Title: Spiritual Awakening
Contents
Bible: Luke 3:1~17
──────────────────
When Jesus came to this earth two thousand years ago, the situation of Israel was a Roman vassal state. Rome sent a governor to rule the colonies. Pilate, who was in charge of Israel, was the governor sent by Rome.
Rome sent a governor to oversee it, and set up a tetrarch to rule over one of the indigenous powers in the colonial state. Herod was a king established by the Romans in Israel.
Herod had a weakness. That is, he is from Edom. Edom was founded by descendants of Esau, Jacob's older brother. The people of Israel had the long-awaited idea that the Messiah would come from among David's descendants. Therefore, if the Messiah appeared among the descendants of King David, there was a concern that he would have to give up his place.
At that time, Israel was in a difficult situation as a Roman colony. As I said before, the fact that the Five Byeong-Ear incident has been highlighted so clearly shows the situation in Israel at the time.
In this situation, Judaism should have comforted them, but it did not. In a situation like a prison that was closed on all sides, the only place the Israelites could see was heaven. They had no choice but to eagerly await the Messiah. At that time, the long-awaited idea of the Messiah, which was comparable to the Babylonian captivity, spread widely and deeply among the people of Israel at that time. Among them, the person who eagerly awaited the Messiah was John the son of Zechariah the priest.
With this earnest heart, John went out into the wilderness, that is, to hear the voice of God. “Make a way in the wilderness, and a highway in the desert, to prepare the way for the Messiah. These words gave John hope and changed his life.
I think this is the heart of the gospel. The gospel fundamentally changes people. John, who had been changed in this way, started a spiritual awakening movement in the whole land of Beersheba Israel.
Today is December 6, 2009. However, the person who lives happily as he is now does not change. When we hear the word of God and have new hope like John, when spiritual awakening of faith occurs in our daily life, we change, our family changes, and our surroundings change. I wonder if we are losing our lives to be satisfied and live lukewarm like this.
John was the son of Zechariah the priest. A priest's son naturally becomes a priest when he turns 30. In other words, I could have led a not difficult life.
But John went out to the empty fields because he was eagerly waiting for the Messiah. Beans are rough, waterless, uninhabitable places. The poor in the Bible refer to those who are poor in spirit. When we say that John went out to the empty fields, it means that it is his earnest hope that the Messiah will come to this earth. For spiritual awakening to occur, it depends on how much we long for Jesus to come into our hearts.
John did not go to the temple. The temple is where John's comfortable life is guaranteed. But he went out to the empty fields to earnestly hope for Jesus Christ. That hope has enabled us to take the word of the gospel and cry out to the world.
What did John say to the world? Those are the words of repentance. When he speaks of repentance, he is not referring to abstract repentance. He spoke of specific repentance. It said to the publican, “You shall not receive any more than the fixed tax. Throw away the uncleanness and unrighteousness that you have.” He urged tax collectors to repent. To the soldiers, “You soldiers, how strong are you. Do not oppress the weak with that power. Do not bully the weak. If you have the strength, you have learned it, and you have it, share it and live a life of humility.” John the Baptist baptized those who repented like this with water. This was a precious spiritual awakening movement that spread throughout Israel from the Jordan River through John the Baptist.
If this is the first spiritual awakening, the second spiritual awakening is this.
As John the Baptist was baptizing, he said, “He who is coming after me is mightier than I; I will baptize with water, and he who comes after me will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit.” You said.
What does it mean to be baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ? That is, Jesus is my master. My old self is dead and now Jesus is the master of my life. This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of fire. Jesus is my strength.
In Isaiah 55, it is said that snow and rain fall from the sky. But just as snow and rain fall from heaven and do not go up to heaven again, but the snow and rain water the earth, make it sprout, and bear fruit from it, so those who have been changed by the gospel bear witness to the gospel that has changed them. It is important to say that the seeds of the gospel will bear fruit 30, 60, and 100 times.
Jesus Christ who has changed us, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become saints who change me, change my family, and create a spiritual awakening movement that changes our society by diligently witnessing Jesus Christ who came to this earth and Jesus Christ who will come again. do.
2009-12-17 14:38:30