Title: Sons of God
Contents
Bible Text: Romans 8:18-25
sons of god
He was invited to speak at Stanford University. “I was born to a single mother and was adopted into an ordinary working-class family. I grew up in that house and went to college, but my adoptive parents' income made it difficult for me to continue attending college. I decided to drop out of college. Dropping out was scary, but looking back, I think dropping out of college was the best decision I've ever made in my life. From then on, I decided to live my life.” “Don’t let other people’s opinions dominate you!” “What do you really want to be?” I asked.
What do you want to be? We must become sons of God and live as sons of God.
This is our opinion.
A human being is himself who thinks. “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us” (verse 18). It is not just a vague guess, but an accurate judgment based on reason. It's not a rough guess.
Compare “the sufferings of this present time” with “the glory that will be revealed in us.” I believe that in order to enjoy the glory that will be revealed in the future, we must endure the sufferings of the present. This is the thought of the sons of God. “Consider it all joy, brethren, when you are subjected to various trials, for you know that the trial of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3).
To know so means to think so. It is the thought of the sons of God that present suffering is a journey to glory. Moses passed through the wilderness to the mountain of God, and the Israelites passed through the wilderness and entered the land of Canaan. All successes and glory are reached after passing through the path of hardship.
Do I have to live like this? Is it really worth living? Why does this question arise? Because living day to day is so hard. But it is a misconception of life. Life cannot exist without suffering.
Moses preferred to suffer with God's people rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a while (Hebrews 11:25), leaving a trace of a great life.
The meaning of suffering for the sons of God is different from those of the world. “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word” “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes” (Psalm 119:67,71) It means that they have learned the ordinances of the Lord through suffering. It is through suffering that we come to understand the law of God. Suffering is a school and a teacher.
“We rejoice in tribulation, because we know that tribulation produces perseverance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3). It refers to the extraction of pure metals by heating metals such as gold or silver in a fire and beating them with a hammer to remove impurities.
Job's suffering is cruel. He lost all his wealth, children, and health, but Job said this. “Only he knows the way I go; after he has tried me I will come out like gold” (Job 23:10) Will I live the life of a vending machine? Will you be the master of your own life? “Change your mind and you can change the world” (Norman Vincent Bill) “The sufferings of the present cannot be compared with the glory of the future” This is the thought of the Son of God. Let adversity be an opportunity.
We are the hope of the world.
“The creation waits for the appearing of the sons of God, and the creation yields to futility…” (verses 19-20) Why do the creatures wait for the sons of God? Because I want you to save me from the misery and pain of the present. Why do creatures succumb to futility? Since there is no one to surrender to, it is futile, but yields.
The history of the Republic of Korea has been a series of poverty, giving in to poverty and succumbing to cries.
In 1910, on February 12, the same year that Korea was defeated by Japan 99 years ago, a child named Lee Byung-cheol was born. No one knew if that child would create an electronic kingdom and create an immensely wealthy nation in the future. In the year the country collapsed, a person who would feed the country was born.
30% of the electronics sold in London are from Samsung Electronics. Hyundai Motor Company is America's fastest growing automobile company In both the UK and the US, Korean companies are taking over the positions occupied by Japanese companies. Five years after Lee Byung-cheol was born, Jung Ju-young was born. Joo-Young Chung started Hyundai Industrial Company and grew it into a world-class company, Hyundai Motor Company.
Two years after Jung Ju-young was born, Park Chung-hee was born. He awakened the consciousness of the poor, a sense of defeat and negative thoughts, and became a leader leading the Republic of Korea into a wealthy nation.
Park Chung-hee succeeded in powering an incompetent government in a bloodless coup. We fostered economic growth through exports and the heavy and chemical industry. By introducing foreign capital, he built a steel mill under Park Tae-joon, and built a shipyard under Jeong Ju-yeong, laying the foundation for an advanced economy.
President Park Chung-hee recognized the importance of science and technology early on. In 1962, along with the first economic development plan, a five-year plan for science and technology promotion was established, the Ministry of Science and Technology was launched, and the Science and Technology Promotion Act was enacted to establish the present Korean Academy of Sciences, KAIST. KAIST was founded in 1966 with $10 million in seed money received from the United States, paying three times more than the president to attract overseas brains. KAIST alumni decided to build the Science President Park Chung-hee Memorial Hall in KAIST. Lee Byung-cheol, Jung Ju-young, and Park Jeong-hee were the people poor Korea had been waiting for. It has become a prosperous country by them.
A long time ago, Kim Won-gak, who went to a temple called Boriam in Namhae, wrote this poem. “There is no wish, and I am ashamed of the empty sky/ A body that no one in this world misses/ What prayer are you doing here/ I just slept under the stars.”
The church is the hope of the world. The church is not a building, but the saved saints and us, the sons of God. “You are the light of the world! Rise up and shine!” The person the world is waiting for is the one who has been born again. Those who received the spirit of adoption and became children of God. People who have accepted Jesus. Like a watchman waiting for the dawn, the world waits for the sons of God to appear. Saints! Be the sons of God that the world is waiting for.
Our ability is hope.
Hope is our strength, and hope is the source of strength. “For by hope we have been saved, and hope that is seen is not hope.
Hope is not what you see. What you see is not a wish. Everything visible is from the invisible. Hope creates something that is not currently real.
Hope is an infinite resource and ability. True hope is a gift from God to His children. The word God and the word hope are semantically the same. There is no God and no hope.
“I am saved through hope” God is invisible but almighty, and hope is invisible but has the power of salvation. Hope overcomes tribulation, endures trials, and leads to glory. Hope propels us toward a future we have never yet experienced.
“The creation awaits” (verse 19) is hope. “...ancient” refers to an attitude of sticking one's head out and looking at the horizon in the distance. My hope is to look with my eyes wide open in order to find a sign in a difficult day because it is not yet bright. The hope is to find light in the dark. Looking forward to the resurrection while seeing death is hope.
There is no hope for those who say there is no God. They are atheists. We acknowledge the existence of God. God is our hope. We think of the future rather than the present. Our eyes look to the future results.
We believe in the Word and the Holy Spirit rather than in our senses or emotions. I value words more than emotions. True hope sustains man from all life's calamities. It makes you endure unbearable hardships.
British Puritans, who were the first immigrants to the Americas, have a custom of setting five corns on Thanksgiving. When they first started farming when they arrived in the New World on a ship called the Mayflower from New England, each person ate five corn a day. Half of them are already dead. There was nothing to eat. When the captain saw their pitiful situation, he said that if there were anyone who would return to their home country, he would ride them without pay, so let's go. But there was no one to return to. They had hope. Their hope was to create the country that is today's America.
Hope is ability. Those who have hope are those who have power. Our ability is hope. I hope that you will become the sons of God who stand firm in the word and live in hope.
We are the sons of God. God has ordained us as adopted children. I must be convinced of my identity with the spirit of adoption. You must know your father's heart and live. We see suffering as a means to glory. I know the pain of suffering, but I also know the benefits of suffering. Suffering leads to prayer. “Is any of you suffering?” (James 5:13)
We are the sons of God. We must not forget that there are people who look forward to us. You have to live as a missionary. He buys that there is someone waiting for me. Let's go to the dark places as light and the corrupt places as salt.
We are the sons of God. We must live by the power of hope. Hope is a gift from God. I hope that you will always become the sons of God who live with hope. Hope will make you rich.