Title: Flint-like face
Contents Not long ago, there was a moving article of a Korean mountaineer who set out to conquer the Himalayas. It is an incident that saved the juniors from the moment of crisis to the end. It gave a gentle impression to not only mountain climbers, but also Koreans. There are different kinds of life and death in the world we live in.
㉠ It is death that kills oneself and kills others. This is the case with suicide commandos.
㉡ The self is the act of living and killing the rest. It's murder.
㉢ It is the act of saving oneself and others. This is the case for Himalayan mountaineers.
㉣ The self is dead and the rest is death. These events are happening all around us. It is a holy death that saves children, parents, friends, and unknown people and dies.
2000 years ago, the righteous Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross for sinners who would die forever because of their sins and go to hell. Because of this death, all who believe in Jesus can receive salvation, eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven. You paid the best price, so you got the best gift. The saints, the church, and all worship are the merits and fruits of the cross.
Today's text says, "I know that I will not be put to shame, because I have made my face like flint." Flint is one of the quartz stones and fires when struck with steel, so it is a stone used to start a fire by placing a flint on it and striking it with a bush. It means the face of Jesus Christ. Knowing that through suffering you will be brought to glory, you will be able to overcome all the insults that come upon you. In the Bible, the expression “strengthening the heart, forehead, and face” is used in both positive and negative meanings to convey the determination to complete the assigned task to the end, even if it is painful.
It is the image of Jesus Christ carrying out the mission of redemption to the end, despite the great suffering of the cross. I pray that you will be filled with great glory and emotion to see the face of the Messiah who is like a flint who silently accomplished the salvation of mankind through prayer.
1. The missionary Messiah
Verse 5, “The Sovereign LORD has opened my ear; I have not rebelled, nor have I turned back.”
Man became destitute because of the burden of sin. Tired and weary people. It is a figure of a human being who is unbearably struggling with the heavy burden of guilt. As the Messiah, Jesus Christ received from God the great mission of the fulfillment of the redemption of mankind, who are dying under the burden of sin. Although carrying out the task of saving mankind involves all kinds of suffering, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was willing to carry out the mission of salvation.
We received it freely, without merit, but Jesus Christ paid the highest price. To save mankind was the absolute mission God gave to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ accomplished this mission.
One day a king was looking in the mirror. Then a man who looks just like the king came out of the mirror and asked a question. "Hey, how did you become a king?" the king says “I became the king because I was better than others and more powerful than others.” Hearing this, the man in the mirror said, "Do you know how many people in this world are more powerful than you and better than you?"
"How did you become a king?" I ask again. “I became king because my wife was brilliant.” The man in the mirror also says: “Do you know how many people in this world are better than your wife?” And the man in the mirror keeps asking, "How did you become a king?"
The king was perplexed. I became a king like this, saying this and that, and like that, my body sweats. They only give lame excuses. Still, the man continues to speak. "How did you become a king?"
In the end, this king raises his hands and speaks. "What am I to brag about? It's just the grace of heaven." Then the man went into the mirror. This hilarious story gives us a model answer to the question of 'how people live.'"
Through the fulfillment of Jesus Christ's mission to save sinners, anyone who believes in Jesus can be saved. It is the total grace of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. We must live a life of assurance and joy of salvation. Also, in this age, we must carry out the mission that God has entrusted to us. We must become saints who can carry out our mission well to the end in the midst of suffering, rather than living a life that is devious by abandoning our mission. We must become saints who fulfill God's will and commands in our homes, churches, and societies. I bless all the saints who carry out their missions well by the power of Jesus Christ.
2. The Messiah of Suffering
Verse 6: “I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from shame and spitting.”
Jesus Christ was beaten with many whips. The beard was also removed. The beard was considered a kind of symbol of honor in society at the time. So cutting or plucking that beard was one of the greatest insults. Especially those who practiced this kind of thing were considered wicked people. It is said that some evil boys in Rome had a bad habit of pulling out the long beards of scholars with tweezers. Christ, the Messiah, was slapped in the face to this rude and wicked class. He was also bathed and spit on. It was considered an insult to spit on someone else's face. Moreover, spitting in his face was an indescribable insult. Christ suffered this supreme insult.
Jesus Christ was beaten, bearded, and spit on the wicked to save sinful mankind and me. You suffered the most unbearable suffering You paid the best price. He endured, endured, and suffered in order to save all of us who were sinners.
Do you remember the love story of Prince Edward of England, called the love of the century? He fell in love with an American woman named Willis Simpson. However, she was a divorced woman who had already been married. In 1936, Edward became King of England, and despite opposition from the royal family, he finally announced his attitude to the public through the BBC. "It is impossible to fulfill your duties as King of England without the help of the woman you love." Eventually, Edward gave up his crown and was deported because of his love for a woman. After a modest wedding in France, the two lived as dukes in the original work.
But the back story is a little different. He sacrificed and gave up everything for himself, choosing to fall in love with a woman, but the rest of his life was not very happy. As such, you may think that it is not worth sacrificing everything you have for anything in the world, but in reality, it is more often not the case.
So, are you really saying that there is no one on this earth worth dating once? There is. He is Jesus Christ. Since the beginning of history, no one who has loved Jesus Christ has ever regretted it. Now the object of true love is knocking on the door of your heart. Just open the door. So, I hope that I can meet the Lord who is the object of love and experience the grace that completely changes my life.
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, gave up the heavenly throne, the seat of God, the highest glory, and life in order to love me and suffered the greatest poverty and suffering. And he loved you to the end. He loved you until death. We all receive this unconditional agape love. Many hardships could not stop the love of Jesus Christ. Before the love of Jesus Christ on the cross, everything was broken and all Satan's plans were shattered. Let us all love Jesus Christ. Have you suffered insults, rods, beards, spit, or suffering because of Jesus Christ? Are you still living a life of faith that is influenced by your emotions and feelings? We must overcome and overcome hardships with the love of Jesus Christ. We must overcome suffering with the power of the cross and help those who are suffering. I pray that you will become more faithful and loving believers in Jesus Christ, who suffered to forgive and save my sins.
3. The Righteous Messiah
Verses 7-9, “I am not ashamed, because the Sovereign LORD helps me; I have set my face like flint, and I will not be put to shame. Come near to me, and the Sovereign LORD will help me, and who can condemn me? They will all wear out like clothes, and they will be eaten by moths."
'Justification' refers to God's recognition and manifestation of the righteous and innocent character of the Messiah. This fact is evident in the course of the work of Christ, the Messiah. First, at his baptism, through the voice from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17), through the miracles he performed, through the mouth of Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19), even on the cross His righteousness was proved by the Roman centurion who witnessed the incident (Luke 23:47).
It proves that the entire public life of Jesus Christ was made in the approval of God, and his righteousness is conclusively revealed through the fact that he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God. No matter who goes to trial, the Messiah's own righteousness will eventually be recognized. A sinful man cannot be saved by a sinful man. Only the righteous Messiah, Jesus Christ, can save. No matter how much Satan tries to interfere, it is only in vain.
When we think of God who took care of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are called the fathers of faith, we realize that the protagonist in the world of faith is God, not man. We fall, but God does not fall. Even if we fail, God does not fail. Even if we give up, God never gives up on us. We did not go to God because we had faith, but because God gave us faith and we looked to Him. The protagonist of faith is God.
It's like a great sculptor turning a bad stone into an immortal masterpiece. God breaks down, attaches, polishes, caresses, and sculpts us as God's people. Perhaps now we are only half-finished. The other half may still be dull and ugly. However, it will be sculpted more and more closer to completion. Many parts are still unfinished. Overall, it is incomplete. But in the end, God will make our lives an immortal masterpiece.
A person with a bad personality will carve out his personality, a person with a bad and bad language will carve out his language, a person with bad hand habits will carve out his hand, and a person with a dirty heart will carve out his heart. God makes us people of God throughout our lives.
We are all full of transgressions and sins. It's just embarrassing and upsetting. We cannot be cleansed or saved by anything on our own. We have been cleansed and saved through the righteous Messiah, Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, we all have salvation, eternal life, heaven, happiness, crown, and victory. It is thanks to the righteous Jesus. It is a perfect blessing that no one can dispute or disturb. Let's fully believe in Jesus Christ, praise Him, and be faithful. He will surely pour out greater and more wonderful grace and blessings.
Dear Seokmun Family,
The day of Pentecost is drawing near. Our prayers and spirituality must also deepen. Let us experience the mission and sufferings of Jesus Christ, the righteous Messiah. Let's imitate the face of Jesus who is like a flint who completed salvation in the midst of suffering. What about our faces? I pray that you will become the best saints in this age who experience comfort, healing, joy and happiness while looking at the face of Jesus Christ, who has completed all missions.