is a sacrifice of life, and only the death of the righteous can serve as
an atonement offering acceptable to God. Jesus declared to perform
substitution, that is, pay for our sin, by taking charge of our sins and laying
down his life as a substitution offering.
The word Neither do I condemn you was Jesus' promise
to be condemned and judged in her place in order to forgive her sin, for only
Jesus had the authority to judge, make substitution, and forgive her sin. Who
is this woman, caught in the act of adultery? As each and every one of us is a
transgressor of the law to be judged by God, the woman is none other than we
ourselves.
How do you feel when you discern yourself against the Ten Commitments?
Have you properly obeyed even one of them? The law labels us as sinners. The
woman was fortunate to have been taken to Jesus instead of to other judges. God
did not give the law in order to condemn, judge or destroy us, but in order to
lead us to Jesus by making us realize our being sinners doomed to destruction
before God.
In fact, when the Jewish religious leaders brought the adulterous woman
to Jesus, this was in accordance with God's will. For the law exists in order
to condemn us and take us to Jesus the righteous judge, who did not come to
condemn us for our sin.
7. Liberation from the Condemnation of the Law
Clearly no one is justified before God by the law... (Gal. 3:11)
Through the law we become conscious of sin (Rom. 3:20).
So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ... (Gal. 3:24)
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ... (KJV)
A schoolmaster gives children the most basic education and guides them
to the next level at the end of the basic course. Likewise, the law is a guide
that makes us realize our sin and then leads us to the Christ. After helping us
know about the judgement first, the law brings us to the grace of God.
The role of a mirror is not to cleanse our dirt, but to let us know
about our dirt, and if we see our dirtiness on the mirror, we will go and wash
our face. Thus, the proper duty of a mirror is to show us our stains and arouse
in us a desire to wash it off. A medical test revealing our having a sickness
arouses a desire in us to cure the sickness and see a doctor. The law unveils
our sins, through which we go to Jesus as sinners.
Jesus came to save sinners, in order to call us back to him and justify
us through faith in him. Faith takes to the heart the fact that Jesus suffered
the curse and judgement, which originally belonged to me, and I became purified
before God thanks to his sacrifice. Therefore, the law discloses our sin, and
guides us to Jesus for salvation. Whereas we are sinners condemned by the law
of God, and Jesus is the judge, the same Jesus has paid for our sin on our
behalf.
In Genesis 25 there is a story that Esau, the first son of Isaac, came
back from hunting one day and sold his birthright to his younger brother,
Jacob, for a bowl of stew, submitting to his hunger. And Jacob was blessed by
Isaac in Genesis 27.
Isaac, who did not have long to live, asked Esau to hunt and make a
savory dish for him with an intention to pray God to grant the blessing of the
first son to his favorite son Esau.
Rebekah, however, out of desire that her second son be blessed, told Jacob
to bring to Isaac a savory lamb dish she was going to prepare. But Jacob was
apprehensive because Esau was a hairy man, and he had a smooth skin, and if
Isaac felt Jacob, he would discover the deception and curse rather than bless
Jacob. Nevertheless, Rebekah encouraged Jacob to move on with no fear, saying, My
son, let the curse fall on me. (Gen. 27:13) Out of love, Rebekah
decided that she would take the curse in order for him to receive the blessing.
Likewise, Jesus decided to bear the curse, which should have befallen
us, to grant us the blessing of the kingdom of heaven. Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us... (Gal. 3:13)
Jesus' crucifixion was the condemnation he received on behalf of us, sinners
cursed and doomed to death by breaching the law. So, as he said, Neither
do I condemn you, Jesus took the burden of our sin, and changed our
destiny so that we are spared the condemnation.
Until now, we have discussed that Jesus came not to condemn but to be
condemned in place of sinners in order to save those who believe in this fact. Whoever
believes in him is not condemned (John 3:18) because Jesus took the
condemnation in our place according to the principle of substitution. In our
place, he bore the punishment of pain and curse, which belonged to us.
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the
sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to
be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man (Rom. 8:3).
The sinless Jesus came in the likeness of sinful man and took upon
himself all human sins. God laid on him all the sins of the mankind, who became
sinners in Adam, and judged him. This was to fulfill the promise God had made
through the prophet Isaiah 600 years before Jesus: LORD has laid on
him the iniquity of us all. (Isa. 53:6) As in the word, He
was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities,
(Isa. 53:5) our iniquities killed Jesus, and the cross of Jesus put an end to
our judgement. As Jesus said right before his death, It is finished,
(John 19:30) all our sins were paid for in toto at that moment.
God laid on Jesus our iniquities so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God. (2Cor. 5:14) In order to make us sinless and
righteous, God exchanged our curse for the righteousness of Jesus; by taking
our death sentence and giving us his righteousness in return, Jesus gave us
life.
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for
all, and therefore all died (2Cor. 5:14).
As the transgression of the one man Adam had made everyone sinners in
him, the death of one righteous man Jesus in their place resolved the debt of
their sin. The holy only Son of God died for a sinner like me. I
cannot forget Jesus' amazing love to die for me, who was destined to die
(Hymn). If Jesus had not made a substitution for our sin, only everlasting
curse and downfall would be our lot.
When the Israelites lived in the wilderness after leaving Egypt, they
received many laws from God. Other than the Ten Commandments, usually called the
law, they had civil laws regulating the relations between people,
ritual laws prescribing the way towards God through the sin offering, and so
on. Whereas the law condemned, the ritual laws prescribed the
rituals through which they could be forgiven by God. The ritual laws are well
explained in Exodus and Leviticus.
When they sacrificed to God, they were to choose the firstborns of their
flock, and God allowed them to substitute a lamb for a donkey (Exodus
13:12,13). Offering an animal means to slaughter it and dedicate it as a
sacrifice. Instead of a donkey, which had to be killed, an innocent lamb was
sacrificed. Without killing the lamb, they had to break the donkey's neck.
Thanks to the lamb, the donkey could be spared. This foreshadowed that Jesus,
the Lamb of God, would lay down his life in place of us, the filthy sinners.
Without his death, God would have to break our necks and fling us to the hell.
Leviticus 16 tells us about the rules and regulations for the Day of
Atonement. The Israelites made a sin offering once a year on a national level
in order to make atonement for the people as a whole. Aaron, the high priest,
took two flawless goats and laid his hands on one of them to burden it with all
the wrongdoings and unrighteousness of the people.
All the sins of the Israelites such as defiling God's name through idol
worship, disobeying patents, murder, fornication, stealing, lying, and so forth
were transferred to the goat. Then, this scapegoat was cast out to the
wilderness where no people dwelt and where it was bound to starve to death or
become devoured by a wild beast. As they watched the goat being sent away to
such a wilderness, the Israelites must have comforted themselves, saying that
the faultless goat was carrying their sins away instead of them. The other goat
was slaughtered on the altar after being loaded with sin, again in place of the
people. This ritual was performed once a year.
This did not mean that our sins were purified by the blood of a bull or
a lamb, but that Jesus, who was like a lamb without a blemish, would be brought
to the cross carrying our sins. Jesus was quiet like a lamb being taken to a
butcher. He did not make any excuse, nor did he have any reason to do so. Jesus
himself said, The Son of Man came... to give his life as a ransom for
many, (Mat. 20:28) and, No one takes
my life. I desert it myself. Since Jesus voluntarily took the
condemnation in place of the sinners, he was whipped, dragged with the cross on
his back, and crucified. That was God's will. Look, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
8. The Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World
Jesus, the Lamb of God, died with the sin of the world. The entire human
sin was imputed to Jesus, and the judgement against that sin was executed on
the cross. Jesus took away the sins of you and me this way. Whether you know
this fact or not, and whether you believe it or not, it was accomplished by
God. The judgement of Jesus covered all the sins of you and me. The Bible says,
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the
unrighteous... (1Pet. 3:18)
We should know and accept it as a fact that there is someone who died in
place of each of us, who could only perish before God. Jesus' accomplishment is
much larger than our sin. The holy blood of Jesus is more than enough to pay
for the sin of the whole world. Jesus let out that holy and precious blood even
to the last drop in order to lead us to God. We must accept Jesus, who loved us
this much, into our hearts.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood (Rev.
1:5).
Jesus' blood has freed us from sin and judgement. If there were no hell
or punishment against sin, Jesus would have had no reason to die. As we are
treacherous sinners doomed to hell, Jesus died for us in order to emancipate us
from hell and guide us to the kingdom of God.
Neither do I condemn you. When Jesus, who is none
other than the highest judge, released that sinner, who can condemn her again?
By the same token, who can condemn us when Jesus himself acquitted us by his
own blood and furthermore guaranteed it through the Bible?
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It
is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more
than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also
interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
(Rom. 8:33 ~ 35,37)
9. Leave Your Life of Sin
Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of
sin.
Although Jesus paid for our sin and saved us, it does not mean that we
have a license to commit sins. When some people hear that they will be spared
the judgment and attain eternal life if only they believe the eternal
absolution of Jesus, they turn sarcastic and say, Then, is it okay to
practice wickedness once we are saved? Can we indulge ourselves in evil at
will? How can a person who believes in the remission of his sin and
his salvation through Jesus' blood and who possesses eternal life and hope
commit sins again at will? Do you think such a person can commit sins on
purpose?
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may
increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Rom.
6:1)
Although we may make mistakes because of our weakness, there would be no
one who says that we can transgress on purpose as Jesus has forgiven us
permanently. When my sin killed Jesus, would I transgress more because that was
not enough? By no means! God did not save us so that we keep our impurity or
live in sin, but that we participate in His holiness.
It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid
sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a
way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do
not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take
advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have
already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to
live a holy life (1Th. 4:3~7).
While we live in the world, we could inadvertently err owing to the
stubborn inclinations of our body. The prodigal son of Luke 15, who came back
to his father after an indulgent life, may still make mistakes while living
with the father; likewise, after a long life in separation from God, we cannot
become immediately perfect just because he came back to God. However, since we
are the ones to take part in the glory of God before long, we should always keep
our hearts and life pure, sacred and upright. As it says, A person who
has had a bath needs only to wash his feet, (John 13:10) the saved
souls should cleanse themselves with the word every day as they wash themselves
with water, and live their remaining lives for the glory of God.
10. In the New Life
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light
of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life (John 8:12).
As Jesus is the light of the world, whoever follows him will never walk
in darkness, but will attain and live in the light of life.
The woman caught in adultery and brought to Jesus was under the dominion
of darkness, sin, and death before receiving the forgiveness. Like her, we were
being dragged to hell, sitting in darkness and the deepest gloom,
and as prisoners suffering in iron chains. (Psa. 107:10) God
broke the chains on those who cried out to Him in agony.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them
from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and
broke away their chains. (Psa. 107:13,14)
As the Bible says, For he has rescued us from the dominion of
darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins, (Col. 1:13) we have been
transferred from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of the beloved Son of
everlasting light. We thereupon walk in the light. For you were once
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light - for
the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth.
(Eph. 5:8,9) Even though we used to live under the power of darkness and
control of Satan, we should now live as children of the light because we are in
Jesus, who is the light.
If Jesus is the sun, we are the moon. Jesus is a luminous body, and we
are its reflectors. We are reflective rays of the light of Jesus. The moon
changes its shapes through full, half, and crescent moons. But if we entrust
our whole life to Jesus, we will be a full moon to fully reflect the light of
Jesus unto the world. The people who entrust only half or just a little of
their life to Jesus will be able to brighten the world only as a half or a
crescent moon. We are Christians, commissioned to illuminate the world through
the light of Jesus. That is why God commands us to behave as children of light.
Listen to Paul's admonition: So then, let us not be like others, who
are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep
at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to
the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate,
and the hope of salvation as a helmet. (1Th. 5:6 ~ 8) As God says, we
should declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his
wonderful light (1Pet. 2:9).
After being forgiven by Jesus, the woman would not have committed such a
sin or lived in darkness again. Since then, she must have lived her remaining
life in the words of Jesus. A truly saved person would dedicate the rest of his
life to Jesus.
I thank the Lord for having enabled you to read this book until the end,
and pray that all the holy grace of God in this book be fulfilled in your heart
with the help of the Holy Spirit. I hope your reading takes you beyond the
level of intellectual understanding and works as a power to get eternal life
and transform your remaining life. And we also thank God continually
because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you
accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God,
which is at work in you who believe. (1Th. 2:13) If you read this book
again with a humble and prayerful heart, I am certain that you will receive
more abundant grace.
I would like ask you to be sure to read the third volume, The Way to
Glory, offered as a guidance for the life of the saved Christians.
I. Introduction 7
II. The Value and Purpose of Our Life 11
1. God and Human Beings 11
2. We Have Intelligence 12
3. We Have Spirits 14
4. We Are Created in God's Image 17
5. God Loves Us 21
6. God Never Wants Our Spirits to Perish 25
7. We Have Spiritual Desires 27
8. We Shall See God outside Our Body 31
9. God Has Determined the Times of History 33
10. God's Purpose Will Be Realized within the Period 34
11. We Have Come to the World in Order to Receive Eternal Life 36
III. The Human Fall and the Consequent
Punishments 40
1. Jesus Came in Order to Find the Lost Sinners 40
2. The Meaning of a Sinner 46
3. We Are Essentially Children of Wrath 48
4. The Heart of Corruption 51
5. Human Life is Abominable and Filthy 53
6. Transformation Through God's Life and Power 55
7. Human Righteousness Is Not Acceptable to God 57
8. Human Righteousness Is like a Soiled Garment 60
9. We Are Thoroughly Fallen 61
10. God's Judgement Comes After Death 66
11. Sin Surely Reveals Itself 71
12. The Eternal Hell Is Entered after the Judgement 74
13. The People Condemned to Hell 77
14. The Condition of Salvation 85
IV. God's Love Revealed in the Gospel 88
1. Eternal Life is the Purpose of Studying the Bible 88
2. What is the Law? 96
3. The Law Brings Us to a Self-Discovery before God 98
4. Those Who Rely on Observing the Law Are under a Curse 104
5. The Law and The Grace 107
6. God's Righteousness and My Righteousness 111
7. The Road to Salvation 112
8. The Christ Came in Order to Take Away Our Sin 116
9. God's Justice and God's Love 124
10. The Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World 127
11. One Died for All 131
12. Jesus Purified Our Sin 133
13. Eternal Redemption and Complete Salvation 135
14. God No More Remembers Our Sin and Lawless Acts 143
15. Salvation Is the Gift of God 149
V. The Way of Cain and the Way of Abel 151
1. The Way to Eternity and the Way of Life 151
2. The Narrow Gate and the Wide Gate 152
3. Two Kinds of Sacrifices 154
4. Faith Is to Hear and Understand the Message 158
5. Prayer of a Pharisee and Prayer of a Tax Collector 163
6. The Passover Lamb 168
7. The Christ Is the High Priest for Us 172
8. Redemption Is for the Sake of God's Glory 175
VI. Liberation from the Condemnation of the Law 180
1.Accusers of Jesus 181
2.Our Life Is under Condemnation 183
3. The Law Makes Us Realize Our Sins 185
4. God Sees the Sins in Our Hearts 186
5. Jesus Has the Authority to Judge 190
6. Jesus Takes Charge of Our Sin 192
7. Liberation from the Condemnation of the Law 193
8. The Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World 197
9. Leave Your Life of Sin 198
10. In the New Life 199
I. Introduction
In the preceding volume (The Way to God), we have seen in light of the
Bible that God is the Creator of the universe and all things therein and the
prime mover of the history. A good reading of the The Way to God must have
enabled you to understand the Bible as the word of God.
Although there are a great diversity of religions and religious
scriptures in the world, they all take the same basic stance that we receive blessing
by doing good works (or through ascetic practices). This is also echoed in a
Korean saying, An earnest effort can move the heaven. Unlike
other scriptures, however, the Bible was not made by human hands, nor does it
seek to teach doctrines or ethics of a specific religion. The Bible is the
truth given by God, the Creator of the universe, and tells us the path towards
salvation shown by God.
The words in the Bible have been fulfilled exactly as recorded
throughout the history, and surely the future of the world will unfold as
mentioned in the Bible as well. Because we know that the Bible and history have
been in agreement so far, we can hardly doubt that the future events will come
to pass as foretold in the Bible. Just as the universe follows God's law
whether we know it or not, so does the history move according to the Bible.
The Bible, which contains the past and future of the human history, not
only records the destiny of the humanity but also the eternal destiny of each
one of us. The Bible strikes fear in our hearts because it is the truth
revealing the living God and clear facts deeply concerned with our individual
destiny. Is it wrong to feel fear, however? No, it is very natural to tremble
while studying the Bible.
A lie of a false prophet need not be feared because it has never been
tested or realized; however, the Bible, written through inspiration of the
Spirit, must be feared because it has been tested and realized (Deu. 18:21,
22). Isaiah 66:2 says that God will take care of the one who is humble
and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my [God's] word.
He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command
is rewarded (Pro. 13:13).
Nobody will be happy when as a seriously ill patient he hears from a
doctor that he will die unless he quickly receives a surgery. He will be
greatly shocked. He will say, Although I have seen many people dying
out of sickness, I can't believe that I have such a serious sickness.
If the doctor keeps asserting his opinion, however, he will try to have another
accurate diagnosis. If this diagnosis confirms his serious condition, he will
have to make the hard decision. Will the sickness disappear just because he
keeps saying, I don't want to hear this. I don't need to think about
this. I think I am healthy?
You can heal your illness only when you know that you are ill. There is
a saying, It is not the unhappiness but an ignorance of your
unhappiness that truly makes you unhappy. If you know that you are
unhappy, then you can try to find happiness and will be able to find one. If
you do not know about your unhappiness, however, you will never be able to
escape from the plight.
We have serious problems with God and are under His judgement and
condemnation. Hence, we must understand our destiny and solve all the problems
through the Bible. The Bible tells us details about the human destiny and
eternal destiny of I among the humanity. Whether we like it
or not, it is God's word and God's decision.
Can we stop the rising sun by shouting, stop? Will
this scare the sun into a retreat? The sun rises irrespective of our wishes.
Nor can we tie up the sun setting in the west. Likewise, we have no way of
stopping our destiny from unfolding as determined by God and recorded in the
Bible. Because we are born as human beings and living in God's plan and
history, we have the responsibility of God's creature. Hence, rather than
trying to run away from God, we should try to go back to Him.
Although parents may want to give children something good, if children
go against the parents and run away from them, parents cannot give it to them.
The reason why we perish is not the sin and evil things opposing God but our
own betrayal of God's forgiving and saving love and our refusal to return to
Him. Whoever returns to God can find all the solutions in God. God wants to
give us eternal life and eternal hope. The problem is our own defiance of God.
This is a greater sin.
We should return to and kneel down before God, who has created and rules
over the universe, takes charge of our life and eternal destiny, and seeks to
save our souls. And we must receive God's forgiveness and grace of salvation.
For the plan and purpose of God's historical providence is to enable every
individual in history to understand God, plant God's love and life in them, and
make them God's children worthy of the eternal heavenly kingdom. Hence, a study
of the Bible that does not aim at salvation of the soul can only be a
purposeless work and betrayal of will of the Creator.
In a nutshell, the Bible is a set of words spoken about God's love. As
there is a hymn verse that goes, God's love for me is written in the
Bible, the most essential message of the Bible is God is
love. (1 John 4:8) The message proclaims that God unconditionally
loves all, even sinners. And it is Jesus who has manifested this love on earth.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not
send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through
him (John 3:16, 17).
When we sinned and became God's enemies, lost far away from God, He sent
His only son to us as a propitiation, thereby showing His love for us.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us (Rom.
5:8).
In the present volume, The Way to Eternal Life, I would like to explain
how we can attain eternal life by considering the miserable human destiny and
God's love.
II. The Value and Purpose of Our Life
1. God and Human Beings
The fool says in his heart, There is no God. They are
corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks
down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any
who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there
is no one who does good, not even one (Psa. 14:1 ~ 3).
We live in the world only for a short while, but as I look at people's
lives, they all have very much work and many desires. I think, however, that at
least once in our life, we need to ponder deeply about the value and purpose of
our lives, and what we must attain and what is the most important for us. I am
sure that our readers also have much work and a determined goal and are working
hard towards it.
We have come to the world certainly in order to attain something. But it
would not be just something visible, physical and practical such as things to
serve the body, which only has a short life. Animals are satisfied when they
have food, free and comfortable environment, their mates and conditions for
reproduction. Since we have a spirit, which seeks what is spiritual and
eternal, we can never be contented just with practical, material, and bodily
things. God has given us a spirit and intelligence, which animals lack.
2. We Have Intelligence
But no one says, Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the
night, who teaches more to us than to the beasts of the earth and makes us
wiser than the birds of the air? (Job 35:10, 11)
When a train roars by, frogs and insects by the track will have no idea
about how the train was produced, how it moves, and where it is going. With our
intelligence, however, we can know not only this but even more. We know that
the earth is floating in the space and running at an incredible speed of
108,000 kilometers per hour and that a galaxy contains one or two hundred
billion stars, and moreover there are over a hundred billion such galaxies.
Science is revealing more and more secrets of the universe.
Many people, however, neither ask about nor look for God, the source of
the great and unique intelligence of ours.
For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of
everything (Heb. 3:4).
If every house has its maker, and automobiles and airplanes their
manufacturers, the earth, the sun, the stars and the entire sublime universe
must have their Creator, and this is why we must know about God.
The fool says in his heart, There is no God. (Psa.
14:1)
Foolishness lies in having darkened reason and being unable to see
things as they are. Fools reject the truth and accept the lie, and mistake a
truth for a lie and a lie for a truth. Hence, they deny clear facts and insist
on their absurd views.
The greatest of all the fools in the world are those who deny the
existence of God. Who would believe you if you say that a house simply has
appeared on its own? How did all the trees and flowers come into being? How
about the birds in the sky, all kinds of fish in the water, and all kinds of
animals? How could they have sprung into existence spontaneously without God?
This magnificent universe is alive and moves in strict order harmony.
This is because the absolute Creator has designed and created it and is ruling
over it with His wisdom and power. The Bible says that God is sustaining
all things by his powerful word, (Heb. 1:3) and God's laws endure
to this day, for all things serve you [God]. (Psa. 119:91) All things
absolutely obey God's power and word. God has given us the intellect in order
that we may come to know about God.
Since we live in the world created by God, it is extremely important to
know and have the right relationship with God.
Success in life can be determined by whether we make a good human
relationship and maintain it well; hence, more important than making earnest
individual efforts would be to make a good human relationship with sincere and
able people. We may meet good and able people and live successful lives, or
meet wrong people and end our lives in failure.
When relationship has such importance in this life, how much more
important it is to form a good relationship with the eternal God? We cannot be
too concerned about knowing God correctly because it is a matter of our eternal
destiny.
Some people say, What does it matter whether I know about God
or not? Those believing in God may be living well, but so are those not
believing in God. Evil people and people ignorant of God may have a
trouble-free life on earth. The Bible says, He causes his sun to rise
on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
(Mat. 5:45) This is why their lives may be trouble-free. They will have no
problem eating food, breathing the air, and wearing clothes in the God's world,
for God has made it available to all humanity.
The problem comes, however, after the end of our short life on earth.
You may think, What is there to be feared after death? Isn't death the
end of everything? There is the eternal destiny
waiting for you after your death, however.
3. We Have Spirits
Unlike the other creatures, we have spirits. Plants just have life;
since they are without the sense, they have no pain when they are cut. Animals
have both life and senses, through which they can recognize their youngs and
feel hunger and pain. Human beings, however, have spirits.
A Chinese philosopher teaches, Human beings are the most
precious among all things in the heaven and earth. Why does he say
that human beings are the most precious? Some animals live for hundreds of
years, while we do not even live for a hundred years. Birds in the sky and fish
in the water seem to be more adorable, joyful, and free. Compared to this, how
miserable we human beings are, who struggle, suffer, and travail! Moreover, how
evil and base we human beings are!
Birds have no struggle over philosophy or ideal, and they can fly
wherever they want to because they know no national borders. Wild animals also
run freely through mountains.
If we only have the body, we are very much inferior to animals in many
respects. To say that human beings are the most precious means that they have
dignity, which is based on the spirit created for the plan and purpose of God.
Without the spirit, we are little different from animals.
Communists strongly insist on the theory of evolution, saying, Where
is the spirit? Rather, didn't Human beings evolve from apes? In a
conversation with Chinese communist party members, I heard about the theory of
evolution they had learned. I retorted, If it is true that apes have
evolved into human beings, shouldn't there be at least one ape somewhere in the
world that is in the process of evolving into human beings?
The modern science has revealed that what was discovered and presented
as a link between humans and apes is a fake. Now that the fallacy of the evolutionary
theory has been shown, evolutionists are unable to make strong claims. They
still hold on to the theory, however, in order to deny God the Creator.
Evolutionary theory is a theory of the devil, which denies God and
spirit and makes us think, What is so special about human beings? They
are just like animals. I can just live and die like an animal, thereby
leading us to fall. Why did we fall and become evil, and why do we have to live
in misery and in raging contradictions and lies? It is because our departure
from God and consequent loss of human value and purpose is giving rise to all
the sins. We must return to God, and start our lives again with God.
The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are
any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together
become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one (Psa. 14:2, 3).
Although God looks around to find someone seeking God, the fall has
deprived us of the ability to recognize God. Instead of animals evolving into
human beings, human beings, created in the image of God, degenerated into
animals. Look at the animals. Do they not always hold their noses and mouths
down to the ground, constantly looking for food? Human beings, who are supposed
to behold the above and have their ideals and hopes in the divine and eternal
world of God, have fallen, having hope on the earth and only living for such
hope. We have debased ourselves, and driven ourselves into falsity and misery.
Since we have left God and lost the intelligence through which to find
God, we have become unable to find God on our own.
Wherever there are people, there are religions. Religion is a human
striving to find God. It is said that there are eight million divinities in Japan .
Japanese people worship all kinds of objects. When asked if they are gods, they
say that of course they are not. When asked why, then, they serve them, they
say in order to find god, who must be somewhere. They are looking for God in
their own ways because they do not know about God.
We have a desire to find God. Despite such desire, however, since we
have lost the ability to know God and are unable to reach Him through our own
wisdom, He has shown us the way to come to Him.
God has given us the Bible as His revelation in order to inform us,
living in the physical bodies, that He is the absolute Creator and to teach us
about the plan and secret of God, purpose of creating us, His will towards us,
His forgiveness of our sins, and the way to reach Him. Hence, we must learn the
Bible and solve fundamental human issues through it.
4. We Are Created in God's Image
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, Be
fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the
fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that
moves on the ground. (Gen. 1:27, 28)
God created the universe and so arranged everything that life can prosper.
It says in the Genesis 1:2, Now the earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering
over the waters. We have learned at school that at the beginning of
the earth, there was a point in the process where the earth was a long-burning
fireball, with the lava rising up and simmering. The Bible calls it formless.
When it says, the earth was formless and empty, it calls empty
the state of the earth where there was no life, not even a grass leaf or
insect. It also says, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and
the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. As the earth gradually
cooled down, the fire went inside the earth, and the earth came to be
surrounded by a thick layer of vapor and clouds. This is why the Bible says
that God clothed the earth with clouds (Job 38:9). Vapor and clouds are all
water. When water was surrounding the earth, the Spirit of God was hovering
over the waters. Hovering over means that God was embracing
the earth as the hen broods on the eggs. Raw eggs only have the white and the
yolk, and yet after twenty-one days of brooding, chickens come out of them;
likewise, the Spirit of God was hovering over the earth in order to give life
to it.
In order to make it possible for human beings to live on the earth, God
brought forth light in the first day, and on the second day divided the waters
above and below the firmament, with the latter becoming the ocean, and the
former a transparent layer surrounding the earth. God made plants first and
then animals. It was for animals that God created the plants, without which
animals cannot survive. When you look at flowers, do they not boast of their
beauty? Why did God create them? Without the one to behold their beauty, they
will find themselves useless.
When a young lady goes out, she styles her hair, puts on cosmetics,
wears earrings and necklace, and pretty dress and shoes. If, however, there
were no one to behold and admire her, she would not take such pains to decorate
herself. The savory fruits on the trees are asking us to eat them.
Are plants and also flowers made for themselves? Flowers are there
because there are people to appreciate them, and fruits because there are
creatures to eat them. How about rice? They also exist to serve our appetite.
God created humans after creating according to their kinds the birds in the
sky, fish in the water, and all the creeping animals in the land. This is
because these creatures are made for us. In order for us to live, we need
plants and animals. Suppose there are only plants and no animals. It would be
quite boring if there were no cows, horses, dogs, pigs, birds, or fish. When
God commissioned humans to dominate the birds in the sky, fish in the water,
and all the moving creatures on the land, he meant that we could eat, use, or
do whatever we wanted with them. It is because all of them are made for us.
Why did God create us? God created us for the sake of God. When the
Bible says that we are created in His image, it is not referring to our
physical shape. As it says, God is spirit, (John 4:24) to be
made in God's image means to be made as spiritual beings. To be spiritual
beings means that we are divine and immortal like God so that we can be
glorified eternally with God. This is the purpose for which God has created us.
In other words, God has created us for the sake of His plan and purpose.
The creation in God's image contains enormously important and profound
secrets. Parents rejoice when they hear that their children resemble them. When
they hear, He looks just like his father, like an imprint,
they become very happy. You will run into big trouble if you say that the child
looks like someone living next door. Parents never say that because they are
ugly, their children should not resemble them but some handsome neighbor. When
they hear about children's taking after them, they are filled with joy.
Children are a part of the parents to inherit and continue parents' legacy and
life. To the children, who resemble parents, parents want to give everything.
Although we may not be able to give our children everything we desire
to, however, God can give us everything He wants to. Do you know why God
created us in His image? It is in order to give us everything. It is so that we
can live eternally like God, be glorified eternally with God, and receive
everything from God. How foolish it would be if we, created in His image with
such privileges, simply think that several decades of bodily life is all there
is and live for the flesh only!
God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to
himself... A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that
perish (Psa. 49:15, 20).
Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that
perish (Psa. 49:20 KJV).
To be in honor (KJV) is to be highly precious, and we
have honor because we have spirits created in God's image. his spirits is
created for the sake of God's plan and purpose. The message says that the one
who fails to realize how noble his spirits is is like the beasts that
perish. When we are created for eternal life with God and glory, says
the Bible, and yet fail to realize this and simply live for the body, seeing
nothing beyond it, we might just as well have been born as a beast.
It is because we have the spirits that the Chinese philosopher could
proclaim, Human beings are the most precious among all things in the
heaven and earth, as I mentioned earlier, and it is because of the
spirits that there can be a saying, Man is the lord of all creation.
The word lord here is translated into young jang in Korean,
where young(젤) means spirit, and jang(鈐) means long, adult or supervisor. Hence, this word means that
we live long because of the spirit. We are the most precious of all creation
because we have spirits in the image of God, which make us immortal.
Just as we can see our faces only through a mirror, so can we see who we
are only by coming to know God. Ignorance of God leads to ignorance of our own
value, and ignorance of our value leads to ignorance of our purpose of life and
hopelessness. In hopelessness, we pursue almost anything to serve our selfish
goals, saying, What is so special about man? I live and die, and there
is no more.
In Korea ,
once there was a group of youths in the early twenties called Chijon
Faction, which indiscriminately committed homicides. When I saw them
on TV, they were really young. They took random people on the street, killed
them, cut them in pieces, and burned them. They built a burning facility and
were even trying to buy machine guns to slaughter even more people. It even
seemed that they had been born for murder. Initially, they hated the Oranges
and Yatas, (playboy groups of Korea ) and decided to butcher them.
After all, they were all arrested. People thought that when they were scolded, You
murderers, did you think you could slay so many people and still be safe?
they would bow down their heads and say, We are sorry, we deserve to
die. On the contrary, however, they held up their heads straight, and
even shouted back their voices, saying, How much longer can we live,
fifty years? What does it matter whether we live fifty years more or die
earlier? That seems right. Since they were in the early twenties, they
had fifty years before reaching seventy. It occurred to me that if physical
death was the end of everything, they were right, and it did not really matter
whether we lived here a few decades longer or retired from life a few decades
earlier. Is death the end of everything, however? Definitely not. All the
members of the Chijon Faction were executed.
Afterwards, there appeared something called Mack Ga Faction.
The Korean word mack ga here means to live and die
recklessly. Why do such impetuous people appear? Because they had lost sight of
the true human value and made themselves evil through ignorance of the spirit,
even such heinous crimes could not move them to shame and regret. If one loses
sight of his own value, he thinks light of others' lives and destroys them
indiscriminately as if killing flies. All sins sprout from being ignorant of
the human value and dignity.
5. God Loves Us
O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think
of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow (Psa. 144:3,
4).
If we are to know who we are, and what our worth and purpose are, we
musk ask God, our Creator. Human beings cannot solve fundamental human problems
themselves. It is of no use to ask philosophers. Can a cow ask another cow what
its prices are these days? Can a black pig ask a white pig how much it is going
for? Neither cows nor pigs know their own prices. Their prices are determined
by human beings. Since it is up to humans to eat them, use them, or do whatever
with them, humans are free to raise or lower the animal prices.
How about the human worth, then? Can we fix the worth ourselves? As the
saying goes, There is no man above man, nor any man below man,
below us there are animals, and above us God. Hence, our worth is set by God.
In order to know who on earth we are, we must ask God.
Sincerely ask God the following difficult questions: God, why
did you create us human beings? Why did you not make us more perfect, but so
wretched that we are tormented by ourselves? Why did you create the world in
such complexity? If you indeed exist, why do the immoral get ahead of the
virtuous, and the good suffer injustice? Why is the truth being trampled upon,
while contradiction and unrighteousness engulf the world like surging waves?
Some people harbor grudges in their hearts for life and die undeserved death,
what a contradiction! God will answer these questions for you in the
Bible.
In the book of Psalms, we meet a person sincerely asking these questions
to God. Asked why the wicked are always carefree, they increase in
wealth, God answers that He will cast them down to ruin
after death (Psa. 73:12, 18). As Job says, They spend their years in
prosperity and go down to the grave in peace, (Job 21:13) (They spend
their days in prosperity, and suddenly go down to Sheol, NASB) although they
may have glamorous life in the world, they will be condemned to hell after
death.
If we just look at the world, it is full of contradictions. This is what
inspired Nietzsche to proclaim the death of God. He argued that to acknowledge
the existence of God was to profane His name, for God could not have made such
a wretched world. This sounds quite convincing. The Bible, however, has answer
for this. When will be the time when good is repaid with good, and evil with
evil? It will not be in this world. The several decades of human life on earth
is but an instant in the eyes of God of eternity. Therefore, at the moment, He
leaves alone the contradictions and injustice in the world because there will
soon be eternal judgement upon all the good and evil.
The poet in the Psalm 144 asked, What is man that you care for
him, the son of man that you think of him? He also inquired why God
loved us when we were so vile and insignificant. If you are a miserable person,
and yet a noble one such as king loves you and bestows favors upon you, you will
feel so out of place and say, Who am I that you bless me with such
generous favor? In the eyes of God, the Creator of universe, humans
are not even as important as insects or dusts. What would the Creator of the
immense universe think when He sees you and me, living in a tiny corner of the
small earth? Isaiah 40:15 says, Surely the nations are like a drop in
a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as
though they were fine dust. If nations are like water drops, people
must be almost nothing at all.
Nevertheless, God loves us deeply, and the Bible says, For God
so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16) Since God loves
each one of us, God gave His only Son and led him even to death in order to
save our souls from destruction and guide us to eternal life. To love the world
means to love the people in the world. Even if there were no one but me in the
world, still Jesus surely would have come to save me. We should know that God
loves one person and the entire mankind with equal love. We are unable to give
equal love to one person and hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of
people. Since we are imperfect, we cannot even memorize their names. God,
however, sees no difference between loving one person and the six billion
people around the globe. He determines the number of the stars and
calls them each by name, (Psa. 147:4) and even counts our hairs
(Mat.10:30). In short, there is nothing about us God does not know.
Even before our birth God knew all about us. Since God knew that we were
going to commit sin and go to hell, He sent His only son in order to deliver us
from ruin and give us eternal life. God so arranged that those realizing and
believing in God's grace would receive eternal life, and this is the love of
God.
Parents love their children even before their birth. When a wife becomes
pregnant, the couple start talking about the child: Honey, how shall
we name the child? Let's make it so and so if it's a boy, and so and so if a
girl. Let's be well prepared with baby's clothes, wrapping blankets, and so on.
Which school shall we choose for the baby, and how shall we raise it?
Parents also draw pictures about the future of the child. The fetus has no idea
about who the parents are and how much they love it, and yet parents love it.
Likewise, even when we were ignorant of God, He still loved us. No matter how
grave our sin is, God's love is larger than our sin. It is for no other reason
than that we have spirits created according to God's holy plan and purpose that
God loves us so much. Parents love their own children albeit the children may
be uglier and more troublesome than neighbors' children. If their lives are
threatened by a sickness, parents are agonized. Even handicapped people receive
love and sympathy from their parents. No matter how heavy the burden of our sin
may be, God does not want our spirits to go to hell, for although He loathes
sin, He loves us. It may seem that human life is vain, passing by like a
shadow, and yet in such life there is the spirit, which is precious in God's
eyes.
For I am honored in the eyes of the LORD... (Isa. 49:5)
It may be that I am nothing in my own eyes, and even less in others'
eyes. God, however, finds me dear. Without understanding this, that God created
us for our spirits and loves them so deeply, we make ourselves miserable and
bestial, and perish.
Five-year-old Bok Nam
in a small village is a slow boy with runny nose and a loser who gets beaten by
other children and cries. When he goes home, however, he is the only son in a
family that has had only one son for seven generations, a son that is as
precious as a jewel and the sole heir of the family. Each one of us is like a
jewel for God.
6. God Never Wants Our Spirits to Perish
For this is what the high and lofty One says - he who lives forever,
whose name is holy: I live in a high and holy place, but also with him
who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to
revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse forever, nor will I always
be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me - the breath of
man that I have created. (Isa. 57:15, 16)
God, the high and lofty One (meaning He is the highest
with none higher than Him) and who lives forever, whose name is holy
has said that he lives in a high and holy place, but also with him who
is contrite and lowly in spirit. Although He dwells in the high and
holy place, He sees the lowly humans, and stays with those who are contrite and
humble. To be contrite and lowly in spirit means to realize
being a sinner and desire to be forgiven by God after committing a sin. This is
to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the
contrite. However malicious a crime a child has committed, if the
child sincerely begs for forgiveness, the parents would never put him to death.
Although all the other people may think that the child more than deserves
death, when asked about the child the parents will surely plead, Please
save him. Please save him. He is a deviant man, but he is my precious son.
Love transcends law. God saves unconditionally all the sinners who sincerely
seek forgiveness and aspire to salvation. This is God's love.
At the time of Jesus, the worst criminals were nailed to the cross
alive. Although Jesus was crucified innocent, the other two on the cross,
murderous robbers, had committed a great deal of crimes. One robber challenged
God and derided Jesus until death, saying, If you are truly the Son of
God and have saved many from death, why can't you save yourself? If you are
God's Son, come down from the cross right now, and save me as well.
The other robber, however, rebuked him and said, You and I deserve
death for our crimes. But this man is innocent. Do you not fear God yet?
Seeing Jesus praying for sinners even while dying in pain on the cross, he came
to believe that Jesus was God's Son and righteous man dying for the sake of
sinners, whereupon he became struck with the fear of God and realization of his
sin to hurl him down to hell. Thus, he seriously repented and entrusted his
soul to Jesus at the moment of death, asking Jesus to have pity on him and
remember him in his kingdom.
If I were Jesus, I would have said, You want to go to the
heavenly kingdom when you have killed and committed evil deeds for all your
life? and yet Jesus allowed the robber to accompany him to the
paradise that day. Because Jesus said it, the robber surely went to the
paradise. His salvation is at the same time our own salvation. We are saved
unconditionally through God's grace. The merciful love of God saves any sinner
as long as he truly desires salvation. This is why God dwells with the penitent
and humble and saves their souls, created in God's image. As He says, I
will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man
would grow faint before me - the breath of man that I have created, He
never wants the spirits He has created to perish.
When the first human ancestors committed sin in the Garden of Eden, God
cursed the earth, and gave the woman the pain of child labor, and the man the
toil of work. It is not because God hated human beings that He cursed the land
and subjected them to the travails and death. The Bible says, For he
does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.
(Lam. 3:33) Parents scold and sometimes discipline children not out of hatred
but in order to help them repent and change their ways and lay aside
foolishness. Likewise, God has given us pain so that we can repent our sins and
drop the attachment to the earth, cursed through sin. God cursed the land and
subjected us to pain in order to help us realize the hopelessness of the earth
and return to God, thereby embracing eternal hope. To say I will not
accuse forever means that that God will not be angry with us forever.
He had wrath for a short while and gave us pain and discipline, and yet this is
not forever. God's will is to bring us to eternal life with Him.
7. We Have Spiritual Desires
My spirit, created in God's image for the sake of God's holy plan and
purpose, is my true self. Some people regard their body as the only self, and
do their utmost to take care of it, assiduously feeding and clothing it. They
eat whatever is supposed to be good for health such as natural food, and take
medicine even for slight sickness; they decorate their bodies, adorning their
faces and even receiving cosmetic surgeries to remove wrinkles. They, however,
have no idea about the existence of the spirit, and thus make no preparation
for the spirit.
According to Jesus, when a rich man accumulated much wealth to last for
many years and said to himself, I have plenty of good things laid up
for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry, God said to
him, You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.
Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? Jesus then
says, This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for
himself but is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:19 ~ 21) Our spiritual
needs are not met by material things.
As I mentioned at the beginning, animals are satisfied when there is
food, comfortable environment, and mate to reproduce with. They have no needs
beyond bodily drives.
Human beings, however, are never simply contented with fulfillment of
physical conditions. One may say that a beautiful house, sumptuous food and
clothes, and great cultural facilities will make a family happy, but will not
bring them full happiness. For we have a spirit as well as the body, and thus
spiritual needs in addition to bodily ones. Spiritual needs will not be met by
material things. We come to commit all kinds of sins when we try to resolve our
spiritual longing through the body and thereby get into excess.
As the Bible says, May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify
you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Th. 5:23) human beings have
the body, the soul, and the spirit. The bodily desires are for food, sex,
honor, etc. The soul refers to the emotional and mental activities, and desires
of the soul are manifested through knowledge, love, noble thoughts, and so
forth. The desire of the spirit is to find God, however. Hence, Romans 1:19
says, Since what may be known about God is plain to them. We
have a desire to find God, while animals do not.
Also, among the desires of the spirit is the pursuit of goodness. As
Romans 2:15 says, Since they show that the requirements of the law are
written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their
thoughts now accusing, now even defending them, when we commit a sin,
our conscience accuses us. Our conscience says, You wretched soul, you
should not take others' possessions. You should not steal or do other evil
deeds. This is why the Bible says that conscience is law written
in their hearts. (Rom. 2:15) Conscience pursues goodness.
Finally, the desires of the spirit include yearning for the eternity. He
has also set eternity in the hearts of men. (Eccl. 3:11)) While the
flesh seeks and is satisfied with what is visible, practical, and material, the
spirit seeks what is eternal, complete, and divine. Since the spirit is created
in God's image, it will not be satisfied until it becomes like God.
In the old China ,
when Xi Taihou(the Chinese Queen) was ruling the land for forty years, she made
an artificial lake in Peking . The lake was so
immense and boundless as to look like an ocean, and yet it was created in
purely human hands. When there were no excavators or trucks, they dug out all
the earth, erected a mountain, and built a magnificent palace on it.
The Forbidden City was a palace
of Chinese
We will experience no fulfillment until we become like God. To be like
God does not mean to become God himself, but to become able to live eternally
like God. When we are saved, we will become like God, receiving glory with God
and experiencing full contentment. It would not be just the rich man mentioned
by Jesus that tries to serve his spiritual demands with bodily things, saying, You
have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink
and be merry. The people like him do not understand our spiritual
desire.
If we give a candy to a child who has lost his mother and is crying, the
sweetness of the candy may be able to silence the child for a while;
momentarily, however, he will burst into tears again, crying out for the
mother, and this time throwing away candies and toys. He will never be pacified
until he finds himself back in the mother's embrace.
Since we have lost God, we have the desire to find God, and this
spiritual thirst will never be quenched by anything that is of the world until
death. This is why God said to him, You fool. Those who deny
the existence of God and those who try to appease the spiritual longing by
following the bodily drives are all absurd. God continued, This very
night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have
prepared for yourself? Although we may pile up riches as if we could
live for tens of thousands of years, God can claim our spirits any time, even
tonight.
As for the heads of states and people in high positions, after their
retirements they will receive special treatments and have plenty of nice food
and clothes for the rest of their lives. This should be enough to make them
happy, and yet why do many of them try to amass enormous wealth as if they
could use it for thousands of years and as if to inherit it to thousands of
generations? Because people have a desire to become like God, they find no
satisfaction no matter how much they have. If you have a building, you will
then want to have another, and if you have two, you will then want to have ten.
If you have a new car, you will next want to have a better model. And then you
will start thinking that perhaps a private airplane may satisfy you completely.
Even with all these things, however, you will still find yourself hungry.
8. We Shall See God outside Our Body
And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh(1) I will see
God... (Job 19:26)
I will see God outside my body (Korean Bible).
And after my skin has been destroyed... When we die
from old age, sickness, or accident, our hearts will stop, and our corpses
start rotting. However beautiful or famous a person may have been in this life,
death will return him to earth. When the body decays, what departs from the
body? It is the spirit, rising from the body towards God.
And the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns
to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7).
It is death that separates the body from the spirit. The body returns to
dust after death. Since it is made out of earth, it goes back to earth (Gen.
3:19), while the spirit returns to God, from whom it came from. Even those who
deny the existence of God will have to meet God very soon. The problem is that
we must stand before God prepared.
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring
forth (Pro. 27:1).
Even healthy and young people can meet a sudden death, not to mention
sick and old people. Some people may live long, but none more than several
decades. But death is not the end of everything, for thereafter we must go to
God, receive judgement, and proceed to hell or heaven for eternity. My hands,
feet, body, face, etc. are but my shells. Just as people live inside a
building, so does the spirit dwell inside the earthen house (Job 4:19).
As in the verse, And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in
(outside) my flesh I will see God, after death the spirit actually
rises from the body and meets God.
I have met four people who have died and come back to life. Among them,
a grandmother from Mokpo
died and revived in two days, on the eve of the funeral. She told me in detail
what had happened during her death. Another person was a fifty-seven-year-old
man living in Panwol, a city near Su Won. Amid his sickness, his heart stopped,
and he died, after which he saw his own dead body, said he. He said he saw his
family members sitting and crying around his body, covered with a sheet, and it
was real and not a dream.
I have also heard about someone who had served for forty years as a
doctor in the Soviet Union and who had
patients with an experience of reviving after death. The doctor's notes of
their after-death stories have been on the newspapers. According to the
stories, it takes about five to fifteen minutes to move from life to
death, during which people vividly experience the process of leaving the world.
After the departure, they come to look down upon their own corpses.
American doctors also collected after- death stories, which talk about the auto-scope,
whereby the dead people can see their own bodies and people around them so that
they can tell who those people were after waking up from death. This is
identical with what I heard. Furthermore, the SBS-TV's program I Want to Know This,
which features people coming back from death, also gives same accounts. The
other world surely exists, and many people have experienced it.
9. God Has Determined the Times of History
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the
whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places
where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps
reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For
in him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:26 ~ 28).
When it says, From one man he made every nation of men, that
they should inhabit the whole earth, it means that we are the
descendants of one person, Adam. It is true that we are all descendants of
Adam. Human beings and apes are not of the same lineage, so there is no ape
with the same blood as ours. Human beings, however have the same blood, whether
they are from Asia, Europe, Africa, or United States . If the blood types
match, an African's or American's blood can be transfused into a Korean, and a
Korean's blood into a European without any problem. Not even a drop of monkey's
blood, however, can be inserted into the human blood vessels.
Determined the times... To determine the times means
that God set the beginning and end of history. As it says, In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Gen 1:1), and I
saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away; and there was no longer any sea (Rev. 21:1), God has
decreed that the history come to an end when the time comes that is set by God
instead of continuing endlessly. What do you think will happen to human history
after a few hundred or few thousand years? Doubtlessly, the earth will have
turned into a living hell.
O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the
work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out
like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be
changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end (Heb 1:10 ~12).
The earth is bound to perish according to this word. As we have examined
in the first volume, The Way to God, we are living in the final age of history.
God has determined the times of history and the the exact
places where they should live. In other words, God has decreed that we
live within the earth during the ordained duration of history.
The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to
man (Psa. 115:16).
God has commanded us to conquer the earth while living on earth and not
the heaven. No matter how far science develops, we cannot emigrate to the Moon,
Mars, or Jupiter. For God does not allow us to conquer the heaven. When the
time of God arrives, the history of the earth will come to a close. God has
determined the bounds of human habitation so that men would seek him
and perhaps reach out for him and find him He does not abide far away
from us.
10. God's Purpose Will Be Realized within the Period
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under
heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to
uproot... (Eccl. 3:1, 2)
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the
heaven... (KJV)
To determine the time of the earth is the same as there being a time for
everything. To say, There is a time for everything, and a season for
every activity (purpose) under heaven means that the purpose will be
realized within the set period. Would there not be God's purpose during this
period of history? History has a purpose, and so does the life of each of us.
The purposes for which God has created our life and God leads the history are
closely interconnected.
What is the purpose of history?
The human history exists in order to prepare the people to enter the
heavenly kingdom. Therefore, when the gospel has been spread throughout the
world, and the number of the people to enter the heavenly kingdom through
salvation has been filled, the history will conclude. As a skylark builds a
nest, lays eggs, hatches the youngs, and flies away with them, never to return,
when God's purpose of history is realized, He will eliminate the earth because
He has no more use for it. As a temporary building is demolished after the
completion of the main building, the heaven and earth we see now will be
removed like a temporary building once the people have become ready to proceed
to the new heaven and earth.
Just as countless people have come and gone throughout the history, so
will you and I. Then, what is the purpose of our existence in history? The
purpose of human life converges with that of history. We do not live for sin,
nor for suffering or some worldly pleasure. Our purpose is not determined by
us, for it has already been by God. In short, our several decades of life on
earth is for the sake of preparing ourselves to go before God by coming to know
God, receiving salvation of the spirit, and living a life worthy of children of
God. When the people of the heavenly kingdom have been prepared after the long
history, God's purpose is fulfilled, and the history will close.
11. We Have Come to the World in Order to Receive Eternal Life
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity
in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning
to end (Eccl. 3:11).
God has created everything beautifully according to different times; for
instance, flowers blossom in the spring, and fruits such as melons and
watermelons provide coolness in the summer. Summer fruits such as watermelon
are low in calories, and their rich water content helps people, who sweat much
in the summer. Because they go bad quickly, they must be eaten soon. Autumn
fruits, on the other hand, are storable so that they can be kept for food
through the winter. By the time we run out of them, God provides us with new
fruits of the next year. This shows us the remarkable reason with which He has
created the whole nature.
God, who has created everything beautifully according to seasons, has set
eternity in the hearts of men, that is, endowed the human beings with
a yearning for the eternity. When there is a yearning heart, there is bound to
be the object of the yearning, just as when there is a thirst, there is water
to quench it, and when there is hunger, there is food to satisfy it. When a
baby is born, he looks for milk, although he has never learned that there is
milk or how to suck milk; while giving him a desire to suck milk, God has also
provided the mother's breasts for the baby to suck lying comfortably in her
arms. Moreover, the temperature, nutrition, and taste of the breast milk are
designed to fit the growing baby's needs exactly. This is revealed in a
research showing that the nutrition content of breast milk changes over time as
the baby grows, at the time of his birth, after one hundred days, and after ten
months, for instance. This is another skillful work of God. When you enter the
puberty, a desire for members of the other sex sprouts forth in your heart. A
yearning heart is never without the object yearned for. When our hearts have a
desire, there is bound to be an object that can fulfill that desire.
Why has God given us such a yearning for the eternity? It is because we
possess a spirit, which never dies, and there are eternal world, eternal truth,
and eternal God. God has created us in His image and instilled in us a desire
to seek the eternity in order that He may give us that eternal, complete, and
holy world, which is God's everlasting kingdom. Just as there is a song called,
I want to live with you forever, we have a desire to live
with God endlessly.
We are thirsting for eternal life.
Why have we come here to the world? We have come in order to attain
eternal life. Why did Jesus come to the world? He came in order to open for us
the way to the eternal God. This is why Jesus said, I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(John 14:6) It is surely the Bible that teaches the way to eternal life.
The truth of the Bible leads to life. We have come in order to find that
way, realize that truth, and attain that eternal life. We may lose or give up
many things, but we should never lose the eternal life that Jesus seeks to give
us.
After a short while, all of you and I will have left this world and find
ourselves in an eternal abode.
The Bible says, Man is destined to die once, and after that to
face judgment... (Heb. 9:27) Although the body returns to dust, the
spirit ascends to God, receives His judgement, and moves on to an eternal
place. The heaven is an eternal place, and so is the hell. However, in the
heaven we live in everlasting glory with God, whereas in hell we suffer
never-ending agony with devils. We are to go to one of the two places, between
which light and darkness, life and death, truth and deception, and happiness
and misery are perpetually divided. We must choose between going to the heaven
by receiving the eternal life from Jesus and going to hell by losing the
eternal life.
Where would you like to go? Where would you spend your eternity? You
work so hard, strain yourselves, and make assiduous preparations for the sake
of the several decades of your life in this world, and yet why are you so
nonchalant about the eternity of your life?
Our short earthly life is but a process of preparing to advance to the
eternal world. Just as there is tomorrow after today, so is there another world
after this world. Today is the time to prepare for tomorrow. We are here to
find the way to the eternal world, and those who have found it are surely
blessed with true happiness.
III. The Human Fall and the Consequent Punishments
1. Jesus Came in Order to Find the Lost Sinners
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors
and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the
Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, Why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'? On hearing this, Jesus said, It
is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this
means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners. (Mat. 9:10 ~ 13).
At the time of Jesus, there were many Jews who were known for their
devoted service to God. Priests, elders, and lawyers kept the sabbath
meticulously, made strict tithing, fasted twice a week for God, and worked hard
to save souls. They made long prayers and strove to live by the law. Even the
most diligent religious practitioner today would find himself belittled by the
religious fervor of the priests, lawyers, or Pharisees at that time. In
contrast, there was another group of Jews who were considered low life
in today's expression. Publicans, as running dogs of the Romans, collected
groundless taxes, offering some to the Romans and keeping the rest for
themselves, similar to some of those tax officials of today who take from the
national treasure and stuff their own pockets. There were also prostitutes and
sinners who mingled with the tax collectors, who could not have used the unjust
money in a decent way. These sinners could not be in the company of the
aforementioned people of dignity, for they took pride in their own holiness and
disdained those sinners.
Jesus, however, went to sinners' homes and befriended them, eating and
talking with them. This is how Jesus earned the devout people's accusation.
They reasoned that if Jesus was from God, as he revived the dead, healed
lepers, and opened blind eyes, he should be with them, and even more so if
Jesus was intent upon initiating a political movement to revive Israel. To
their disappointment, however, Jesus was indifferent towards political matters
and simply mingled with sinners. This is why they complained to disciples of
Jesus why their teacher was eating with the tax collectors and sinners.
When he heard this, Jesus replied, It is not the healthy who
need a doctor, but the sick. Does a doctor need to visit a healthy
person? Doctors are for sick people. Jesus is a doctor of spiritual disease
rather than physical. Spiritual illness means sin.
Sickness weakens and pains people, eventually bringing them to death.
Many people die from illness. Sin, on the other hand, separates us from God,
makes us fall, and eventually brings us to the hell. To say that Jesus came to
save the sinners means that he came to extirpate sin.
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).
But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And
in him is no sin (1 John 3:5).
Jesus said, For I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners because the priests, lawyers, elders, Pharisees, and scribes
thought that they were earnestly serving God and therefore righteous. They may
have been righteous in others' eyes as well, but definitely not in God's view.
Because they were self-righteous, Jesus did not associate with them. Jesus
befriended those who knew of themselves as sinners.
When Jesus was teaching God's word, elders questioned with what
authority he taught, whereupon Jesus answered, The tax collectors and
the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. (Mat
21:31) Since the tax collectors and prostitutes had nothing righteous to show,
but only sins, they could easily recognize their being sinners, which made
their salvation that much easier. You have to be a sinner to be saved from your
hell-bound fate.
How wonderful it will be if there is a doctor who can cure all the
sicknesses! If there is a doctor who can heal the so-called incurable illnesses
such as cancer and AIDS, all the patients will rush to see him. They will have
to. Jesus is a doctor of the spirit, who can save any sinner.
Why did the Jewish religious leaders reject Jesus, when he can save any
sinner?
Born as members of the chosen, they earnestly observed the sabbath,
offered tithing, piously worshipped in the temple, fasted for God, and did
alms. They were admired by the people as sacred religious dignitaries. They
were already assured of their own righteousness. Hence, they did not feel the
need for salvation, and adamantly refused to admit that they were miserable
sinners fated to eternal hell after death. This is why they oppressed Jesus.
We can see from the Bible that while the religious leaders persecuted
Jesus and failed to receive salvation, grave sinners such as tax collectors and
prostitutes were saved. This is ironical, and yet true.
The Bible relates that a murderer and robber crucified besides Jesus was
saved (Luke 23:39 ~ 43). Cross was a means to publicly execute serious and
vicious criminals in the Roman colonial period.
When Jesus was nailed to the cross, two robbers were crucified with him
to his right and left. One robber derided and berated Jesus until the moment of
death: Jesus, when you claim yourself to be the Son of God, and have
raised the dead and healed lepers, why are you getting killed on the cross like
a dumb? If you are God's Son, jump off the cross right now, and try to save me
as well.
The other robber must have committed all the horrible crimes just the
same way throughout his whole life, and heard about Jesus. He saw that while
people around Jesus including the robber on the other side were,
finger-pointing, spitting at, and ridiculing Jesus, Jesus did not fight back or
curse them. He also saw Jesus praying, Father, forgive them, for they
do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34) Such experience must
have convinced him that Jesus was the Son of God.
When the first robber was laughing and cursing at Jesus, the other
robber rebuked him: Don't you fear God... since you are under the same
sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.
But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. (Luke 23:40 ~ 42)
Before death one robber had faith in God and fear of God. He realized
that Jesus was the savior sent by God, who was praying for sinners and able to
save them all. He desired to entrust his spirit to Jesus at the closing of his
life, that is, in front of the gate of the hell. This naturally produced his
plead: Jesus, please remember me when you arrive at your kingdom. Your
grace can save me.
Did Jesus say, No. You have been committing vicious crimes all
your life, and you still desire an admission to the heavenly kingdom? It is too
late for you? No. Jesus did not even utter a word of blame. Instead,
he said, today you will be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)
We can have no doubt that the murderer and robber received salvation
because Jesus does not speak lies. It is amazing that a robber with heavy sin,
who neither had had time to do good deeds nor served God, directly received a
promise of salvation from Jesus. Upon the death of Jesus, he ascended directly
to the paradise with Jesus.
No sin is too heavy for salvation. Everyone will receive the same
salvation from Jesus as the robber did. It is only human opinion what kind of
sinners we are, but the power of salvation lies with God, the Creator of heaven
and earth. It is important to know that the giver of salvation is not the
sinners themselves but God. Redemption is entirely God's business.
Some people say, I have such an atrocious sin that I am not
free to believe in Jesus. I will start going to church after I stop doing bad
things, discontinue drinking and gambling, and change my hearts. This
is like saying, I cannot take a shower because I have too much dirt. I
will wash it off with tap water first. There is no one so seriously
sinful that Jesus cannot save him.
What we must do before attaining salvation is to deeply feel the need
for salvation. We simply have to feel its need sincerely and desire it. This is
all we have to do, just as all that a drowning person can and must do is to
say, Help me.
When somebody is drowning, the rescuer takes whatever measures to bring
him out of the water irrespective of the rescuee's wishes. God's way of
salvation, however, is different.
God saves only those who cry out for help in realization of their own
powerlessness, and not those who refuse to be saved. This is the difference
between God and humans.
And whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life
(Rev. 22:17).
Why, then, do people reject salvation? It is because they are ignorant
of the fact that they have a destiny to perish before God.
Ask people around you going to the church, Are you saved?,
or Are you born again?, and listen to what they have to say.
There is a verse in a hymn, How shall I answer the question
whether I am saved, when my sins are still not forgiven. When you are
asked whether you are saved, how will you answer the question? Not knowing
about your own rebirth is a proof that you are not born again. This is a sure
reasoning. The saved ones know that they are saved. For salvation is not
something vague. The saved ones know that they will ascend to God any time
their lives end.
Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart.
Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has
not believed the testimony God has given about his Son (1 John 5:10).
Salvation and rebirth appear frequently in the hymns. For instance: I
rely on Jesus my savior and received my salvation. I received comfort and
eternal life all from my Jesus, I took Jesus as my savior and
was born again through the blood and Holy Spirit; then, my soul enjoys the
heavenly glory while on earth. These lines are living testimonies of
saved Christians. Hymns were composed as the saved ones expressed their hearts
in poems and put melodies to them. When people whose hearts are dry try to sing
these hymns, they will find no connection to what they sing, for the song will
not match what is in their hearts at all. Our readers also must be clear about
this.
Why have you not yet attained salvation when you have been going to
church for decades? I have to point out two important things. First, you have
never even once deeply and seriously reflected upon the fact you are bound to
hell after death. Have you ever pondered upon your destiny towards hell?
Second, you have never even once listened to the word that surely leads
to salvation. You simply go to church as a habit, thinking, To believe
is simply to go to church and diligently attend to duties of faith. I will go
to the heavenly kingdom if God takes me, and won't if He doesn't. But wouldn't
He take me because I am working so hard? Faith, however, is not like
this.
Comparing the religious people and tax collectors and prostitutes, who
are representative of sinners, I have explained that salvation requires our
being sinners. I think there are two most difficult kinds of people to save:
The first kind either give up, believing that they have too much sin, and
therefore God will not accept them, or they are nonchalant, thinking that they
can just live freely and die whether it may be heavenly kingdom or hell that is
waiting for them.
Still another difficult group, however, is sincere Christians who are
born and educated in Christianity and diligently attend church services and
who, without being born again, believe themselves to be God's chosen. Having
received baptism, and acquiring positions of deacon or elder or other high
ranks, they receive praise and respect from people for their good faith. They
have a tremendous obstacle against salvation because they are self-righteous.
Salvation demands that we become sinners. This is the qualification for
salvation.
2. The Meaning of a Sinner
Then, what does it mean to be a sinner? You will not be happy when
someone asks you if you are a sinner. You will think, I have been
relatively good. I didn't commit any major sin, nor did I kill, cheat, or
fornicate. To be a sinner, however, does not refer to how much sin you
have committed.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived
me (Psa. 51:5).
We are sinners already from inside the womb. It does not mean having a
sinful mother. The Bible teaches that every one of us is a sinner already at
birth. The above verse declares that I was in sin at birth
and from the time of conception.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death
through sin...(Rom. 5:12)
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for
all men... (Rom. 5:18)
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made
sinners... (Rom. 5:19)
The one man refers to Adam. God has installed the
first ancestor Adam as the representative of the mankind. We can say that Adam
contained the seed of the entire mankind. The word Adam means
human being. The disobedience of the one person Adam has severed the eternal
relationship between God and us and degraded us as sinners. The law of God,
which determines life and death, has been breached, and in Adam we have been
demoted as sinners before God.
Adam betrayed God's love by accepting Satan's lie rather than God's
truth. Because of one man's disobedience, all the people born through Adam have
become sinners even before birth regardless of their intentions or actions.
Adam became a sinner by committing sin, and his descendants simply because they
hail from Adam. One man Adam's deed has determined the fate of the entire
mankind.
Through Adam's iniquities, the entire mankind in Adam have transgressed,
through Adam's expulsion from God, the entire mankind have become expelled, and
through Adam's curse, the entire mankind have come under doom. Therefore, to be
a sinner means to be a descendant of Adam or seed of sin.
As the family name of my ancestors determine my family name, spiritually
we have Sin as our family name. The descendants of Adam are Mr. or Mrs. Sin
because of him. This has endowed us with inclination for sin.
Hence, the word sinner represents our spiritual status and means that we
are descendants of the fallen Adam and a bad tree.
We yield bad fruits because we have been abased into bad trees and
commit sin because we are descendants of the fallen Adam, that is, sinners.
Children, especially new borns, all look like angels having nothing to
do with sin. Some people say that we are born innocent and become sinful as we
see, hear, and learn about evil things while growing up. This is promulgated in
the Mencius' theory of good human nature. In short, they say that children are
born innocent, and yet become corrupted by the environment.
Then, how about bringing infants to no man's island immediately after
their birth and raising them there? Will they become saints because they will
be free from evil influences? They must, if the theory is correct. They,
however, will go in the opposite direction and become like beasts.
Even tigers and lions are calm after birth. Baby tigers and lions will
play joyfully with puppies. A tiger called Ho Soon at the Kwang Ju Park had
three babies, out of whom one had to suck a dog's breast because Ho Soon did
not have enough milk.
A picture of the baby tiger sucking a dog's breasts appeared on
newspapers. So baby tigers will suck dog's milk and play with puppies. Will a
tiger, however, keep calm and mingle comfortably with dogs throughout its
growth? Youngs do not show the nature of ferocious beast; after a short while,
however, the tiger will devour the dogs.
Likewise, when little, human beings may seem innocent, and yet they
contain within themselves inclination for sin, which will drive them into sin
throughout their lives. They are filled with the propensities to all kinds of
sin such as greed, jealousy, lasciviousness, arrogance, hypocrisy, etc. They
just do not show at early ages; however, sin will raise its ugly head little by
little over the process of growth.
3. We Are Essentially Children of Wrath
Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and
speak lies (Psa. 58:3).
It is the same with the wicked as with sinners. The wicked have left God
far away already at the womb. They prefer going sideways to straight, evil to
goodness, what is dirty to what is clean, and speaking vicious words to kind
words. From birth, they take a stray route instead of the main path. As a crab,
which walks sideways, still scolds its young for going sideways, we are born to
go astray.
Indeed, we loathe doing good things when we know of their goodness,
while indulging into evil things when we know of their evil. This is because we
are in the grips of inclinations for sin.
Children's sins grow together with them. When they start having teeth,
what do they do with them first? If milk does not come out smoothly from
mother's breasts, they bite the nipples. Augustine is known to have repented
even for the sin of biting his mother's nipples. As they become able to take
their own food, they try to eat everything and even take from others. Although
they have not been taught greed, they try to grab everything.
Furthermore, when they start recognizing their aunts and uncles, they
try to detect their moods. They start seeing who likes and who dislikes them,
and having jealousy. They have never learned how to be jealous, and yet these
feelings naturally erupt in their hearts.
They start telling lies as they become able to speak. You can see this
when you raise children. You try hard to raise them good and clean in vain. How
shrewd they are in telling lies! They have never been taught how to tell lies;
they flow out from within.
As they receive formal education, their misdemeanor becomes
sophisticated. Higher education produces smart criminals, and overseas studies
and modern disciplines help them perform high-level crimes, although those who
have grown up under educated parents and learned ethics, religion, etc. might
control themselves better and know how to maintain dignity.
They know that committing sin undermines their own reputation and
character, and have learned and know well about punishments, which helps them
discipline themselves better than less educated people. They manage and
suppress their feelings fairly well, although some unruly inclinations may
crack out through the barrier of repression.
On the other hand, in some people born in adverse circumstances with no
opportunity for proper education, their sin runs a full course. Uneducated
souls succumb to the irresistible temptation of sin into committing heinous
crimes.
Then, what is the difference between the uneducated people committing
outrageous crimes and well-educated people? Their insides are the same, and
just their external appearances differ. For instance, when we paint windows
red, yellow, and blue, their differences will be seen from outside, and yet
they only have one light from inside. Sin appears differently in different
people, and yet these appearances have the same inner root.
What does God see? Before the appearances, He sees our hearts first.
Whether we manage or fail to suppress the sin inside us, God does not consider
us clean because He sees our inner core.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart (1
Sam. 16:7).
All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the
LORD (Pro. 16:2).
Proverbs 26:24, 25 says, A malicious man disguises himself with
his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do
not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. As in this
verse, people have seven abominations although they embellish their speeches
and make them plausible. Some have described the seven abominations in terms of
seven animals, that is, a peacock, goat, swine, snake, leopard, frog, and
turtle.
A heart like peacock refers to arrogance, boasting, and pride; a heart
like goat stubbornness and lasciviousness; a heart like swine greed and
fondness for filth; a heart like snake wickedness and cunning, and lies as a
snake has forked tongues and says two different things with one mouth; a heart
like leopard impulse for murder; a heart like frog propensity for back talk,
slander, and contempt; and a turtle opportunism.
We all have such tendencies and inclinations. Those who control these
vices well are called people of character, and yet their core is the same as
any other. There is no difference between a prostitute and a nun except that
the former has her sin exposed, while the latter has her sin covered with
religious veil. Since God sees our hearts, no one can appear before Him clean.
4. The Heart of Corruption
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can
understand it? I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to
reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.
(Jer. 17:9).
Human heart is much more deceitful and depraved than all things. As in
the verse, who can know it, we do not know even ourselves how
dirty our hearts are. Hearing this, some people may opine thus: People
are said to be bad, but I am not so bad myself. Those who cheat, steal,
fornicate, or murder must be hopeless scoundrels, but I am not so because I
don't do those things. Those who think light of their own sinfulness,
however, may commit even worse crimes when the right circumstances arise.
Murders are not pre-determined. Everyone has an inclination to kill.
Whether out of revenge, anger, survival need, or self-defense, we have the
capacity to do anything according to the situation. If there is a laser gun
that can hit a target in the eye hundreds of meters away without leaving any
trace or evidence, and furthermore if killers are not punished by law, not so
many people will be able to stay alive.
A few years ago there was a murder case in Pusan where a woman was chopped into pieces.
The offender of the crime was put in the Taegu Prison. A believer happened to
cause a traffic accident and share the prison cell with the offender. You must
suppose that such an offender has a sinister and terrifying look, and yet he
looked gentle, making it impossible to imagine him as being able to commit such
a heinous homicide, according to the believer. This shows that anybody can
murder, fornicate, or steal; when we have the proclivities, we will manifest
them when the right circumstances arise.
The other day, I was riding a crowded local train, and saw paddlers
moving up and down the aisle. Sitting near me was a seemingly respectable
woman, in a graceful Korean dress and even white bosons (Korean socks) and
calmly looking down. A paddler, however, stepped on her foot by mistake,
leaving a big black imprint on her white boson, whereupon she went ballistic
and cursed at him, saying, You bastard, where are your eyes?
My heart almost stopped to witness such a ferocious outburst of anger from a
woman who had seemed to be so tender and noble. It was her inner core that
exploded upon being touched.
I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind.
Since God searches the heart, examines the mind, and weighs our motives (Pro.
16:2), who can dare to claim himself clean before God?
God knows that our hearts are steeped in wickedness: This is
the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes
all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in
their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. (Eccl.
9:3) Since God knows it all, He rewards a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve.
Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one (Job 14:4)!
What is clean cannot come out of what is unclean. What is clean comes
out of what is clean. As it says, Do people pick grapes from
thornbushes, or figs from thistles? (Mat. 7:16) a bad tree cannot
produce good fruits. When our hearts are so seriously vile, and we are born
sinners worse than all things, how can anything good come from us?
Jesus said to Israelites, You brood of vipers, how can you who
are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth
speaks, (Mat. 12:34) and But the things that come out of the
mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart
come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false
testimony, slander. (Mat. 15:18, 19) When we fail to suppress the evil
filling our hearts, it generates fruits of sin. That is, what is in our hearts
are expressed in our actions. Proverbs lists the tools of sin as follows:
There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that
devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness
who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers (Pro. 6:16
~ 19).
As in this verse, how many evil deeds we perform through our hearts,
eyes, mouths, hands, and feet! After realizing the depth of his sin, a writer
in Psalter says, For troubles without number surround me; my sins have
overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my
heart fails within me. (Psa. 40:12)
5. Human Life is Abominable and Filthy
What is man, that he could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could
be righteous? If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are
not pure in his eyes, how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up
evil like water! (Job 15:14 ~ 16)
Let us compare the blue sky and the human heart filled with sin. If the
sky is not clean in God's eyes, how much less will we be able to claim
ourselves clean before God, as we are detestable and corrupt and drink iniquity
like water?
All the religions of the world teach good deeds. They teach that
accumulating good conducts will earn us blessing and bring us to the paradise.
The Bible, however, does not teach good deeds, although, of course, it does not
teach evil deeds, either.
Then, what does the Bible speak about? While not telling us not to do
good acts, it affirms that we do not have the power to practice goodness in the
true sense. It proclaims that we are unable to be good in the true sense
because nothing good can spring from the fallen and corrupt hearts we are born
with.
We can be compared to a bad tree. You will never tell a bad tree to bear
good fruits. Rather than teaching good deeds first, the Bible declares that
judged from God's standard we are unable to practice goodness.
Some people may object and say, people don't just commit sin;
they sometimes perform good actions. A human action may look good in
human sight, but the problem is that this is only from human viewpoint and not
God's. When we put together the Chinese characters in (), which means human
being, and wee (棨), which means action, we get a word wee
(), which means falsity. This means that human actions of goodness are false
goodness. It is a kind of goodness and yet mixed with sin. We cannot stand
before God in this condition. Then what can we do?
We must first receive salvation. We must receive salvation amid our sin
and be grafted unto God's life. Instead of investing our efforts into bad trees
to harvest good fruits, fertilizing and watering them, we should graft them
unto a good tree. Then, they will yield good fruits. When we become saved and
born again, we become forgiven before God and grafted unto God's life.
6. Transformation Through God's Life and Power
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has
gone, the new has come! (2Cor. 5:17)
To be in Christ means that I am in Christ, and Christ is in me. When we
are thus united with the Christ, that is, when the life of Christ comes to us,
he creates us as new persons. Hence, the above passage says, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! We must become new
persons in order to be able to live a new life. We must receive God's life in
order to be able to truly obey God's word. There are many who try to live
a Christian life before they become one, and many who try to observe
God's word before they receive God's life. They, however, will end up being
hypocrites.
We must receive God's life in order to be able to keep God's word. When
you are inundated with sinful desires, just because you make efforts on your
own power, suppressing these desires and promising yourself only to do good
deeds, it does not mean that you live a Christian life. When God's life enters
you, however, God establishes you as a new person, whereupon you move farther
and farther away from sin, and a desire to obey God's word effortlessly springs
forth in you. Then, you have the power to obey God's word.
It is natural that a good tree bears good fruits. Does a good tree make
some special efforts to bring good fruits, shaking its branches to and fro, for
instance? No, it simply and naturally bears good fruits. Likewise, when we
receive God's life, we become naturally empowered with an ardent desire to obey
God's word. Some readers may have difficulty understanding this, but this is
true. Of course, I am not saying that when we become saved, we immediately turn
around and becomes holy like angels; however, once we are saved, and God's life
starts in us, we will move gradually towards holiness. A good tree also needs
time to grow before bearing good fruits.
To say that faith grows after salvation means that our hearts start to
change from that time on. God's life transforms our hearts and thoughts. It
changes our characters, and this manifests itself in our actions. This is a
life of faith.
Some people go to church for decades, and there pray and promise
themselves to live by God's word, and yet outside the church they commit sins,
tell lies, become greedy, and perform other evil deeds. Back in the church,
they repent, make another determination to live by God's word, and struggle not
to repeat sinful conducts, but again outside the church they commit another
sin. They do evil things outside the church, and sing holy hymns inside the
church. Their religious life is tragically caught in this vicious circle. If
such a life continues, it will destroy their conscience, not to mention
bringing no true transformation of life. What is the reason for such dilemma?
Is it because they do not pray enough, have weak will, or have not made
enough donations? Or is it because they still have not gone to the church long
enough? Even going to church for the entire life will not solve the problem,
however, as long as the power of God is missing in them, which brings about a
true transformation of the heart and life. Only those who have become a new
creation in Jesus can enter a new heaven and a new earth
(Rev. 21:1). God saves those human beings who only deserve to go to hell and
infuses them with life and new power. God desires that they keep God's word in
the life newly gained. For no will, efforts, determination, or training on our
part will make possible the life of faith wherein we abide by God's word but a
rebirth and receiving of a new life.
7. Human Righteousness Is Not Acceptable to God
If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive
from your hand? Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your
righteousness only the sons of men (Job 35:7, 8).
Although we may be righteous, what can we offer God, and what can God
gain from us? Although we may perform a good action from our standard, will God
accept it, when we are born amid sin with a heart filthier than all things and
drink iniquities like water?
If a child gives a cake to his mother right after fumbling with clay,
would the mother be delighted? No, she would rather say, Thank you,
but it is too dirty to eat. Why don't you give it to a dog? A dog
would of course welcome it, and even follow the child around for more, but the
mother cannot. To say, your righteousness only the sons of men
means that our goodness will look respectable only in the sight of sinners like
us and not in God's sight.
It is a serious error to think that we can please God when we simply
make earnest efforts of goodness. What will God receive from fallen sinners,
whatever they do? People worry about making donations when they go to church.
The Bible says, however, that donation, tithing, etc. are to be done after the
salvation. What qualification do we have to offer anything to God, when we are
destined to hell in case we die tonight, and what will God receive from such
sinners?
To Simon, who thought that he could buy God's gift with money, Peter
said, May your money perish with you, because you thought you could
buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry,
because your heart is not right before God. (Acts 8:20, 21) One may
boast of his huge wealth, and yet the redemption of human life is too precious
to buy, that is, no material can redeem a human spirit (Psa. 49:6 ~ 8). As God
says, Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under
heaven belongs to me, (Job 41:11) there is none who can give God
without first receiving from Him. When we receive the gift of salvation from
God, out of gratitude we act and make offerings to God, and this God receives.
Salvation transforms sinners fated to hell into children of God, and
imbues them with hope of the heavenly kingdom. To think of the immense grace we
have received from God, we cannot repay him even by dying a hundred times. It
is after our salvation, out of the overflowing joy and gratitude and with
voluntary heart, that we make donations and live for the Christ. What would be
the problem with making material donations for the sake of the gospel, when we
can even live and die for the Christ?
Before paying tuition to Seoul National University
(the most prestigious university in Korea ), you have to be its student
first. It is the same with faith. We must be born again with God's life before
we become qualified and able to do everything for God's glory and through God's
power.
It is the same with prayer. There are people who pray all night without
even being born again; such prayer will not even go beyond the church ceiling.
There is only one prayer we must make before attaining rebirth: Please
save me. Please help me realize the truth. No other prayers have any
meaning at this point.
Does a drowning person say, Please employ me, Give
me some lunch money, or Buy me a cold medicine? He
must shout, Help me, help me, so he can be pulled out of the
water. Likewise, the sinners doomed to hell must first scream for rescue and
then become actually delivered. As in the verse, Dear friend, I pray
that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your
soul is getting along well, (3 John 1:2) the first issue is the
spirit, and the issue of prosperity and health comes next. People, however,
lead a blind religious life while neglecting the destiny of their spirits.
Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves
with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in
their hands (Isa. 59:6).
Their cobwebs are useless for clothing... As mentioned
in the preceding verse, the cobwebs are made of spider's thread
(Isa. 59:5), and also symbolizes the actions people perform in order to cover
their iniquities. Just as we cannot weave proper clothes out of spider's
thread, so never can we cover the shame of our conscience with our good deeds
and zeal.
For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against
us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities (Isa.
59:12).
For our offenses are many in your sight... How much
sin we must commit during our life! We normally forget them, but if we can
remember all our sin, which is more than our hairs (Psa. 40:12), we will not be
able to bear the agony. Since our sins testify against us,
the sin separates us far away from God.
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too
dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins
have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear (Isa. 59:1, 2).
It is not that God's hands are too short to reach us, nor are His ears
too dull to hear us. Since sin is separating us far away from God, we are God's
enemies, and God will not hear us whatever we ask until we become cleansed of
our sin.
8. Human Righteousness Is like a Soiled Garment
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous
acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our
sins sweep us away (Isa. 64:6).
This verse affirms that we are all unclean people or sinners.
All our righteous acts are like filthy rags... We know
that sin is filthy, but not that even human righteousness is dirty before God.
The Bible affirms that human righteousness is just as dirty as sin in God's
sight. Human acts of goodness and righteousness are filthy rags in God's eyes.
We cannot cover our shame with filth rags.
Within us there is fallen heart, shame of conscience, guilt, etc, and we
think that doing good actions will free us from them. This is useless, however,
because it is like a dirty person's trying to cover his dirt with a stinking
rag. Our righteousness is like a soiled garment and thus cannot be used to
cover us before God.
We all shrivel up like a leaf... Genesis 3 narrates
that Adam and Eve after eating the fruit in disobedience of God's word
discovered the shame of their nakedness and made skirts out of fig leaves.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were
naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves
(Gen. 3:7).
Although there were only two individuals, Adam and Eve made clothes for
themselves. The first clothes human being made were manufactured neither for covering
human nakedness against animals nor for protecting against cold. They made
their clothes in order to cover their shame.
When the day was cool, God called Adam and Eve, and they hid themselves
from God in the trees of the garden. When God asked their whereabouts, Adam
answered, I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was
naked; so I hid. (Gen. 3:8 ~ 10)
At that time, however, Adam and Eve were wearing fig-leaf clothes; then
why did he say that he was naked? What does this signify?
It was in the day that they ate the fruit and made the fig-leaf skirts.
During the course of the day, however, the sun dried up the leaves, and their
movements shook and stretched the clumsy skirts and ruined them, making them
almost naked. All our good acts and hard endeavors are like trying to cover our
shame with a fig-leaf skirt. The fact that the fig-leaf skirt failed to serve
as a proper clothes means that none of our ethical and religious strivings and
acts of righteousness is enough to cover the shame of our sin.
We all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep
us away. Because we are unable to cover our sin with our good deeds
and earnest endeavors, our iniquities drives us to hell like the wind. No one
can escape from this destiny.
9. We Are Thoroughly Fallen
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better ? Not at all! We have
already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin (Rom. 3:9).
Jews are the people chosen by God, the Israelites. The Bible declares
that both Jews and Gentiles are alike in being under sin. This is a public
declaration of their being sinners.
As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away,
they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even
one. (Rom. 3:10 ~ 12)
When God looks upon the world, there is none righteous, and all are
sinners. As it says, For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory
of God, (Rom. 3:23) we are born sinners and have actually committed
sin. A righteous person means someone who not only practices goodness but also
stays away from committing evil. We, however, are sometimes good and sometimes
evil, sometimes love and sometimes hate, and sometimes help and sometimes hurt
others. We cannot call somebody righteous who practices good and evil together.
A mixture of good and evil is evil, and thus the one who behaves sometimes good
and sometimes evil is a sinner. This is why it says, There is no one
righteous, not even one. This is why the writer of the Ecclesiastics
declares, There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right
and never sins. (Eccl. 7:20)
There is no one that does good, not even one. This
says that there is no one who does good to the extent of reaching complete
goodness in God's sight or meeting God's standard of goodness. Human goodness
is a false goodness. The falsity and pretense lies in making up good actions
from a heart that is turned away from goodness. This is what God hates the
most.
Jesus did not tell the tax collectors and prostitutes, saying, Woe
unto you, tax collectors and prostitutes, but berated religious
leaders, saying, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! (Mat. 23:25)
Hypocrites are those who pretend to be good and put up good appearances.
Although they show facade of piety and righteousness, their inner core has a
glut of arrogance, greed, false goodness, lasciviousness, and lies. One is a
hypocrite when his heart teems with all sorts of foul things although outwardly
he seems to be God-serving, righteous, and pious. His heart is like a whitewashed
tomb, whose outside is clean and white but inside is full of rotten
corpses and foul odor. You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but
inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. No matter how clean
a cup may be, if the content is dirty, nobody will want to drink it. Likewise,
God cannot take hypocrisy.
Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and
then the outside also will be clean. Our spirit must be washed first
before our hearts and lives become clean. Hence, when we are dirty, we should
admit our being dirty, and present ourselves to God as we truly are. When we
have sin, we should appear before God exactly as sinners. Then, the Christ will
remove our sin, cure our fallen and wicked heart, and make us holy.
When Jesus was on earth, he raised the dead and healed lepers. Likewise,
Jesus has the power to save our dead souls and purify and transform our fallen
hearts. Gamblers, swindlers, gangs, playboys, and all other people drowning in
iniquities will become new human beings once they become awakened in the
gospel. As in the verse the old has gone, the new has come! I
have witnessed Jesus' guidance of the saved towards new life. Jesus establishes
the redeemed as holy children of God, holy people, and new human beings,
thereby leading them to the heavenly kingdom. And that is what some of
you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor.
6:11)
Since God can solve any problem of sin, we should never hide our sin,
and candidly acknowledge it. It is in order to correct us that the Bible
exposes our sin as it is. Furthermore, it is to clothe us with God's
righteousness that Jesus strips us, to build us as true souls that he
demolishes us, and to plant us in eternal blessing that he uproots us.
Therefore, each of us must first acknowledge before God that we are wretched
sinners.
Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison
of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the
way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes (Rom
3:13 ~ 18).
In making graves, the Israelites dug caves in the rocks, and kept dead
bodies of their ancestors there, closing the cave entrance with a rock. When
open, the rotting smell of corpses would leak out from the cave. Hence, the
expression, their throats are open graves means that whenever
they open their mouth, obscenities, slanders, and other abominable speeches
come out like foul odor.
People tend to enjoy damaging stories, shameful tales, and scandals more
than edifying words and virtuous stories. Whenever open, their mouths throw out
pungent smell like open graves. Their tongues practice deceit. The
poison of vipers is on their lips... The poison coming out of human
mouth can be more deadly than that from vipers.
Some famous man said on the TV that when we are enraged, cursing and
shouting, our mouths become filled with poison. The bubbles coming out a
furious mouth can even kill a cow when injected, said he. This is how scary
human poison is.
A while ago I heard a story about a happening in the countryside. There
was a severe drought, so severe that the crop field cracked up like turtle's
back. In such times, people would get into fights trying to bring even ditch
waters to their own fields as much as possible. People would not even recognize
their own brothers or close neighbors. When someone turned a water channel
towards his field, next morning he would find the channel diverted to another's
field.
Hence, a fight broke out between the owners of two adjacent fields. One
owner shouted, You bastard, I will sickle you down. It was
just a verbal onslaught, and yet the other owner fell dead. This is quite a
strange tale, but a real story. People can shoot invisible poison. Someone can
even throw down an animal with a yell, which delivers an invisible impact. The
bloodthirstiness of one farm owner struck the other with a fatal poison.
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are
swift to shed blood. People kill and are killed by others even when
their survival is not at stake. People are fonder of taking life than giving
it. Ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not
know... On the road of ruin and misery, they choose self-destruction.
They run along the road of destruction without being aware of the road of peace
God prepared for them.
Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their
thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. The way of
peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned
them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace (Isa. 59:7,
8).
There is no fear of God before their eyes. They boldly
challenge God, saying, Where is God? In the movie, The
Bible...In the beginning, we see a scene where during the building of the Tower
of Babel, a person called Nimrod shoot arrows into the sky, shouting that he
would kill God. This is a human challenge against God. We commit sin
audaciously without fearing God.
We are born as sinners. In fact, the entire life of a sinner is a sin.
We are not sinners because we commit sin; rather, we commit sin because we are
sinners. Just as a bad tree yields faulty fruits because it is a bad tree, so
we commit sin because we are sinners. After such wicked life, we pass on to the
other world some day.
10. God's Judgement Comes After Death
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment...
(Heb. 9:27)
That is right. Death is not the end of everything, for there is a
judgement. The dust (body) returns to the ground it came from, and the
spirit returns to God who gave it. (Eccl. 12:7) We are to stand before
God for judgement.
For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: 'As
surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue
will confess to God.' So then, each of us will give an account of
himself to God (Rom. 14:10 ~ 12).
When we stand before God's judgment seat, every knee will bow down, and
every tongue confess to God. There, we do not need prosecutors because we will
be directly confessing our own transgressions to God.
At that time, we cannot say, I have not done such things then,
for how can we make such denials when our entire life will be clearly shown
like a movie? Through this we will even be able to see things we have forgotten
entirely and the state of heart we considered sinful. We will have a panoramic
view of what the secret camera of life has filmed all throughout our life. God
has installed the conscience in us, a device that is more sophisticated than
any machinery.
As Romans 2:15 says, their consciences also bearing witness,
and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them, our
wrongdoings are filmed in our conscience. You know that when a tape recorder is
recording, a red light flickers. The light flickers according to the strength
of the voice being recorded, signifying that the recording is in process. We
can also videotape visual images.
Our trespasses are recorded in our conscience in toto. This is not a
metaphor but an actual fact. Proverb says, The lamp of the LORD
searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being. (Prov.
20:27) (The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward
parts of the belly. - KJV) The conscience belongs to the spirit. The conscience
is different from the heart. Heart, thought, mind, etc. belong to the soul,
while the conscience is in the domain of the spirit. People have different
hearts, and yet the same conscience.
The conscience in the spirit is looking into our inner being as a lamp
of God. Just as a radar detects an enemy plane, so the conscience vibrates when
a wickedness surfaces. Sin shatters the peace of the conscience, and provokes
blame. I have read a book that relates that an atheist was converted into a
theist while studying the conscience. He discovered that people become agonized
and afraid after committing sin although there may be no one accusing them,
from which he concluded, The conscience is God's supreme command. To
experience it is to see the divine presence.
On a summer night with full Moon, a father and a son went up the mountain
to see the Moon and saw watermelons by the trail. Father wanted to eat one, and
told his son, Son, keep watch. I will go and get a watermelon.
When the son said it was others', the father said, It's OK to eat just
one. Just keep watch for me. When the father was approaching a
watermelon, the son screamed, Father, someone is watching.
When the father asked in dismay, Who? the son said, God
is. It is as though the Moon were saying, 'you thieves.' So I am terrified.
Next, a newspaper article. A young man, having starved for two days,
snatched a woman's handbag and took money from it. As soon as he took care of
his hunger with the money, however, he turned himself in at a police station.
He did the snatching out of hunger, and yet started feeling guilty when his
stomach became full. The conscience fears God even when we are not aware of it.
They show that the requirements of the law are written on their
hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now
accusing, now even defending them. Law points out sin, and the
conscience is the law inscribed in the heart.
This will take place on the day when God will judge men's
secrets through Jesus Christ... (Rom. 2:16) When we stand before God's
judgment seat, we will confess with our own mouth all our sins recorded in the
conscience. It will be like playing a tape recorder to hear the testimony of a
witness.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is
uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account
(Heb. 4:13).
These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was
altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face (Psa.
50:21).
This verse means that it is a mistake to think that God turns blind eyes
to our sin like some of our fellow human beings just because He keeps silent
about it. God says that He will rebuke and accuse us at the time of judgement.
All our iniquities will be revealed to God and holy angels, even including
those known to me alone, those known only to two, and those committed long time
past.
If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand (Psa.
130:30)?
Will we be able to bear the judgment? We will scream, Please
let this end. Unable to head for the heavenly kingdom even when we are
allowed to, we will just walk into hell on our own.
In this world, justice is not always served at judicial courts.
Therefore, some with severe crimes are able to avoid punishments, while some
with minor offences receive heavy sentences. Corruption exists even in places
where public justice is implemented. And I saw something else under
the sun: In the place of judgment - wickedness was there, in the place of
justice - wickedness was there. (Eccl. 3:16) The world is full of
contradiction and injustice.
The Bible says, however, God will bring to judgment both the
righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time
for every deed. (Eccl. 3:17) Before God's judgment seat, there is no
injustice like what we see in the world. Earlier, we had a Bible verse saying
that there is none righteous. Then who is the righteous
mentioned in the above verse? The spiritual status of the reborn is the righteous.
Instead of the judgment that sends one to hell, the reborn will be judged as to
how they have lived from the day of their rebirth onward. For people live
different lives although they receive the same salvation.
Salvation will invariably bring us to the heavenly kingdom, and yet we
will receive different rewards from God. Reward refers to glory. Among the
attendants of a king, for instance, some serve him closely, and some at a
distance, and some share the king's glory together, while some only live on the
fringes of the glory. Likewise, we will receive different degrees of glory when
we go near God. The Bible explains this in detail. Therefore, after attaining
salvation, the saved should live correctly for the sake of God's glory instead
of lying content with their salvation. For they will be judged with regard to
their earthly lives.
The wicked, that is, those not reborn, will all be judged and proceed to
hell. Those whose entire life has been sinful, on the one hand, and those who
have gone to church and tried to live a good life for the whole life and yet
have not been saved, on the other, will all be sent to hell alike. In hell,
although all the spirits live eternally in the pond of fire and sulfur and
under great pain together with the devil, different spirits will have different
degrees of pain. This is natural because in hell the amount of torment is
determined by the seriousness of the sin committed. Hence, if you are not going
to be saved, you should at least try to keep your sin to minimum.
Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you
joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your
eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment
(Eccl. 11:9).
I am sure many of our readers are young. Everybody has youth in their
lives, and even after they become old, their hearts are still young. For even
grandmothers approaching death like to dance and sing, Let's be merry
and have fun, for you can't once you are old. At any rate, enjoy your
life if you will, and do whatever you please.
But what can a person do when he lives as he wishes? What is being
enjoyed when we talk about enjoying the world? In a close look, everything is
sinful pleasure. If your life follows your passion, which is more perverted
than that of animals, what will you do other than sinful deeds? The said joy is
none other than the thrill and pleasure of committing sin.
People think that money brings happiness. But what do they use the money
for? Mostly for committing sin. They sin while earning money, and again while
using it. In short, the earthly life is nothing more than suffering and
sinning. They never stop committing sin with eyes of lust and greed.
God leaves them alone, whether they go straight or sideways, disobey
their parents, fornicate, murder, steal, or commit suicide. God does not try to
stop them.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts... Furthermore,
since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave
them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become
filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full
of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers,
God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil;
they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, and
ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such
things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also
approve of those who practice them (Rom. 1:26, 28 ~ 32).
People are bold in practicing evil because God does not intervene. They,
however, will have no way of escaping the judgment thereupon once they stand
before God's judgment seat. They are free when practicing wickedness, and yet
bound when being judged.
11. Sin Surely Reveals Itself
You may be sure that your sin will find you out (Num. 32:23).
Some offenders think that they have committed a perfect crime. Someone
committed a homicide, buried the victim in his courtyard, and planted a tree on
top of it. Who could have found it out? Such stories often decorate newspaper
pages. After such a secretive concealment of the criminal act, it was strangely
discovered, and the offender had to perform a site reproduction of the crime.
There is another story. Someone murdered a young woman, carried her in a
car trunk, and buried her in the deep mountain. No one else knew about this.
Strangely, however, after a few years this was discovered.
There are many perfect crimes that are later exposed
under broad daylight. True, some of them may go concealed permanently. Will
they, however, stay hidden even from God? Your sin will find you out.
Every sin surely reveals itself.
The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead
of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are
obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden. (1 Tim. 5:24, 25)
I heard another horrible story. A poor woman was married to a rich man.
These days, the husbands' families often complain about insufficient bridal
contribution, and this must have been the case also for the couple in the
story. The husband family's repeated maltreatment and contempt planted grudges
in the wife. Her heart turned vicious as she thought that such a treatment was
due to her poor family background.
One day, when her husband returned from a business trip, she prepared a
sumptuous meal as if to give him a special treatment. In fact, the food had
sleeping drug, and the husband fell into a deep sleep after the meal. Then she
closed the gate tight, drew the curtain, and took out a large nail and hammer.
She brushed aside his hair, and banged the nail into his vertex. The husband
died silently, as he took the nail while in a deep sleep. Not even a drop of
blood came out. When she covered the nail with his hair, there was not even a
mark.
The house fell into a big commotion at the notice of the sudden death,
with the wife wailing in a loud voice. Asked what had happened, she made up a
story, I don't know. He came back from the trip, had a nice meal, and
died during sleep. Then the people thought that he had a sudden death
and consoled her. They had a funeral and made a large grave for the deceased.
The wife sold his inheritance, went to a remote and unknown place,
married a man of her choice, and lived happily together. As if nothing had
happened, she was living in peace and comfort with nice family and children.
After a while, however, there started a city planning and development
project around the area of the graveyard. The city office sent notices to
families concerned to move the graves in the area. One grave, however, was left
untouched, and office employees dug into the grave in order to move the corpse,
whereupon they discovered a skeleton with a nail in the skull. Out of
suspicion, they checked his identification, and found out that he had been a
man of great wealth in the town and died a sudden death without a clear cause.
Later on, a detective came to knock on the wife's door amid her happy
family life. She came out with two children. The detective asked for her in her
name, but she, having already changed names, said in a composed manner that
such a person was not there. Then the detective took out a large nail, black
with rust, asking, Do you recognize this? whereupon she
fainted with a sharp shriek. She had to be arrested in handcuffs.
Why did she swoon at the sight of the nail? The nail was not only in the
husband's skull, but also in her conscience. Although she never told anyone
about this, the nail could never be removed. You may be sure that your
sin will find you out. That is right. Sin will surely seek out the
sinner. When sin is exposed before God, who will be able to escape the
judgement?
His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. There is no
dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide (Job 34:21, 22).
12. The Eternal Hell Is Entered after the Judgement
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and
sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the
dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged
according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the
dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them,
and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades
were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If
anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire (Rev. 20:11 ~ 15).
The great white throne refers to God's judgment seat.
As it says that God sat on the throne, and Earth and sky fled from his
presence, and there was no place for them, the place in question here
is not this world but the domain of God. I saw the dead, great and
small, standing before the throne... Regardless of their statures, the
dead are all standing before God. We should understand that the dead are
revived to stand before God. [Before the throne,] books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book of life... If anyone's name was not
found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
(Rev. 20:12 ~ 15)
It says that the books were opened. This is the same as earthly criminal
courts have lawsuit documents and books such as criminal records and criminal
laws prescribing the crimes and punishments. There, sentences are made
according to the criminal acts and pursuant to the laws. Similarly, at the
judgment seat there will be records of sin for each one of us and the law as
the basis of the sentence. This law is the word. Therefore, Jesus said, There
is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very
word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. (John 12:48)
The word judges, that is, the law judges. The Bible contains both the
words of salvation and of judgment. Everyone will have to be either saved or
condemned as recorded in the Scripture.
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades
gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to
what he had done. As it said earlier, But know that for all
these things God will bring you to judgment, (Eccl. 11:9) our verse
now says, Each person was judged according to what he had done
and were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second
death.
Physical death is called the first death. But this is not what is
fearsome. How trouble-free it will be if this were the end of everything? The
reason why Jesus said of Judas Iscariot, It would be better for him if
he had not been born (Mat. 26:24) is that if not born, he would not
have had to go to hell. The first death is bodily death, and the second death
means combining the revived body and the spirit, judging them together, and
sending them to hell. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy
both soul and body in hell. (Mat. 10:28)
If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he
was thrown into the lake of fire. No one who is not born again will
have his name in the book of life when he stands before the judgment seat. Some
think that having their names on the baptism list is identical with having them
in the book of life, but this is nothing but a misunderstanding. The Bible only
says that those whose names are not found in the book of life will be hurled
into the lake of fire.
The so-called Jehovah's Witness and Seventh-Day
Adventists claim that there is no hell. Their argument is that God of
love could never have created hell. The Bible, however, clearly states that
hell exists. Moreover, it is Jesus that spoke most about hell. He says that
hell is a place where their worm does not die, and the fire is not
quenched. Everyone will be salted with fire. (Mark 9:48, 49)
You might have seen that when a mudfish is put in a basin and becomes
sprayed with salt, it wiggles to and fro in pain, turns red, and dies. The
Bible is saying that the condemned must receive a similar torture for the rest
of eternity. The Bible mentions hell, where the fire never goes out,
(Mark 9:43) and fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. (Mat. 13:42) It also says that they will be
tortured day and night for eternity.
The Bible has more to say about hell than about heavenly kingdom. We
talk about God of love, and hell, which is a place of eternal torment, does not
seem to square with the love of God. The reason why hell is mentioned more
frequently is simple, however: everyone ends up in hell unless they are saved,
and thus the warning to flee from hell precedes any explanation for the
heavenly kingdom.
It is true that God is love, and no sinner is unforgivable for God.
Towards those who betray God's love until the end, however, His love turns into
wrath. For these people there is only ruthless and acute retribution of hell.
There is no more forgiveness.
Hell is a place where there is not even a thread of love. Originally,
God created hell in order to punish the fallen devil and angels. Jesus called
hell eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
(Mat. 25:41) The hell is a place of the fiery lake with burning sulfur.
Many people say that hell is not real to them because they have not
experienced it. Some people think light of God's warning, saying, Am I
the only one going to hell? Many others are coming with me. Some even
joke about it, saying, It will be nice and warm there. But we
are not totally without means to test the severity of the affliction and
intensity of the heat in hell. For instance, put your finger to a burning coal
or flames of a gas range for a minute, and it will give you a slight taste of hell.
Do you know how dreadful hell is? The gospel of Luke conveys Jesus'
remark about hell. According to him, a rich man died and went down to the
Hades, where he begged, Father Abraham, have pity on me and send
Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am
in agony in this fire. (Luke 16:24) How tormented he must have been in
the fire that he begged to be cooled in the tongue with a finger? What is said
in Luke 16 is not a metaphor but a real fact.
13. The People Condemned to Hell
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually
immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars- their
place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death
(Rev. 21:8).
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their
part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone...(KJV)
sIn this verse, the Bible tells us what kind of people will go to the
hell, a place of fiery lake of burning sulfur. The first on the list is the
cowardly (fearful). What are they cowardly about? They are afraid of God. It
may sound strange, but those who do not believe in God do not fear God, either.
Those who do believe and go to church and yet are not born again, however, fear
God.
When people go to church for a while, learning the Bible and hearing
about God, most of them believe that God is alive. It is because as Romans 1:19
says, What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has
made it plain to them, we have a mind to come to know God.
What is the fundamental difference between human beings and animals? It
is that humans have the spirit.
Monkeys look and act similar to humans. The other day, I saw on TV a
monkey getting dressed, sleeping in the bed, smoking a cigarette in the
morning, and watching TV. It used a flush toilet, and went to work in outdoor
garments. Working as a bartender, it served cocktails on the rock and lighted
customers' cigarettes. It acted exactly like human beings. Moreover, there is a
band composed of monkeys. I saw them blow trumpets and play drums in the
picture. Some monkeys can drive a car, and some in an American farm drive a
tractor.
No matter how much they are trained, however, monkeys can never pray.
There is no monkey in the world that prays. Have you ever heard about a monkey
offering a sacrifice or worshipping something? Why are they unable to pray,
when they can perform feats that are much more challenging? It is because they
have no religiosity. I heard that when monkeys sit by humans at a meal table,
they will never follow people to a prayer, no matter how much people try to
teach the monkeys. It is because monkeys have no spirit. Animals have no
spirits. They neither have a desire nor a need to find God.
We have a spirit, created in God's image, however, and the spirit seeks
God. Regardless of the level of civilization, people in all places and ages
have been seeking and worshipping an absolute being even without being taught.
People have bowed down to the sun in the morning and moon at night, thinking
that they might be gods. On the stormy sea, they bowed down to the sea, and in
drought, they went up to the mountains and offered a rain sacrifice.
Everyone has a desire to find God, though to different degrees. Hence,
when they are taught about God, most of them at least believe in His existence.
There are many who believe that God exists without going to church. I have met
such people many times. Also, some people pray to God without going to church,
and some keep meal prayers without believing in Jesus.
In the hearts of those who believe in the existence of God and the
spirit and yet are not born again, there dwells dread. They feel a blockage in
the heart when they close their eyes for prayer at church. God is the judge and
they are the sinners. How terrifying it must be for them to stand before the
judge! They feel stifled because of their iniquities, and yet they feel even more
so when they close their eyes for prayer. They pray in tears, What can
I do? What can this sinner do? and yet no difference is made, although
they may feel fresh at the time of prayer.
Because the believers wail till late every night and every morning in
the church, I heard that land price goes down when a church is built in the
land. How can the neighbors live when people cry all the time next door? I also
heard some people even say, Because these followers of Jesus are
crying so much, Jesus must be really dead. They are really unwise.
Some people say that they cry because they have received God's grace. Is
it true that their tears are due to gratitude for grace? They may be in some
cases, but not in most of the cases. What is the grace they claim to have
received? Rather, they cry out of frustration and agony. If some one were to
cry at his father's door, shouting, father, father, would the
father appreciate this?
If you look from below at the faces of those who pray like this, they
look like a rag wrung and squeezed. I am not talking about other people; this
is what I was like in the past. Before receiving salvation, and while I was
serving as an evangelist in a countryside church, I had once knelt down on the
hard floor in the dark and early morning and offered that kind of prayer, so
long a prayer as to get a hardened skin on the feet. I prayed, saying, I
will crawl on my knees to the heaven. I even had wrinkles on the face
at young age because I contorted my face so much during the prayer. I sometimes
went up to the high mountain and prayed in tears by the rock, not so much out
of gratitude for the grace as out of frustration.
We can easily see the existence of God. James 2:19 says, You
believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe thatand shudder.
Even demons believe that God is one. They shudder, however, because while
knowing about there being one God, they also know about their going to hell.
When two demon-possessed men met Jesus, they yelled aloud, What do you
want with us, Son of God, and then, Have you come here to
torture us before the appointed time? (Mat. 8:29) Although the Jewish
religious leaders did not recognize Jesus, these two men saw that Jesus was the
Son of God.
During the mission activities of Paul, a girl with a fortune-telling
spirit followed Paul and his company and shouted, These men are
servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved,
and she continued this for many days (Acts 16:17). How accurately she knew it!
Demons know it better. Those who know about God and yet have not received
salvation fear God. Even demons have this kind of faith.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear
has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love (1
John 4:18).
The complete love of God expels any fear of punishment. Just as turning
on a light in the darkness removes darkness, so when God's love fills our
hearts, fear vanishes. If someone comes to know about the existence of God and
his being a sinner subject to the judgment of hell, he cannot but fear God.
Some people even ruin their sleep out of terror after becoming aware of this.
As if they could see the hell already, they even get up in the middle of sleep
and tremble.
One day, I had a religious gathering in a farming village of the province of Chon Buk
Later on, I asked her why she stood up during the sermon. She said that
it was because she had felt so suffocated as if the fire of hell had been
burning in front of her. How can you be anything but afraid once you come to
learn about the hellish punishment? The fear will ebb away only when you listen
to the gospel and realize God's love. The complete love of God will drive out
the terrors of sin, death, and judegment.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Rom. 5:5)
When we realize God's grace from listening to the gospel, God pours out
his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The love of God, which I used to
hear only in words, actually fills me up and expels fear. Even a sinner like me
becomes saved - my hope for the heavenly kingdom does not end in
disappointment. After the savior's love filled my heart, the Holy
Spirit dwells in me, and after the Lord defeated my fear, my hope lies in the
heaven. (hymn)
When the Holy Spirit of the Christ blossoms God's love in my heart, the
fears of sin, death, judgment and hell will disappear, and the hope that even a
sinner like me can go to the heavenly kingdom becomes more certain. This is the
proof of coming of the Holy Spirit.
Some people say that the Holy Spirit is received through an experience
of fire. They say that during prayer their bodies became hot, and fire shot
through their sides, or they saw a vision of the cross. These mysterious
experiences and others such as speaking in tongues and prayer healing, however,
have nothing to do with salvation. It is odd that people rely on abnormal more
than normal things and on strange experiences more than the Bible. The Holy
Spirit does not come through any bodily experience but to our spirits as a
spirit.
When the Holy Spirit comes, it helps us realize God's love. All the problems
will be resolved the minute we are able to believe in God's love through the
conscience. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
The one in whose heart dread of God's judgment lingers has not yet fully
realized God's love. The cowardly (fearful) refers to those
who believe and yet are not born again.
Next, the unbelieving literally refers to those who do
not believe. Not believing in God at all is a condition of judgment.
Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not
believed in the name of God's one and only Son (John 3:18).
Furthermore, the vile and the murderers
cannot avoid the judgment of hell. Some people think of others' lives as those
of insects and commit abominable acts. We frequent hear people say, Those
brutes should go to hell, and of course, they will be rushed to hell.
Is there none among you who has performed despicable acts? Is it true
that everyone who says, I have not committed any murder,
really has never murdered? Not so. How many people these days kill human lives
even without guilty conscience? In Korea alone, over 1.5 million
fetuses are being slaughtered each year in the good name of family planning.
When mothers are so loving towards their children, how can they kill the unborn
babies so mercilessly? Is someone not a child, and his life not a human life
just because he is not yet born?
A few years ago, during the presidency of Reagan, a film was made
available to the public that had been taken on an abortion procedure by the
presidential commission. An ultrasound monitor showed details and even the
beating heart of a fifteen-week-old fetus. All the important parts had been
already formed. When an abortion device was inserted, the fetus instinctively
shrank from the device. When the device forcefully grabbed the fetus twisting
to and fro, it opened the mouth and screamed.
The title of the film was A Silent Scream, which was
introduced in Korea
with the same title. Watching the film, Reagan saw the screaming fetus and
judged that abortion was a murder. Had the fetus been able to speak, it would
have begged, Mother, save me. Please don't kill me.
The fetus was brutally slaughtered by the machine, under the collusion
of the mother and doctor. Its head was crushed and sucked into the inhaler. The
pieces of the fetus were sorted and put in the container. A gynecologist
watching the scene said that he had performed many abortions, and abortion was
a homicide. He then vowed never to perform abortion again. The same film had
another abortion on an older fetus.
After watching this, Reagan became determined against abortion and
started a campaign to stop it. Still, however, abortion is permitted in the United States
now, and this is very regrettable. Fathers also say, drop the baby!
Everyone is a murder in the plot. Wait and see. They may be able to avoid the
retribution here, but not in front of God's judgment seat.
Also, although one may not have been involved in physical killing, it
also constitutes a manslaughter to hate someone to the extent of wanting to
murder him or to defame others' character. This is to kill with the heart.
Those who murder people, created in God's image for the sake of God's glory,
will be quickly ushered to hell.
The sexually immoral, that is, those who fornicate
cannot flee from the torment of hell. God considers sexual immorality a grave
sin. The old cities Sodom and Gomorrah were cities of lust, even with
rampant homosexuality. Hence, God annihilated the cities with fire as a warning
for the future. In a similar way, Sodom
and Gomorrah
and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and
perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of
eternal fire. (Jude 1:7) The tragedy of Sodom
and Gomorrah
foreshadowed God's judgment of the world to come. If there is a sin that
necessitates God's judgment of the world, it is the sexual iniquities.
In ancient Italy ,
there was a city called Pompeii ,
which is recorded in history for being a city of lechery. One day, the volcano
of Vesuvius erupted and covered the entire city with ashes. It was God's
judgment upon the city, teeming with fornication and sexual perversion.
I have been to that place, too. Under the ashes, the walls and other
structures were preserved fossilized. There were lustful wall paintings. I also
saw the well-preserved fossils of people who had died crouching and of a
pregnant woman. I even heard that there had been co-ed public baths that could
hold hundreds of people, which shows the degree of their depravity. God swept
away the city of raging sin.
How is the situation of today? It is no less serious than those of Sodom , Gomorrah , and Pompeii . There is a
survey finding that over seventy percent of the husbands have an experience of
extra-marital affair. Under the slogans of age of open sex, age of free sex,
and age of sexual indulgence, people say, What is problem with sex?
The Bible, however, says, You shall not murder and You
shall not commit adultery, listing adultery as the next heaviest sin
after murder.
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside
his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body (1 Cor. 6:18).
Sexual immorality corrupts and destroys our personality. All the sexual
intercourses except for those engaged in by married men and women are a
fornication, and those who fornicate are bound hellward.
These days, inns and hotels are crowded day and night, and they extend
business hours. A housewife who had sold her body under the pretext of earning
her son's tuition was arrested and shocked the public. Sexual immorality is so
severe as to melt the bone marrow. Furthermore, most of what we see and hear in
our surroundings encourage sexual misdemeanors.
Those who practice magic arts, that is, fortunetellers
and shamans and those who are trustful and fond of them are all subject to
judgment. The idolaters are those who serve something other
than God or those who believe in God but love other things more than they do God.
All liars will also have to plunge into the fiery lake
of burning sulfur. It is said that all lies originate from the devil. The Bible
says that devil is the father of falsity. How about you? Are you not telling
lies as easily as eating cakes? Is there anyone among you who falls under none
of the sins mentioned?
Everyone must have a sin forgotten after being committed long time ago,
a sin deeply buried in the heart, or a secret sin supposed to be known to none.
These sins, however, are known to the conscience and to God. They will be
judged for these sins. It is unavoidable. What will you do?
14. The Condition of Salvation
Salvation requires that we admit our being sinners before God. I have
been born as a sinner, have committed many sinful acts in the world, and will
face death someday. I may have a sudden and unexpected death through an
accident or incurable disease. At any rate, we will all die after several
decades. Our death will not be the end, however, for afterwards there will be
judgment waiting for us, which will sentence us to the second death in the
fiery lake. This is the fate of sinners. We must acknowledge this if we desire
to be saved.
To receive salvation means to be delivered from such a fate. Everyone
must be saved before death, for upon death the judgement is pronounced upon
them. In order to receive salvation, we must acknowledge this fact and
desperately desire to be saved. God saves all those who have a deep thirst for
salvation. This is God's will and promise. Dear readers, if you can believe
through the Bible that God exists, and God's judgement is waiting for you after
death, please pray. Please pray to God desperately and from the depth of your
heart. Pray, God, please save me. Open my eyes for the truth of the
gospel. Please help me and have pity on me.
When the robber crucified with Jesus repented, he offered but a simple
prayer, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
(Luke 23:42) Jesus, however, accepted his sincere and desperate heart. If we
seek the grace of Jesus only, he will accept our hearts. For he never despises
a wounded soul. Try to pray sincerely and eagerly to receive salvation. God
saves those who truly aspire to salvation.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed
in spirit (Psa. 34:18).
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise (Psa. 51:17).
Some people protest, however, saying, I have been going to
church for decades and yet have not been saved. Now, do I hear that salvation
can come only after a few days of learning the Bible? This is a baloney.
This is based on a misunderstanding of God's power and salvation. The giver of
salvation is God, and the power of salvation belongs to God. It is for simple
reason that people reckon whether sinners can be saved and how long it takes to
attain salvation: they reason from their own human viewpoint rather than from
God's.
They do not understand that I do not save myself but am saved by God.
This is God's business conducted through the work of Jesus. Once we are ready
for salvation, we do not need to wait even for a few days. How long did it take
for Jesus to save dead people? It happened instantly. Likewise, would God need
a long time to save us?
It is we who take much time. We need to go through a process of
preparation for salvation. There are a few things we must know If we are to be
rescued from the destiny of hell: We must know that God exists, the Bible is
God's word, there is eternal world, there is God's judgement and heaven and
hell, and we are under the destiny of hell.
Through the Bible, we can confirm that God is alive, who has created and
is governing the universe and leads the human history. From this, we come to
believe that the Bible is God's word, and we have spirits, created in God's
image. Further, we come to realize that we have drifted apart from God and are
condemned to judgment because of our trespasses.
The first purpose of learning the Bible is to awaken an eagerness for
salvation in our hearts by learning these things. Learning the Bible is an
effort to turn our hearts back to God amid our life of alienation from Him.
Just as a radio catches the right channel when it hits on the right frequency,
so will our hearts be aroused with God's love and Holy Spirit once it turns
back unto God's direction. We only need to have an eagerness for salvation. To
those who are truly thirsting after salvation, the Holy Spirit will stretch out
a helping hand.
IV. God's Love Revealed in
the Gospel
So far, you have come along a fairly long spiritual journey. As I
promised at the outset, if you continue on this path without giving up on the
way, you will have found a way to salvation by the time you are finished with
this book. I am grateful to God for His grace of helping you continue up to
this point after starting with the first volume, The Way to God. Again, I am
grateful to Jesus as I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit will save all those
who passionately long for God's word and eagerly desire salvation.
Through the Bible, we have gained an understanding about God and His
plan and secret and about who we are before God. We have further realized that
the Bible reveals our individual as well as the human destiny. We have also
learned that history manifests God's plan to save our souls, and He has shown
us the way to salvation and the truth to believe. Therefore, what each of us
must do at this point is to accept the word of truth, which leads to salvation.
1. Eternal Life is the Purpose of Studying the Bible
You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you
possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me... (John
5:39)
As Jesus explains, the ultimate purpose of studying the Bible is the
salvation of our souls. We need salvation in order to attain eternal life, and
we need eternal life in order that we participate in God's glory and in His
plan and purpose. God has spoken through the Bible about the way of human
salvation, and we receive salvation through this word. Receiving salvation,
being reborn, possessing eternal life, and having the right relationship with
God all mean the same.
When Jesus says, You diligently study the Scriptures because
you think that by them you possess eternal life, he means that it is
right to study the Bible closely for the sake of salvation. The purpose of
studying the Bible is to attain eternal life, and this means that only through
the Bible can we enter into the right relationship with God.
Here, the Scripture at the time of Jesus meant the Old
Testament because the New Testament had not been written. The Old Testament
contains God's promise to send Jesus, and the New Testament Jesus' work of
redemption, the grace allowed to those who believe in it, and Jesus' promise to
come again in the last days.
These are the Scriptures that testify about me... The
foremost purpose of the entire books of the Scripture is to tell us about
Jesus. The Bible is the book of instruction for salvation through Jesus.
Therefore, no matter how much knowledge we gain from the Bible, our study of
the Bible is without purpose unless we unearth therefrom the truth of
salvation.
Many people who are supposed to have a great deal of knowledge of the
Bible still have no idea about their salvation and rebirth. This is because
they have not yet penetrated into the core of the Bible. In fact, before we are
reborn, we cannot fully realize the message of the Bible. The Scripture is said
a source of spiritual food. Food is needed only by living beings. Since the
Bible is a spiritual food, rather than a set of ethical codes or moral
injunctions, it becomes relevant to us only after our spirits come to life
through salvation. Only after then, will the words of the Scripture start
touching our heart and mind.
We receive salvation through the word. As it says in the Colossians
1:16, All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing,
just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood
God's grace in all its truth, to be saved is to realize God's grace by
listening to the gospel, and the moment of such realization is the day of
salvation.
What is the gospel? Among the messages of the Scripture, there are the
special words that concern the salvation of our spirits. In Acts 10, God sends
an angel to Cornelius and tells him to send for a man named Simon who
is called Peter so that he can convey the word to bring his whole
household to salvation. Peter visits the house of Cornelius and his word saves
his entire family. As exemplified here, the word leading to salvation is called
the gospel. When we realize such word, we will attain eternal life.
We will have one day in our life when we listen to the gospel and
understand the grace of God. The verse in the hymn, Is it not a day of
joy, a day when we first received the word of the Lord? means the
same. The day when we first received the word of the Lord
does not refer to the day when we first went to the church and heard a biblical
message. While some realize the gospel after decades of life of faith, some do
fortunately only after a short church life. On the other hand, there are even
some who fail to hear the saving word even after a lifelong church attendance.
A day I embraced the way of the Lord, is this not a day of joy?
This day, my vile body turned into a new body of rebirth. (hymn) A
saved person certainly has a day of awakening to the gospel, or the day of
rebirth.
As it says, He (God) chose to give us birth through the word of
truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all He created,
(James 1:18) God gives birth to His children through the word of truth. The
moment we become touched by the gospel, our spirits are saved and born again,
thereby becoming children of God. This is God's begetting us through the word
of truth. As it says, For you have been born again, not of perishable
seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God... And
this is the word that was preached to you, (1 Pet. 1:23, 25) the imperishable
seed for the born again is the gospel, that is, the living and
enduring word of God. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in
Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father
through the gospel. (1 Cor. 4:15) (For in Christ Jesus I have begotten
you through the gospel.- KJV)
In Luke 8, Jesus explains a secret of God's kingdom through a parable of
a seed-sowing farmer: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was
scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the
birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants
withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew
up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came
up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.
Then, Jesus deciphers it by saying, The seed is the word of
God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and
takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be
saved. (Luke 8:11, 12) Some people hear the word without taking it to
the heart, eventually forgetting all about it. Jesus explains that just as a
bird ate up the seeds thrown on the road and left unsown, if we hear the word
without clearly grasping it, the devil comes and takes it away from us. Like
the path, rock, and thorns, the heart where God's word is not planted has no
life of God and no relationship with salvation. But the one who
received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and
understands it. (Mat. 13:23) Salvation lies in understanding the word.
The word is a seed that plants God's life in our hearts.
A seed has no unique shape, and almost looks like nothing when it is
found here and there. When it is planted under the fertile ground, however, it
can give rise to a magnificent tree. Although it is nothing but a little grain
by itself, once planted it grows to produce flowers and fruits. The biblical
messages and the speeches of the biblical transmitters are planted in the heart
of those prepared. The good soil is the heart of the prepared souls.
No ground is fertile from the beginning. Every ground of the heart is
hard like a road, hides sin like a stony field, and teems with greed like the
brambles. Just as we reclaim a barren ground by removing thorns, picking out
stones, and plowing the soil, when we learn the Bible, the message softens our
hearts so that the word can take roots, grow, and produce fruits there. God
uplifts our hearts so that they become eager for the word and sincere for
salvation.
When the word of salvation enters the prepared heart, life begins to
sprout. Just as the seed sprouts under the right temperature and humidity, the
life of the word takes roots and grows in the prepared heart. The message of
the gospel mysteriously brings about understanding. It is truly mysterious that
the word plants God's life in the heart.
Inaudible electric waves are passing by our ears all the time. When a
radio is turned to the right frequency, however, it can catch them and make
them audible and even recordable. Likewise, when we are eagerly turned towards
God, and comprehend the word of salvation, the word becomes recorded in the spirit.
I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their
minds. (Heb. 10:16)
The message written in our heart and mind is eternally preserved. This
is called understanding, a point where God's life begins. This is how God saves
us, a deeply mysterious process.
When asked, Are you saved? many people say, How
can you know that? You will find out after you die. Such people are
certainly not saved, however. Salvation, or rebirth, is an event of spiritual
birth and a clear experience. Every event has its time and space. If an event
is without time and space of occurrence it can only be a chimera.
Some people say that they are saved, and yet try to slur over the matter
when asked, How were you saved? Or some of them say, I
am saved because I believe in the Christ, and I believe because I am saved.
When asked, When did you start believing? they answer, From
birth, or I am saved because I have been baptized.
Still some people say, I have seen a vision of the cross during
my prayer. My body became hot during then, or I had a queer
miracle. My illness is gone. There are all kinds of such stories.
These miracles may indicate the power of God or devil. Furthermore, even if the
healing was God's work, by itself it has nothing to do with salvation.
Salvation occurs always through a realization of the word of truth in
the Bible. Unless the content of salvation conforms to the biblical message,
that salvation is a misunderstanding and falsity. I have seen many times that
the faith of those who claim to be saved does not actually point to true
salvation when checked against the word. The problem becomes more serious when
someone who is not saved thinks that he is.
These days there are a plenty of counterfeit money, false checks, and
fake cards that are very similar to the real things. When the forgery or
alteration is discovered, big commotion is aroused. Often people try to use
fake passports or visa and end up getting arrested at the immigration office.
We may be able to cheat people, but never God; hence, we must be complete and
thorough. We should realize and believe in the way of salvation through the
Bible exactly as God has prepared it.
As I mentioned earlier, God's work of salvation proceeds unconditionally
on the basis of God's power, love, and grace. Therefore, the first thing we
must do for salvation is to deeply feel the need of salvation. As a promise is
realized only when both parties keep faith, God's promise in the Bible requires
that we first perform our part of the duty. Because the Old and New Testaments
are God's promise of salvation through Jesus, we must prepare our hearts if we
are to meet God.
If, for instance, one makes a promise to meet someone at a certain place
and time to give something to him, the parties to the promise must show up at
the set time and place in order for the promise to produce a result.
God always keeps his side of the promise, and the problem is that we do
not keep our side of it. The Bible says that in order to save the sinners, God
has sacrificed His only Son and waits in such a way that with the Lord
a day is like a thousand years. (2 Pet. 3:8) It also says that God
wants everybody to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). We fail to receive the gift of
salvation, however, because we refuse to.
After hearing the same word of salvation, some are moved to awakening,
and some do not. Whether one understands is not a matter of how smart he is;
rather, it is a matter of heart and conscience. God sees how passionately we
seek God's grace, and plants the gospel truth only in the earnest seekers.
Since Jesus came to find the sinners, he visits only those who know of
themselves as sinners. Jesus saves only those who know of their being sinners
and desire to be saved. Those who are confident of their own righteousness and
devotion to God will fail to attain salvation. Such people will reject Jesus.
Therefore, for the sake of salvation we must first acknowledge our being
sinners. We have learned that we are transgressors from birth and born with
fallen hearts, and the totality of our life is a transgression.
We have also noted that the word sinner signifies being a descendant of
Adam rather than how much vice we have practiced. It signifies that we are
disconnected and lost from God and under the divine judgment, and our spirits
have died. This is the first thing we realize through the Bible.
We turn our backs against God, and follow the fallen bodily drives and
drink iniquities like water. This is the shape we are in. No matter how
righteously we live, we only live in human rather than divine righteousness.
Our fate is to commit sin throughout the whole life and die and become judged
before God.
And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God...
(Job 19:26)
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden
thing, whether it is good or evil (Eccl. 12:14).
The minute our hearts stop, our body starts decaying, and our spirit
rises from the body and meets God. The reborn spirits will enter the heavenly
kingdom, whereas those sinful spirits not reborn will be judged and sent to
hell, a place of fire and burning sulfur, never to come out from there.
Therefore, we must first acknowledge our destiny, whereby we are born in sin,
commit sin throughout the whole life, some day die, and go to hell after the
judgement.
Then, how can our souls be delivered from the fate of the eternal
condemnation? What we must be clear about is that there is no way whatsoever
that we can be released on our own from the destiny of judgement and
destruction.
Although some people think that their tears, fasting, and other forms of
bodily mortification may move God to forgive them, and yet forgiveness is not
earned by such things. As the hymn 343 says, Tears do not help. Even a
heap of tears do not remove our fears or wash our sin. So tears do not help,
no matter how much we cry, not even an iota of sin will be erased from us. Just
because a criminal under death sentence cries many days and begs the judge to
spare his life, will the judge set him free?
Can we be purified of our trespasses by practicing good manners and
performing many good deeds for others? Unfortunately, no righteousness of ours
is of any help at all. Good works do not help. Even good words,
intentions or deeds do not bring us rebirth. So good works do not help.
(Hymn) Even good endeavors, or sincere and kind words, intentions, or deeds
cannot help us be born again. Rebirth is not something to be worked for.
Some revivalists teach, You should shed many tears. Do you
think you will receive grace without shedding even a drop of tears? Also, you
must work hard in order to enter the heavenly kingdom. But nowhere in
the Bible does it say that we are saved through tears.
How about endurance? Will our sins be forgiven if we go to church for
tens of years, overcoming all the hurdles, rain or shine, and regardless of
other people's accusation? Endurance doesn't help. How can a sinner
drowning in ugly sin live? So endurance doesn't help. (Hymn) As the
hymn says, even endurance is ineffectual. We should understand that whatever we
do, we cannot save ourselves.
Faith will help. Believe in Jesus and rely on his work, and
when you go to him, you will receive eternal life. (Hymn) It says that
faith will help, while tears, good works, or endurance do not. Having faith
does not refer to any actions we perform. If salvation is possible through an
action, then why would we need faith in addition?
The misunderstanding starts when we think that faith is something we do
with religious zeal. Believers have brought confusion to the meaning of faith
and action. They teach that going to church and diligently performing good
actions are a part of having faith. While teaching faith on the one hand, they
teach that hard work of goodness brings blessing. This brings fundamental
confusion as to whether action constitutes faith, or faith leads to action.
This is the beginning of the problem.
2. What is the Law?
sIn order to comprehend what faith is, we should first understand that
there is nothing we can do for the sake of the salvation of our soul. In order
to help the Israelites understand this first, God told them about His existence
and gave them the law. The most representative of the law is the Ten
Commandments.
John 1:17 says, For the law was given through Moses; grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ. Romans 7:12 also says, So
then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
Since the law reveals the holiness and goodness of God, it is in itself holy,
righteous, and good. The law commands people to live a holy and good life. One
who can keep the commandments can be called holy, righteous, and good.
I started going to church when I was a middle school freshman. Whenever
I went to church on Sundays, we recited the Ten Commandments with the pastor
and were told to observe them. Believing that I must keep them to enter the
heavenly kingdom, I made earnest efforts to keep them; later, however, when I
read Matthews 5, I came to a conclusion that it is humanly impossible to keep
the law.
You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, Do not
murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell
you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.
Again, anyone who says to his brother, Raca, is answerable to
the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire
of hell (Mat. 5:21, 22).
Jesus says that although one may refrain from murder, even anger will
subject him to judgment, and calling others Raca (an
expression of contempt and ridicule, meaning brainless) or
fool will throw him into the hell fire. The Bible also says that hatred
constitutes murder (1 John 3:15), for the basis of murder is hatred.
God reckons from the root, which is formed before actions. In other
words, people confirm murder by looking at its concrete results, whereas God
scrutinizes our hearts, and if we harbor a thought of murder, God sees it as
murder even before it is acted upon.
You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery,' But
I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed
adultery with her in his heart. (Mat. 5:27) This verse also says that
even without an actual action, when one harbors lust in the heart has already
fornicated.
Moreover, Jesus says, If someone strikes you on the right
cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take
your tunic, let him have your cloak as well, (Mat. 5:39, 40) and Love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute you... (Mat. 5:44)
The law can be summarized as: Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength, and Love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark
12:30, 31) Would it be possible, however, for the sinners, born selfish and
possessing Adam's character, to love God with all their heart, all their soul,
all their mind, and all their strength and love their neighbor as themselves?
Those who fail to love their neighbors as themselves have violated all the laws
regarding human beings, and those who fail to love God with all their heart and
soul have breached all the commandments regarding God.
What, then, is the purpose of God's giving the law? Many people answer
this by saying, Of course, so that we may practice them. The
Bible, however, says that no one can keep the law; hence, the law is not given
for actual keeping. The law has been given so that we can realize that we are
unable to reach God's standard by ourselves, for those born with an inclination
for sin are never able to keep the law.
We are comparable to a bad oak. Born as transgressors and endowed with
viciousness, we are immersed in sin. To say to us, be holy, good, and
righteous is like saying to a bad oak, bring grapes,
or bring tangerines and apples. Is this a possible demand?
3. The Law Brings Us to a Self-Discovery before God
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For
I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out (Rom. 7:18).
What we come to realize clearly through the Bible is that in God's view
there is nothing good in us and only the heart that is deceitful above
all things and beyond cure. (Jer. 17:9)
Like the apostle Paul, who made the above remark, we should clearly
understand that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful
nature. Since there is nothing good in us, we cannot but exclaim, I
have desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Although we
know that we should be good and even strive hard to put the knowledge into
practice, we have no power to do so.
People practice vice even when they know that it is bad. Why? It is
because they have the evil root. Do bad trees bear faulty fruits because they
want to? Bad trees have the nature to yield spoiled fruits; therefore, they
cannot bear fresh and delicious fruits even if they want to. Would God, then,
expect to see from us sinners fruits of goodness?
When God gave the law to the people, He knew very well that they would
not be able to obey it. He did not expect even one person to be able to keep
the law. Even Moses smote a human being to death. Who else kept the law?
Then, why did God give us the law that we could not even abide by? The
purpose lies in somewhere else.
Even after going to church for tens of years, people still do not know
this and say, He gave it to us so we may keep it. We are to follow the
law. When asked, Then, have you been able to follow it?
they ask back, You must at least try to; otherwise, shall we violate
it at will? Have you been able to keep it yourself? You will soon
reach a conclusion that it is an impossible task. It is admirable to strive to
live a good life under the law, and yet such an effort has nothing whatsoever
to do with being justified before God.
Let us imagine a situation where you stop and talk to a passerby: Sir,
excuse me. What is the matter? Please do
not kill. I am on a moral campaign. Then, would he say, Right.
It is in the Ten Commandments. Thank you, or go mad, saying, What?
Do I look like a killer? Do I look like a member of those bloody gangs?
Also, if you say to someone, Please do not steal, he
will be enraged, saying, Do I look like a thief? Have you seen me
steal? although some may be dismayed and say in the heart, How
does this guy know I have robbed? To say, Do not steal
implies, You look like a thief, and you are likely to steal.
Further, if you say to someone, Sir, do not covet your
neighbor's wife, he will not leave you in peace, although he may
wonder in the heart, How does this scoundrel know that I like the
woman? Worse, if you say to a lady passing by, Lady, excuse
me. Please do not fornicate, she will probably break your leg. This is
a bad insult.
People humble themselves and listen to the commandment because it is
God's message. Had it come out of a human mouth, it would have created a great
trouble. To say, Do not kill implies that we look like
killers, and to say, Do not steal implies that we look like
thieves. To say, Do not covet is to ask, You are
coveting, aren't you? to say, Do not lie is to ask, You
are lying, arent' you? and to say, Do not lust after your
neighbor's wife is to ask, You are lusting after her, aren't
you?
The verse, It [the law] was added because of transgressions
(Gal. 3:19) means that because we do not see our own evil-doing, God gave the
law as an addition in order to make it clear to us. Since the law was added
because of the breach of the law, learning the law enables us more clearly
perceive our sin. Without a code to define what a sin is, there would be no
basis for punishing an offender, nor would we know that we have sinned after
committing one. There is sin because there is the law.
We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers
and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who
kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for
slave traders and liars and perjurers-and for whatever else is contrary to the
sound doctrine (1 Tim. 1:9, 10).
Good people do not need the law, for the holy, the righteous, and the
good have no sin. As this verse says, the law is set forth for the sinful and
not for the righteous.
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under
the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held
accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by
observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin (Rom.
3:19 ~ 20).
Death (which is the judgment upon the sin according to the law)
came to all men, because all sinned. (Rom. 5:12) Because all the
sinners are under the law, the law speaks to all those under the law. The law
renders speechless all the transgressors under the law.
Some people raise their voice even after doing evil, saying, What
have I done wrong? Ignorance of the law makes you bold. After you
encounter the law, however, you become speechless. This means that you stop
claiming to be sinless.
You cannot drive recklessly and say, Why do you bother me, when
I am just doing what I want with my own car? What does it matter to me whether
there is a green light or red? because there is traffic law. If you
violate the traffic law, you will be penalized whether you knew it or not.
You'd better stop under the red light and not turn left where it is prohibited.
You cannot protest against being arrested after breaking the traffic law.
In a prison, two in-laws met. How ashamed they must have been! One asked
the other, How did you come here? and the other answered, Because
of something very unfair. They continued: What was the
offence, anyway? Something small. I picked up a string in
someone else's yard. Picking up a string puts you behind the
bars? Well, I then realized that a cow was tied up at the end
of it. He is a cow thief, but he says that he knows nothing about the
cow. He just picked up the string, and the cow followed along unfortunately,
according to him.
Then the other in-law asked the one who had been questioning: By
the way, how did you end up here? I am also fairly innocent,
but suffered injustice. But what really happened? I
wore a big jacket to a supermarket, put stuffs into my pockets, and walked out.
I just forgot to say, 'This is on credit.' That's all. He is a
shoplifter. Would the law agree with them? Would the judge record that he
simply forgot to mention on credit? One is a cow thief, and
the other shoplifter. They will not be able to insist on their innocence before
the law. They will have to shut their mouths and prepare themselves for the
punishment.
The law silences all the claims of innocence and enables the people of
the whole world see their existence under God's judgment. Through the
law we become conscious of sin. (Rom. 3:20)
When you go to a hospital, they first make a diagnosis before giving you
a medicine. A medical intervention comes after an exact diagnosis is made.
Likewise, the law is in charge of giving us a spiritual diagnosis and telling
us why we need salvation before God heals our spirits. When we study the law,
we become able to see our wickedness and our being under God's judgment, and
aroused with a desire to receive salvation.
Suppose that you go to a hospital and doctor asks you about your
condition, and you say, Where would I be sick? I am fine. Nothing is
wrong with me. Then, the doctor can only say, Why did you
come here, then? Out from my office? You know what you should say
instead: Well, I feel strange here. Please check it out for me.
After the diagnosis, you will get a certain result. The doctor may say, It's
good that you had an early check-up. You have incipient cancer, and a surgery
can take care of it. Then, you will have to say, So! I will
take your advice. When shall I get the surgery? If you understand, and
know that you have a sickness, you will follow the doctor's direction, agreeing
to have a certain part of your body cut off, or lie on the bed for an
operation. You do this because you know that it is necessary for your healing.
If you keep insisting, Don't give me that. What do you mean, I am
sick? I am just fine, the doctor cannot help you. This, then, is what
the law does-giving us a diagnosis that we can understand.
A little child comes back from playing outside with his face stained
black. When the mother sees this, she says, Son, your face is dirty.
Go and wash your face. If the child defies her without seeing his
face, however, saying, I have nothing on the face. Why are you
bothering me? what would be the best way to prevail on him? Tell him
to see his face on the mirror, and he will immediately realize that the face
needs a wash.
The law works like a mirror. It shows us how sinful we are in the
presence of God. By seeing our own shape against the standard of God's
holiness, righteousness, and goodness, we come to realize how false, wicked,
and miserable we are. We see the filth of our iniquities with the law, and we
are purified of them with Jesus. For the mirror only reflects our dirt, and do not
wash it.
Likewise, the law only helps us perceive our sin, without being able to
resolve the problem of sin. The law can neither make us good nor obedient to
God's word. The law only enables us to comprehend sin and the consequent
judgment. The remark, Through the law we become conscious of sin
reveals the purpose of the law-for us to come face to face with our wickedness
so that we may proceed to Jesus to be purified.
So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be
justified by faith (Gal. 3:24).
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we
might be justified by faith (KJV).
Here, the law is said to be a schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ. (KJV) The schoolmaster means an elementary-level teacher in
charge of educating small children. He prepares them with the basics so that
they can move on to assume the real study. Likewise, the law helps us realize
our sin, and leads us to the Christ, who can cleanse it.
To say that the law leads to the Christ, however, does not mean that we
can go to him by keeping the law; rather, it means that we simply realize our
sin before the law, and become clean in the presence of Jesus. The role of the
law is to help us understand sin and judgment so that we can proceed to Jesus
in faith and be called righteous by him. Regardless of such teaching of the
Bible, however, people construe the law as that which is to be kept and strive
to live by it all their lives, thereby misunderstanding God's intention.
4. Those Who Rely on Observing the Law Are under a Curse
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: Cursed
is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the
Law. (Gal. 3:10)
All who rely on observing the law refers to those who
attempt to reach God by keeping the law as the standard of God's righteousness.
We cannot call such people bad when there are many who indulge in wickedness
lifelong and many who do not even believe in God. They are surely good people
from the human standpoint. It may seem odd, then, to say that such people are
under a curse instead of under blessing.
Rather, would it not be correct to say that those who strive to follow
the law will be blessed? Of course, you will be blessed if you always practice
all that is prescribed in the law. It is out of question that if you can carry
out perfectly, you will receive blessing and go to the heavenly kingdom. We,
born with sinful nature and soaked in the sin of the world, however, are never
able to carry out all the injunctions of the law.
It is humanly impossible to fulfill the commandments exactly and at all
times; hence, the curse. It is sin to violate the law. As the Scripture says, For
the wages of sin is death, (Rom. 6:23) the sin of violating the law is
paid for with death. This is the curse imposed upon those who attempt to
receive God's justification through the practice of the law.
The reason for the curse upon such people is clear. If they can keep the
law in toto, they will be blameless. The problem, however, is that they cannot.
They cannot just keep some of the law and not others. If they are to obey the
law, they must continue to do everything written in the Book of the
Law.
The verse, For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at
just one point is guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10) declares
the same principle. Suppose that someone is holding on to a chain of ten rings
to the heavenly kingdom and he will fall into hell should the chain break.
Suppose that the ten rings represent the Ten Commandments. How many rings must
break for the chain to snap? The chain will fail equally whether just one or
all ten rings break. A cattle or pot is equally useless whether it has only one
or as many as ten holds in the bottom.
How many of the Ten Commandments do you have to violate before going to
hell? It says, the wage of sin is death. Then what is the
price of a great sin? It is death. What is the price of a minor sin? It is also
death. That is, it is to receive judgment and be thrown into the fiery lake
after death. Although you may not have actually performed any evil action, even
simply being angry or saying Raca to others will send you to
hell. Those who have lust in the heart have already fornicated. Then, who can
be said to be observant of the law? We have cursed with our mouth, hated with
our heart, and acted out our lust for sin. We have already thoroughly disobeyed
the law in our hearts, words, and actions. For this reason, those who seek to
gain righteousness through the law are under a curse.
There are many good swimmers, but is there anyone who can swim from the port of Pusan
(Korea ) to the United States ?
Suppose that about a hundred people start swimming to the United States ,
thinking that they would rather do this than going through complicated paper
works and paying for an expensive plane ticket. If any of them can make it, he
will be a hero, let alone save money; if they fail, however, they will die. How
many of the 100 will make it? They will all die. How about if a ten thousand
people try? It will be the same. Then, how about if the entire mankind try? Of
course, they will all die. This is an impossible project from the outset. It is
not cowardice or foolishness to fear what must be feared. Rather, it is
foolishness not to know it. It is wisdom not to start something that is
impossible. To warn against misunderstanding, I am not saying that keeping the
law is utterly useless; rather, I am simply talking about the law as the
condition of salvation.
Those who try to go to God by practicing the goodness of the law are
even more foolish than those who try to swim from Korea
to the United States .
As it says, All who rely on observing the law are under a curse,
they will all go to hell after all the struggles for goodness.
Therefore, we should abandon the notion that God wills our salvation
through the law. No matter how many merits of goodness I have accumulated, and
how empty it may feel to realize that they are ineffectual in opening the
heaven's door, I have to shake off what must be shaken off. I do not have to
feel frustrated that my accomplishments and concepts are being brought to
nothing.
Sometimes, even a business that has sucked in a lot of capital may turn
out to be hopeless. Even after becoming aware of this, however, some people
still try to push it through because they are tormented by what they have
already put in, thereby losing everything they have after all. I have read a
book, Jewish Sales Skills. It says that when Jews start a business, which does
not go well, they will try again. If it shows no hope even after about three
trials, however, they will boldly put an end to it, no matter how much money
has been poured in, and say, I feel relieved.
Among Koreans, however, there are many who continue recklessly even
after a few failures and end up putting in everything they own. In gambling,
someone who keeps losing small amounts often bets a huge sum in order to take
back at once what he has lost. Why? He only thinks about what he has put in so
far.
A wheat flour dealer bought a large amount of flour. Then flour price
tumbled, and he came to a point of bankruptcy. Thinking that it would be better
to disappear than going bankrupt and bringing disgrace to his family, he bought
a rope in order to hang himself. When he tied the rope to a crossbeam and put
his neck to the loop, he heard a radio news saying that the flour price had
soared, whereupon he stopped the suicide and earned big money by selling the
flour.
Would it make sense at all, however, if he had gone ahead with the
suicide out of reluctance to waste the rope? Who would do that kind of silly
thing? We would throw away that string with no hesitation, no matter how much
money we may have paid for it out of tight budget.
Although we might have been reliant on the law for attaining God's
recognition, we should promptly give it up once we see that it is useless. We
can grasp what God gives us only when we release what we have a handful of.
Losing it does not mean letting go of the rope to the heavenly kingdom but
switching to God's rope of grace.
Even after this explanation, however, there might still be people who
repeat, But the laws must be kept, as far as we can, holding
on to the pride in their accomplishments of decades of church life. These
people are like those who say, swimming to the United States, Now that
I am already here, I should swim further as far as I can. If they go
too far, however, they will go down, unable to return.
5. The Law and The Grace
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be
gained through the law, Christ died for nothing (Gal. 2:21)!
If we could become righteous through the law, Jesus did not have to come
to the world or die on the cross, that is, he died in vain. Jesus received
punishment on our behalf because the law cannot earn us righteousness. Clearly
no one is justified before God by the law because, 'The righteous will live by
faith.' The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, 'The man who does these
things will live by them.' (Gal. 3:11, 12) Grace decrees, Believe,
and thou shalt live, and the law, Act, and thou shalt live.
Hence, the law and grace are the opposites. And yet many people bring confusion
to their faith by not being able to distinguish between them.
You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from
Christ; you have fallen away from grace (Gal. 5:4).
Who are the ones trying to be justified by law? They
are those who earnestly try to practice a faith. Those who do not have a faith
would not try to practice the law, still less try to be justified by it. The
Scripture, however, says that those who rely on the law have been
alienated from Christ and fallen away from grace
rather than saying that they will receive a great award.
The Scripture says, all our righteous acts are like filthy rags,
(Isa. 64:6) and they cannot cover themselves (their shame) with what
they make. (Isa. 59:6) This is a declaration that our endeavors to
become righteous is like a dirty person's wearing a soiled garment in God's
sight, and thus our righteousness cannot hide our shame. The garment is like a
worn-out clothes of a leper contaminated with all kinds of germs from him. We
will not be able to stand before God in such a rag.
The devil whispers to unbelievers thus: Hey, do not listen to
anything said about God, spirit, heaven or hell. Those are fabrications of idle
people. Who could have created the universe? It existed from times immemorial.
The Sun, Moon, and stars came forth spontaneously. So did the earth, after
which it got on the track of rotation. Amoebas evolved into insects, and
insects to fish and birds. This is also how animals, apes, and human beings
appeared.
The falsity continues: What is so special about human beings?
They are a product of evolution, and this is why they are called a higher
animal. They only represent a bit of progress from animals. What do you mean,
spirit? Show me if it exists. So you can just live and die basically like
animals, by the law of nature and survival of the fittest. And death will put
everything to rest; it will be the end of it all. So you do not have to live in
such a narrowness and worry. Enjoy your life.
Those who succumb to such a deception pursue pleasure without being
aware of their being cheated. Since they have no hope in what is eternal, they
eat and drink just for the body. Singing, Drink, and drink, and dance
and dance, through the night, till the morning, they drink, vomit, and
space out. The devil does not allow a spare time for them to think about such
matters as concerns God and spirit. It drives us wild and dizzy until the
moment of our arrival at the hell.
Then, what would the devil say to believers of Jesus? Would it say, Will
you believe in Jesus? OK, then believe in him and go to heaven, bye-bye?
To those who desire faith, devil does not tell them not to believe; rather it
says, believe hard. This is because it has a second weapon
called religion. It says, Go to church, and believe hard, if you will.
Join the early morning prayer, keep the Sundays, serve in the church, and offer
donations. Build many churches, and appoint many pastors and deaconesses.
Beautify your choir and offer solemn ceremony. For the devil is not
intimidated by such things.
However, the devil will counsel them, Do not try to be saved.
Do not be concerned with being reborn. You do not have to know such things now,
for you will find out as time passes. What is special about faith? Doesn't it
simply mean going to church and working hard for goodness? This will be enough
to earn you the heavenly reward. And if a pastor praises such people,
saying that they deserve a great heavenly reward, they even show condescending
modesty, saying, I am hardly worthy of it, while agreeing to
it wholeheartedly in their mind.
They are on a plane ride without being aware that it is piloted by the
devil and bound to hell. Will God praise them just because their pastors do?
While we boast of our cleverness about worldly affairs, we are in the dark
about the spiritual affairs.
When buying something, people go to different stores to check the
prices. They go to the cheapest place and try to make bargains even there. Even
after buying it with such a fuss, if they still find out that the price could
have been cheaper, they become outraged. They try hard and show their utmost
wits to avoid deception as regards things of the world, and yet embrace devil's
lie as regards faith in Jesus. It is not a serious problem to be cheated a
little about other things and incur some material loss, but we should never be
cheated with respect to faith.
Our readers should not entirely trust words of their pastors,
revivalists, or theologians. Whoever the speaker, believe only when his
messages conform to the Bible. Of what worth are human words, when the heaven
and hell are not affairs of the world? There is no truth other than the Bible,
which is God's word. Rather than believing something because others do, we
should believe it after checking whether it is supported by the Bible.
There are many people who are dismayed when told, You must be
saved and born again. Although Jesus teaches, No one can see
the kingdom of God unless he is born again, (John 3:3) they are still
offended when they hear that they must be reborn to go to heaven. This is
really strange. When they hear such things, a wise response would be: Ah,
that's right. I must be born again. How can this happen? I have no confidence
about salvation, although I desire it. What shall I do? Instead,
however, these people react by saying, Are you the only one saved?
What kind of salvation do you have, that you are so arrogant? Plus, it is none
of your business whether other people are saved or not. There is
something wrong when they are so repelled by the talk of salvation.
6. God's Righteousness and My Righteousness
For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their
zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that
comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's
righteousness (Rom.
10:2, 3).
What happens when someone is zealous for God, and yet his zeal is not
based on knowledge? He will try to establish his own righteousness without
knowing God's, thereby failing to obey God's righteousness. Serving God
diligently, and zealously going to church and practicing the law belong to my
righteousness. We cannot reach God through my zeal and righteousness.
What is God's righteousness? God has made all the preparation through
which we can go to God and have the right relationship with God. This work of
preparation is God's righteousness. We come to God through God's righteousness.
As in the hymn, When I ascend to the desired heavenly kingdom and see
God, I will stand before him relying on the righteousness of the Lord the
savior, we can stand before God not upon our own righteousness but
upon that of the Christ. We fail to obey God's righteousness while trying to establish
our own without comprehending what God's righteousness is.
There are many who go to hell even after serving God assiduously. This
might seem strange-to be eager for God and go to hell. But this is true. To
realize this fact is very important for our salvation, for only after the
realization can we understand what salvation is. Now it should be certain that
we cannot avoid the judgment and destruction and go near God through our own
righteousness, zeal, efforts to keep the law, or any other merits. Otherwise, I
must keep talking about this until you realize.
The hymn said that tears, good works, and endurance are all ineffectual.
We are sinners who can do nothing but die like someone who fell into deep water
without knowing how to swim. He will die a hundred percent unless someone comes
to rescue him-he has no other way. Likewise, we will live if God rescues us
unconditionally from our hell-bound fate, and if not, we can only perish. Only
God can save us, and if He does save us, we can only receive it without
offering anything in return.
7. The Road to Salvation
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst (1 Tim. 1:15).
The apostle Paul, who authored fourteen books of the New Testament
including the 1 Timothy, had been a leader in executing followers of Jesus.
This is why he says that he is the worst of the sinners. At the same time, he
says this as an indication that all other sinners can be saved. The Christ came
to the world in order to save sinners and give his
life as a ransom for many. (Mat. 20:28)
Jesus came to save sinners like a rescuer of a
drowning victim. Then who are the sinners? They are those bound hellward, who
are in fact every one of us. Therefore to say that Jesus came to save sinners
is to say that he came to save me.
Although there were no one but me in the world, Jesus would still have
come to save me. As the Bible says, For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son, God sent Jesus for each one of us.
Therefore, when Jesus came to save sinners, this was for me. Because I
am under the destiny to be born in sin, live in sin, and live in hell after
death, Jesus came to release me from that destiny.
What should a drowning person do when someone comes to a rescue? He
should stay still to make the rescue work easy. When someone falls into water,
he holds fast to whatever is within reach, and in desperation he can generate
an enormous force. If a rescuer is caught in his grips, both will die. So I
heard that lifesavers do not touch the victim when he is pawing and splashing
to get out of the water until he becomes too tired to struggle.
Inexperienced people will urge the lifesaver to hurry, but he will say, It's
OK for him to swallow some water. Let's wait. When the victim becomes
exhausted, then the lifesaver can pull him out just by dragging his hair. I
even heard that if the victim struggles too much, then he gets hit out of his
consciousness.
The same applies to how Jesus saves sinners. Although Jesus wants to
save them, they are pawing and slashing hard to establish their own
righteousness; they work hard, strive, and serve loyally, so
much so that Jesus leaves them alone until they run out of their strength. Until
I fall down exhausted, carrying my heavy load alone, (hymn) Jesus
simply watches me. So when the rescuer comes, the drowning victim will be
wisest simply to stay still and relaxed.
To have faith means to rely on, entrust myself to, and make request upon
the object of faith. It is to relax all my strength and entrust myself
completely to him. It is up to him whether he drags my hair or pushes me out.
If he is a capable lifesaver, I will live, and otherwise I will die. My life
depends on him. Therefore, I should let him completely take over. What happens
next is the business of Jesus, and all I have to do is simply to watch his
performance.
The Israelites came out of Egypt under the leadership of
Moses. After a while, they saw the Red Sea
blocking their way, while the Egyptian army was chasing after them. Then the
people complained to Moses, Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you
brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of
Egypt ?
(Exo. 14:11) Moses answered, Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will
see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today...The LORD will fight for
you; you need only to be still. (Exo. 14:13, 14)
When Moses held up his staff and spread his hand toward the sea
according to God's direction, the sea split and a path appeared. The Israelites
safely passed through the passage between the waters. God moved back the pillar
of cloud and kept the Egyptian army in darkness so they could not chase the
Israelites any further. After their crossing was completed, God sent waters
back upon the Egyptian army, then crossing the sea on the dry path, and drowned
them all. The Israelites watched God's work of salvation while staying still.
We can also watch God's work of salvation for sinners.
Jesus came to save sinners, did the work, and departed. When the
Scripture says that God so loved the world as to give His only Son (John 3:16),
the world here does not only mean the people of Jesus' time but all the people
to come until the end of the world. For God treats people equally regardless of
time. Jesus came to the world and departed. Then, did Jesus complete his work
of salvation or not? Of course, he did.
If Jesus finished his work, then why is it that there are still people
not saved? It is because people do not know about his work. They do not know
what Jesus has done for the sake of their sin. As the hymn said, Tears
do not help, Good works do not help, and Endurance
doesn't help, we cannot do it ourselves; as the hymn continued,
however, Faith will help. Believe in Jesus and rely on his work, and
when you go to him, you will receive eternal life, we simply have to
believe.
The work Jesus has done is the grace given to us by God. Jesus completed
the work of salvation. To have faith in Jesus means to believe in the work he
did. To rely on his work is to rest upon what he accomplished. We will receive
eternal life only by relying on the work of Jesus and going to him. People
believe in Jesus and yet fail to attain salvation because they do not believe
in his work while believing in him.
When asked, Do you believe in Jesus? some people
answer, Yes, I am a deaconess. When asked, Are you
confident about your going to heaven? they try to be humble and say, Well,
I am not worthy. I believe, but my faith falls short. They are saying
that they are not sure because they do not have enough faith. Does this mean
that the work of Jesus is not good enough to send them to heaven, or that their
merits are still short? This means after all that their own merits are not
enough.
They say, Others attend early morning prayers, but I am too
lazy to do so. I sometimes skip Sunday service because I have to keep my store
open. I am too stingy to make tithing. I am unable to live by the Bible,
either. Sometimes, I even tell lies. So I do believe, but my faith is short.
In short, they are not confident about their eternal destination because their
faith is not strong enough. This, however, is not humility.
To say, not enough means there being something rather
than nothing, though not in the amount that will merit the heaven. Is that
something faith? Although they call it faith, its essence is work. Talks of
sufficiency and deficiency only apply when reckoning with work. Hence, not
having enough faith can only mean not having accumulated enough merit through
their own work.
Of course, our merits fall short. We need a hundred points to go to
heavenly kingdom, and yet how many points do you have? I only have
fifteen. I raised it to thirty through early morning prayers, vigils, singing
hymns, and making donations in the last spring revival, and then lost about
twenty points while selling ice in the summer. Again, in the autumn revival, I
repented deeply and gained thirty-five points, and then lost twenty points or
so while selling sweet potatoes in the winter. I am surely unworthy.
Of course, we are lacking, to the extent of going to hell.
In light of the Bible, how many points have we scored so far for
heavenly admission? Zero. Then, how many for hell? One hundred. We have a
perfect score to go to hell. So we do not need more wrongdoings for admission
to hell.
Sometimes we are good and feel as if heaven is beckoning us, and
sometimes we turn evil and feel as if we are summoned by hell. This is to trust
our own self in reality while trusting Jesus in words, for the one who turns
good or evil is we. We are relying on what we have done rather than what Jesus
has done.
To believe in his work is to believe in what Jesus has done in order to
pay for my sin. It is entirely irrelevant how serious a sinner I am, how much
sin I have committed, or how well I have practiced the law before God. Since I
am a transgressor, the key is what Jesus has done to liberate me. Our being
able to see the work he did is God's grace for us. Salvation comes through this
realization. What, then, has Jesus done in order to save us?
8. The Christ Came in Order to Take Away Our Sin
But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And
in him is no sin (1 John 3:5).
Jesus came to this world in order to remove our sin. Coming to save
sinners is to come to remove their sins. Because we are judged and sent to hell
because of sin, Jesus has to root out our sin if he is to save us.
Then, how can he remove our sin? Just with God's boundless love? Not so.
This would ruin God's justice. Sin must be paid for. Until then, sin cannot be
resolved.
Can a criminal under death sentence be released from execution by making
a sincere and serious plea? How about if he says that he will perform many good
actions and pay for his crime? It will not work. As his crime and punishment
has been determined by the law, if the criminal is to live, there has to be a
law of substitution, according to which someone else can take the punishment on
his behalf.
In principle, the punishment must be suffered by the one who committed
the crime, for only this way, will justice be served. Hence, the sentence has
been announced, and the offender has no way to avoid it. He is to die. However,
if human beings, created in God's image for the sake of divine glory, go to
hell through sin, God's justice may be served, and yet God's love will crumble,
and His plan of creation fail. God's justice does not allow any exception to
the rule that sin be paid for. On the other hand, God's love cannot bear to see
a sinner being punished. Therefore, God has promulgated a law that serves both
justice and love. This is the law of substitution, whereby the payment for the
sin is made vicariously. A criminal sentenced to death can keep his life if
someone else can die in his place. From such a consideration, God has
established the law of substitution.
For instance, suppose that someone failed his business and filed for bankruptcy
for a debt worth around one billion won. He has to go to prison because he
cannot repay it. What must be done if he is to be set free? If some rich
relatives or acquaintances of his can pay it on his behalf, he will be
released. Likewise, the law of substitution says that death, which is the price
of sin payable to God, can be suffered by someone else. The one who dies in
substitution will do away with all liabilities. Since the wage of sin
is death, there is no other way to resolve it than through death.
I heard that such a law has been used in the past. Suppose that someone
who has a friend sentenced to death comes to a judge and says, Sir,
please let me die in his place. His family has no way to make their living once
he dies. I am single, and I am deeply indebted to him. I want to repay the debt
of love owed to him by dying in his place. Please allow me. If the
judge approves his vicarious death, then the sentenced criminal will not have
to die. The judge can say, A friend of this criminal has offered his
life for execution on behalf of the criminal. So he is now free. This
release is fair. The law God has prepared for us allows vicarious death. This
way, God establishes his justice and fulfills his love at the same time.
If Jesus, who came to save sinners, is to take
away our sin, obviously he must be free of sin. A sinner cannot take
over the sin of another, just as one inmate sentenced to execution cannot die
in place of another such inmate and set the latter free. Hence, the one to die
for our (sinner's) sake has to be innocent.
To say that a righteous person dies and pays for another's sin implies
that forgiveness of sin requires a payment of life. Sacrifice of life is death
and bloodshed.
Just as it has been God's law ever since Genesis that the price of sin
is death (you will surely die), it is God's law that without
the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (of sin). (Heb. 9:22) By
saying, For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given
it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that
makes atonement for one's life, Leviticus 17:11 explains that blood is
life. In other words, when a living being sheds blood and dies, this blood pays
for the sin. Today, scholars also say that life of the body, whether of human
beings or animals, resides in the blood.
The Israelites in the Old Testament Age sacrificed animals as a sin
offering in order to expiate their sins of violating the law. For this many
lambs, goats, and calves were slaughtered. They killed a clean animal without
defect, sprinkled its blood over the alter of atonement, and prayed to God,
thereby making atonement for their sins.
They laid the burden of human sin upon these animals and killed
them-sins of idol worship, murder, disobeying parents, adultery, theft, and so
forth. They could be forgiven by sprinkling their blood and praying to God.
Such a sacrifice was a part of the law imposed upon Israelites. Can human sin
be washed away through animal's death, however?
The sacrifice of sin offering did not have true effect. An animal cannot
die in place of human beings, nor can animal blood wash away human sin. It
is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
(Heb. 10:4) If animal blood is unable to wipe out human sin, then why did God
command them to make the sacrifice?
Although it was not a true sacrifice, it was a ceremony performed under
the promise that a real sacrifice would be made in the future. The Bible says, The
gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the
worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial
washings-external regulations applying until the time of the new order,
(Heb 9:9, 10) and, The law is only a shadow of the good things that
are coming... (Heb. 10:1)
We can find an example of this in business. When a dealer buys goods to
sell, he normally issues bills of debt in lieu of the cash payment because the
dealer must sell these goods before having the money to pay. The bill says that
the money will be paid at a certain time. A bill is not cash, and yet it is a
promise that will work like cash when the time comes.
Of course, a bill may be dishonored because it is a human arrangement.
The bill issuer may go bankrupt or deliberately engage in a bill fraud. In that
case, the bill turns into garbage, and the trust of the bill bearer breaks
down. This is an unusual case, however, and normally a bill is money of the
promise that will be fulfilled on the due date. Moreover, because of the trust,
it works like cash even at present. The bill bearer may cash it through a bill
discount or use it to make a payment. This is possible because the promised
money will be paid when the bill is due.
Likewise, the animal sacrifice was not a true sacrifice, but worked
because it was God's promise. It had been God's promise that worked like a bill
until the true sacrifice was offered by Jesus.
If we are to be absolved of our sin, a person must die in our place.
Since the descendants of Adam are all sinners, however, some righteous person
outside the fallen lineage must offer his life. So God prepared a sinless
person outside the lineage of Adam. This is Jesus Christ. But you know
that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin
700 years before the coming of Jesus, God promised through the prophet
Isaiah, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin
will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
(Isa. 7:14) The one born from a virgin was also the offspring
of the woman promised by God before the fall of Adam and Eve. Since the
descendants of Adam are all sinners, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in
the virgin's womb in order to be born as a sinless human being. God borrowed
the virgin Mary's womb for ten months and called him sinless because he was not
a descendant of Adam.
Many people ridicule this by saying, What a baloney! How can a
baby be conceived without a man? For they cannot comprehend the
immaculate conception from their own experiences. But God can make it happen.
Is God unable to cause a virgin conceive a baby?
God created the universe and life from nothing. We do not even fully
understand the information contained in one of the seventy trillion cells
making up the human body. Did I put in that information, or my parents? If we
stop thinking from human viewpoint and consider God's standpoint, what is
impossible becomes simply possible.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own
way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53:6).
Ever since Adam, everyone has been a sheep lost from God. Just as a lost
sheep becomes powerless and wonders around aimlessly, we, lost from God, have
been wondering around on the road to ruin. We have followed the greed of the
fallen body, but God has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all, a sin that we
have been committing through a reckless life away from God.
What we should take note in the above verse is that it is God who loaded
our sins upon Jesus. This did not happen because of our desperate plea, Lord,
please atone for our sin. Because of such and such sins, we will all perish
unless you help, nor because we confessed all our evil-doings and
begged for forgiveness. Would our sins disappear just because we make a
confession, when not a tiny iota of it can be taken away even by a full
exertion of human religiosity?
Some revivalists say that we must confess our sins in order for Jesus to
carry them away. When no work can help, however, of what use is confession, and
is there anyone capable of confessing all his vice? Sins are committed
knowingly, unknowingly, in action, and in heart. Even failing to do good
constitutes sin. Can we remember even one-hundredth, or one-thousandth of them?
No one can ever confess all his sin.
Even before we confess our sin, however, God knows all about us. Even
before their birth, God knew about the birth of all the people. He also knew
that they would be born as sinners, commit such and such sins, and go to hell
because of these sins. Since God transcends time, he knows all these things.
The omniscient God has had Jesus bear our sin in transcendence of time,
that is, even the sins of the future as well as those committed so far. The
LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
If God has laid our iniquity on Jesus, then who is to suffer the
retribution of sin? Of course, Jesus is. God should certainly impose the
judgment upon Jesus, and he ought to take it voluntarily.
Let us say that someone has failed his business and incurred a debt of a
half million dollars. Since he has no way of paying even the interest, not to
mention the principal, he is tormented every day. Concluding that there is no
way out, he decides to commit suicide. Somebody finds out about this, however,
and offers to pay his debt. He says to the creditor, I will pay the
half million dollars, and please write a receipt in his name and
clears the debt.
Then, the debtor has no more liability. It is the payer of the debt that
is subject to whatever setback may ensue, and the debtor has been liberated
from its burden. Likewise, since God commissioned Jesus to take over our sin,
the judgment was transferred to Jesus from us. For God decided to receive the
payment for our sin from Jesus.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are
healed (Isa. 53:5).
The crown of thorns on Jesus' head scratched his face, and the whip
slashed his entire body. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross, and he
was pierced on the side, pouring out blood and water. The Bible says that his
stabbing wounds were on account of our iniquities and defects. My sin stabbed
and wounded Jesus, and my sin killed him.
God laid our sin upon Jesus and struck him with the whip of judgment. We
are the ones who deserve the whip, and yet Jesus took it on our behalf, and his
taking the whip has healed us. In other words, because he took over the
judgment that originally belongs to us, we have become released from the
liability of judgement.
At that time, under the rule of the Roman Empire ,
there was a capital punishment that nailed the criminal to the cross alive.
When an offender was sentenced to an execution by cross, on the eve of
execution soldiers stripped him naked, tied him to a pillar, and whipped him.
Two soldiers struck in turn with a leather whip that had a horn or metal at the
end, and it tore apart the offender's skin. Sometimes weak people died out of
pain during the whipping.
Jesus took that whip. God struck Jesus with the whip of judgment that
originally belongs to us sinners. His stabbing wounds were on account of our
sin, and this has set us free from the judgment. This prophecy through Isaiah
had been given 700 years before the coming of Jesus, and he came to fulfill
that prophecy.
Now, there is something we should stop and think about. Some people say,
If God wants to save us, why can he not simply go ahead, for God has
the power to do everything He wills, and there would be no one to oppose or
criticize Him anyway? Why does He not say 'I will save you' with His absolute
authority? Why does He have to go through such an ordeal to erase our sin,
making His only Son carry the burden and leading him to death with whip and the
cross? Why does he not cancel our sin unconditionally?
True, God is omnipotent, and He has created and governs all things with
word. I, however, have discovered one amazing thing in the Bible: there is
something even the omnipotent God cannot accomplish with word alone.
As far as salvation of sinners is concerned, God cannot achieve it
simply with word. This God cannot do at discretion. Otherwise, would He have
had to sacrifice His only Son? What if God could forgive our sin just with His
word?
Then, God's justice and furthermore dignity and honor would be seriously
undermined, for not only will God have infringed His own law, but also
tolerated sin. The law has authority only when it is strictly enforced; if used
according to convenience, it may as well not exist at all. If some powerful
person applies the law at his own discretion, this would be another form of
violence. From the standpoint of the weak, who would say that the law is just?
9. God's Justice and God's Love
The Bible reveals two important attributes of God. One is justice, as in
the verse, LORD is a God of justice, (Isa. 30:18) and the
other
is love, as it says, God is love. (1 John 4:16) God
has two attributes, which are justice and love.
God's justice has manifested itself through the law, and the law
expresses God's justice. Love, on the other hand, appears as grace. Although
every one of us is doomed to perish as a transgressor before God's justice,
that is, the law, any transgressor can be forgiven and saved through God's
love. The justice and love are each complete in itself.
If God were only just and not loving, nobody would receive salvation,
and all of us would be put to judgement and eternal doom. On the other hand, if
God were only loving and not just, He would be able to save us without
condition. Of course, Jesus would not have had to offer his life on the cross.
Since God's justice and love complete each other, however, one cannot be
ignored for the sake of the other. Rather, they must work together in harmony.
If God of justice judged and decimated the mankind, where would God of
love be? This would only destroy God's love. On the other hand, if God of love
tolerated and forgave sinners unconditionally, salvation may be accomplished,
and yet God's justice would become completely violated. Then, there would arise
a contradiction within God's nature, which is inadmissible. Justice and love
must be realized together.
For instance, suppose that someone is taken to the court after
committing a crime, and he happens to be a son of the presiding judge. The
audience watches with acute concern how the trial will proceed. The judge
starts questioning the accused: What is your name? I
am so and so. Then the judge realizes that it is his son. If the
defendant says, Father, it's me. Please forgive me, and the
judge says, OK, my son, I will take care of it, then will
this be a fair trial?
If the judge were to remit his punishment, saying, You are free
because you are my son, would the audience accept it, perhaps out of
sympathy, and say, It is unfair but understandable because blood is
thicker than the law? No. They will immediately rise up in riot,
shouting, Kick out that judge. We cannot entrust him with the law.
Powerless people may follow the law, and yet justice is already shattered.
The judge and the accused are related under justice, while the father
and the son are related in love. The latter relationship means nothing in the
court, however, for they are facing each other as the law, rather than the
blood, defines who they are. What matters is what punishment is pronounced
against the offence. Even if the son says, Father, it's me,
the judge will have to turn a clod face and advance the trial: The
defendant shall keep silent and only answer the question. What is your name?
Yes, sir. My name is so and so. Have you
committed the crime you are accused of? If the defendant acknowledges
it, or there is a clear evidence, the judge will pronounce the appropriate
sentence according to the law. Suppose the judge says, Pursuant to the
so and so Paragraph and Article of the so and so Criminal Act, the defendant is
sentenced to so and so imprisonment or fine. Then, the audience will
cheer the trial and respect the judge as a man of justice.
The son thus went to the prison. Because he could not afford to pay the
fine, he had to live in prison for so many years. The justice had been served.
Then the judge visited the criminal, this time as his father. The father asked
the son, You wretched soul, what have you done? The son
repented and answered him, Father, I am sorry. I am really sorry.
Please forgive me. I will never do this again.
Then the father said, It's OK. You are my son, anyway. I will
try to get the money for the fine. He gathered up all the money and
even sold his house, and paid the fine on behalf of the son. Thus, the son was
released; the father's sacrificial efforts liberated him. This way, father's
love has been realized. This is how justice and love are both fulfilled as each
of them should be.
I will provide another example - an incident that is said to be real. A
king announced a strict law over the entire country, declaring that any
transgressor thereof would lose both of their eyes. Unfortunately, however, the
one who broke the law first was the prince. He was then brought to the king in
chain. The king decreed, Take out his eyes as prescribed in the law.
King's officers prostrated themselves and begged the king, however, saying, Your
majesty, he is the only prince to inherit the kingdom. Please pardon him.
But the king insisted, It is impossible. The law cannot be
compromised, even for the prince. Take out his eyes, now.
The officers then tied up the prince and took out one of his eyes. As
they moved on to the second eye, the king exclaimed, Stop. Spare the
other eye, and take one of mine instead. The father did not want to
see his son go blind. But who would dare to touch the king's eyes? The officers
prostrated again and said, Your majesty, it is impossible.
Then the king took out one of his own eyes himself with a gimlet. The officers
could not say, It is impossible when the king was doing it
himself.
It was justice to take out the eye in accordance with the law, while it
was love for the king to take out his own eye, although it would have been a
complete love had the king offered both of his eyes. Once declared, the law is
absolute even for its promulgator. Even now, the law applies equally both to
the legislators and judicial officers. God is a just legislator and judge.
Collapse of God's justice would mean the loss of His authority and honor.
The justice of God says, The wage of sin is death,
while His love says, Someone can die in your place. It is
love for a righteous person to die for a sinner. Hence, the crucifixion of
Jesus means a complete fulfillment of both justice and love of God. It is
justice that sin must be paid for by death, and it is love that God's only Son
has died for our sin. The cross represents a simultaneous realization of God's
justice and God's love.
10. The Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look,
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
As John the Baptist said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world! Jesus came to the world in order to fulfill the
promise of the Old Testament. Look at the lamb of God, carrying the
sin of the world! (Hymn)
Look! To believe is to see. When we see Jesus through
the Bible, he is a lamb of atonement prepared by God and upon whom God has laid
the iniquity of the world. The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
all. The lamb of God died on the cross with the sin of the world. In
order to fulfill God's will to save sinners, Jesus was slaughtered as a lamb.
When Jesus was carrying the burden of sin, did it include the sins of
you and me? Of course, it did. Whether I know this or not, that is how God
arranged it. Whether I acknowledge or believe it or not, Jesus took upon
himself my sin, for the burden he carried included the sins of the entire
mankind. When I came to Jesus in sorrow and toil, Jesus took over my
burden. His love became a joy in my heart. He took over my sin. He took over my
sin. (Hymn)
I came to Jesus with a turbulent heart, but when listened to him, I saw
that he had already carried my sin away as well as sins of all of us. This holy
person became a lump of sin, and where did he go with that sin? He carried the
cross and went to Golgotha , the field of
execution, in order to take the punishment. For the sin could not be expiated
without a penalty of death.
As I explained earlier, Jesus was subjected to all kinds of abuse and
contempt the previous night, and on the day of execution he personally carried
the cross and was taken to the execution field. Because of the torture of the
previous night and the heavy cross and merciless whips of the Roman soldiers on
the way, he stumbled over and over while walking up the hill of Golgotha. His
face was covered with blood exuding from the wounds of the crown of thorns.
I remember how painful thorns can be. When I was traveling through Israel , the
tourist bus driver stopped the bus and pointed to a bramble. Its thorns looked
like that of a hardy-orange, but much sharper. Some of our company went out and
broke off a thorn. While I was also trying to break one off, a finger of mine
got stung and bled immediately. They made a crown out of such terrifying thorns
and put it upon Jesus, and the thorns were driven home into his head. Why was a
crown of thorns put on his head?
Genesis narrates that through the fall of Adam and Eve, the ground was
cursed to produce thorns and thistles (Gen. 3:17, 18). Therefore, by wearing
the crown of thorns, Jesus wore on his head the curse of sin incurred by human
beings. As Isaiah says that human thoughts are always evil (Isa. 59:7), the sin
committed by human brain placed the crown of thorns upon Jesus.
On the hill of Golgotha, Jesus was nailed in the hands and feet to the
cross he had carried. He was raised high between the heaven and earth and
between God and the people. The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
all, and Jesus took the punishment voluntarily. He took the cup of
death for the sake of God's glory, his own glory, and the glory of the heavenly
kingdom to be given to us.
The large nails pierced his holy hands because of the sins of our hands,
the nail penetrated his feet because of the sins of our feet, the spear pierced
his chest because of the sins of our hearts, and the whip struck, and the cross
lifted his body because of the sin of our bodies. In short, our iniquities
brought him to death.
He was crucified at nine in the morning and breathed his last at three
in the afternoon; for six hours, he suffered extreme pain and insult. He seems
to have died a bit early because of the torture he had received the previous
night. With the final word, It is finished, (John 19:30) he
dropped his head and breathed his last.
When a Roman soldier stabbed his side with a spear from underneath, his
heart was punctured, and the remaining blood and water gushed out. At
that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The
earth shook and the rocks split. (Mat. 27:51) The Bible relates that
this terrified a Roman centurion into saying, Surely he was the Son of
God! (Mat. 27:54) If I had been there, what would I have said?
Two thieves were crucified next to Jesus, while Jesus was placed in the
middle because he was considered the heaviest offender. His face under the
crown of thorns was being washed with blood. Blood was streaming from his hands
and feet, torn by the nails and bodily weight, from wounds of the whip, and
from the chest pierced by the spear. The ground below the cross was a puddle of
blood.
Had you been there to watch the scene, you must have thought, Ah,
truly miserable. What kind of crime had he committed that he had to die like
this? What was the crime? won't you? Did Jesus have a crime? The Bible
says, In him is no sin. He is the one who has said, Can
any of you prove me guilty of sin? (John 8:46) Then why did he have to
die such a gruesome death? Whose sin did he atone for? For the sin of the
sinful, that is, for my sin.
The miserable shape of Jesus on the cross is my own shape; that is how
wretched I am as a sinner before God. So I do not have to try hard to see how
wretched a sinner I am because I can just bring up the image of Jesus on the
cross. His image is my own image under punishment; this is how frightening my
curse of sin is before God. Although I am the one who must suffer such a
dreadful curse and punishment, God imposed it upon Jesus instead of me. All the
curse and judgment belonging to us was taken over by Jesus.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man
someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in
this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:7, 8).
He was crucified with all my sin. Why? What a grace! His love
is boundless. (Hymn) The death of Jesus for sinners like me fulfilled
God's love to save us. The cross completely fulfilled both justice and love of
God.
11. One Died for All
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for
all, and therefore all died (2 Cor. 5:14).
Here, the one, of course, means Jesus. If Jesus died
for all, then does this include you and me? God has included us. He
(Jesus Christ) is the atoning sacrifice (propitiation - KJV) for our sins, and
not only for ours (Christians) but also for the sins of the whole world.
(1 John 2:2)
The one person Jesus died for all. The holy one, and not an ordinary
person, received punishment on our behalf. This is the love of the Christ for
us. When there is someone who has died for us, is it right that we go on
without knowing him? If the one person Jesus died for all, and therefore all
died, then did we die or not before God? We are all sinners deserving death,
and when Jesus died, we died with him. God made a law that allows a righteous
person to expiate others' sins, and offered Jesus for the sake of the
substitution.
On the way to the execution field, Jesus did not complain about the
injustice; instead, he declared, No one takes it from me, but I lay it
down of my own accord. (John 10:18) In other words, he did not die
from injustice but voluntarily in order to remit our sins in accordance with
the law. And through his death, we have been judged and died as sinners before
God.
Some people may say, How can one person die for all?
So let us reflect on this. Through how many people's sins have we become
sinners? Through the one person Adam, the first human ancestor. Through his
sin, Adam first became a transgressor before God, and then the entire
descendants of his. As we learned earlier that sin entered the world
through one man, the result of one trespass was condemnation
for all men. (Rom. 5:18) In consequence, we are all sinners in Adam
from the very birth.
God chose Adam as the representative of the mankind. As a result, Adam's
becoming a sinner rendered the entire mankind sinners, and Adam's being
expelled drove away the entire mankind from God. In short, One person's destiny
determined the destiny of all. Just as we were not born by choice, we have
become sinners not by choice but by the sinful lineage, and commit sin not by
choice but by being a sinner.
Therefore, it would be unjust if, under such circumstances, we were to
be judged and sentenced to hell with no assistance. In that case, we might even
wage a demonstration in hell, saying, God, this is not fair!
or Go away, God. So God prepared a measure to eliminate the
unfairness.
The measure was sending one representative like Adam, and this was
Jesus. 1 Cor 15 refers to Adam as first man Adam, and Adam
means a human being. It then calls Jesus last Adam. Just as
the first Adam represents the mankind, so does Jesus, the last Adam. Adam is
the representative who sinned, and Jesus is the representative who has made
amends for the sin. This is why it says, one died for all, and
therefore all died. Just as God included all the mankind in Adam when
we became sinners, God placed the sin of all the mankind in Jesus, who is an
Adam, and put him under judgment.
Without even knowing, we have become sinners in Adam, and again
unknowingly our sins were resolved in Jesus. This was God's arrangement, and
for whatever reason God did this, we do not have to argue about it. At any
rate, whereas we had been born sinners and living sinful lives in Adam, our
sins have been expiated in Jesus. Adam's destiny was over at this point, and
this is why Jesus is called the last Adam. All the sins of Adam and the
consequent penalties have been cancelled at the cross of Jesus.
When Jesus was punished on our behalf by the suffering of the cross, are
we subject to punishment or not? We should be exempt from the punishment. When
Jesus took care of our retribution by death, if we still suffered another
penalty, then what good would be his blood? Did Jesus die meaninglessly? No. By
means of his blood, God has made our punishment or hell unnecessary. This is
explained in the Bible as the measure God has taken in order to save us.
12. Jesus Purified Our Sin
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of
his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided
purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven
(Heb. 1:3).
The utterance of Jesus at the final moment of death, It is
finished, means completion, accomplishment, or paying off; it meant
that Jesus completed the payment for the sin and thereby the work of saving
sinners. Jesus, after he had provided purification for sins,
resurrected and ascended to the heaven and sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty in heaven Jesus shed his blood in order to make the
substitution for our sin, and rose from the dead and ascended to the heaven in
order to have us believe in our complete absolution. As we pay tax and get a
receipt as a payment certificate, the resurrection is a certificate of the
expiation of our sin.
The resurrected Jesus appeared to his disciples. Showing his hands and
feet, he blessed them, saying, Peace be with you. (Luke
24:36) By this he meant that they could rest in peace because their sins had
been pardoned by God. Suppose that someone went into a heavy debt without any
means to repay it, and another person appears and says to him, I have
paid off your debt. Look at this receipt and the seal. If this is
certain, then the debtor will be able to rest in peace. Notwithstanding the
remark, 'There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked,'
(Isa. 57:21) Jesus has liberated us from the retribution of sin and brought us
peace by finishing the work of redemption.
The Old Testament is God's promise to forgive our sin, and the New
Testament the certificate of its extirpation. Jesus stamped on the promise with
his blood, and with the Holy Spirit put his seal in the hearts of those who
accept it. Without expiating our iniquity, Jesus would not have been able to
rise from the dead; hence, his resurrection is a proof of the forgiveness of
our sin and God's acceptance of the sacrifice of atonement.
After his ascendance Jesus is alive as a witness for us before God. He
testifies to the expiation of our sin, saying, God, look at this
blood. I have shed it and died for the sake of this individual,
whereupon God says, It is good. What is the Bible? It is
another receipt given to us that records the fact of atonement.
There is a hymn line: I have received many proofs for faith in
Jesus. Then what are these proofs? These are the Scriptures
that testify about me... (John 5:39) The Bible, which bears witness to
the works of Jesus, is a receipt God has given us, and when we come to believe
in Jesus, we receive it as a proof.
The blood of my Lord is so pure. The Lord has purified my sin
and beckons me. (Hymn 186) Which is right, the Lord will purify or has
purified my sin? The Lord has purified my sin. Is he
beckoning me in order to purify my sin or because he has purified all my sin?
He is asking us to believe that he has cleansed our sin.
Our sins are not removed because of our faith, however. For what merit
does faith have? Before our having faith, God was already paid by Jesus the
price of our sin, which cleared all our debts of sin. Jesus is asking us to
believe this. The blood that purified me contains much love.
(Hymn) Jesus purified me; his blood cleansed me whiter than the snow.
(Hymn)
As the Scripture says, Do not call anything impure that God has
made clean, (Acts 10:15) can we call ourselves impure
when Jesus has purified us with his blood? Whether we believe it or not, this
is a fact already realized by God.
13. Eternal Redemption and Complete Salvation
Christ... went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is
not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by
means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once
for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:11,12).
The Israelites in the Old Testament Age offered a sacrifice of atonement
with lambs, goats, or calves. This, as we considered earlier, is like issuing a
bill of debt. They believed in Jesus by beholding him from afar. But we cannot
keep receiving just bills. Just as the bill must be turned in for cash when it
is due, Jesus as the substance of sacrifice had to come in place of the goats
and calves.
Hence, Jesus came and completed at once the eternal sacrifice of
atonement with his own precious blood like a lamb without blemish, rather than
with animal bloods. Jesus achieved eternal redemption that is effective in
transcendence of time, from the beginning to the end of human history, and entered
the Most Holy Place once for all.
Redemption means that Jesus has atoned for our sin, through which we
have been forgiven of our sin before God. I sing hymns in great peace
because I am redeemed through the blood of Jesus the lamb. Oh, redemption.
Jesus has redeemed me. (Hymn 189) Jesus has made the substitution for
us, and there is no more amends to be made for our sin. In other words, God has
so arranged that we no more have to fear God because of our sin.
The blood of Jesus has purified the sins of all the people to come after
him until the end of the human history, not to mention those of the people
before Jesus. Through Jesus, God has absolved the entire mankind, from Adam to
the last person to be born; in short, Jesus has achieved eternal atonement.
The biblical meaning of eternity is twofold: one simply refers to a long
time or history, and the other infinity, which continues without beginning or
end. We have time distinctions, talking about a few thousand years before and a
few thousand years after. God, however, does not have such a thing. In the
heavenly kingdom there will be no clocks of calendars; there, we will enter the
eternity with God.
God is eternal. The eternal God started human history. We can say that
human history is a result of carving out and unfolding a fringe of the world of
eternity, which is like a circle. The history thus started will some day come
to an end, and eternity will resume. Hence, the history including the lives of
you and me is nothing but an intermission between eternities. From God's point
of view, the time of Adam's birth and time of the world's end are but one. Time
is long only from human point of view, and even a long time is but an instant
for God.
The eternal atonement is possible from such a viewpoint of God's. By
offering for all time one sacrifice for sins, Jesus has made
us perfect forever (Heb. 10:12, 14) because all our sins have
been forgiven by God eternally and completely. This is effective in all ages
and for all human beings, and for an individual, over his past, present, and
future.
It is out of question that God has removed all our sins, committed from
birth until now. The people of the Old Testament Age believed that their sins
would be forgiven, and we believe that ours have already been. We, however, may
commit sins again as we live on because our living bodies may err or
transgress. Although we may vow never to slip again, we may still repeat our
evil ways regardless of our determination. So what happens to our misdeeds in
the future? God has forgiven them as well.
Whose teaching is this? It would be a serious problem if you say, It
is pastor Lee's teaching because this is explained by God in the
Bible. The Bible is testifying to this, and God takes responsibility for what
the Bible says. God's word that Jesus has obtained eternal redemption
never changes, nor does God's promise. Because it is eternal atonement, our
forgiveness also has eternal validity. God has absolved us of the sins of the
past, present, and future. What I can say for eternity is that it is
only through the blood of Jesus. Also our purification is only through his
blood. (Hymn)
After preaching for two years, I realized that I still had not been born
again. I was deeply tormented by the thought that I would go to hell after
death. Although I had heard over and over again and also preached that Jesus
had died for us, my eyes had been still closed to the gospel.
I was quite grateful for Jesus to have offered his life, but I could not
rest in peace. I even had a thought, Wait. Jesus died almost 2,000
years ago, and his blood dried up. Then what does this have to do with me now?
although I did not express it in words. This made me feel that the death of
Jesus was one thing, and my agony was another. In short, I could never understand
what the death of Jesus meant for me. I kept wondering, What does
Jesus, who died almost 2,000 years ago, have to do with me? This may
sound strange, but I believed and yet could not believe. Jesus died, and yet I
was still suffering on the other side. Can you understand this predicament?
We go to church, professing a faith in Jesus, but we still feel stifled
and troubled in the heart because of our trespass. We keep shedding tears of
repentance in the church, asking, Lord, what shall I do? We
believe, and yet we cannot believe. What is the reason for this? It is that we
have not clearly realized what effect the blood of Jesus has on us.
Amid this confusion, at 8 p.m., on October 30, 1962, the verse, He
did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the
Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal
redemption fell on my ears and struck me to the bone. That night, I
saw the verse for the first time. Although I had read the New Testament for
about fifty times and Old Testament thirty times just during my seminary years,
still that night was the first time I had ever seen that special verse. As
there is a saying that beans are stuck in the eyes, I had not been able to see
it because of the blockage in my eyes. We do not see the Bible just because we
have eyes, but only when God opens our eyes with spiritual wisdom.
Hearing the word that he entered the Most Holy Place once for
all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption and he is
still living as my guarantor, I exclaimed, That's right! Now I am
well. That night, I truly believed for the first time the word that my
sin had been eternally erased. The cross, the cross. When I beheld it
for the first time, it removed the great affliction in my heart.
(Hymn) That night, I saw the cross of Jesus for the first time, and became rid
of the torment of sin in my heart. I believed today, and my eyes
opened; my joy is eternal. (Hymn) How delighted I was! Jesus made an
eternal atonement for my sin! I pinched myself to see if it was a dream or
real. Ah, this is real!
For a criminal sentenced to execution, death is imminent. When his
inmate number is called, it may his last day. If the call, however, is for
special amnesty, he will keep his life. In our society, some prisoners are
released through a special presidential pardon. If their pardon is a real one,
the inmates will jump with joy. They will want to dance around on the way out
of the prison gate.
That night, I was so happy that I was not even aware that what I was
experiencing was salvation or rebirth. I was certain about one thing, however:
my sin had been eternally removed. I sang and sang the hymn 189, which goes, I
sing, shattering the doubts filling my mind and in a deep peace, for I am
forgiven through the blood of the lamb. Oh, the atoning grace! Jesus has atoned
for my sin. Of course, I had sung it before. During revivals, I
clapped hard and sang it with doubts filling my mind and in a deep
frustration. It had been a song outwardly, but a lamentation inwardly.
Whereas I had sung it with doubts filling my mind and in a deep
frustration, now I was singing it, shattering the doubts filling my mind and in
a deep peace. The third verse goes, I surely believe I am forgiven
through the blood of the lamb, and the second verse, Not
through such perishables as gold or silver, but through the blood of the lamb
of holy God. I sang and sang, and still wanted to sing again. I knew
that I could not go to hell any more because I had no sin, which associated me
with hell, and I could only go to the heavenly kingdom. How grateful, how
grateful I was!
I understood later that this was salvation and rebirth. It has been
thirty-six years since that experience, but the joy is still fresh every day.
There is no greater wonder in the entire Bible. What can be more amazing than
the fact that God's only Son gave himself to the cross, shed blood, and
eternally atoned for our sins? What can be added to the blood?
Some people object, Although Jesus atoned for us, this is not
enough to qualify us for the heavenly kingdom. We need to understand something
more. And some insist that despite the atonement of Jesus, we must
complete our salvation with good deeds. Is this true? Do we have to add
something to Jesus' blood in order to complete the salvation? What can we add
to his work? Can we dare to add anything from us to the merit of his blood?
The blood of Jesus released us from sin and uplifted us as children of
God. Although I am not worthy, I rely on his blood to be able to pray to and go
to God. His blood is enough from the beginning to the end, not only for freeing
us from the destiny to hell but also for bringing us to the heavenly kingdom.
It is not in order to add any support for our heavenward journey but out
of boundless joy and gratitude that after our salvation we strive to obey God
and live and even die for Jesus. There is truly no other reason than the joy
and gratitude. Anyone who insists that we need to add something to the blood of
Jesus is sure to be a liar.
Salvation cannot be achieved except through eternal atonement. In other
words, if only the sins of the past are atoned for and not those to be
committed in the future, salvation cannot materialize. For without an expiation
of the future sins, what if I stumble again after being absolved? Since the
wage of sin is death, new sins will nullify all the atonement made so
far. So if the atonement is only for the sins up to the present, we will have
to die immediately after the atonement lest we slip into wickedness again and
lose the ticket to heaven.
If this is inadmissible, then Jesus will have to die over and over again
in order to take care of our failures after salvation. Concerning this, the
Scripture says, Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and
again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood
that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the
creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the
ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb. 9:25, 26)
If the blood of Jesus were unable to make an eternal atonement, Jesus
would have to die repeatedly just as they slaughtered the lambs continuously in
the Old Testament Time. Jesus, however, offered himself as the sacrifice of
atonement once and for all, putting it into effect for the eternity. Jesus
appeared at the end of the world in order to remove sin eternally by dying
once, and this has concluded the judgement. The cross put an end to the sins of
the Old and New Testament people. It is finished at once for eternity, and this
is the eternal atonement.
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb. 10:10) God willed to
pardon us through the death of Jesus, and following this will, Jesus sacrificed
his own body and made us holy. To be holy means to be sinless.
Through computers, we can see criminal records of offenders. They hang
around shamelessly, but if their records show on their faces, would they be
able to do so? What if someone's criminal records are erased through some
special policy, and the computers shows a clean record for him, however? Then
how joyful he must be! Likewise, God has removed our records of sin kept with
God.
If we commit a crime, although it may be a human affair, it is brought
to God. Because this constitutes a violation of God's law, God must forgive
them, and human forgiveness will have no meaning. If we are to be forgiven, our
sin must be completely removed before God. To say that we are made holy does
not mean that our hearts and lives have become holy; in other words, it does
not mean that sin is removed from us, but removed before God. Have you attained
holiness? You can put yourself in the phrase, We are made holy,
and say, I am made holy. God has purified my sin that is
recorded with God.
Again, the reason why we fail to reach salvation despite our faith in
the death of Jesus is that we do not believe in eternal sacrifice and
atonement-because we believe in the blood only partially. Only eternal
atonement can bring eternal forgiveness, and only eternal atonement can bring
eternal salvation. The gospel is complete. You can substitute your name for the
so and so in the following statement: Only for the
sake of the sin of so and so, did Jesus Christ offer one eternal sacrifice and
sit on the right hand of God. God will not find fault with the
statement.
When asked, Whom did Jesus die for? some people say, for
the sake of the sin of the whole world. When asked the same question
again, they answer, For the sins of all people. When asked
the same question once more, they say, For us. Now, when
asked, How about your own sin? they answer, I am
deeply troubled for my sin. They know the world, all people, and we,
and yet forget about their own self. While they are focused on themselves in
grabbing things of the world, they omit themselves in talking about salvation.
My sin is forgiven. My sin is forgiven. Through the blood shed
by the Lord, My sin is forgiven. (Hymn) Faith believes that the
substitution performed by Jesus has atoned for my sin along with that of the
world. Faith makes one-to-one connection between me and Jesus. I will take an
example. At night, all the houses were lighted up except for one. The owner of
this house called the energy company and asked, Why aren't you sending
electricity just to our house? It is dark here. The company replied, It
cannot be. Electricity goes to all houses. The conversation continued:
No. We didn't get it here. Please send it quickly. Did
you turn on the switch? What is switch? Turn
on the switch, please.
Later on, the house owner called the company again: Hello. I
climbed up the pole, shaking the cables and banging on the pole, and yet no
light comes on. Don't you know what a switch is? It is a
little thing sticking out by the door. Flip that on. OK.
He turned on the switch, and the light came on. Wow! Why was
it so difficult to turn on the switch? When was the electricity invented, power
plants built, and electric cables connected to every house? He simply had to
flip the switch.
Having faith is just as easy as turning on the switch because it is to
believe what has been all accomplished. Faith is making an individual
connection to what God has already achieved. It believes that not only has God
forgiven the sin of the world but also my own sin.
14. God No More Remembers Our Sins and Lawless Acts
Then he adds: Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no
more. And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any
sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:17, 18).
The Bible says that Jesus has made a complete payment for sin. Then,
where is it that my sin is removed? Is it in my heart or in God's heart? Does
sin disappear from the heart of the forgiver or the forgiven? It is in the
heart of the forgiver that sin disappears. For instance, let us say that I hit
a boy very hard for almost no reason. I will forget it quickly, although I may
regret a little for having been so harsh. But this is like a sin to the boy
because he did not deserve it.
The boy will be living with a grudge and every time he sees me, he will
think, You beat me for nothing. Wait and see. When you get old and I
become a man, I will get back to you. In this case, where does the sin
reside? Not with me, but in the heart of the boy, and it will not disappear
until the boy forgives me in the heart. Just as sin disappears from the boy's
heart through his forgiveness, so must our sin be removed from God's heart, who
is the forgiver.
What is the reason why God does not remember their sins and
lawless acts? It is because these have been forgiven,
that is, God has forgiven our sins and lawless acts through the blood of Jesus.
This is a matter already completed. This is why it says that there is
no longer any sacrifice for sin. Sin and lawlessness do not vanish
without a sacrifice of the righteous, and God has received all His due from
Jesus. Therefore, there is no further need for a sacrifice of atonement.
Despite this explanation, there are still people who say, OK,
the Bible may say so, but I want to see if the sin is really removed.
After looking into themselves, they say, Well, I have the same filth
inside. They will find nothing within their hearts, however. The Bible
says, He who trusts in himself is a fool... (Pro. 28:26) Why
do they look into their hearts? Rather, we should believe in God's heart. Do
you see God's heart? This message of the Bible is God's heart. Look. Does His
heart not say that He no more remembers your transgression?
Suppose that I have wronged someone. This suffocates me, and every time
I see him, I become anxiously struck by the thought, What will he
think of me? He may put me into prison for that. So finally I decide
to visit him and confess, Sir, I have betrayed you a few years ago.
Please forgive me. I am here because I have been so agonized. Then he
says, What are you talking about? I have forgiven and forgotten it
long time ago.
Really? Is this true? Surely, it is.
Thank you, thank you. Then do I have to worry any further
about the wrongdoing? If he has forgiven it and taken it out of his mind, then
it is resolved. In this case, if someone comes and threatens me, saying, You
have wronged him. I will tell him to get even with you, or give me some money,
will this frighten me? What can scare me when I am already forgiven by him? I
would say, Go ahead, tell him. But upon hearing him, the
forgiver would say, You scoundrel, I have forgiven him, and it is all
resolved. Why are you making trouble with it? Go away.
The devil drives us into sin and accuses us, I will tell God
about it. God will not accept a wretch like you. You are not eligible for the
heavenly kingdom. But a believer of the word can say in confidence, You
devil! God has said that He no longer remembers my sin. The supreme judge has
acquitted me, not because He overlooked my offence but its penalty has been
paid pursuant to the law. So don't fuss around. God did not lie when
He said, I will remember no more.
What is faith? Was my sin not forgiven when Jesus, the only Son of God,
laid down his life for a sinner like me? Of course, it was. No matter how large
my sin is, the accomplishment of Jesus is even larger, and so is God's love.
Jesus' blood is more than enough to expiate my sin for eternity. God said that she
[Israel] has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. If
the debt was one billion won, two billion was paid, and if the debt was ten
billion won, twenty billion. In other words, our sins have been amply paid for.
Since God says that He will no more remember my sin, faith says, Yes.
Your word is truth. Thank you so much.
Even after listening to all the message of the Bible, some people still
wonder, But I heard that something hot comes to you when you believe.
Is there not something hot? Does the Bible say that we are saved by
believing and receiving something hot, however? Or do we need a hot experience
to be able to believe something? Suppose that a son has made some mistake for
his father, and begs for his forgiveness. The father forgives him, and yet the
son says, Although you say you will forgive me, I am still missing
something hot. Then the father will have to slap him in the face,
saying, I will make you hot. Now, I forgive you.
Why do we need something hot in addition to forgiveness? These days,
people tend to rely on strange things. The Bible is God's word and even God
himself. Although my eyes see no proof, and my ears hear no sound,
when I stand firm upon God's word, giving up my emotions, the incomplete
salvation will become complete, and what I hold will be held by the lord.
(Hymn) That is right. When we stand upon the word, without relying on emotions,
the incomplete salvation becomes complete. I believe, standing firm on
God's word that Jesus has redeemed me from sin. (Hymn) Where do we
stand firm and believe? On God's word. We simply have to believe the word of
the Scripture. This is faith.
Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through
the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17).
We just have to believe the word as it is. When the Bible says that God
has forgiven our sins, then He indeed has. Just because someone says, Jesus
has not atoned for my sin, is his sin not forgiven? Yes it is. When
the Bible declares that his sin is forgiven through the crucifixion of Jesus,
his sin indeed is, no matter how he responds to it. When God says that He will
no more remember the sin, then He indeed will not, and when He says that he has
absolved us eternally, then He indeed has.
Are you still not assured even with God's word? Those who still do not
believe this think of Jesus' blood as ditch water. Those who challenge, How
can his blood expiate my sin? think of God's word as a total lie.
While they recognize the graveness of their sin, they fail to understand the
immensity of the achievement of Jesus and God's love. The blood of Jesus is
more than enough to atone for our sins for eternity. To reject this love is the
greatest sin a human being can commit.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in
accordance with the riches of God's grace (Eph. 1:7)
In the Christ, in accordance with the riches of God's grace, that is,
the grace God gives without limit, and through the blood of Jesus, we have
attained redemption, which is the forgiveness of sins. It does not say that we
will receive it in the future; God has redeemed us already through the blood of
Jesus.
If you are asked at night, Is this night or day? or Do
you believe that it is night? you will surely answer, It is
night, or Yes I do. If you are asked further, Is
it really night? Do you really believe that it is night? Why do you believe it
so strongly? you will answer, Because it is night, my friend.
Even if the questioner persists, It's quite bright, though, so can we
not just believe that it is the day? you will still give the same
answer. It is night not because you believe so but because it is really the
night. It is because of the clear fact that it is night.
Our faith is also based on the realized fact. As the night does not
become the day just because someone insists on it, our faith is not something
to be forced. We firmly believe in the forgiveness of sin because it is a fact.
It is a fact that Jesus came to the world, was crucified and resurrected, and
ascended heavenward while many people watched him. The Bible explains the fact.
God has absolved us through his blood. Our sins are forgiven because the
atonement is a fact, and not because of our faith or for other reasons. And
because the forgiveness is a fact, we believe the fact as it is. To say that
not everything is forgiven is to deny the fact. We have been redeemed, or
forgiven, through the blood of Jesus.
Some people may find this unbelievable because it is such an incredible
fact. If someone gives you for free a lump of gold of the size of the Bible,
would you believe it? You will probably say, Please don't joke around.
People seem to feel similarly about salvation. After attending days of Bible
lectures or reading faith literature, they believe that salvation is very
difficult to attain; upon encountering the gospel, however, they hear that salvation
is easily available. They then walk away from faith saying, after
speaking so seriously about salvation, is it this simple after all? I thought
it was almost like picking up a star from the sky, and now I feel so empty.
Salvation is easy for us, but do you know how difficult it is for God?
As I explained earlier, although God created the universe with his word, He
could not achieve the human salvation with his word. For this, He had to send
His only Son to the earth and lead him to death on the cross. When God paid
such an incredible price after having planned it for a few thousand years, can
you say that it was easy? The receiver of the gift of salvation can simply
receive it, and yet it was prepared through the sacrifice, torment, and death of
the only Son of God.
It is easy for the users to turn on electricity, but we should consider
how much effort, time, and money had been spent before the electricity became
easily available for us. The invention of electricity, building of the power
plants, bringing electricity to the consumers all involved no simple
procedures. Likewise, believing is simple because it is not doing or creating
something but simply accepting something that is ready-made.
15. Salvation Is the Gift of God
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast
(Eph. 2:8,9).
Earlier, we have learned that in him we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins is the same as
salvation. Whether you believe it or not, your sin has been paid for. However,
this becomes yours only if you believe it. If you believe that God has forgiven
your sin, you will be forgiven. This is salvation, and this is how God saves
us.
I have explained that it is purely through God's grace that we are saved
through faith; hence, this is God's gift to us and not something we have
obtained ourselves. You must have received gifts. When you receive them, do you
pay for them or are they free? When you receive expensive gifts, do you have to
pay at least a little bit because you are so grateful and also feel sorry for
the giver? No. If you did, then it would only hurt the giver's feelings.
However expensive the present may be, its giver has paid for it, and the
receiver can simply take it for free.
Salvation is God's gift. God has paid an expensive price for it, a price
that is too high for any human beings. In order to save me, God has sent His
only Son and led him to the cross, and through his blood I have been saved. To
believe this is to receive the gift from God. A gift is something that is
simply received, after which it becomes mine. Without receiving it, however, it
will not become mine.
For instance, suppose I give a watch to someone for a present, but he
declines it. I can offer it again, but if he keeps refusing to accept it, I
will have to take it back. He may regret this later, but it will be too late
then. It is a good manner to receive a gift with gratitude when it is offered
with sincere heart. If the recipient keeps rejecting it, how offended will the
giver be?
Faith accepts the gift of God. When God offers us forgiveness of our
sins, that is, salvation, faith receives it with gratitude. To receive is
obedience, and not to receive disobedience. To receive the gift of forgiveness
leads to salvation, and not to receive it to destruction. We do not go to hell
because of the heaviness of our sin, but through rejecting the rich grace of
God.
The gift of forgiveness is not by works but from God;
therefore no one can boast of it. I was destined to hell, no matter what would
do, and yet I am saved through God's grace. My life-long pride is only
the cross. (Hymn) I live my life for the sake of the Christ in joy and
gratitude for the grace. In the next chapter, I would like to examine salvation
in more detail from another perspective.
V. The Way of Cain and
the Way of Abel
Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to
Cain. She said, With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.
Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked
the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as
an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the
firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very
angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, Why are
you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be
accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it
desires to have you, but you must master it. Now Cain said to his
brother Abel, Let's go out to the field. And while they were
in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said
to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? I don't know,
he replied. Am I my brother's keeper? The LORD said, What
have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to
receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will
no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the
earth. Cain said to the LORD, My punishment is more than I
can bear. (Gen. 4:1 ~ 13)
1. The Way to Eternity and the Way of Life
Genesis 1 describes how God created the heaven and earth, plants,
animals, and human beings. Genesis 2 narrates God's giving of the commandment
to the first human beings in the Garden of Eden, and Genesis 3 the first sin
committed as they broke the commandment. Genesis 4 then talks about how human
beings can be restored back to God after committing the sin, that is, the way
of salvation. Hence, if we are to title the first few chapters of Genesis,
chapter 1 can be titled the order of creation, chapter 2 the beginning of the
law, chapter 3 human sin and the consequent pronouncement of curse, and chapter
4 the first gospel.
After the fall of Adam and Eve, Abel was the first one who was saved
through God's grace, formed the right relationship with God, and found the way
to eternal life.
Adam and Eve had their children outside the Garden of Eden. Among them,
Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to God, but God received Abel's sacrifice and
not Cain's. In today's terms, between two people equally going to church,
praying, and believing in God, God accepted one and not the other.
Many people know that those without faith in Jesus are judged by God and
sent to hell, but not so many seem to know that there are many even among the
believers who are to be judged and expelled from God.
You must be well aware that the Israelites rejected Jesus, although they
were born as chosen people, learned the law as soon as they started to speak,
and fervently served God through such practices as reciting the Scripture,
offering tithing, fasting, and praying. You may think that this was a
foolishness practiced only by the Jews long time ago and is irrelevant to the
present, but it is not so. Even today, there are many among the ardent
practitioners of faith who are condemned to the inferno.
2. The Narrow Gate and the Wide Gate
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the
road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the
gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Mat. 7:13,
14).
The narrow and the wide gates do not refer to the distinction between
believers and unbelievers; rather, it warns us by pointing out that among the
faithful there are two kinds of people. Some believe and go to heaven, while
some believe and go to hell. There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death. (Pro. 14:12) There are many roads
that look right in human view but are wrong in God's sight.
Churchgoers say, I believe in both God and Jesus, so I will go
to the heavenly kingdom. Jesus, however, said, Not everyone
who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,
'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out
demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew
you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Mat. 7:21 ~ 23) Those who say, Lord,
Lord are the believers, and to do the will of God is to believe in His
Son Jesus Christ and attain eternal life (John 6:40). No one can enter the
heavenly kingdom through his own righteousness. Somebody asked Jesus, Lord,
are only a few people going to be saved? and he said, Make
every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will
try to enter and will not be able to. (Luke 13:24) By this he meant
that among those who seek to enter the heaven, there are more who will fail
than succeed. What would be the reason for this, and how can we find it out?
This is a very serious and important problem. We should examine whether we
belong to the group of believers to ascend heavenward or to the other,
hell-bound group.
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.
Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you-unless, of course, you fail the
test? (2 Cor. 13:5)
As this verse says, we should examine in light of God's word whether my
faith is one that God acknowledges. We do not become Christians by going to
church but only by having the Spirit of Christ as it says, And
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
We should have a faith such that the Spirit himself testifies with our
spirit that we are God's children (Rom. 8:16)-that is, a faith testified to by
the Holy Spirit. Although I may be praised and respected for my faith in the
church, without having Jesus in me I am deserted by God.
3. Two Kinds of Sacrifices
He replied, Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted
will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind
man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit. (Mat. 15:13,14)
Those who take pride in their baptism, church positions, and faith
without having God's seed and the new life through the Christ will be plucked
out by God. Do you know today how many people are blind in Christianity and how
many people have turned blind by following the latter?
Why do you think that God received Abel's sacrifice but not Cain's? Some
theologians argue that God predestines the people from whom He receives a
sacrifice and the people from whom He does not. Genesis 4, however, is not
setting forth a theory of predestination. If we do want to talk about
predestination, we can say that rather than God predestines an individual in
such and such a way, his destiny falls into either group as a result of his
choice.
Cain was the elder brother and Abel the younger brother. The elder's
sacrifice God did not accept, and yet the younger's God did. Abraham, the
founder of the people of Israel, had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, and Ishmael,
the elder son, did not receive God's promise, while Isaac, the younger son,
received it. Moreover, Isaac had Esau and Jacob as twins, and Esau, the earlier
born, lost God's blessing to Jacob, the later born. Then, what is the meaning
of this pattern-failure of the first born and promise of the second born? The
question for us is not whether we are first born or second born.
The first Adam in the Garden of Eden failed, but Jesus the second Adam
accomplished God's will. The question is whether we as an individual are in the
first Adam or the second Adam. To be in the first Adam signifies an
individual's destiny wherein he stays not reborn under sin, death, and God's
wrath and judgement from the very birth. No matter how hard they may pray to
and work for God, they in fact have nothing to do with Him. We can gain God's
blessing and eternal life only when we are in Jesus the second Adam.
With his death on the cross, he put an end to the fate of Adam, and with
his resurrection, he became the second Adam and a new representative (1Cor.
15). The first Adam was a sinner, and the second Adam a righteous person.
We are born sinful in Adam at physical birth, and born righteous in
Jesus at spiritual rebirth; just as we have become sinners in the one person
Adam, so we become righteous in the one person Jesus. Through our spiritual
rebirth, we move from Adam to Jesus, and from death to life. To those who abide
in Jesus Christ, all of God's blessings are promised. So the story of Cain and
Abel demonstrates these two moments of life rather than a divine choice for or
against an individual with respect to his eternal destiny. For salvation is
determined by the responsibility of each individual.
Many people misunderstand the sacrifice of Cain and Abel. When I was
little and going to a Sunday school, I heard my teacher saying, Folks,
Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to God, Abel devotedly, and Cain carelessly.
So God accepted Abel's sacrifice only. Hence, we should worship God with all
our heart and zeal. And I believed it.
When I learned the Bible later, however, I realized that the teacher's
view was incorrect. What is at issue is not whether we are devoted and zealous
for God. When it comes to zealousness, I think Cain worked much harder than
Abel. He could not have offered a careless sacrifice because it was the first
sacrifice for establishing the right relationship with God. In eagerness for
God, Cain must have toiled to prepare the cream of his crops for the offering.
Abel, on the other hand, simply slaughtered a lamb from his flock, an effort
that must have been much lighter than Cain's.
When I was pastoring a countryside church for the first time, people
would bring the finest of their harvests in the time of Thanksgiving-the
largest pumpkins, thickest radishes, best-looking cabbages, and so forth. They
brought to God whatever was the best, the best-looking and best-colored, piled
them up before the pulpit, and sang praises to God: Give thanks. Give
thanks. Give thanks to God, offering the best to Him. They were indeed
very rich and charming offerings, and Cain's offering must have been the same.
He must have made special efforts in order to bring the finest of his yields.
Abel, on the other hand, offered a lamb. Animal youngs are cute only
when alive, and turn ugly when dead. God accepted the ugly offering, with
streaming blood, loose intestines and blood smell. I think I would have
preferred Cain's offering. Some people may say, It was because God
liked meat than plants. In Psalms 50, however, God asks whether He
would be delighted by offerings of sheep or cow when all the animals are His.
This, then, contains a secret.
Genesis 4 does not give a clear answer to the question why God only
accepted Abel's sacrifice. The answer, however, is found in Hebrews:
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he
was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by
faith he still speaks, even though he is dead (Heb. 11:4).
Now, do you see the reason for God's favoring Abel's sacrifice? The
answer is found in the word, by faith. By faith Abel offered
God a better sacrifice than Cain, and was commended as a righteous
man. This means that God said to him, You are righteous.
God accepted him as a person with no record of sin but only of righteousness.
This is salvation. Whereas Abel sacrificed by faith, Cain
lacked that faith. What, then, is faith?
Many people have incorrect or vague understanding of faith. Some equate
going to church with faith, and some regard religious fervor as diligent faith.
The term faith, however, cannot be qualified by such a word
as diligent. For is it right to say, I believe
diligently that I am a Korean citizen, or I believe
diligently that this plane is going to the United States while on the
plane? There is no such a thing as diligent faith in the Bible. Rather, there
are even people who work intensely all their lives without having even a thread
of faith.
The faith involved in Abel's sacrifice is the same as the faith when we
talk about believing in Jesus. Faith is not merely to acknowledge a fact, but
to trust and to entrust ourselves. It is neither knowing nor doing something.
The faith acceptable to God is to rely on and entrust ourselves to God after
understanding His heart and will and realizing how He has prepared the path
whereby we can reach Him. Where, then, did Abel acquire such faith?
4. Faith Is to Hear and Understand the Message
Romans 10:17 says, Faith comes from hearing the message, and
the message is heard through the word of Christ. The Scripture, which
is a message about God, tells us about the heart of God, what God desires and
wills, and how we sinners can go before God. God has spoken to us about the way
to God, and planned and prepared the way to salvation. Faith understands this
through the word.
Abel must have had chances to hear from God, and Adam and Eve must have
told their children often about the Garden of Eden: How nice it would
be had you been born in the garden! In the garden there were no travails or any
curses like here; it was just full of joy and happiness. We were talking with
God daily and lived in bliss. The children then must have asked why
the parents became so miserable now.
Adam probably said to them: Well, one day, your mother was
tempted by a serpent to eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of
Good and Evil, and then pressed me to eat it also. Being a sympathetic man, I
took the fruit. Then, do you know what happened? I started to feel what I had
not before-I felt ashamed of my nakedness. It did not matter before, but now we
started to see our nakedness and started to fear God. So we made skirts out of
fig leaves, and it was the first clothes ever made. But during the day, the sun
dried up the leaves and just a few of our getting up and down ruined the
skirts. By the night, only stalks were hanging, and it was just as good as not
wearing them.
Adam went on: All of a sudden, God called us, 'Adam, Adam.'
Terrified, we hid ourselves in the forest. But God kept calling us, and I had
to confess, 'I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked;
so I hid.' Then God scolded me, saying, 'Have you eaten from the tree that I
commanded you not to eat from?' I tried to put the blame on your mother,
saying, 'The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree,
and I ate it.' Then God rebuked her, saying, 'What is this you have done?' He
said to her, 'I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you
will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will
rule over you.' And to me he said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate from
the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat of it,
cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food,
and to dust you will return.' After this our couple got expelled from the
garden, and curse and travails started in the land from that time.
Adam's tales continued: Before our expulsion, God brought two
animals. While we were still hiding in the forest out of shame, God slaughtered
them, and they died with a shriek and gushing blood. That was the first time we
had witnessed death; how surprised we were! Then, God skinned them and made
clothes out of the skin from His own design, and you see, this is the clothes.
The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed
them (Gen. 3:21).
The leather clothes Adam and Eve wore were the first clothes God made.
Why, then, did God make the garments for them instead of casting them out
naked? Good leather clothes are expensive, and how much more fascinating their
clothes must have been when they were made in God's hands?
God's making clothes for them meant that although God was driving them
out because of their sin, He promised to prepare a measure in the future
whereby human sins could be covered. He promised that after people fully
experienced the consequence of their disobedience, He would cover their sins by
sending Jesus Christ and leading him to death for the substitution. Redemption
means to cover or conceal. God promised to cover our sins with the blood of
Jesus, although, of course, Adam and Eve could not have realized the deep
meaning of the clothes.
During the story Abel must have realized something. Ah, that's
it. In our common expression, He got the idea.
Although we may hear the word, it would be of no use if we end with simply
saying, It was a nice talk. For we also have had the
gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no
value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
(Heb. 4:2)
It is because the hearer fails to combine what he hears with faith that
he does not grasp the word. Just as a bowel turned upside down cannot contain even
a drop of rain, no matter how much of it falls, so the ears without faith fail
to take the word into heart. Even if we may pick up a big diamond, we may give
it away or lose it without regret unless we know its value. Hence, it is
important to understand the value of what we receive.
After hearing Adam, Cain and Abel probably had a discussion: Our
parents lost communication with God and were expelled from the garden through
disobedience. But is there any way we can be reconciled back to God? Right, let
each of us offer a sacrifice to Him. So the two brothers decided on
the sacrifice, and Cain gathered fruits of the soil, while Abel slaughtered a
lamb.
When Abel was offering the sacrifice, must he not have prayed: Lord,
I cannot dare to pray to you because of the offenses of my parents. When they
were too ashamed to stand before You after their fall, You clothed them with
animal skins in order to cover their shame. I know that the innocent animals
shed their blood in order to cover their sin. Likewise, I have also slaughtered
and bled a lamb for the sake of forgiveness of my sin. Lord, behold this blood,
and cover my sin as well and accept me.
A sinner cannot go before God with sin still residing in him. Even an
iota of sin in me will set me as an enemy of God. Since sin is remitted only
with price, forgiveness of sin requires a shedding of blood or sacrifice of
life; since the wage of sin is death, (Rom. 6:23) and without
the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness, (Heb. 9:22) there is no
other way of atonement than through blood.
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you
to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes
atonement for one's life (Lev. 17:11).
Only death through shedding of blood can atone for sin, and Abel
understood this. During the story of his parents, Abel hit upon the principle
of redemption as God's method of human salvation. This is why he slaughtered
and offered a lamb as the carrier of his sin. Through the faith in this truth,
Abel was justified before God.
Abel sought forgiveness, relying on the blood of the lamb, and God
accepted the faith with joy. As a sign of God's favor upon the Abel's sacrifice
of atonement, God sent fire from the sky and consumed the offering. The
assurance, Abel, you are now righteous, and your sin forgiven. I have
now saved you meant his salvation.
How glad Abel must have been! Thank you, Lord, for receiving my
sacrifice and accepting me. Abel now had a spiritual and living
communication with God. Abel then must have asked his brother, Cain, I
am all done, and how about you? Cain probably answered, I am
still in the process, and continued to pray intensely, saying, Lord,
please answer me, please. But there was no news, although before, when
he had seen Abel's simple offering, he had been so proud of his own offering
and looked down upon Abel's.
Cain thought that since his offering was superior and much better
looking, and had been prepared with sweat and zeal, God would welcome it with
joy. When this expectation was shattered, however, he started to complain
against God: How can this be? God accepts my brother's poor offering,
and yet He turns deaf ears to my earnest prayer. How can this be? Abel
could have added fuel to his frustration, saying, It's too bad for
you. It went well for me, but too bad for you. This must have stirred
up thoughts of murder and anger against God in Cain's heart. Genesis narrates
that Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then God
rebuked him, saying, Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If
you do what is right, will you not be accepted?
While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel
and killed him. In other words, Cain became the first murderer. With
regard to this, the Scripture admonishes, Do not be like Cain, who
belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him?
Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. (1
John 3:12) The evil one is Satan; after splitting God and the humans and
causing their expulsion by tempting Eve, now Satan incited their son to kill
his own brother. This was a work of the devil.
As Jude 1:11 says, Woe to them! They have taken the way of
Cain..., how many people are like Cain? Even after decades of church
life, they are still in the dark about salvation and rebirth, and even with a
devoted service to God and efforts to improve their faith, they are still
frustrated and uncertain about their own salvation; if these people hear that
someone who had been evil and staying outside the church until only a few days
ago understood the gospel and were saved, or born again, they will never be
able to digest it. Moreover, they will become offended and even hateful when
they hear that a lifelong membership with the church is useless without
salvation, and they must be born again.
What did such hatred lead to? Jesus says that the one who hates murders,
and we often see an escalating hatred consummated in murder. The devil, who
worked through the Jewish religious dignitaries to murder Jesus and his
disciples, infuses jealousy in the hearts of the worshippers who are not
reborn, and inclines them to persecute the believers. Jesus spoke about this
when he said, Anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service
to God. (John 16:2) If they are given an authority over the fate of
the believers, they may even attempt to decimate Christians.
There are simple religionists with the name of believer, and Christians,
who have been awakened to the truth of salvation. Religionists exert their
passion to earn an admission to the heaven, whereas born-again Christians live
their lives as a return for God's grace with a full assurance of their heavenly
entry. It is common throughout the ages that the one without God's promise
persecutes the one with God's promise. For instance, Cain killed Abel, Ishmael
beat Isaac, and Esau, after losing the blessing by voluntarily selling his
birthright to Jacob, tried kill Jacob. At that time the son born in
the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the
same now. (Gal. 4:29) Hence, rather than thinking of it as odd, we
should understand that this is in accordance with the Scripture.
5. Prayer of a Pharisee and Prayer of a Tax Collector
Luke 18:9 ~ 14 tells us about a Pharisee and a tax collector, who form a
sharp contrast.
Although we may think of the Pharisees as vicious killers of Jesus, they
were admirable people in keeping religious duties. Even the most diligent
worshippers today will find themselves lagging behind the Pharisees. Fasting
twice a week, making strict tithing, refraining from such deeds as extortion,
injustice, and fornication in accordance with their prayer, they intensely strove
to live by the law, and lived a holy and righteous life. They made long prayers
and eagerly engaged in charitable activities as well.
On the contrary, tax collectors exacted unfair taxes from their own
brethren, keeping some of it and offering the rest to the government. Hence, we
can say that prostitute and tax collector were like a pronoun for sinners.
Although the tax collector in the story had much sin, he seems to have been
desirous of salvation from sin.
A Pharisee and a tax collector pray in the temple. The Pharisee prays
with his hands raised, looking up to the heaven. His posture is solemn and
graceful. He goes to the front of the temple, spreads his hands, lists his acts
of righteousness as I mentioned earlier, and thanks God for his righteous life
and not being like that tax collector.
What he uttered in the prayer was not incorrect. Compared with the
sinful tax collector, the Pharisee was much more righteous in anyone's
assessment. Anyone seeing the two pray would have nodded in approval. But the
Pharisee was ignorant of one thing: despite all his endeavors to live a more
righteous and law-abiding and better life than others, this cannot be accepted
by God as righteousness.
Jesus says, Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the
Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom
of heaven. (Mat. 5:20) What kind of righteousness surpasses that of
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law? The Pharisees thought that murder
only consists in the act of killing, but Jesus says that even harboring hatred
constitutes murder, and feeling lust counts as fornication. In other words, the
higher righteousness decrees that we be blameless in heart not to mention in
action.
Such righteousness, then, is humanly impossible, for it demands that we
surpass the Pharisees and the teachers of the law in heart as well as in
action. Therefore, Matthews 5:20 in fact implies that human beings are unable
to attain such righteousness. The righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers
of the law may look admirable in human eyes, but it is like filthy
rags in God's sight (Isa. 64:6). Anyone trying to stand before God in
such a rag, which cannot conceal shame and disgrace at all, is like a Pharisee.
Now, how about the tax collector? But the tax collector stood
at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and
said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' (Luke 18:13) Standing afar
off, and beating his breast with his face down, he prays, God, have
mercy on me, a sinner. Whatever misdeed he performed in plundering the
weak, his sins are too many to count. The tax collector deplores, calling
himself a heap of sin.
God, however, justified the tax collector, and this seems utterly
incomprehensible. How did the sinful tax collector become justified before God,
whereas the self-righteous Pharisee was not?
We should first understand what the righteousness means when we talk
about being justified or being called righteous before God. God does not
justify us because we perform righteous deeds; rather, justification issues
from God's grace through faith. God justifies us for free when we clearly
recognize our being sinners and go to God, relying on God's mercy. God
justifies us when we confess our iniquities as the tax collector did and go to
God, completely depending on His decision and grace for our forgiveness and
life, and this is God's righteousness.
I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has
clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of
righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride
adorns herself with her jewels (Isa. 61:10).
When Adam and Eve confessed their nakedness, God clothed them. That
clothes was God's righteousness. When Adam said, I was afraid because
I was naked; so I hid, God bled animals and made a garment of skin for
him. Likewise, when we discover ourselves as wretched sinners, confessing our
wickedness to God and seeking His mercy, He will answer us, I have died
for your sin and redeemed you with My blood. Rest in peace, for I have
justified you. God's righteousness consists in clothing us for free
with the garment of salvation to cover our sins. By God's
righteousness, we can go to God.
The tax collector relied on the mercy of God, who had pity on him,
whereas the Pharisee relied on his own righteousness and work. Like the
Pharisee, Cain came to God with what he had prepared with sweat and zeal. This
makes sense from a human standpoint-the thought that we have to do something in
order to be worthy of God.
There is one thing we should know, however. Can the yields of the cursed
soil gained through the sweats of the doomed human beings please God, other
than being needed by such human beings? Would God accept what He has cursed? If
you are righteous... what does he receive from your hand?... your righteousness
only the sons of men. (Job 35:7, 8) No matter how hard a cursed person
tries, he can only produce cursed results. This point Cain did not understand.
Cain represents those who rely on their own works, and so does the Pharisee.
Like the tax collector, on the other hand, Abel relied on God's
sympathy, forgiveness, and mercy. Rather than his own work, he depended on
God's grace. He knew that if God showed mercy, he would live, and otherwise he
could only die. No matter how grave one's sin may be, God's mercy does not come
with condition. God could not take Cain's offering, however, because there was
no sacrificial offering, which is blood, but only his work. Because there was
only his work, there was no room for God's sympathy, mercy, and grace to enter.
God has prepared a way whereby sinners can come before God, and this is
the blood of the Christ. Without the blood, our sins cannot be forgiven. Without
the forgiveness of sins, there is no salvation, and we cannot come before God.
Without forgiveness, we can only be condemned. And for the sake of the
forgiveness, the price must be paid with death.
Before the liberation of the Israelites from the 400 years of Egyptian
slavery, God struck down the eldest sons of the Egyptians. Why did He kill the
eldest sons? The eldest son is the heir, and the eldest son of Egypt signified
the heir of the world. God did not create human beings in order to bring bliss
and hope to the earth. There is no hope or happiness in the earth, and thus it
is not a place for us to be attached to. What God wants to give us is the
eternal new heaven and earth and eternal life, and yet we have abased ourselves
into beasts. As such, we seek only what we can sense, that is, worldly and
physical things, and this is the sin for which we will be judged before God.
We may think that we go to hell by doing something radically evil, but
those who pursue only earthly things and seek worldly happiness, although they
may not be seriously evil, are already violating God's providence and purpose
of creating us. For instance, if a father prepares something precious to give
to his son, and yet the son refuses it and goes around begging for his daily necessities,
this is a great betrayal of the father and serious offence. It is a sin
deserving destruction for the human beings, created in God's image to attain
eternal life and glory, to debase themselves into beasts. The Scripture says, A
man who has riches (who is in honor - KJV) without understanding is like the
beasts that perish. (Psa. 49:20)
6. The Passover Lamb
In the night when God struck down the firstborns of Egypt, God
instructed the Israelites to slaughter their lambs and put their blood on the
sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses, according to Exodus 12. In the
past, Korean people cooked bean pastes in the winter solstices, and sprinkled
the paste here and there in order to cast out demons, and this might have
originated from the Israelites' putting lamb blood on the doorframes. God told
them to put the blood this way and stay still in the houses. That night, every
Egyptian household went into mourning because all their eldest sons, from the
king's son to slaves' sons, turned cold.
Israelites, on the other hand, put the blood outside the house and
safely enjoyed the lamb meat inside. They spent the night of the judgment
eating lamb meat with clothes, shoes, and canes, and in exuberance of leaving
the loathsome land of Egypt the next day. Meanwhile, their Egyptian neighbors
were sending screams, and the entire land of Egypt was covered with the wailing
for the firstborns. A majority of households had eldest sons, but why were the
Israelites spared? It was because of the blood on the doorframes. Although
there could have been people who did not feel safe even with the blood, all
those who followed God's instruction escaped the calamity. For God never lies.
The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I
see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when
I strike Egypt (Exo. 12:13).
It was God's promise when he said: When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you... No matter what
they thought, the households that had put the blood escaped the judgement of
death, while those who had not were struck. It was God who saw the blood and
who sent the judgement. God's word gave them security and assurance, and
averted the plague for them. It was because their lambs died and shed blood in
place of their eldest sons. God looks for blood.
The Bible refers to Jesus as a Passover lamb: Christ, our
Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Cor. 5:7) As the word literally
means to pass over, the Jewish Passover commemorates the
passing of God's judgment over the Israelite households because of the lambs
slaughtered in place of their elder sons. The Bible, then, means that just as
the lamb was slaughtered in place of the Israelite firstborns, Jesus became a
Passover lamb by dying in order to liquidate the curse and judgement to be
inflicted upon the mankind.
In the night before his death, Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, My
Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. (Mat. 26:39)
Jesus was facing a cup of judgement, which contained the curse of all human
sin. If Jesus was to accomplish God's will according to the purpose of his
advent, he had to drink the cup. Just as in the traditional Korea they gave a
bowl of deadly poison to a major traitor, so Jesus had a cup filled with the
curse of human sin. Jesus knew very well what this cup of punishment meant, and
because he had a physical body like us, he could not have been indifferent to
pain. Had Jesus refused to take the cup, then we would have to drink it and
fall into hell.
Saying, My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be
taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done, (Mat. 26:42)
however, Jesus obeyed God. God's will was that Jesus drink the cup and die so
that we can be spared the judgment. Just as the death of the lamb kept the
Israelite firstborns alive, through the death of Jesus God's judgment passed
over us. What does God look for? Neither our sin, nor our good deeds. He sees
the blood of Jesus, as He said, When I see the blood, I will pass over
you. The lambs slaughtered in the Passover symbolized Jesus.
The Old Testament people had a day once a year when they sought before
God a forgiveness of their sins of the past one year, and this was called the
Day of Atonement. On this day, they slaughtered two goats and drew lots,
according to which one goat was made to carry the sin and thrown away in the
desert, where it was bound to be devoured by wild beasts or starve to death.
Looking at this scapegoat being sent away to the desert, the Israelites thought
that the innocent goat was carrying away their sins. The other goat also
carried the sin, and was slaughtered on the square bronze altar and presented
as an offering of atonement (Lev. 16:8 ~ 10, 18 ~ 22). Then, with the blood of
the goat, they made a sin offering in the Most Holy Place.
The Israelites had the tabernacle, where they made the sin offering as
well as other worships and sacrifices. God dictated to Moses the pattern of the
tabernacle. As shown in the picture, right after the entrance there is a bronze
altar (alter of burnt offering), where they made burnt offerings by
slaughtering animals. After the basin comes a tent looking like a provisional
structure and contains the Holy Place before the curtain and the Most Holy
Place behind the curtain.
The goat's blood was poured out to the ground except the amount the high
priest took with him to the Most Holy Place through the Holy Place. Inside the
Holy Place, there were a table of showbread, seven lampstands, and a golden
altar of incense. The Most Holy Place behind the curtain had the ark of the
Testimony, which contained the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, Manna,
and Aaron's rod that budded. Above the ark of the Testimony, there was the
atonement cover (whose Hebrew word is Kapar, which means to
cover), over which they sprinkled the blood and sought the forgiveness
of sin. The atonement cover was also called, seat of grace,
which means a place where grace is given. The seat was made in such a way that
two angels looked down from there.
As for the Most Holy Place, where sins are forgiven by God, the high
priest entered there once a year with the blood, and sprinkled the blood seven
times over the atonement cover on top of the ark of the Testimony and prayed to
God. This was like receiving the final stamp on the sin offering with the blood
of the goat that died on the altar of burnt offering for the sake of the sins
of the Israelites. Meanwhile, the people were fasting all day and praying
outside the tabernacle. The high priest wore on his neck the breastpiece of
decision, which contained the names of the twelve tribes, and his robe had gold
bells around its hem. If the high priest entered the Most Holy Place without
the blood, he would die.
The fact that the high priest was alive in the Most Holy Place, where
God was present, sprinkling the blood and praying, meant that God accepted the
sin offering. The sins committed after this sin offering was to be atoned for
on the Day of Atonement next year.
The sin offering, made once a year, was a symbol of Jesus' substitution
for the human sin through crucifixion. The scapegoat, carrying the sins of the
Israelites, symbolized Jesus, who, according to John the Baptist, was the
lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) Although
the scapegoat took away one year's sin of Israelites, however, Jesus took away
the sins of the entire mankind for eternity and once and for all. The square
shape of the altar indicated the entire world in all four directions, and the
goat slaughtered on the altar symbolized Jesus, who was to die on the cross.
The high priest, who poured out the blood and then carried some of it in
the bowl to the Most Holy Place, symbolized Jesus in resurrection and heavenly
ascension. After Jesus had provided purification for sins, he sat down
at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Heb. 1:3) He did
not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most
Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
(Heb. 9:12) The high priest's annual offering in the Most Holy Place as copies
of the heavenly things (Heb. 9:23) used goats, but the Scripture says,
heavenly things themselves [shall be purified] with better sacrifices
than these, (Heb. 9:23) which means that the true sacrifice to be
received by God should be made with the blood of Jesus Christ, a lamb without
blemish.
7. The Christ Is the High Priest for Us
For Christ (after his death and resurrection) entered heaven
itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. (Heb. 9:24) After
making the sacrifice for the humanity, Jesus appeared before God. Instead of
following the method of the high priest of the Old Testament Age, which
required death every year, Jesus has appeared once for all at the end
of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb.
9:26)
Even now, he is praying for our sake, sprinkling the blood before God.
The gospel says that Jesus died, resurrected, and ascended, and is now praying
for us. The gospel says that he has atoned for my sin as well.
Had Jesus not made the substitution, he would not have resurrected. The
living Jesus is still ceaselessly pleading with the Lord to forgive my
sin before the holy throne. (Hymn) To say that he is praying for our
sin means that he is guaranteeing the completion of the payment for the sin. He
prays, Behold, Father! I have died for them. I have died for the sins
of Mr. Chung, Mr. Park, and such and such a person. Look at this blood,
and God says, It is done. The Bible is guaranteeing this for
us.
Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he
is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always
lives to intercede for them (Heb. 7:24, 25).
Through whom do we go to God? Through Jesus. To go through Jesus means
to rely on the work of Jesus, in which he emancipated us from sin by dying in
our place and resurrecting. Do we rely on our own work? No. Although I
am unworthy, God will receive me as I rely on Jesus... I go
with empty hands and hold on to the cross. (Hymn) Although I have no
righteousness, I proceed as a miserable sinner with empty hands, only waiting
for his help.
Faith relies on his work. If I go to God, relying on my own zeal,
devotion, and righteous acts, I will be cursed and die. So I go only by
depending on the work of Jesus. The Christ, who has died for us and
resurrected, is living before God.
Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high (Job 16:19).
Suppose that I have become indebted to someone for about one billion
won. In such economic crises as now, such a thing can happen quite commonly
through business failure. I am struggling day and night because the interest is
increasing like a snowball, and yet I have no ability to repay even a fraction
of the debt. Nor can I run away or commit suicide. Someone generous and rich
who knows me well, however, comes along and says, Alas, he can't go on
struggling like this over the debt. He may even die out of the worries. I
should pay his debt, and clears his debt including the interest.
Suppose, however, that after clearing my debt, the benefactor dies in a
traffic accident on the way to visit me with the good news. Do I still worry
about the debt? Of course, I do because I have no idea about the payment. The
debt has been removed, and yet the witness is not present. I cannot but
continue in the torment because there is no witness or proof. Even if the
creditor finds out about this and demands another debt payment from me, I will
have no way to stop him.
Had Jesus not been resurrected, we would have no way of knowing whether
he died for our sin or simply through some unjust conspiracy. I even heard that
a grandfather, when asked, Why did Jesus die? said, Probably
because of his own sin. He cannot help saying this because he does not
know that Jesus died for him. The resurrection of Jesus is a guarantee of God's
having received his sacrifice and forgiven our sins.
What if the benefactor is alive and well and comes to me and says, Now,
your debt have been all erased, and here is the receipt? No matter how
wicked the creditor may be, he will not be able to come to me and demand
another payment. Likewise, Jesus, who made amends for our sins, is living as
our witness, and the receipt is here-the Bible. The Old Testament was a promise
that our sin would be forgiven, and the New Testament a confirmation that our
sin has been forgiven through Jesus, for Jesus has put his stamp upon the
Bible. I have many proofs for believing in Jesus. (Hymn) This
proof is the Bible. As it says, I know that my Redeemer lives, and
that in the end he will stand upon the earth, he will come back to us.
8. Redemption Is for the Sake of God's Glory
There is one thing we should know in relation to God's forgiveness of
our sin through Jesus.
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and
remembers your sins no more (Isa. 43:25).
For whose sake does God say that He blots out our sin? For His own sake.
It is for His own glory that God liquidates our sin through the death of His
only Son and saves us. This is not to say that He has no regard for human
beings, but this is a matter to be considered later.
If human beings, created in God's image for His glory, all go to hell,
God will become someone who has failed. If children go astray or die, then the
parents suffer in their hearts as well as the children themselves. So parents
give their utmost to the children for their own sake as well as for the sake of
the children, and children's success brings honor to the parents. Likewise, our
suffering in hell does not glorify God; our salvation, then, is for the sake of
God's glory. Therefore, for His glory, I myself must be saved first. God blots
out and forgets our transgressions for the sake of His own glory.
A prodigal son lost from the father afflicts and saddens the father's
heart, and his return is wholeheartedly welcomed by the father. Because God
saves us for His own glory, the salvation is very surely complete and certain.
When I buy a watch, I make sure of my ownership by making the payment because
it is for me that I buy it. Also, when in case of a fire parents desperately
try to rescue their own children, it is for their own sake as well as for the
children. Likewise, God's salvation has to be thorough because He does it for
His own sake as well as for us. This is why He said, I, even I, am he
who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no
more. It is not salvation if I feel beckoned by the heaven when
tilting a bit towards goodness and summoned by hell when tilting a bit towards
evil. Rather, salvation is carried out by God 100% completely and thoroughly.
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning
mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you (Isa. 44:22).
There was a thick cloud of sin between God and us. Although sin is
committed by people, it is placed before God because the law violated by it is
God's law. To blot out is to erase off. God is not asking us to return in order
to be forgiven but because we are forgiven. We believe the fact of forgiveness,
and to believe is to return.
Many people, however, return to the church but not quite as far as to
God. Although they pray in the church and profess faith in God, they still hold
on to their sin and keep asking for forgiveness. They always carry the
consciousness of sin, and thus tremble with fear, although God has already
forgiven them.
Let us say that a son stole ten million won from his father. The parents
will be outraged, but if the son does not come back, and a few years pass by,
will they be agonized over the money or over the son? As time passes by, the
parents' love for the son will melt away their grudges about his wrongdoing
like snow in the spring. They will perhaps put an advertisement on the
newspaper with a heart that says, You bad boy, just come back and show
me you are alive: ***, I have pardoned you completely, and
please come back with peace. Your mother got sick because you did not come
back. Do we not see such advertisements often? If the son does come
back, will the father accept him or not?
God's love is greater than any parents'. God's love, which says, Can
a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she
has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! (Isa. 49:15)
is more than enough to forgive our iniquities. God is asking us to come back
because we are completely forgiven. To this effect He has put an advertisement
in The Isaiah Daily, for can we not consider the Scripture God's newspaper? He
calls everyone back, speaking to them in all the languages of the world.
When the prodigal son of the Bible returned to the father, father
welcomed him: But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the
best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this
son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'
(Luke 15:22 ~ 24) Does the son not represent us, and the father God? To put the
best robe on him means clothing us with the garment of salvation through Jesus
so that God no more sees our transgressions. The ring on the finger is a sign
of promise that says, You are my son, and by putting sandals
on the feet, God says to us, Never leave Me again.
Slaughtering the innocent fattened calf for the son indicates the death of the
innocent Jesus in order to bring back a sinner like me to join God's delight.
To say that the son was dead and is alive again and lost
and is found means that whereas I had been spiritually lost and dead
away from God, I became living and found by coming back to God. To return to
God means to believe in the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus
and show gratitude, for when we believe this fact, God will accept us. Apart
from the grace, we cannot go to God or attain salvation; hence, we should rely
on the work of Jesus alone.
If the son sees the father's advertisement, and yet only thinks about
his sin and refuses to return, which is more grave, the sin he committed
already or the sin of not returning? It is much greater offense not to return.
If the son refuses to return despite the forgiveness, he will become a child
eternally lost.
Did God absolve only those who believe in the work of Jesus? No. He absolved
even those who do not believe. He is the atoning sacrifice for our
sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
(1 John 2:2) Hence, there is no one who goes to hell on account of his sin.
Does this mean, however, that no one will go to hell at all? No. A new sin has
appeared in hell-sin of not accepting this fact and not believing in God's
love. There is no way that the sin of not believing in the work of Jesus and
refusing to return to God can be remitted.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one
and only Son (John 3:18).
We can be spared the judgment by believing our forgiveness through
Jesus' blood, for Jesus has already suffered it. He says, however, that those
who do not believe stand condemned already because of the sin of unbelief. The
condemnation means that they are sentenced to death, which will be executed
after death. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever
rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
(John 3:36)
The sin of not believing in the profound grace provided through the
sacrifice of God's only Son will be eternally unforgivable, and God's wrath and
judgment will descend upon the unbelievers.
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the
wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when
he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart
from works: Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose
sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count
against him. (Rom. 4:5 ~ 8)
David expressed by beholding from afar how immense the bliss of those
forgiven without work is. Their happiness is eternal and glorious blessing of
God and true happiness, which cannot be compared with anything in the world.
I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him
who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over
from death to life. (John 5:24)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In
his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can
never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you... (1 Pet. 1:3,
4) Hallelujah.
VI. Liberation from the
Condemnation of the Law
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the
temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to
teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught
in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, Teacher,
this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to
stone such women. Now what do you say? They were using this question
as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and
started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning
him, he straightened up and said to them, If any one of you is without
sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Again he stooped
down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at
a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still
standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, Woman, where are
they? Has no one condemned you? No one, sir, she
said. Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go
now and leave your life of sin. When Jesus spoke again to the people,
he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never
walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:1 ~ 12).
John 8 explains well about what the law is, what the work of Jesus is,
and how the people emancipated from the condemnation of the law should lead
their life.
Then each went to his own home. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered
around him... (John 7:53 ~ 8:1, 2)
When Jesus was working in Israel, he frequently slept in the Mount of
Olives under night dew. The fact that each went to his own home,
but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives means that he did not turn to anyone for
a shelter.
After sleeping in the Mount of Olives, Jesus returned to the temple of
Jerusalem in the morning to teach the people who came to him. Then, a woman who
had been caught in the act of adultery in that early morning was brought to
Jesus. The man involved could have run away or have been taken to another
place, and only the woman was brought to Jesus.
1. Accusers of Jesus
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought that woman to Jesus
and asked him, Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?
Deuteronomy 22:22 says that if a man is found sleeping with another man's wife,
both the man and the woman shall be beaten to death in public, in accordance
with which the Israelites stoned such people to death.
Since the Law of Moses already commands them to kill her, they could
have taken her to a judge and then killed her following the verdict, but they
took her to Jesus instead. According to the Bible, this was because They
were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him
(Jesus).
The Israelites highly valued the Law of Moses and strove to abide by it.
They, however, had to keep the Roman law because Israel was under the Roman
Empire at that time. Roman officials ruled over Jerusalem, and the governor
dispatched from Rome had the judicial power over them. The Roman law gave the
judicial authority only to the Roman governor to the exclusion of the
Israelites.
We can also find such a situation in John 18. The Jews took Jesus to the
Governor Pilate to accuse him, saying, We have found this man
subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be
Christ, a king, (Luke 23:2) and asked him to execute Jesus for treason
against the Roman Empire. But Pilate was certain that Jesus was innocent, and
the people were lying. Moreover, he also knew that it was out of envy
that they had handed Jesus over to him. (Mat. 27: 18) So Pilate said, Take
him yourselves and judge him by your own law. Then, the Jews objected,
But we have no right to execute anyone... (John 18:31)
Therefore, if Jesus had said to them, Stone the adulterer,
she surely would have been killed instantly and brutally by the crowd,
bloodthirsty like starved lions, and Jesus would have been charged with
instigation of murder, facing a trial as a criminal. Had he said, Do
not stone her, however, then he would have stood a religious trial by
Jewish religious authorities for defying the Law of Moses.
Telling to kill her was against the Roman law, and yet telling them not
to was against the Law of Moses; to find grounds for accusing Jesus, the Jewish
leaders tried to put him in a situation where he could not make any choice.
Their real intention was not to kill the adulterer but to entrap Jesus.
How odd it is! When that long-awaited Messiah finally came to the land
of Israel, the chosen people and, what is more, the religious leaders esteemed
for their devotion to God persistently slandered Jesus and made schemes in
order to kill him. They took the adulterer to Jesus, thinking that they had a
good chance to ensnare Jesus.
Since the Jewish religious leaders did not fornicate physically, they
must have thought that they were not guilty of adultery. That is why they
condemned her and intended to kill her. That woman must have been shaking with
the fear of the flying stones and impending death.
2. Our Life Is under Condemnation
Jesus did not say anything to them. He just bent down and started to
write on the ground with his finger. That was the first time for him to write
something in front of the people. Most of them must have looked down to see
what he was writing, and the shouting must have quieted down. Then, what did
Jesus write on the ground? We could ask him, Jesus, what did you write
at that time? when we meet him some day. We will be able to obtain the
right answer then, of course, but how about using our imagination now?
In the Bible we read about a writing that God Himself made with His finger.
As in Exodus 31:18, it is the Ten Commandments, which God inscribed on the
stone. Since Jesus was God who came down on earth in the shape of a man, we can
understand Jesus' writing on the ground in the same context as the Ten
Commandments. In other words, he must have written the seventh commandment: Thou
shalt not commit adultery. As Jesus knew those bent on stoning the
adulterer were just as corrupt in heart as she, he must have written the
seventh commandment to make them aware of their own sins.
Adultery is having a sexual relationship with someone one is not married
to. The New Testament also sternly warns against this sin: All other
sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against
his own body. (1Cor. 6:18) That woman had to die because she had
broken the promise with God and committed adultery.
In Jesus' eyes, however, not only she but also the religious leaders
surrounding her were all fornicators, for he said, You have heard that
it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at
a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
(Mat 5:27, 28) People condemn someone only by his visible acts, but God, who
surveys our inner core, decrees that even just a lustful look constitutes sin
of lechery. So, who can dare to claim purity before God?
What is more fundamentally sinful than harboring lust or acting upon it
is spiritual fornication, however.
In the Garden of Eden, by accepting Satan's lie human beings betrayed
God's love, with which God created them and gave them everything. That was the
first fornication. God told the Israelites that no physical adultery of man
could be worse than spiritual fornication, deploring that although He was their
husband, they deserted Him and served other gods.
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is
hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an
enemy of God (James 4:4).
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15).
Hence, the New Testament teaches that loving the world more than God and
becoming friends with the world all constitute adultery.
After writing on the ground, Jesus got up and said, If any one
of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.
It was very appropriate to say that the sinless should throw the stone first.
Since a sinner cannot condemn a sinner or execute a sentence, Jesus said a
person without sin should do it. However, who in the world is without sin? The
Bible has already declared this, saying, There is not a righteous man
on earth... (Eccl. 7:20) and There is no one who does good,
not even one. (Rom. 3:11, 12)
Not only the adulterous woman and the Jewish leaders but also those who
turn their back to God are all sinners who cannot avoid the judgement and
destruction before God. All have sinned already... (Rom.
3:23) and like criminals under a death sentence waiting for execution, they are
sinners doomed to fall into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
3. The Law Makes Us Realize Our Sins
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under
the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held
accountable to God (Rom. 3:19).
The law enables us see how filthy, wicked, and dishonest we are in the
eyes of God who is holy, good, and righteous. If we see ourselves against the
law of God, who is the standard of justice and judgement, we will then find our
sin and close our mouth that says, I am blameless.
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing
the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin (Rom. 3:20).
The law enables us realize our sin and pronounces the verdict to a
sinner. In the phrase, For the letter kills, (2Cor. 3:6) the
letter indicates the law that brought death, which was
engraved in letters on stone... (2Cor. 3:7) It condemns us for our sin
and brings us to death. The verse The wage of sin is death is
the curse of the law.
In front of God's law, who can boldly say, I am without sin,
or I have abided by the law?
By saying, If any one of you is without sin, let him be the
first to throw a stone at her, Jesus pointed out the fact that they
also were sinners like her. When Jesus said, Why do you look at the
speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in
your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then
you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye,
(Mat. 7:3, 5) he meant to question us if we can condemn other people or punish
them while concealing the plank in our own eyes. Jesus pointed out the
wickedness of the deceitful and arrogant religious leaders with this one word,
intended to make them aware of their own iniquities.
Their hidden agenda was to satisfy themselves by stoning the adulterous
woman to death and to entrap Jesus in the charge of instigating murder. In
other words, they schemed to bring the Messiah to the court, unaware at all
that they themselves were the sinners to be brought to the court of God. Such
is the heart of untruthful religious people. So, it is very true to say that a
corrupted religious person is more vicious than unbelievers.
4. God Sees the Sins in Our Hearts
He... said to them, 'If any one of you is without sin, let him
be the first to throw a stone at her.' Again he stooped down and wrote on the
ground. Again, we are curious what Jesus wrote at the second time.
There is no way to know it, but we can always imagine. If his first writing was
Thou shalt not commit adultery, I think his second one might
have been You have heard... 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you
that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with
her in his heart, which we considered earlier.
The people must have looked down at what Jesus wrote on the ground.
Jesus' point that anyone harboring lust has already fornicated threw light upon
the sins in their hearts, and they finally began to realize their sin. They
came to see that they were patent sinners in front of God and had already
committed adultery at least in their hearts. This happened as Jesus pointed out
their trespasses, which led them away from God as His enemies, respecting Him
only with tongues.
At this, those who heard began to go away... The
people felt pangs of their conscience. Had Jesus only said, If any one
of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her,
they would have hesitated to go away, but his admonishment that they were no
better than her appealed to their conscience. Conscience is a good thing God
endowed us with; though our hearts are fallen, our conscience is good.
Conscience seeks God, and fears Him and His judgement. When a man
commits a sin, his conscience will file suit against him. The lamp of
the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being
(Prov. 20:27). God searches our hearts through the spirit He has planted in us,
and the spirit accuses us before God for our offenses. Our conscience knows how
terrifying the judgment of God is although our hearts may not.
The people, in a wild rage as if to kill the adulterer immediately while
ignoring their own sins, began to see their wickedness, and their conscience
started to impinge upon them. Then, they helplessly dropped the stones about to
fly upon Jesus' order to kill her. One after another the stones hit the ground
with sound, and the people gradually left the temple. The Bible says, Those
who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first...
Then, why did the older ones go away first?
What do we experience in our long life? If there are two common kinds of
experience in life, one is an experience of hardship, and the other committing
sins. The older one is, the more hardship he has experienced, and the more
misdeeds he has performed; hence, the older ones tend to feel more guilty than
the younger ones. Staring from the guilt-ridden older ones, all left that place
including the younger ones.
Jesus did not need to talk about their sin directly. He is wiser than
Solomon. Jesus is the very one to reveal our sins and judge us in the end.
After angry crowd disappeared, Jesus straightened up. Seeing no one was
left but the woman, Jesus asked, Woman, where are they? Has no one
condemned you? Then, the woman gathered herself and looked around. No
one, sir, she said.
5. Jesus Has the Authority to Judge
Who is without sin? Only Jesus is. He is not a descendant of sinful
Adam, born through the Holy Spirit; he is an incarnation in human form of holy
God, who existed as the Word. But you know that he appeared so that he
might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. (1John 3:5) He
committed no sin. (1Pet. 2:22) Jesus the Son of God... was
without sin. (Heb. 4:14) Jesus himself also said, Can any of
you prove me guilty of sin? (John 8:46)
Jesus is indeed a completely righteous man and the only one without sin.
So, if a sinless person was allowed to strike her, only Jesus could do so, not
only because he is sinless and righteous but also he has the exclusive
authority to judge. Jesus said, The Father judges no one, but has
entrusted all judgment to the Son (John 5:22) and He has
given him the authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. (John
5:27)
As a righteous man, Jesus can judge a sinner and only he can die for
sinners because only a righteous person is entitled to die in place of a
sinner. And only Jesus has the exclusive authority to forgive a sinner and
erase his sin. In sum, Jesus has the right to judge, to forgive sins, and to
save a sinner. You may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth
to forgive sins . . . (Mark 2:10) Now, this Jesus was standing face to
face with the sinful woman. She could die or live by one word of Jesus because
he has the right to condemn or to absolve.
6. Jesus Takes Charge of Our Sin
'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. Since
the accusers of the adulterer were all gone, only Jesus could condemn her. But
he said, Then neither do I condemn you.
Then, did he mean that he would slur over her sin? No. Since God is a
righteous judge, He does not connive at any sin.
To God, sin means nothing other than death, and this is the justice of
holy God. If God overlooked iniquities, He could not be called just, and Jesus
would become a destroyer of God's justice on earth. The Law of Moses commanded
the Israelites to stone the adulterers as the order of God; therefore, letting go
of the woman would constitute a violation of the Mosaic Law. Would Jesus have
done it?
Jesus' word neither connived at her sin, nor violated the Law. For there
was a deep meaning behind the word, Neither do I condemn you:
It meant I will be condemned instead of you and take charge of the
payment of your sin. In other words, Jesus said it on the premise that
he would take the responsibility for her sin.
God allowed an atonement offering to pay for sin on behalf of the
sinner, and Jesus came in order to be offered to God as the atonement offering.
The Bible says, But you know that he appeared so that he might take
away our sins. And in him is no sin (1John 3:5). As in the verse, Without
the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness, (Heb. 9:22) the price
of sin is a sacrifice of life, and only the death of the righteous can serve as
an atonement offering acceptable to God. Jesus declared to perform
substitution, that is, pay for our sin, by taking charge of our sins and laying
down his life as a substitution offering.
The word Neither do I condemn you was Jesus' promise
to be condemned and judged in her place in order to forgive her sin, for only
Jesus had the authority to judge, make substitution, and forgive her sin. Who
is this woman, caught in the act of adultery? As each and every one of us is a
transgressor of the law to be judged by God, the woman is none other than we
ourselves.
How do you feel when you discern yourself against the Ten Commitments?
Have you properly obeyed even one of them? The law labels us as sinners. The
woman was fortunate to have been taken to Jesus instead of to other judges. God
did not give the law in order to condemn, judge or destroy us, but in order to
lead us to Jesus by making us realize our being sinners doomed to destruction
before God.
In fact, when the Jewish religious leaders brought the adulterous woman
to Jesus, this was in accordance with God's will. For the law exists in order
to condemn us and take us to Jesus the righteous judge, who did not come to
condemn us for our sin.
7. Liberation from the Condemnation of the Law
Clearly no one is justified before God by the law... (Gal. 3:11)
Through the law we become conscious of sin (Rom. 3:20).
So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ... (Gal. 3:24)
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ... (KJV)
A schoolmaster gives children the most basic education and guides them
to the next level at the end of the basic course. Likewise, the law is a guide
that makes us realize our sin and then leads us to the Christ. After helping us
know about the judgement first, the law brings us to the grace of God.
The role of a mirror is not to cleanse our dirt, but to let us know
about our dirt, and if we see our dirtiness on the mirror, we will go and wash
our face. Thus, the proper duty of a mirror is to show us our stains and arouse
in us a desire to wash it off. A medical test revealing our having a sickness
arouses a desire in us to cure the sickness and see a doctor. The law unveils
our sins, through which we go to Jesus as sinners.
Jesus came to save sinners, in order to call us back to him and justify
us through faith in him. Faith takes to the heart the fact that Jesus suffered
the curse and judgement, which originally belonged to me, and I became purified
before God thanks to his sacrifice. Therefore, the law discloses our sin, and
guides us to Jesus for salvation. Whereas we are sinners condemned by the law
of God, and Jesus is the judge, the same Jesus has paid for our sin on our
behalf.
In Genesis 25 there is a story that Esau, the first son of Isaac, came
back from hunting one day and sold his birthright to his younger brother,
Jacob, for a bowl of stew, submitting to his hunger. And Jacob was blessed by
Isaac in Genesis 27.
Isaac, who did not have long to live, asked Esau to hunt and make a
savory dish for him with an intention to pray God to grant the blessing of the
first son to his favorite son Esau.
Rebekah, however, out of desire that her second son be blessed, told Jacob
to bring to Isaac a savory lamb dish she was going to prepare. But Jacob was
apprehensive because Esau was a hairy man, and he had a smooth skin, and if
Isaac felt Jacob, he would discover the deception and curse rather than bless
Jacob. Nevertheless, Rebekah encouraged Jacob to move on with no fear, saying, My
son, let the curse fall on me. (Gen. 27:13) Out of love, Rebekah
decided that she would take the curse in order for him to receive the blessing.
Likewise, Jesus decided to bear the curse, which should have befallen
us, to grant us the blessing of the kingdom of heaven. Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us... (Gal. 3:13)
Jesus' crucifixion was the condemnation he received on behalf of us, sinners
cursed and doomed to death by breaching the law. So, as he said, Neither
do I condemn you, Jesus took the burden of our sin, and changed our
destiny so that we are spared the condemnation.
Until now, we have discussed that Jesus came not to condemn but to be
condemned in place of sinners in order to save those who believe in this fact. Whoever
believes in him is not condemned (John 3:18) because Jesus took the
condemnation in our place according to the principle of substitution. In our
place, he bore the punishment of pain and curse, which belonged to us.
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the
sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to
be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man (Rom. 8:3).
The sinless Jesus came in the likeness of sinful man and took upon
himself all human sins. God laid on him all the sins of the mankind, who became
sinners in Adam, and judged him. This was to fulfill the promise God had made
through the prophet Isaiah 600 years before Jesus: LORD has laid on
him the iniquity of us all. (Isa. 53:6) As in the word, He
was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities,
(Isa. 53:5) our iniquities killed Jesus, and the cross of Jesus put an end to
our judgement. As Jesus said right before his death, It is finished,
(John 19:30) all our sins were paid for in toto at that moment.
God laid on Jesus our iniquities so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God. (2Cor. 5:14) In order to make us sinless and
righteous, God exchanged our curse for the righteousness of Jesus; by taking
our death sentence and giving us his righteousness in return, Jesus gave us
life.
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for
all, and therefore all died (2Cor. 5:14).
As the transgression of the one man Adam had made everyone sinners in
him, the death of one righteous man Jesus in their place resolved the debt of
their sin. The holy only Son of God died for a sinner like me. I
cannot forget Jesus' amazing love to die for me, who was destined to die
(Hymn). If Jesus had not made a substitution for our sin, only everlasting
curse and downfall would be our lot.
When the Israelites lived in the wilderness after leaving Egypt, they
received many laws from God. Other than the Ten Commandments, usually called the
law, they had civil laws regulating the relations between people,
ritual laws prescribing the way towards God through the sin offering, and so
on. Whereas the law condemned, the ritual laws prescribed the
rituals through which they could be forgiven by God. The ritual laws are well
explained in Exodus and Leviticus.
When they sacrificed to God, they were to choose the firstborns of their
flock, and God allowed them to substitute a lamb for a donkey (Exodus
13:12,13). Offering an animal means to slaughter it and dedicate it as a
sacrifice. Instead of a donkey, which had to be killed, an innocent lamb was
sacrificed. Without killing the lamb, they had to break the donkey's neck.
Thanks to the lamb, the donkey could be spared. This foreshadowed that Jesus,
the Lamb of God, would lay down his life in place of us, the filthy sinners.
Without his death, God would have to break our necks and fling us to the hell.
Leviticus 16 tells us about the rules and regulations for the Day of
Atonement. The Israelites made a sin offering once a year on a national level
in order to make atonement for the people as a whole. Aaron, the high priest,
took two flawless goats and laid his hands on one of them to burden it with all
the wrongdoings and unrighteousness of the people.
All the sins of the Israelites such as defiling God's name through idol
worship, disobeying patents, murder, fornication, stealing, lying, and so forth
were transferred to the goat. Then, this scapegoat was cast out to the
wilderness where no people dwelt and where it was bound to starve to death or
become devoured by a wild beast. As they watched the goat being sent away to
such a wilderness, the Israelites must have comforted themselves, saying that
the faultless goat was carrying their sins away instead of them. The other goat
was slaughtered on the altar after being loaded with sin, again in place of the
people. This ritual was performed once a year.
This did not mean that our sins were purified by the blood of a bull or
a lamb, but that Jesus, who was like a lamb without a blemish, would be brought
to the cross carrying our sins. Jesus was quiet like a lamb being taken to a
butcher. He did not make any excuse, nor did he have any reason to do so. Jesus
himself said, The Son of Man came... to give his life as a ransom for
many, (Mat. 20:28) and, No one takes
my life. I desert it myself. Since Jesus voluntarily took the
condemnation in place of the sinners, he was whipped, dragged with the cross on
his back, and crucified. That was God's will. Look, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
8. The Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World
Jesus, the Lamb of God, died with the sin of the world. The entire human
sin was imputed to Jesus, and the judgement against that sin was executed on
the cross. Jesus took away the sins of you and me this way. Whether you know
this fact or not, and whether you believe it or not, it was accomplished by
God. The judgement of Jesus covered all the sins of you and me. The Bible says,
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the
unrighteous... (1Pet. 3:18)
We should know and accept it as a fact that there is someone who died in
place of each of us, who could only perish before God. Jesus' accomplishment is
much larger than our sin. The holy blood of Jesus is more than enough to pay
for the sin of the whole world. Jesus let out that holy and precious blood even
to the last drop in order to lead us to God. We must accept Jesus, who loved us
this much, into our hearts.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood (Rev.
1:5).
Jesus' blood has freed us from sin and judgement. If there were no hell
or punishment against sin, Jesus would have had no reason to die. As we are
treacherous sinners doomed to hell, Jesus died for us in order to emancipate us
from hell and guide us to the kingdom of God.
Neither do I condemn you. When Jesus, who is none
other than the highest judge, released that sinner, who can condemn her again?
By the same token, who can condemn us when Jesus himself acquitted us by his
own blood and furthermore guaranteed it through the Bible?
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It
is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more
than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also
interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
(Rom. 8:33 ~ 35,37)
9. Leave Your Life of Sin
Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of
sin.
Although Jesus paid for our sin and saved us, it does not mean that we
have a license to commit sins. When some people hear that they will be spared
the judgment and attain eternal life if only they believe the eternal
absolution of Jesus, they turn sarcastic and say, Then, is it okay to
practice wickedness once we are saved? Can we indulge ourselves in evil at
will? How can a person who believes in the remission of his sin and
his salvation through Jesus' blood and who possesses eternal life and hope
commit sins again at will? Do you think such a person can commit sins on
purpose?
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may
increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Rom.
6:1)
Although we may make mistakes because of our weakness, there would be no
one who says that we can transgress on purpose as Jesus has forgiven us
permanently. When my sin killed Jesus, would I transgress more because that was
not enough? By no means! God did not save us so that we keep our impurity or
live in sin, but that we participate in His holiness.
It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid
sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a
way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do
not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take
advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have
already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to
live a holy life (1Th. 4:3~7).
While we live in the world, we could inadvertently err owing to the
stubborn inclinations of our body. The prodigal son of Luke 15, who came back
to his father after an indulgent life, may still make mistakes while living
with the father; likewise, after a long life in separation from God, we cannot
become immediately perfect just because he came back to God. However, since we
are the ones to take part in the glory of God before long, we should always keep
our hearts and life pure, sacred and upright. As it says, A person who
has had a bath needs only to wash his feet, (John 13:10) the saved
souls should cleanse themselves with the word every day as they wash themselves
with water, and live their remaining lives for the glory of God.
10. In the New Life
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light
of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life (John 8:12).
As Jesus is the light of the world, whoever follows him will never walk
in darkness, but will attain and live in the light of life.
The woman caught in adultery and brought to Jesus was under the dominion
of darkness, sin, and death before receiving the forgiveness. Like her, we were
being dragged to hell, sitting in darkness and the deepest gloom,
and as prisoners suffering in iron chains. (Psa. 107:10) God
broke the chains on those who cried out to Him in agony.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them
from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and
broke away their chains. (Psa. 107:13,14)
As the Bible says, For he has rescued us from the dominion of
darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins, (Col. 1:13) we have been
transferred from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of the beloved Son of
everlasting light. We thereupon walk in the light. For you were once
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light - for
the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth.
(Eph. 5:8,9) Even though we used to live under the power of darkness and
control of Satan, we should now live as children of the light because we are in
Jesus, who is the light.
If Jesus is the sun, we are the moon. Jesus is a luminous body, and we
are its reflectors. We are reflective rays of the light of Jesus. The moon
changes its shapes through full, half, and crescent moons. But if we entrust
our whole life to Jesus, we will be a full moon to fully reflect the light of
Jesus unto the world. The people who entrust only half or just a little of
their life to Jesus will be able to brighten the world only as a half or a
crescent moon. We are Christians, commissioned to illuminate the world through
the light of Jesus. That is why God commands us to behave as children of light.
Listen to Paul's admonition: So then, let us not be like others, who
are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep
at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to
the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate,
and the hope of salvation as a helmet. (1Th. 5:6 ~ 8) As God says, we
should declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his
wonderful light (1Pet. 2:9).
After being forgiven by Jesus, the woman would not have committed such a
sin or lived in darkness again. Since then, she must have lived her remaining
life in the words of Jesus. A truly saved person would dedicate the rest of his
life to Jesus.
I thank the Lord for having enabled you to read this book until the end,
and pray that all the holy grace of God in this book be fulfilled in your heart
with the help of the Holy Spirit. I hope your reading takes you beyond the
level of intellectual understanding and works as a power to get eternal life
and transform your remaining life. And we also thank God continually
because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you
accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God,
which is at work in you who believe. (1Th. 2:13) If you read this book
again with a humble and prayerful heart, I am certain that you will receive
more abundant grace.
I would like ask you to be sure to read the third volume, The Way to
Glory, offered as a guidance for the life of the saved Christians.
