Title: One Who Sees the Future
Contents
♡♥♡ Someone who sees the future / Mon 1:8-18
*** Introduction
You and I are God's people. The people of God have a way of life that is radically different from those who live with pleasure in the world. It is called “hope” in the Bible. The people of God are people with hope. A different way of expressing ‘a person with hope’ is ‘a person who sees the future’. That's why Hebrews 11:16 says, "Now they long for a better home, which is in heaven. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God; He has prepared a city for them.”
‘Kim Rip’, a wandering poet better known by the nickname ‘Kim Sat-gat’, laments his life through a poem in Chinese. It was called “The statue of an orphan for the rest of my life,” and it is written, “Birds have a place to live in nests and animals in dens.
A poet named 'Robert Frost' expressed the futility of life with his poem 'The death of a human being paid for rent'. “A man who has no past to look back proudly, and no hope to look forward to… ” This is the ‘human being rented out’ that this poet saw.
It is the lament of a life that does not see the future. They know that this world is not their home, but they do not know their true home. The Jeonse House is not your own home. The right to buy or the period of time is fixed. All life is not home to this world. The people of the world just don't know their hometown.
Our hometown, people of God, is the kingdom of God, a new heaven and new earth that God has prepared. Therefore, living on this earth right now is only a passing life of a stranger. Hometown is always in the hearts of travelers and people living abroad. That is why the people of our God live in this world looking to the future we will enjoy forever. Those who see the future are not bound by the present life. Because life in the present is just a process of preparing for the future.
1. Those who see the future are not bound by the past.
The apostle Paul was living in prison in Rome for the sake of the gospel in his last years. By the grace of God, we were able to preach the gospel freely to some extent. Paul got to know Onesimus while he was in captivity. Onesimus was a slave to a man named Philemon. Onesimus fled from his master's house in Colossae and went as far as Rome. While living a life of anxious fugitives, he met Paul and accepted Jesus and became a Christian. Onesimus, who became a Christian, was transformed and became a faithful man. It was a great benefit to Paul, who was living in prison, and he was a person who brought joy to Paul.
When Paul learned that Onesimus had been Philemon's slave, he wrote to Philemon in Colossae. Philemon also became a Christian through Paul's evangelism and became an important figure in the Colossae church. Philemon was a man of sincere faith. He loved the Lord, loved the saints, and was an exemplary believer who put that love into action. Perhaps the church of Colossae had gathered at Philemon's house.
Paul thanked God for his wonderful providence, and wrote to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus. In his letter, Paul asked, “Onesimus is superior to a servant, and I have two people to be loved.
When we judge a person, we often evaluate the path that person has gone through. I don't accept that person because he was a bad troublemaker, and he was wary, unscrupulous, a deceiver and vicious. Who would accept a man like Onesimus as a loving brother to a fugitive slave?
God's people are not bound by the path they have taken or the present life. Because we see the hand of God working in it. Since the past has been accepted and accepted by God, it is not for us to argue with, and since God is working in the present, it is also not for us to judge. Therefore, the people of God must see the future where God works. The Apostle Paul, speaking about divorce, says, saying, “Even if you wrote it on the brink of divorce because of your unbelieving husband or wife, you should live as if you can. 1 Corinthians 7:16. “Wives, how can you know whether you will save your husband, and husband, how will you know whether you will save your wife?”
2. Those who see the future accept it as it is.
A person of God must be able to see the future of that person, whether they are children or adults. If there is the Spirit of God in it, even if it seems that there is no change or possibility right now, we must accept and love the future where God works.
We often judge people based on the theories we've learned or what we've experienced. Since ancient times, it has been said, “You can tell from the cotyledon of a tree you want to become.” This statement does not fit the people of God. There are many things God does that are beyond human imagination. In Isaiah 42:3, God said, “He does not break a bruised reed, nor put out a smoldering lamp, nor does he put out justice with the truth.” In John 8, God did not condemn a woman caught in adultery. He forgave, forgave Peter, who cursed and denied that he did not know the Lord, and accepted Paul, who captured and delivered a Christian to death. And he changed them into more ardent workers.
Even though they are now naughty, foolish, useless children and people, their future depends on God. Our only job as men of God is not to judge them, but to accept and accept them with love.
Folks, this is not something you can do because it is easy. If anyone could do it, wouldn't everyone in the world have done it? This work can only be done with patience and the love of the Lord to overcome the pain and anxiety of my heart. So it was entrusted to us, the people of God. Now, let's look around us and find people who we should tolerate and accept, and embrace them with God's love for us. So, I pray that you will live a life that fulfills the righteousness of God.