Title: God Blessed (Genesis 12:1-12)
Contents
Blessed God (Genesis 12:1-12)
limits to be overcome
Most of our prayers that believe in Jesus do not go beyond this framework. "Lord! May I pass this test and give you glory!” In other words, this prayer reveals that the idea that we can glorify God only when we succeed, whether in an exam or a job, dominates us. Of course, these types of prayers are not wrong, but these types of prayers are not only very rudimentary prayers, but also prevent them from enjoying many of the things that people who believe in God as their Father can enjoy.
A Korean player who participated in the World Cup successfully took a free kick with amazing technique this time, and then kneeled down and prayed. Truly, he looked majestic and strong. But if you don't give glory if you can't score a goal, that's a problem. The will of God that we are trying to convey through today's sermon is not that you or your children should not be concerned about success. However, I hope that you will understand the problems of this type of prayer through Abraham, the father of faith, and gain a higher level of faith.
Abram's difficult circumstances to leave
I will tell you why Abram obeyed and left despite the circumstances in which it was difficult for him to leave his hometown. Haran was an important archaeological ancient city as the center of commerce, culture and religion of Mesopotamia. The ancients thought that God existed when there was too much rain or not, or when there was severe storm and rain, that is, whenever there was a natural difficulty that was beyond their control. So he created various foreign gods in the form of human beings, and offered them sacrifices to flatter or comfort them. Haran was the center of this idol culture.
In order to make Abram the father of faith, God did not force Abram, who was living in Haran, to give up idols, command new sacrifices, or give doctrines, or introduce himself as the only god. First of all, he told me to just leave. Please keep in mind that as people who believe in God, it is important to have a view of values that is distinct from the people of the world. If you believe in Jesus and have the same values as people in the world, I ask you to seriously examine your faith.
Abram did not know who he was among the many gods, but he gave up on many things and left, holding on to his promise to build a great nation through himself and make it a source of blessings. Abram was 75 at this time, so his father was still alive. It is true that leaving behind a living father, giving up inheritance, and leaving for a world where you do not know how it will unfold is a great act. However, the faith Abram had at that time was far from the faith God wanted.
Abram only looked for blessings
Abram said, “When one of the many gods in Haran leaves his hometown, his relatives, and his father’s house and goes to the land that he is leading (Genesis 12:1-9), “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great. and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you, for in you all peoples on earth will be blessed.” God, who was leading them step by step, appeared again when Abram arrived at Shechem in the land of Canaan and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.”
After that, Abram moved to Bethel and pitched his tent to stay for a while. Palestine has a dry season and a wet season. It is believed that Abram arrived when the dry season was long. When the drought that he had never experienced became severe, he went down to Egypt. This is the evidence that Abram did not hold on to the only God, but for the blessing. In the end, there was an incident that almost took my wife too.
what God wants
Abram was called at the age of 75 and gave birth to Isaac when he was 100 years old. Seeing Abram sacrificing Isaac, God declared his faith to be accepted. God still wants this kind of faith from us. God, who confirmed the level of Abram's love for God, wants us to have the same faith. God had been waiting for a long time to see that Abram loved God more than Isaac. The thought of giving glory to God after receiving something more is an act of thinking too lightly of the grace of God who gave up his only son on the cross.
Everyone! God does not want humans to be sacrificed instead of animals. But why did he tell Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? It was because he wanted to make sure that he loved God supremely. Everyone! God does not want to slaughter all prisoners of war and kill animals. But for Saul, he wanted to see him obeying beyond his own reason. The God who asked for Isaac! The God who commanded annihilation still commands us to be satisfied with God alone. I bless you that you show your faith that it is fundamentally distinct from the faith you are asking for something.
The difference with Japan caused by a single incident
The year 2010 is the 100th anniversary of the rule of Gyeongsul-guk, when our nation was taken over by Japan. Today, Japan is a more developed country than us, but up until the early 19th century, Japan was a country that accepted advanced culture through Korea. However, it is very sad to think about how it was reversed.
At the end of the 19th century, when a wave of great change called modernization came to Asia, the attitudes of Korea and Japan toward modernization were completely different. On June 3, 1853, four huge American warships appeared off the coast of Edo, the capital of Japan at the time. The four warships were all black, so the Japanese called them 'Kurofune'.
It is said that the black ship was 20 times larger than the battleships owned by Japan at the time. The moment they saw this large ship, the Japanese decided that there was no chance of winning a fight, and the Tokugawa Shogunate established diplomatic ties with the United States the following year. He continued to establish diplomatic ties with Britain and Russia. On the other hand, Joseon refused to establish a state until the end, but was forced to sign the Ganghwa Treaty with Japan in 1876, and the United States in 1882 and Britain in 1883.
There was a 20-year gap between the founding of Joseon and Japan, and during this period, Japan spurred reform for modernization. Joseon could not overcome this gap and eventually was pushed by Japanese power and suffered national shame. Perhaps you can find out why Joseon became a subordinate country to Japan, which was considered equal in national power, without even using it once. (This is a reference to Lee Kwang-hoon, 『Chosun and Japan, the Lands of Death and Living』
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8). Let’s get rid of the idea that we have to give something to be glorified and transform into a faith that gives thanks to God alone.