Title: Messenger of Covenant/Mal 3:1-6
Contents Today's Word: Messenger of the Covenant/Mal 3:1-6
1. Today is the second Sunday of Advent. It's really nice to wait for someone. Moreover, the fact that the person we meet is the one who will deliver the message of salvation that we will never meet can excite us even more. Who is waiting for someone who has a hard time controlling himself, sitting on a small stone at the end of the eaves under the bright sun? Our northern compatriots are waiting for our touch with exhausted and sick bodies, our people who have lived an honest and hard life and have been pushed out by the harsh separatists The news of salvation is the Lord who comes to bring peace to this earth. Covenant (berit) is a Hebrew word that means to shackle, which means a bond of solidarity that promises to do something for the other. God has made a covenant with us, and we become God's people when we always relive the meaning of that covenant. God regards us as possessions (sigela, treasure) (Ex. 19:5) and allows us to become His children by allowing holy laws in our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-37).
2. The messenger of the covenant is the one who prepares the way of the Lord. Do we not spread the flower path of resentment toward others like Sowol's poem? The Lord is the lamp of life (Psalm 18:28), guides us on the right path and leads us toward salvation, but we are sometimes like lost sheep, like a lamb that roars in trouble as we wander. As the Good Shepherd, we must not only follow the guidance of the Lord, but also become a leader of the truth and become a saint who brings virtue and joy to all. However, an unrighteous leader causes suffering not only to himself but also to the next generation. Moses produced good leaders like Joshua, Elijah prepared Elisha, John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord, and Paul gave birth to spiritual children like Timothy (2 Timothy 1:13-14).
3. The messenger of the covenant is the one who purifies. To be clean means to be pure, without any pretense or falsehood. Such purity is faith like gold refined through right work, and it must be a spiritual thing acceptable to God. And such purity requires the shedding of blood. (Hebrews 9:22-23) The grace of Christ for redemption is the grace of the precious blood and the covenant of blood through the shedding of blood. (1 Corinthians 11:25) However, as in the old covenant, It is not the continued sacrifice of blood, but the work of salvation through the covenant of Christ, living in the grace of God. Therefore, what we offer to God must be a sacrifice without blemish (Leviticus 1:10), a righteous sacrifice (Mal 3:3), and an offering of joy (Psalm 100:2). It is the duty of the saints to pursue a pure life.
4. The messenger of the covenant is the one who judges the unrighteous. The chairman of the IMF who came to our country was a messenger of the covenant. He is the life club of all God to judge our waste, vanity, and corruption. When God judges Israel, he judges our political and economic injustices through international institutions just as he judged through Assyria and Babylon. The Lord does not judge only the outward appearance, but He judges the inside. We must know that He is the one who judges not only our body but also our soul (Matthew 10:28). Therefore, we should always look back on our daily lives and decide to live according to the Lord's work and grace before the judgment of the one who comes as the messenger of the covenant. (Joshua 24:16, 2 Chronicles 34:29 -33) Our lives are out of order.▹
♧ Sunday Common Prayer ♧
Lord with those who long for your holy grace,
Thank you for helping me to live, always remembering the love for God even in the gloomy and damp cold. Although it seems foolish and insufficient in the human mind, I confess that God's wonderful providence is a mystery that is difficult for us to understand. Help me to realize the grace that seems to be lacking, but remains, seems to be lost, but overflows, and seems to be lost but is gained.
We confess that our greed and vague thoughts have obscured the glory of the Lord and hurt each other's hearts. Now, help me to long for the light of truth, out of the shadow of my fearful feelings and dark heart. Since God knows our cries and desires, we believe that He will make our situation and earnest desires come true and perfect through faith.
Rather than worrying about the pain of dark times, give us faith to participate together, show your love consistently, and let us depend on you alone.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the leader of the new age. Amen
【Time for Meditation: About Malachi】
Malachi, the last prophetic book of the Old Testament, rebuilt the temple with the rebuke and encouragement of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the Israelites returning from the Babylonian captivity around 432 B.C. And they thought that the kingdom of the Messiah would soon come. However, as decades passed after the temple was completed, the glory promised by God did not come and they continued to live a miserable life.
At this time, the prophet Malachi, who was called by God, made it clear that the cause of the suffering that came upon the people of Israel was their own sins. In that sense, this book first shows God's great love for Israel, and then presents the priests' blasphemy for the worship of the temple. Rebuke, and finally, a reminder that the promise of the Lord's day, when Christ will come, is still alive. In other words, this book pointed out that those who received God's special love rather despise and harass the Lord.
Malachi teaches us that the problems of our homes and churches, which are in crisis due to the various wrong values created by the industrial society, can only be solved by establishing a vertical relationship with the living God who called us as children. In particular, Malachi's prophecies about the first and second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ are densely unfolded. The first coming is connected with the appearance of John the Baptist, and the second coming shows the image of Christ judging the world, thereby demonstrating the unity of the Bible about Jesus Christ. It proves that our faith is strengthened even more.