Title: I Believe in God
It was already a long time ago. I remember when I was serving as vice president of the Northwest Presbytery of the Korean American Presbyterian Church in the United States. The Northwest Presbytery had a very wide area. Almost all of the western part of the United States was under jurisdiction, from Vancouver, Canada in the north to just above Los Angeles in the south. You will have a hard time imagining how wide that area is. Simply put, if you try to drive a car from end to end, it will probably take you 24 hours or more, even if you don't take a break.
So, if I thought there was a meeting in Vancouver, Canada, I would take a plane. First of all, I have to take a two-hour flight from where I live in San Jose to Seattle. And on a small plane from Seattle to Vancouver once again, I still have to change to an international flight because it crosses the border. It's a good idea to travel by plane. If you think you're going to fit in that small plane, the small plane is also a problem, but I don't know how uncomfortable the seat is.
But one time, among the elders I was traveling with, there was a person who often traveled by plane for business. When the plane took off, he called the flight attendant and said something, and they asked us to move. Seeing that there were several empty business class seats in the front of the plane, I asked them to move there, and they were accepted. Wow! I don't know how wide and comfortable the seats are. The food was also different from economy class. It's probably exorbitantly expensive for its taste, but it's still like business class or first class.
There are probably few people in the world who would hate to enjoy privileges. Don't most people try to avoid hard work by any means? But he never tries to indulge in things that are profitable. Not only do you not fall for it, but, if possible, do you not try to receive special treatment that is different from others? Such is the mind of ordinary people.
Today, we hope that we can understand the heart of God the Father who sent his son to this earth through the image of Jesus. I want you to know more about God the Father, who sent his son to this earth to suffer all kinds of shame, insult, and suffering, and finally to be crucified and die as if he was driven out, not enjoying privileges.
We believe that God loves us. Don't you believe that because he loves us, he sent his Son to this earth to take up the cross in our place? Indeed, through the Son, we were saved by faith. But what about our saved hearts? Doesn't it seem like you're misunderstanding something? Doesn't it seem like we're struggling every day to give us privileges that we shouldn't have because of the one who gave up our privileges? Aren't our prayers always full of such things?
Now, I want you to know and believe in God. God is looking into the hearts of all of us with flaming eyes. You must not deceive yourself. What kind of God is in our hearts? The question is, who is the God we believe in? Today, you will have to hear the answer through the words of the Bible.
The Bible first tells us that the God we believe in is the one who fulfills His promises. In Matthew 2:15, quoting Hosea 11:1, “I called my son out of Egypt,” related to the escape of the Joseph family, it is revealed that the prophecy in the Old Testament was fulfilled.
In the past, didn't we also wander in darkness and fall into sin? God made us pilgrims on our way to the promised land by receiving the forgiveness of sins through his Son. (See Colossians 1:16) He never forgot us. Indeed, you have saved us. We must never forget the faithfulness of God in sending his Son to this earth to fulfill his promise. God is the one who always fulfills His promises. That's right! “God is not a man, and he does not lie, and he is not a man, so that he has no regrets.
Next, the Bible tells us that the God we believe in does not do evil. The writer of the Gospel of Matthew quotes Jeremiah 31:15 regarding King Herod's cruel slaughter of children and reveals that the prophecy was fulfilled. The writer of the Gospel of Matthew reveals that the words of the Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled, not only in the case of the baby Jesus' escape from Egypt and King Herod's slaughter of children, but also the return of Jesus to Israel and the settlement of Nazareth in Galilee. That is why it is often said, “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets.”
However, although all of these events must be the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament, we must know for sure that there are cases where they did not result from the sovereign work of God. In particular, we must not forget that the incidents such as the slaughter of children committed by King Herod were not caused by God but by human wickedness. Although it was not God's will, the cruel incident eventually became an instrument for accomplishing God's will. Therefore, it must be clearly understood that God does not do evil on his own to accomplish his will under any circumstances.
Finally, the Bible tells us that the God we believe in is a God of order, who accomplishes His will and never rushes. There is a saying ‘Mountain beyond the mountain’. After King Herod's death, Archelaus the tyrant, who was never inferior to King Herod, succeeded his father as king. The safety of Jesus and his parents could never be guaranteed. It still looked precarious.
What would we have done if we had faced such a situation? Perhaps right now, he would have tried to punish a tyrant like Archelaus by swarming God and solving all problems at once. But instead of using such human methods, God once again told me to quietly go to Nazareth in Galilee and stay there. Also, along with the saying that it was to fulfill the words spoken by the prophets...
When we think of setting a goal, we will be anxious and aggravated by the desire to achieve it right away. Some even say that it is our nationality. Because of this, sometimes we run ahead of God's will and stumble over obstacles. We fall into the temptation of sweet shortcuts and go through trial and error to come back an incredibly long way. However, we must know clearly that God is the One who accomplishes his will, but perfectly in a way that surpasses our human thoughts. So we will have to learn to think deeply and wait patiently through that God sometimes.
Now that I have said that it is a privilege, I would like to point out once more about the immunity of members of the National Assembly. Originally, members of the National Assembly were not to be held accountable for the remarks they made while performing their legislative activities in the National Assembly. But doesn't it seem like you've abused that immunity too badly so far? Regardless of whether they were female or female, they made a lot of troublesome remarks in such a way that they would explode and see. And it was very irresponsible or not. But this time people expected something a little different. While many lawmakers said they would try to correct wrong practices, didn't the Democratic Labor Party lawmakers in particular even said that they would change the law? But doesn't it just seem like they're abusing that privilege even worse? Of course, I'm not saying that because I don't know what they're saying. It is true that they have a strong will to achieve the task of reform even if they do so. However, no matter how good the goals and results are, members of the National Assembly as well as all of us should clearly know that if the process and means are wrong, it can lead to even greater anger.