Title: Missional Devotion
Contents
Often, in the prayers of the saints, we hear the expression ‘I want you to work powerfully’. So why not use that expression often? In fact, it is rather difficult to encourage frequent use of this expression. For example, ‘My husband is refusing to attend church. Prayers, such as prayers such as, “O God, work by force and make sure that you enter your temple. When does God work powerfully? When God works powerfully, He completely freezes the will of man. In a nutshell, he makes everything in life immobile. Therefore, it can be our last when he works powerfully.
How disloyal is the fact that people can endure enough and finally kneel in the mighty work of God? Of course, God is responsible for what God has done forcibly. Because God completely freezes our will and everything, God takes care of everything because He works directly. You just have to have the spiritual sensitivity to immediately respond to God's love that moves you every time, while looking forward to God's amazing work. It is said that having a spiritually awake figure is even more important.
In verse 14, Paul uses the expression, “The love of Christ compels us.” ‘I compel with love’. This is God's greatest blessing to us. It is not our will or a coercive history of freezing everything. It is a blessing that exhorts us to love and acknowledge all of us. Only those who realize the power of this blessing of love can devote themselves. Focusing on the text, we share grace while thinking of a life of missionary devotion.
Missional Commitment - What It Means to Jesus
Verse 13 says, “If we are crazy, it is for God; if we are wholehearted, it is for you.” Paul had to show what is right to those who “bragging about in appearance.” At that time, Jews of Jewish origin and members of the Corinthian church still boasted about their family, lineage, and external experience of being with Jesus, and there were many tendencies to elevate their status by doing so. For those of Jewish descent and other members of the church who wanted to boast about their appearance, Paul used shock therapy. In other words, he made a bombshell declaration saying, “I became an apostle, because I was given a mission because I was crazy about Jesus.”
In fact, it is true that Paul had heard the word “crazy” before. Because a staunch Jewish man, of noble descent, so well-educated, and even a promising young man with Roman citizenship from birth, suddenly changed his whole life one day. As the Son of God and the Savior of all people in the world, Jesus, who died brutally by crucifixion, broke the authority of death and cried out that the resurrection was the gospel, so people couldn't help but say that he was crazy.
Paul's change was a 180 degree turn. If Festus, who was the most powerful man at the time, said Paul was crazy, why didn't other people say Paul was crazy? Acts 26:24-26, “When Paul made this excuse, Festus cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Paul, you are crazy, and your many studies are driving you crazy.” Paul said, “Sir, Festus, I am not crazy; You know these things, and I tell the king with boldness, I believe that there is not one thing that is not known about these things, for this was not done in one corner.' If the king says this, other people, friends, or enemies How can they not say that they are crazy?
In fact, when believers believe in Jesus, they must believe so much that they are even said to be “crazy.” Many people take advantage of the gift of self-control for fear of becoming a ‘fanatic believer’. It's not unrestrained madness. To be immersed in Jesus, to focus everything on Jesus. It's crazy and not crazy. In fact, if you do not fall short of something, you cannot have accurate and certain knowledge and skills about it.
Let us all declare ourselves crazy because of Jesus. I hope that you will become blessed spirits who are dedicated to fulfilling whatever mission you give me, and to go crazy about that mission. I believe that God will give great power to these missionaries.
Missional Commitment - Obedience to the Forces of Christ's Love
Why did Paul declare that he was crazy about Christ? It is simply because of the constraining love of Christ. Verse 14, “The love of Christ compels us; we consider that if one died for all, then all are dead.” He who knows to be compelled by love can be mad for the one who loves him. This is dedication. If I know that the one who loves me has loved me with my life, how can I not respond to that love when I force it with that love? ‘I love you too. Therefore, I will devote myself' is our confession. He exhorts us with a heart of love like life, how can we avoid it?
Think of the word power in the Bible.
The first is the case of Naomi. Ruth 1:16 Ruth said, "Do not compel me to leave my mother and not follow you and return. Wherever you go, I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God. You will be my God, and where my mother dies, I will also die and be buried there.' It wasn't that Ruth hated and hated it and forced her to go back. It is the power of love.
The second is the case of Naaman. 2 Kings 5:15-16 “Naaman and all his servants came back to the man of God and stood before him, saying, I now know that there is no God in all the world except Israel. As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I swear I will not accept it. Naaman insisted, but he refused.' Did General Naaman, who was healed of leprosy, hate the prophet Elisha and urge him to give him a gift? He was overflowing with gratitude, so why did he not want to give Elisha what he had brought with joy? It is the power of thanks.
The third is the case of Lydia. Acts 16:15, 'He and his household were all baptized, and they begged us, saying, If you know me as a believer in the Lord, come into my house and stay there,' and compelled them to stay.' Wouldn't it be compelling with the strong emotion and joy that we want to provide? Of course, there are a few more, but all of these are the powers of people. People are also encouraged when they are happy, thankful, and moved.
Now, looking for other places where the word compulsion is used, we want to see what it means to be compelled. Matthew 8:18, “When Jesus saw the crowds surrounding him, he commanded them to cross over to the other side.” The words to compel and to “encircle and push” are used as the same word. Mark 15:16 says, “The soldiers led Jesus into the courtyard called Braidorion, and gathered the whole army.” Also, the words to coerce and to forcefully lead are used the same. Matthew 8:14, "When Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying with a fever, and touched her hand, and the fever went away, and the woman got up and ministered to Jesus." Also, the word “strengthened” is expressed as “a state of being unable to move because of a fever.” These words throw us considerable lessons and meanings.
We remember that the very fact of dedication itself is very difficult. Like the Levites, it is not easy to make the decision to clean up the surrounding problems so thoroughly, to know that no one has a fixed mission, and to devote oneself to everything happily and freely whenever a mission is given. Now, our ultimate goal is to become a madman and missionary devotee for Christ while being constrained by the love of Christ. Who would be mad for Christ? Who will go out to be dragged, besieged, and afflicted for the sake of Christ? I am sure that God will accomplish a great work through these people. May we all be hosts, not guests, this year.