Title: Orphans without God / John 14:18-20
18 - I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19 - In a little while the world will see me no more, but you will see me, for I have lived and you will live.
20 - In that day you will know that I am in my Father, you in me, and I in you.
▽ ≪ Sermon ≫
⇒ It is precious that a life is born into the world. Because it's amazing and amazing to be alive. It is amazing to see plants sprouting from the ground, and it is also beautiful to see young animals running around. Seeing a young child in her mother's arms is so cute and lovely whether she is sleeping or playing. Adults sometimes hate to see things made by humans and get tired of seeing them a few times. It's as new as seeing it for the first time today. Why? Because the world that God has renewed and created by God is beautiful. However, as a child grows up and becomes an adult, it loses its mysterious appearance because it is contaminated and stained by sin. As we lose the beauty and innocence that God has given us, the world becomes more difficult and life becomes miserable. All human misery and contradictions in life started with sin without God.
. There is only one God, the Alone. God has no beginning, no end, and no help from anyone. So you are the creator. God did not create or beget anyone. For God has no death and He lives forever. But there is one who made all things. There is a God who created everything. Angels are glorious, but God made them. Even the devil looks scary, but because he sinned and changed, God originally made him a beautiful angel. The trees and beasts of the earth were also made by God. In particular, man was given the image of God to make him honorable.
. What is surprising is that if a human being or an animal is born as a child, they cannot live on their own, so they have fathers and mothers who give birth and raise them. No one has fallen from heaven to the earth without father and mother. I have parents who gave birth to me and raised me. However, there are parents who only have children but do not raise them. After giving birth to a child, the father and mother die and cannot take care of them. Nowadays, there are many children whose fathers and mothers are alive, but are abandoned without raising them. Life is difficult for a child who is not cared for by father and mother. Even when he grows up and becomes an adult, life is not happy.
. However, even if you are abandoned by your parents, if you serve God, who gives blessings, as your father, your misfortune will end and you will be happy. An abandoned child may meet a good person by God's grace and be brought up successfully and succeed. The most unfortunate are those without God. A person who cannot receive God's help. Nothing in this world can replace God. Does money care for people like God does? no. Money doesn't protect people. They have money and then they leave and throw people away. Does knowledge take the place of God? Nor is it The more you know, the more complex and troublesome life becomes. The power of the world resides in man and then leaves. Life without God is all in vain.
. All human misery lies in the absence of God. In today's verse 18, Jesus said, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." Here, the orphan (Hel, Olphanos) means a child left without a father. Man sinned and left God. Man became an orphan without God. God died and he was not an orphan. They are not orphans because God forsaken them. Like the prodigal son who left home even though God exists, man became an orphan in the world because he left God. She became a lost child because she could not take responsibility for her own life. Humans cannot remove the wall of sin, so they cannot go to God. So God set out to find the son who had left home. God came to us as sinners in a human body. Who is that person? Jesus. We don't have to live hard anymore. There is nothing to fear from anxiety and despair. Now we just need to believe in Jesus who has come to us. Today, our Heavenly Father speaks to us. “I will not leave you orphans.” Amen
. People hate and fear death. But what is more difficult than dying is the loneliness that I am left alone with. Humans have to look at someone and depend on them and love them. So God has given us a family we can live with, and a neighbor where we can help each other and live. God did not like Adam to be alone, so he made Eve and gave him to him as his wife. But man cannot replace God. Other than man, nothing else can take the place of God. Adam and all his descendants became orphans without God. Those who do not have God depend on something to take the place of God. He clings to something for the rest of his life and tries to love and be happy instead of God.
. If you continue to support and rely on anything on this earth, a demon will attach to it. If you serve and depend on God, your life will be opened and you will receive blessings. Why? Because God is the life and the giver of blessing. However, if anything in the world is for and depended on instead of God, a demon will attach to it. So the demon takes everything through it and eventually kills the person. But, what happens when people live and love money, money, money like God? He becomes a slave to money, and the money ruins him and takes his whole life. Those who become slaves to money die for it. Why did Judas Iscariot die? Because he depended on it for money, a demon was attached to him, sold Jesus, and eventually died because of the money.
. You should love your wife too, but you shouldn't depend on it like God. Then the wife gets bored, and the happiness is ruined by dissatisfaction with each other. If you treat and depend on a woman other than your wife like God, your body, mind, and life will all come to an end. At first she was a woman, but gradually she turns into a snake, blinding her and eating her life. Who is Samson? A Nazarite set apart as holy to God. Samson was a king-like leader who ruled over the people, and he was a strong merchant. What happened to such a person as he got caught by a woman named Delilah? His eyes fell out and he lived a hard life as a slave, and eventually died miserably. There is nothing in the world to depend on and love like God. If anything takes the place of God, your life will be ruined, your family will be destroyed, and your business will end.
. People without God are worried and anxious about living wherever they go and whatever they do. If you do well in farming and if you raise animals and do well, you should like them, but that's not the case. When the price plummets, the anger explodes. Also, when things go bad due to a famine, the price is high, but there is nothing to sell. When I go up to a high position, I am worried about the people coming up below me, and I am worried about hiding and protecting it because there are many people who want to make money and become rich. No matter where you go in the world, people without God have no place to live comfortably. It is a painful life until you meet God as your father. I can't rest my heart happily. But the Lord says. 'Do not let your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. There are many dwelling places in my Father's house' (John 14:1-2) ♧ Hymn 455-① When God becomes our Father, life returns to normal. There is nothing lacking in our Heavenly Father's protection and the grace he gives us every day. Hallelujah!
. Jesus came into the world to give life to the dead, to heal the sick and to change what is wrong. This is salvation. The world that accomplishes this is the kingdom of God. A good world where people are happy to live is the hope that everyone expects. However, the world in which everyone is happy is not achieved by any power or ability, but is a work accomplished by the coming of the God of the Holy Spirit. To live a happy life, there must be no sin in the human world. Money cannot solve the problem of human corruption. The sickness of people's hearts and lives cannot be resolved by power. At the time of Jesus, the Jews waited for a king sent by God. When Jesus became king, he expected liberation by defeating the Roman army with the Israeli army. But it is not the Roman army that truly afflicts and despairs the Jews. It was a sin that corrupted and destroyed them from within. Sin makes people sick. Sin destroys and destroys the country. It was the corruption of sin that brought the Roman Empire that ruled the world to collapse.
. The sins in men cannot be solved by the power of the army. No matter how strong a weapon is, the sin that corrupts society cannot be eradicated. Jesus died on the cross to take away the sins of mankind. The atonement of Jesus, who died as the price for human sin, is the best vaccine for all sins in mankind at once. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross is the elixir that can purify any dirt. Jesus accomplished the atonement that would forever solve the sins of all mankind. How are people dealt with the serious sin of eternal death? You just have to believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross. When there is an epidemic, people go to the hospital and get vaccinated. When a person who is dying of sin believes in Jesus who died on the cross, the Holy Spirit enters his heart. As he becomes a child of God, the roots of sin that Adam planted die. He has the life of Jesus, the Son of God, and begins a new life. The death of Jesus, who died for the sins of all mankind, is the death of the sins of those who believe.
. When the God of the Holy Spirit comes, he changes his heart. People don't change their minds, they just try to change their appearance. So I fix my face and buy nice clothes. Trying to change the living environment. Make money, become rich, and rise to a certain position and gain power. But if you do not change your mind, you will not be happy. If you don't change your mind, you can't have a good life. The world won't get better if the words that come out of your mouth don't change. All of these problems can only be solved when you believe in Jesus and the Holy Spirit comes. When the Holy Spirit comes, we will love people rather than hate them. Then, resentment and complaints about others will cease and you will become a person of gratitude and joy.
. When the Holy Spirit comes, God and I live as one, just as God and Jesus are one. God lives in my body and I am blessed by living in the Word of Heavenly Father. If there is Heavenly Father, all members of the church will become brothers and sisters and love them. It is a pleasure to meet in the Lord every day. Even after returning home, the whole family is precious as the precious body of Jesus that cannot be separated from each other. In Heavenly Father, cherish and love each other and bless each other in Jesus name. A person who has God the Father is not an orphan even without physical parents. It is the best life to enjoy the life of heaven on this harsh earth. Hallelujah!