Title: Glory of Suffering
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Zion gave birth before she was afflicted, and gave birth to men before she suffered. He gave birth to his children safely. Says the LORD, "I gave birth, and will I not give birth?" said your God, "I am a bringer of childbirth, how can I close the womb?" (Isaiah 66:7-9)
Buddhists and Stoics try to escape the hardships of life. Taoism or epicurean (hedonism) try not to be conscious of suffering. But in life, suffering is unavoidable and clings to human existence which cannot be avoided. No matter what I think about it now, the reality is that countless thorns of hardship cover our whole body, including food and clothing problems, family problems, work or business problems, and country problems. Even if we have entered the temporary mental and psychological samadhi, the messenger of suffering is standing by my side, waiting for my mind to wake up.
As long as we are conscious of the survival of history, there are the same hardships in any nation or society. The suffering of both ends of the North and the South, the suffering of economic hardship, and the suffering of pollution are common thorns of suffering that cannot be avoided by anyone who lives on this earth and in this age. Christianity is not a religion that seeks to avoid this suffering, nor is it a religion that tries not to be conscious of it. Christianity is a religion that sublimates suffering into glory and discovers the value of suffering. It is not a religion that only wants to live life in peace, but it is a religion that wants to live a life that is worth living and shining. It is not a religion to live life as it is in this world for just one day, but it is a religion to live while creating an eternal tomorrow. This is the fundamental Christian attitude toward suffering. This is the fundamental meaning of Jesus Christ's death on the cross. It is the truth that let those sufferings truly become a glorious crown.
I would like to emphasize the words of the gospel to make the hardships we face today, both individually and in our country, so valuable and glorious. The machine that transforms suffering into glory is the machine of faith. 1 John 5:4 says that without faith you cannot overcome the world. This means that without faith you cannot overcome suffering. As for what faith is, whatever it is, the author said that it is faith that God lives and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Those who believe that God is the source of all creation and the ultimate providence of history do not have the ability to overcome suffering and glorify it. It means that without faith in God as the ultimate judge who rewards and punishes all human deeds, we cannot overcome this suffering or glorify it.
Those who believe in these two things create greater value through the thorn of suffering that is hung on him. It is the thorn that the suffering becomes an opportunity to become a blessing to me. However, unless you are a person of faith, you cannot overcome suffering and turn that suffering into glory.
Another organ that turns suffering into glory is hope. An athlete cannot participate in the arduous training process and the bloody competition without hoping for the flag of victory to be caught by him. In this Bible, just like the pain of a mother giving birth to a son, God trains the nation of Israel through suffering and creates a new one. Christianity is the religion of hope. Looking forward to the glorious tomorrow and enduring today, moving forward is the attitude of the Christian life. The hope of Christianity is the kingdom of God, in which the universe, all things, history, and mankind are completely ruled by God's love. It is to look forward to the creation and unfolding of a new earth and a new heaven.
For those who know the hope of tomorrow, all hardships do not turn into thorns, but rather become precious pearl necklaces. Victor Hugo wrote 'Les Miserables' during his 8-year prison life in the midst of the French Revolution, and John Bunyan wrote his immortal masterpiece 'The Journey of an Old Man' during his 10-year prison life after the war. All of humanity's worth is pearls that have emerged from the furnace of affliction. They had a hope to see not only today but tomorrow, and not only this world but also the world of eternal life. I honestly confess before God and you that all the hardships that were difficult to bear in the past, even from the experience of my short life, were as precious as gold that cannot be thrown away.
Another organ that turns suffering into glory is love. Suffering is all relative. They come because of their children, because of money, because of illness, because of the country (actually, even those who do politics for the people these days do not show any signs of genuine concern for the country), and for something else. But because of this, the flame of the furnace that completely devours and melts everything is the flame of love. The suffering that comes from something, the suffering that it gives to me, whether it is material, human, nation, or society, can be burned with love when we truly love it and burn it with love. I haven't seen a parent who loves their child and refuses to go through hardships to raise their child. I haven't seen anyone who can turn away from suffering because of the object she truly loves.
Christianity is a religion of love. The law of love to love God and to love neighbor is central to Christian ethics. He truly loves his country and does not hesitate even if he lays down his own life. Christianity teaches that all objects should be objects of love. But that love must be consistent with the love of God. Here is the morality of love. The love that triumphs over suffering must truly be the love of agape, not the love of eros or philia. All suffering that enters into true love bears fruit for good, and when suffering enters the furnace of love and melts, it becomes a treasure that cannot be valued.
I gave these words today in memory of the day when our ancestors proclaimed the March 1 Declaration of Independence to the whole country and started the independence movement 52 years ago. Our people have been through a history of hardship. If you count only the records that have been recorded in history, you can really guess what the history of hardship is like because there have been nine hundred and dozens of invasions by foreign countries. However, I believe that it was the 3 1 Movement for the first time in thousands of years of history that made this history of suffering into a history of glory. This is because the 3 1 Declaration of Independence contains the essence of the Christian spirit, knowingly and unknowingly, and the leading role of the 3 1 movement was the fact that the Christian churches and believers who knew faith, hope, and love were in charge. Even today, at this time of suffering, I am convinced that only those who have faith, hope, and love can truly turn this suffering into glory.