Title: I desire mercy, not sacrifice!
Contents
Sunday day sermon
Text: Matthew 12:1-8
Title: I desire mercy, not sacrifice!
If the first man, Adam, had not sinned in the Garden of Eden, all human beings would not have lived as servants of the devil. However, when Adam disobeyed God's word and ate of the forbidden fruit, the human spirit was cut off from God due to sin and resulted in death. From then on, whether we like it or not, all humans have been living as servants of the devil.
God has a grand plan to save humans who are under sin and live as servants of the devil. In the first plan, the only people on the earth were to select the Israelites, give them the law, and to get to know God through the ordinances of the law.
However, the Israelites believed that they would become a holy (perfect) people by slaughtering cattle and sheep in the temple every Sabbath every week to take the place of their sins and offering sacrifices to God. However, as Hebrews 10 says, “The law is a shadow of the good things to come and is not the true image, so that by the same sacrifices that are always offered year after year, those who come to us cannot be made perfect at any time.”
If the sacrifice of slaughtering animals seemed to blot out human sins and make them whole, the question is, “How can you offer the same sacrifice over and over again? The word that proves conclusively that the thinking of the people of Israel was wrong is, “But these sacrifices are a reminder of sins year after year, because the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins.” Therefore, the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, and never the true image.
In order to save mankind, God first selected the people of Israel, gave them the law, and through the ordinances of the law, made sacrifices to God. And through the sacrifice, the people of Israel were able to realize the state of their death. At that time, God had a plan to send His Son at the end to save those who “profess to be sinners” and come out of Him who believe in Him. This is the mercy God designed for mankind.
But foolishly, the people of Israel were becoming righteous by slaughtering an animal that was not in the true image but merely a type of Christ and offering sacrifices to God. Because of this, the people of Israel did not believe in the Son whom God had sent in his true image, and the problem of sin that had to be resolved was not resolved. However, even at that time, tax collectors and prostitutes who confessed themselves to be sinners and believed in his son received the solution of their sins and entered eternal life.
Now, finally, only God's final mercy toward the Gentiles remains. In order to show the Gentiles the same mercy he had shown to the people of Israel, God freely sent the Holy Spirit to those who called on the name of Jesus who came to Israel.
The Holy Spirit sent to the Gentiles has the same role as the Law sent to the Israelites. Just as the Israelites got to know God through the ordinances of the law, the Gentiles who lived like dogs and pigs without any laws come to know God through the law of the Holy Spirit. If the Israelites slaughtered cattle and sheep and offered sacrifices to God, Gentiles today are worshiping (sacrificing) before God in the name of Jesus.
However, just as the sacrifices that the Israelites offered before God according to the laws of that time were “a shadow of the good things to come and not the true image,” Christians today go to the chapel every Sunday according to the law of the Holy Spirit and worship in the name of Jesus. It is a shadow of the good things to come, not the true form.” If the worship offered by Christians today was the true image of Christ, it would be, “How could they not have stopped worshiping, since those who worshiped will be cleansed once and for all and will never again realize their sins?”
The people of Israel went to the temple and slaughtered cattle and sheep and offered sacrifices to God, but today Christians go to the chapel to worship in the name of Jesus, but it is “a shadow of the good things to come, not the true image of Christ.” . Therefore, the act of today's Christians going to a chapel to worship does not solve the problem of their own sins "only to make them think about their sins".
Just as the people of Israel who went to the temple and sacrificed themselves to God through sacrifice, that is, if they did not realize their sins, they would not be able to believe in their future son. If you do not realize that you are a sinner who has disobeyed the Holy Spirit, you will not be able to believe in the Son of God who will be sent to the Gentiles in the future.
Christians, like the people of Israel, must also foolishly believe that they must be saved. This was also what the Israelites at the time thought. But, as the Bible clearly states, God's will is that only those who believe in the Son He has sent will receive the forgiveness of sins and enter into eternal life. This is the last mercy that God intends to show to the spiritual Israelites among the Gentiles who called on the name of Jesus and received the Holy Spirit.
The dictionary meaning of the word mercy (慈悲) is expressed in terms of “deeply loving and pitying others, or the benefits that are given because of such consideration.” Of course, these words are mostly used in Buddhism. But there is a big difference between the mercy of man and the mercy of God.
Human mercy has its limits. The reason is that humans can never be perfect. But God is perfect. Therefore, God's mercy or mercy is to forgive even the most unforgivable human sins. This does not mean that God unconditionally forgives human sins. Forgiveness is only available to those who believe in the Son sent by God.
So, even to the people of Israel, who were chosen first among many human beings, first, he gave the law to live under it, and then, through the sacrifice of the law, he made the people of Israel realize their sins, and then sent His Son to prove that they were sinners. He blotted out the sins of those who realized it and believed in the Son and came out to eternal life. This is God's first love for the people of Israel.
God's second love is God's love for all mankind. After the death of His Son on the cross, God sent the Holy Spirit freely to anyone in the world who called on the name of Jesus because of the blood he shed. The Gentiles who received the Holy Spirit were given life as spiritual Israelites from then on, and they were also given the duty to live according to the law of the Holy Spirit.
The law of the Holy Spirit works like the law. While the law is to find out the sins of the flesh of the Israelites, the law of the Holy Spirit is to find out the sins in the hearts of the Gentiles. When Christians, according to the law of the Holy Spirit, go to the chapel every Sunday for worship and discover the evil in their hearts, they will come to realize that they are sinners who cannot but die. Such people must wait with a humble heart for the spiritual Son of God who will be sent to the Gentiles in the future.
When he comes, the Gentiles will also be completely freed from anxiety, irritability, anxieties and worries every day because of the sins they have in their hearts, and they will enjoy freedom. And the worship services offered in the name of Jesus by going to the chapel will cease. The reality (Christ) has come into the hearts of those who believe, and it is in no way contradictory to go to the chapel and worship in order to gain something again.
Even though Christians today say they have been saved, they continue to go to the chapel to worship, because 2% is not enough. Even if you look at this alone, saying that Christians are saved is just a pretense. This was the same thought for the Israelites at the time. In the Garden of Eden, the way to raise the spirit of a dead human because Adam sinned is that Christ, the living Spirit, must come into our hearts. This is true salvation.
When the reality comes, the things that were models will naturally be defeated. “If the first had been perfect, we would never have built the second.” The Law and the Gospel were by no means exclusive to the Israelites, but equally to Christians today. This is God's great plan to save mankind. -Those with open spiritual ears, please listen and understand-