Title: Man's Impossibility, God's Possible
Contents
Philippians 4:13 Man's Impossibility, God's Possible
A man named Napoleon pointed to the rugged Alps and said: “Nothing is impossible in my dictionary.” In the 1970s, when I was in middle school and high school, there were a lot of students who liked this word. So, on the desk in their study room, there were many students who wrote the words “Nothing is impossible in my dictionary” along with a picture of Napoleon and studied hard to get into a good university or prepare for the entrance exam.
In other words, Napoleon's words have great spirit and courage as a human being, but from a Christian point of view, they are lacking. In some ways, I wonder if it's a little arrogant that an insufficient human being can do everything on their own. These days, even people who do not believe in God have a mindset of ‘I can do. ‘Of course I can’t. It's much better than living with a sense of defeat and failure while saying, 'I'm ugly.
But without God, if you think, 'I can do anything,' it would be a mistake. Many people who do not believe in God think this way. “Those who believe in God are weak people who like to depend on others. But I believe in myself.” Even worse, some even worse people say: “To believe in God, believe in my fist.” When I hear those words while evangelizing, I say to myself like this. “Oh my, one hit with his fist hammer would shatter it!”
Gentlemen, the outstanding beings among all things are clearly human beings, created in the image of God. But it is clearly pride that man can do everything without God. At the time of the Industrial Revolution and the height of scientific development, people thought that without God, a utopia could be built in this world. But now, most people realize that human-led science cannot build utopias. No matter how great a human being, people are aware that there is a limit to the human brain and that a utopia cannot be built with the fallen human nature.
In other words, there are areas in this world that humans can do, and areas that only God can do. Especially these days, there is a lot of controversy about the pros and cons of life cloning. In response to this, the Christian world warns that if human beings erroneously invade the realm of God, great disaster will occur. In other words, it is important for human beings to develop medicine and science with excellent brains, but if they disobey God's will, they can suffer even greater disaster.
Gentlemen, faith in Christianity does not mean believing in me. The Christian faith is completely theocentric. The Bible sees humans as evil. Humans are viewed as beings who cannot save themselves. It is said that it is the soul of man that is more corrupt than all things. That is, not as a human being. It is impossible with human effort, human will, and human knowledge. However, even if it is impossible to do anything with human power, it can be done with God's power.
For us Christians, the source of our power is not our own human beings, but God. If you believe in God, you can only believe if God gives you faith. Realizing Jesus as the Savior can only be realized when God makes us realize it. Moreover, doing God's work is possible only with God's power. Therefore, we always pray to God. “God, give me strength and strength.”
Guys, have you ever heard of this? “Satan is mighty. But God is almighty.” Translated into Korean, it reads: “Satan is powerful. But God is omnipotent.” And if you are looking for scriptures related to this, 1 John 4:4 will fit in. “For he who is in you is greater in the world than he who is in the world.”
Ladies and gentlemen, faith in God is not about discovering my human abilities and cultivating the mind to develop human abilities or drawing out human superpowers. Rather, our faith presupposes that all power is in God, not in me as a human being. Therefore, a person of faith does not depend on himself. I don't say, 'I believe in me.' Rather, it is the Christian's right life to have God, the source of power, in us and to live by His power.
Everyone, you are familiar with the story of David and Goliath. Goliath is a giant. He has been trained as a warrior since childhood. Moreover, the whole body was armed with armor. His sword was so heavy that the average person could not lift it. David, on the other hand, was too small. He had never fought on the battlefield. Moreover, he wore no armor and no sword. So King Saul said to David, “You will not be able to go and fight that Philistine, for you are a boy, and he has been a mighty man from his youth” (1 Samuel 17:33).
Of course, David is no match for Goliath. But David never relied on himself to fight Goliath. David relied on the power of God. He shouts to Goliath: “You come to me with a sword and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have insulted” (1 Samuel 17:45).
If David had dealt with Goliath with his own strength, he would have died with a single sword and became a corpse and became food for animals. But for David, God, the source of his power, was with him. Therefore, David was able to defeat Goliath and bring victory to Israel. In a way, life is like a battle with Goliath. In life, you will come across really difficult things. Moreover, living in a foreign land with a different language and culture, there are times when we feel as if we have met Goliath, even in the smallest things. This can make you more worried, more afraid, and more lonely.
But do not forget. We have a God who makes the impossible possible. Jesus said that He will never leave us and come as the Holy Spirit to always help us. Therefore, we know that even if there is a problem like Goliath in this foreign land, it can be solved by the power of God. Jesus said. “I am giving this name to you, that you may find peace in me. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
It's not that I won the world with my own abilities. me with my ability
It's not about solving problems. I'm never going to defeat Goliath with my abilities. A Christian overcomes the world with God's power, overcomes tribulation with God's power, solves problems with God's power, and lives by relying on God's power. Therefore, we pray honestly to God. “God, help me. There are limits to my power.”
The Lord said. “I am the vine and you are the branches; if he is in me and I in him, this man bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). not by force You cannot succeed on your own. You cannot overcome the difficulties of immigrant life and study abroad life on your own. It is telling us that you cannot achieve happiness in life on your own.”
Calgary is experiencing a construction boom these days. It's under construction everywhere and it's easy to see houses being built everywhere. But imagine building a house with your bare hands, without any machinery or tools. It will probably be almost impossible to build a house. However, if a fork crane is mobilized and various machines and tools are mobilized, a house can be built more easily. In other words, it is difficult to build a house of life relying only on human ability, but building a house for life by relying on the power of Almighty God can make it easier to build.
Ladies and gentlemen, nothing is impossible with our Heavenly Father. He can heal all diseases. He can change my husband and my wife. Also, he can make me successful and he can make me happy. He is so powerful that he can solve your problems and mine too. What you think is impossible is possible with God. Therefore, your success or failure, happiness or unhappiness depends on whether you are with Almighty God or not.
Jesus said: “If it is possible, what do you mean? Nothing is impossible for those who believe.” (Mark 9:23) That is, if we believe in God's power, His power will be revealed along the channel of our faith. Therefore, by the power of God, we too can cast out demons that curse, steal, kill, and destroy us, and if we lay our hands on the sick, they will be healed. That is, as the Apostle Paul in today's text confessed, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).
Guys, don't berate yourself for not being able. We Christians are not people who believe in our abilities. As a human being, I did not have the ability. And even now, we don't have the ability. Our strength came from God, and God will continue to be our strength. The power of God protects us and leads us to still waters and green pastures. We are safe because of God's power. We are happy today because of the power of God. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become a person who can deliver happiness in this foreign land while trusting in God's power.