Title: Restoring the Life of God!
Contents
Restore the vitality of God!
Genesis 1:26,27,
Sin takes away our humanity.
There are topics that modern people hate to hear the most, avoid, and consider to be rustic. Those are words such as ‘sin’, ‘death’, ‘judgment’, and ‘heaven’. People try to speak the gospel of Christianity in a more refined way, but the more they try to speak Christianity in a more refined way, the more they lose the power of the gospel.
Why do Christians call humans sinners? In general, an active offender who has committed a criminal offense is called a prisoner. In prisoner, 'number' is the number of beasts in Chinese characters. Some people react when they say, “You are a sinner.” I ask, “Why are you a sinner?” The question is, why do you call yourself a criminal when you are not an ex-convict, not only a current offender, nor have you done anything to others that you cannot do? This stems from a misunderstanding of the view of sin in the Bible.
A long time ago, a young man in England sent a short telegram asking if he was going to play a prank on celebrities. “Everything was revealed. run away”
Do you know what happened the day after the telegram was sent? Most of the celebs ran away in a hurry. Everyone has their own hidden sins. There are sins that only you are aware of. The Bible says: “There is none righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; all have turned aside, one thing has become useless; there is no one who does good, not even one. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10-12,23). )
God says all people are sinners. God's standards for sin are different from human standards. Just as there is a difference between the standard that an average person is healthy and the standard that a doctor who specializes in pathology is healthy. The standard for a housewife to clean and clean the house is different from the standard for clean at a ultra-precision semiconductor factory.
The Bible doesn't say that the lies of young children to deceive their parents or the level at which teenagers squint at porn sites are the nature of sin. The Bible speaks of the root of sin, the original sin. So what is the essential sin?
“And because they did not want to have God in their hearts, God gave them over to their lost will, to do what is not fitting, full of all unrighteous wickedness, greed and malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice He is a talker, a talker, a slanderer... A heartless man, a merciless man” (Romans 1:28-31).
Where do all the sins of people come from? Because people do not want to have God in their hearts, every evil deed is a child of sin. The sin of not believing in God is the most fundamental sin. Christianity regards the sin of not believing in Jesus as the starting point of all sins. No matter how humanly good you are, no matter how good you are, if you do not have God in your heart and do not have Jesus, you are a sinner.
Do you know the French sculptor Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’? This is a great sculptural bronze work by Rodin over 40 years. This work was a sculpture located in the upper middle part of ‘The Gates of Hell’ and was made by Rodin as an independent work. It depicts a person who is seriously worried in front of the gates of hell. But it is too late at the gates of hell.
The Bible says, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). Some people refuse to do such an easy task.
Only the breath of God makes man a man.
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech called Martin Luther King's dream was to live in a world judged by character, not by color, race, religion, or nationality. His speech touched the hearts of Americans living in a society based on Christian values.
He emphasized on a beautiful world where equality and dignity are recognized and that is the standard of judgment. The values of honesty, compassion, respect, responsibility, citizenship, self-discipline, persistence, equality, and dignity are Christian values derived from the Bible.
All human beings were created in the image of God. The peculiarity of the creation of man is the fact that man was created in the image of God.
“The Lord God formed man out of the dust, and breathed into his nostrils breath of life, and man became a living soul.” This is the difference that distinguishes humans from animals. Unlike all other creatures, humans are created with spiritual powers. Humans are spiritual beings. So, you cannot be satisfied with just eating your fill. Gourmets who are happy when they eat their stomachs and backs, and when they are at the buffet are happy as if they are in heaven are far from the human form created by God.
Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Human beings can only live with spiritual satisfaction. Spiritual fulfillment is found only in our relationship with God. Only humans can have fellowship with God. Only humans can worship, and the most glorious thing that humans can do is worship God. Ladies and gentlemen, is there an act that makes us more human than worship? The image of the kingdom of heaven described in the book of Revelation is a form of worship. Worship is a privilege granted only to humans and is the crystallization of dignity. Have you ever seen a dog pray and eat? Have you seen the sheep gather to worship?
The essence of being human is in the Spirit.
What does it mean that man is made in the image of God? The image of God refers to God's disposition, righteousness, truth, and holy character. “Put on the new man, which was created after God in righteousness and holiness of truth” (Ephesians 4:24). The image of God was destroyed by the fall of Adam, but it is restored by believing in Jesus.
Honesty comes from the Ten Commandments, mercy from the commandment of love, equality and dignity come from the fact that man is made in the image of God.
The way to restore the image of God is to be filled with the breath of God. Why is a person tired? It is because they are not controlled by the Spirit of God and their soul is taken away by another spirit. In Exodus 34, Moses came down to Mt. Sinai to have fellowship with God for 40 days. Then Moses' face lit up. People could not see Moses, so Moses wore a towel. The spiritual fullness of fellowship with God was revealed through Moses' face.
According to the book of Acts, when Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit and was arrested, his face was like the face of an angel. The book of Acts is a record of the people of the early church who were filled with the Spirit of God. Because he was full of the Spirit of God, Peter preached once, and 3,000 and 5,000 people returned. People repented and obeyed God's Word.
“The word of God continued to prosper, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased exceedingly, and a great company of priests also obeyed this way” (Acts 6:7).
The resurrected Jesus appeared to his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” To receive the breath of the Holy Spirit, this is the way to restore the image of God.
We pray that the breath of God will give us amazing strength in our souls. We pray that the Holy Spirit will touch us.
If we, who were created in the image of God, are governed by the Spirit of God, if we live, our personality will resemble that of Jesus, and a new character that was not in us will rule over us. The fruit of the Spirit will be borne in us.
We will become a life we give to the world, and we will no longer stay in the church. Our changed facial expressions can give people joy and encouragement. Our perception and brain will unleash creativity and creativity. We pray that the breath of God will cover our church and that we will no longer be worldly and that our lives will be governed by new values.