Title: Restoration of Eden (Acts 2:8-17)
Contents
We believe that faith ultimately leads to salvation, and salvation is freedom, restoration of humanity, and restoration of the kingdom of God.
We believe that the ultimate purpose of the Son Jesus to come to this earth in a human body is to save us and to give us the kingdom of God.
So, what does the restoration of the kingdom of God mean?
If there is a model of the kingdom of God that can see the kingdom of God that cannot be seen, please believe that it is Eden and the church of the New Testament. Because God came there and it was a place where God Himself reigned. However, because humans sinned, humans lost their paradise.
Salvation is the restoration of Eden, the church is the place to restore Eden, and evangelization means Edenization. Mission is an extension of Eden. Therefore, the ministry can be said to be the restoration work of Eden.
So, what kind of place is Eden? The meaning of Eden is joy.
1. It is to restore life. (2:10)
Eden had a water source. Without water, no life could exist.
Restoring Eden means restoring lost life.
The water and blood of the cross are the source of true human life.
Life is a precious thing that cannot be exchanged for anything in the world.
In John 7, the fullness of the Holy Spirit is also described as a river of living water.
Only the atonement of the blood of the cross and the filling of the Holy Spirit can restore Eden.
The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
2. Restoring love (2:11-14)
Eden is the source of the river, but there it splits, and the river divides into four sources.
The river is life and at the same time love.
① Water gives itself completely to anyone, regardless of the status, academic background, or age of the person who needs it. Giving yourself to give life.
②Water cleanses people's ugliness and filth by making them dirty. If water refuses to pollute itself, how dirty must humans be?
③ Water does not assert itself. Water doesn't tell the bowl to fit me. Fit yourself in the bowl, whether it's a large bowl or a small bowl.
●Love entails devotion and waste. / When Mary broke the alabaster and poured it out to the Lord, the other disciples thought he was a waste. Yes, love is a holy waste. If you think that anything is wasted, it is no longer love. Love is the feeling of regret even after giving everything. The essence of love is devotion and waste.
This river originating in Eden is a real stream, but it spreads out into the four rivers: Bison, Gihon, Hiddekel, Euphrates, and the four rivers. The meaning of this name is ‘spreading out’, ‘spouting out’, ‘harvesting fruit’.
All this was an overflowing river.
▶ As you can see from the meaning of the lecture, Eden is something that cannot be obtained through economic logic.
The four rivers are completely free from economic logic.
▶Matthew 19:23-24 It is difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. He told me not to try to be rich.
He said that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
Those who are governed by economic logic will never enter heaven.
In other words, if you are governed by economic logic, you will lose the kingdom of God.
▶Heaven can only be restored by the logic of love.
He was lifted from the cross of self-devotion and self-waste that the Lord bore.
So the Lord promised paradise to a thief on the cross.
He promised the Ephesian church that he would give this paradise when he restores his first love in Revelation 2.
3. Restoring the fence. (2:8)
Eden was called the Garden. When I say garden, I think of a small garden.
However, in Hebrew, the garden is written as <Khan>. Khan is translated as Garden in the English Bible. A fence is absolutely necessary to become a garden.
A garden without a fence can never be a garden. It is just a field.
Then, restoring Eden means restoring the fence.
Where is the role of the fence? It is distinct from 保護.
▶ Fences serve as protection. However, the fence will be double-rated.
As the sheep are grazing peacefully in the meadow, the wolf runs and bites the sheep's ass.
At this time, the stick is swung by the shepherd's hand in order to run like a bullet and rescue the sheep from the wolves. At this time, the shepherd is a lifesaver who cannot be so grateful to the sheep, but to the wolf, he is nothing more than a mob that threatens his own survival.
Do wolves and sheep have these different opinions for one shepherd? This is because the affiliation is different. As such, people have different ways of thinking depending on the group they belong to.
Although I am here as a pastor, I will inevitably receive conflicting evaluations.
▶ Therefore, the fence has a meaning of distinction. Worldly ways and thinking can never restore the kingdom of God. There is always a barrier between the worldly way and the kingdom of God.
If you lose this fence, you will also lose Eden. That is why paradise is restored only when the fence is restored.
4. It is to restore the value of truth. (2:11-12)
It testifies that there is gold, that is, pure gold in Eden. There was also a bedelium and onyx.
This means pearls. Revelation 21:18-21 is also full of jade.
The most valuable thing is to know Jesus. Paradise is to restore absolute value. The goal of the church and ministry is to restore the absolute value of truth.
5. To restore service (2:8)
Eden means joy. This joy is not a peripheral nerve joy, but an inner spiritual joy through service. The Lord said that He came to this earth not to be served, but to serve. Service is a nuisance you want to avoid whenever possible. But is there joy in that unwelcome service? Why is true joy restored only in service? Service Serving It is to give grace to those who humble themselves in humility. ① Ministry is to restore service.
② The church is a place of service. Eden is restored when you do service ③ and ④ anonymous, which hides one's name even after serving. If you do not deny yourself, the Eden of joy will be lost. When the church is established as anonymous ministers, there Eden is restored.
6. It is to restore the forbidden fruit (2:9).
Eden without the tree of knowledge is not Eden.
Genesis 2:17 He said, “In the day that you eat of the forbidden fruit, you will surely die.”
In Eden, except for the fruit of the forbidden fruit, he allowed them to eat whatever they wanted. Adam is free to eat any fruit. In front of the fruit tree, Adam and God do not seem to have much difference. But what is the one tree that clearly shows the difference between Adam and God? This is the tree of knowledge in the center of the garden.
<If you eat, you die.> What this tree shows is a sign that proves that God is the Creator and that man is a creature that must obey his commands. The sign is in the middle of Eden. But Adam swallowed this fruit without hesitation. It erased the difference between man and God. This is the cause of the loss of Paradise. The restoration of Eden is the restoration of the tree of good and evil. Life, Love, Fence, Value, Service, The Restoration of the Fruit of Good and Evil is the restoration of Eden.
When God created Eden, He started by placing the tree of knowledge and evil in the center.
It is to remind us that God is the Lord. The picture of our church and my ministry is in the restoration of Eden.