Title: Heaven like yeast
Contents
1. Words that begin
A wife who fights well with her husband likes a habit of saying, “Maybe your husband doesn’t change that much, right?” Every time I say it, I wonder if maybe my wife would say the same thing without being so different. Many people lament that their families are not changing, lament that their friends do not change, lament that their neighbors do not change, lament that the political situation does not change, lament that the government does not change, lament that society does not change. , lamenting that the world will not change. Those who are engrossed in self-righteousness often take action to change. Hypocrites incite people to protest with the sophistry that an unwilling conscience is not a conscience, then sit back and reveal the unconscience that satisfies their ambitions.
But what's absurd is that he doesn't lament when he doesn't change. The most important thing in life is that you don't put in the effort and effort to reinvent yourself.
2. Heaven compared to leaven
Jesus said that the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, is like leaven that a woman took and put into a powder to make it all swell. The Greek word for “Kingdom of God”, he basilia tu teu (?
The reign that God, who provides all things in the universe and mankind, has in earnest and materialized through Jesus Christ is like leaven.
“Lean” is an enzyme that makes dough for baking bread. You can't see the koji in action, but a very small amount of koji is mixed into the powder and melted to make the dough rise. This parable of the leaven signifies the secret but mighty influence of the kingdom of God, the reign of God that changes people and the world.
J. A. Martin and 黑崎幸吉 took this parable of the leaven in a bad way and said that as the kingdom of God expands, the power of the devil resides there, but it is not the right view. Of course, there are times when leaven is used in a bad sense. In Matthew 16:6, we read, “Jesus said to him, ‘Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’” It compares the hypocrisy of the leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees, and their legalistic teachings that cannot be saved with leaven. 1 Corinthians 5:6 says, “It is not right for you to boast, do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” It means a bad influence that makes the whole thing wrong.
However, in the case of the text, leaven is used in a good sense. It compares the secret but powerful influence of God's rule to change all things and people's lives, which cannot be perceived by people, to leaven. The kingdom of God, the reign of love of Jesus Christ, saves and transforms those who believe in the gospel, of which Himself is the core. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
We who have been saved and regenerated through faith must live under the rule of God, and at the same time, we must become the means of the rule of the love of Jesus Christ. You must receive the rule of God, who is as secret as leaven but has a powerful influence, to make your personality holy, and to spread God's rule to make the world holy. I hope that all of us who have already been saved will become citizens of the leaven-like kingdom of heaven spreading the rule of the love of Jesus Christ.
What is the way to become a leaven-like citizen of heaven? The way to become a leaven-like citizen of the kingdom of heaven is to receive and believe in the gospel of Christ, and to live worthy of the gospel. No religious doctrine, no human thought or ideology, no human knowledge, no human ethical teaching, can transform a man living under sin into a citizen of heaven and a son of God. Galatians 4:3 and below read: “In the same way, when we were children, under the elementary learning of this world, we were slaves. When the time was fulfilled, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, who redeemed them that were under the law, and we so that he might receive the right to be a son.”
By the way, by the way. What is really sad and painful is that the gospel is distorted or corrupted and spread in some pulpit and seminary denominations. Even the gospel that is not the gospel is preached.
An elder introduced the humor in an email he received from the Christian Reformation cafe he belonged to.
At a certain school, there was a test asking for the name of a philosopher, and student A cheated on the answer sheet of student B, who was ranked first in the whole school. Student B's answer was 'Needs', but Student A looked at it with a squint, so it was mistaken for 'naked'. The answer was a little strange, but I wrote ‘naked’ with the feeling that it must be true because the answer was written by the first place in the whole school. But when I think about it, I decided to change it a bit because it would take some cheating if I wrote the same answer as the first place in the whole school for such a difficult question. So the answer I wrote was ‘nude’. However, student C next to student A knew that student A had hacked the answer of the first place in the whole school, so he cheated on student A's answer. ‘Nude’ But if I use it as it is, I think the cheating will be discovered, so I decided to change it to make it more plausible. So the answer I wrote was ‘naked’.
In Galatians 1:6 and below, the apostle Paul said, “I marvel that you are so quickly departing from him who called you by the grace of Christ to a different gospel; there is no other gospel, except that some are disturbing you and perverting the gospel of Christ. But if we, or even angels from heaven, preach any other gospel than the gospel we preached to you, let him be accursed.”
We, who have heard the gospel of Christ, believe and have been saved, must renew ourselves and live a life like the leaven that renews all things, as children of God who reigns through Christ and citizens of the kingdom of heaven. You should not live a life that pursues the glory of wealth. It must not embody one's own reason, emotion, or will. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Jesus, who makes all things new, told the crowd and his disciples, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).
If we live a leaven-like life according to the pleasing will of God, the ruler of love, God makes us rich so that we can better perform the role of leaven, grants us a position of honor, enables us to become great scholars, and becomes a genius artist. You make it happen, and it makes you an excellent engineer. Joseph, who had only God to believe and depend on, lived a prosperous life because God was with him, and made the name of God known to the people of General Potiphar's family and prisoners. Later, he became the prime minister of Egypt, and became a global economic leader who rescued the world from famine, proclaiming the reign of God the Savior to the world.
If we live as the leaven children of God and citizens of heaven who must spread the gospel of the kingdom, we may face rejection and persecution from people of the world who worship sin, unbelief, and worldly things like idols. In 1 Kings 18:17, the notorious king Ahab said when he saw the prophet Elijah. As soon as he heard the king's words, "Are you the one who troubles Israel?" Elijah replied, "I did not trouble Israel, but you and your father's house, because you have forsaken the command of the LORD and you have followed the Baals." I did. When the church members preached the gospel of Christ to Thessalonica, the locals said, “These men who have disturbed the world have come here too. Second half of Acts 17:16.
3. Conclusion
Just as we cannot play our role unless the leaven is melted, if we insist on our present self, we can no longer play the role of leaven. We must be sanctified by learning and practicing the gospel in the Lord and following the Holy Spirit, not following the trends of the world, left, right, or middle way. We must use our knowledge and wisdom, our arts and skills, our talents and talents, our wealth and abilities, our gifts and our spiritual powers like yeast. May we all melt like yeast in our lives under sin and self, the law and the world, despair and frustration, and spiritual and physical death so that we can be regenerated, enriched, and receive the hope of eternal life.
(Poongseong Methodist Church. Book: Complete Commentary on 27 New Testament Books/ Interpretation of Difficult Scriptures I, II/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/Paul’s Understanding of Man/ Prosperous Prayer/ Seasonal Sermonbooks/ Sermonbook 18. T. 426 -3051)