Title: If I Die, I'll Live!
Contents
Sunday day sermon
Text: Luke 9:18-27
Title: If I Die, I'll Live!
All human beings are born with the sin of greed from the time they are born in the womb of their parents. If human beings did not have the sin of greed, at least the world would not be as bloody as it is today. That is why the book of James says, “When lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” So, where did this desire come from? It came from the devil who disturbed the spiritual realm of heaven. Although the devil is a created creature, he is a spiritual being who was expelled from heaven trying to attain equality with God.
Originally, when man was first created in the Garden of Eden, there was no such thing as greed. So Adam and Eve lived naked, but they did not know that it was shameful at that time. However, the devil, who was cast out from heaven and was the king of the created world, sneaked into the Garden of Eden and made humans who were created in God's image disobey God's word (the law of good and evil) and made them his servants. From that time on, all human beings were born with the characteristics of the devil.
The characteristics of the devil are greed and hatred, envy, jealousy, anger, etc... All kinds of evil things are possessed. The characteristics of the devil have been transferred to humans today, and we can see the characteristics of the devil appear in humans as they are. Judging from this phenomenon, it is still impossible to deny that the master of man is the devil.
This is also true of those who live a religious life today. Even if they die soon, they will say that they are God's children, but if there are greed, hatred, envy, jealousy, anger, etc... for the world, which are the characteristics of the devil, lurking in their heart, such a person can never become a child of God. We must understand why the inner heart of Jesus, the Son of God, is different from the inner heart of man.
Today's Christians may mistakenly believe that they are born again because they believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, but this is just that the Gentiles who lived as unbelievers believed in the name of Jesus and received the Holy Spirit and became spiritual people of God on earth. In order for Christians to become true children of God, they must believe in the Son God sends to become true children of God. However, God has not yet sent a son to the Gentiles. Now, when the time is right, the Son will soon be sent.
This was also true of the Jews who lived under the Law at that time. At that time, they knew that they were born again because they believed in Jehovah God and kept the law, but they were completely unaware of the fact that they had to believe in the Son God sent to be born again. At that time, God made them rely on the Lord to keep the law to show that they were a people distinctly different from the Gentiles living on this earth. But they didn't think so. Because they believed in the Lord and kept the law, they believed that this was the way to become children of God.
It is already written in the Bible that God will send His Son twice before Jews and Christians. The first is the example of sending Jesus before the Jews as a type of Isaac, and the second is that He will send his son before Christians as a type of Jacob. The Jews living under the law must believe in the Son of God sent as a type of Isaac to become real children of God, and Christians can become true children of God only when they believe in the Son of God sent as a type of Jacob.
If the Jews at the time of Jesus or Christians today do not believe in the Son God sent, they may live as people while calling God their Father on this earth, but sin, the characteristic of the devil, does not disappear in their hearts. will not be able to participate in If you do not believe in the Son, no matter how high you are on this earth, your sins will not be blotted out and you will not be able to reach eternal life.
Excluding this fact, Christians today believe that all their sins are forgiven because they believe in Jesus. it's just The difference in status between the children of God and the people is the same as the children of the king and the common people cannot be the same. In order for those who lived as God's people today to become God's children, they must believe in the Son God sends to the Gentiles as a type of Jacob.
As seen in the example of the Jews, it is not difficult for humans to go to the temple while calling on God's name and perform all kinds of sacrifices according to the law. Of course, there are individual differences depending on the position and status, but anyone can do as much as they want if they put their mind to it. However, it is never easy to confess to your son as a sinner and believe in him. Because in order to do that, you must first humble yourself thoroughly. Although the Pharisees were zealous to go to the temple and offer sacrifices according to the law, the reason they could not confess themselves as sinners before their son was because they could not humble themselves as sinners. If human sins are forgiven through worship or offerings, then there is no need for the Son of God to come again.
What Christians are doing today in chapels is no different from that of Jews. At that time, the place called the temple has been converted into a chapel today, and the sacrifices made by slaughtering animals are now being offered in the name of Jesus. Therefore, no matter how many such services and offerings are offered, the characteristics of the devil lurking in the hearts of humans will never disappear through these offerings and worship. Even if a person has been filled with the Holy Spirit abundantly, that is only then, and as time passes, he will return to the starting point again. This is because they are all just models.
In order for the work that has been done as a model in the chapel up to now to be completed, the Son sent by God must believe. If you do not want to participate in Christ's first resurrection, you do not need to believe in the Son. However, if you really want to participate in the first resurrection, you must believe in the Son and receive the forgiveness of sins. To believe in the Son, you must confess that you are a sinner. It doesn't matter who has lived as an unbeliever until now. If you confess before the Son that you are a sinner, Christ will “blot out all his sins, and you will have a share in the first resurrection.”
However, for those who do not believe in the Son whom God has sent to the end, and think that worshiping in a temple or chapel is the only way to save them, God's wrath will be piled up on their heads along with the cruel judgment of God. The reason is that sins have not been forgiven through the Son sent by God. What Christians have been worshiping in chapels so far is not a reality, but a part of the model. Therefore, no matter how many worships and offerings people make when they go to the chapel, their sins will never go away.
Just as the Pharisees did not confess their sins to the end before the Lord, even among Christians today, those who are exalted like Pharisees will not confess their sins to the end. The reason the Pharisees did not confess their sins before the Lord was because the devil was controlling them from confessing their sins in them. That is why the Lord sees such people and denounces them as children of vipers.
The words of the Lord, “You must die to live!” were also spoken in this context. When he admits his sin before Christ, Christ becomes the master of man. Why does the Lord ask humans to admit their sins? This is because it is a confession and a promise to the Lord that I will admit that I have lived as a servant of the devil until now, and that I will live with Christ as my Lord from now on.
If Christians have lived only by fulfilling their duties as God's people, the time has come when they must strive to enter into true eternal life. Life as a people is to fulfill the mission of the people by going to the chapel every Sunday and worshiping, but do you confess yourself as a sinner in the face of the Son whom God sends for salvation in relation to eternal life? Depending on whether or not this is not the case, the land will be divided into wheat and chaff. The Son is the one who came to save only sinners so thoroughly. -He who has ears, let him hear and understand...-