Title: My Appearance Before God
Content Source: Gwangju Eunpyeong Church Student Council
◎Genesis 1:21 ◎Explanation of Genesis (17)-My appearance before God
As we continue to listen to the Genesis exposition, what are the words that appear over and over on the first day, the second day, the third day? That is, “God saw that it was good”.
Every time God sees the creatures he has made, it ends with saying that it was good. The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and the beasts of the earth were all good in God's sight when they were first created. It was really good when the heavens and earth were created. There was nothing I didn't want to see. Everything was clean. It was clean. It looked so beautiful to look at.
However, the Israelites who left Egypt are learning new things from Leviticus while listening to the sermons from Moses. That is, not all animals in this world are clean. There are clean animals and there are unclean animals. Genesis clearly states that everything God made was good, but the Israelites learned from the Law that there were clean and unclean animals, and there were evil and good. Among the birds of the air, there are clean birds and unclean ones. Among the beasts of the earth, some are clean and some are unclean.
If you look at today's text, everything should appear to be good, clean, and good in God's sight, but the people of Israel who were listening to the sermons from Moses and the sermons on God's law discover that there are some things that are not good. So how the heck are we to interpret this?
This distinction is evident from the days of Noah's Flood. God had Noah put seven pairs of clean and clean animals into the ark, and only two pairs of unclean and unclean animals. What is clean is something that is set aside as an offering to God and put on a boat.
Then, why did all the creatures that were good in God's eyes become unclean? For what?
In the beginning, when God created everything, everything was beautiful and good in His sight. This means that creatures themselves were not created to be good or evil. Even the serpent was created to be good. But when sin enters, what? When sin entered, the animals became evil. When sin entered, not only humans became evil, but also animals became evil. The snake has become poisonous. The beast eats the beast. These are things that we could not even think of in the Garden of Eden. In the Garden of Eden, we played with snakes, lions, and friends. I played well with snakes and humans. But when sin entered, everything changed. The fish eat the fish. So God teaches the Israelites through animals that not all things are good.
It is well expressed by eating it. He forbade eating unclean animals. Neither unclean birds nor unclean fish are allowed to eat. When God first created, everything was good and good. But now it's different. When sin entered, everything changed.
Not "it was good in God's sight", but it was disappointing in God's sight. Who are you looking at? Animals, though, are humans. Just looking at you and me.
Now we cannot be seen as good in God's sight without relying on the blood of Jesus Christ. No matter how many good deeds and honest lives in the world, those who do not have Jesus Christ in them are disgraceful in the sight of God. What is it that transforms our appearance into various forms before God? Those are the elements of sin that burn like fire in our hearts. We must shake them off. The expression that it was good in the sight of God should appear daily in our lives. God says You are a creature I created in my image. However, not all humans created in God's image are “good in the sight of God.” Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ cannot restore their broken relationship with God with anything in the world. Creatures that were clean and good at first were divided into the unclean and the clean. However, when Jesus Christ came back to this earth, He showed us a way for the unclean to live in purity.
How? That is to seek the Holy Spirit. As Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent us the Counselor, the Holy Spirit. We must seek this Holy Spirit every day.
During worship, we should pray, “Spirit of the Lord, come and come to this place.” Let the Holy Spirit of the Lord continue to come upon us to purify and change our hearts.
Because now there are no unclean beasts. That fact shows that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ and asks for the Holy Spirit is completely transformed and becomes a new person. Most importantly, students must be able to distinguish between the clean and the unclean in a spiritual sense. Now you can eat any food. Eating is not a sin. When the apostle Paul brought up the issue of meat sacrificed to idols, he came to the very groundbreaking conclusion that food itself is not a sin. What does that mean? That said, the mind is important. But our minds are not. There are things to think about and things not to think about. There are things to see and things not to see. What you eat is no longer important. What Jesus said is important to us. Jesus says that thinking in our hearts is a sin in itself, even if we do not act directly.
Guys, take control of your thoughts. Calm down and keep your spirits up. Although Jesus Christ came and took away the distinction between what is unclean and what is clean about eating, we must make a clear distinction between right thinking and wrong thinking, at least in what we think. Why? What God wants to receive through worship is not my body, but my heart and mind. Therefore, no matter what I do, I must concentrate my mind to be in God and in prayer, and even when listening to sermons, I must put forth every effort to give my heart to God.
Conclusion.
What was good in God's sight became unclean because of sin. Likewise, because of our sins, we humans have been able to distinguish between good and evil before God. To know evil means to be able to do evil. What we are now in the sight of God, we need to think through deep meditation. What will my appearance be in front of God? How am I really being reflected in God... I hope you will find your reflection in the mirror. Your appearance before God!!! I declare that you will be purified in the name of the Lord.