Content [sermon text]
If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he abides in God. We have known and believed the love that God has for us: God is love. In this way love is perfected for us so that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, as in the world, as He is. For he who fears is not perfected in love. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:15-19).
[sermon]
Where people live together, social divisions of status or class are bound to arise. In the old days, there were distinctions of status and class between free man and slave, master and slave, yangban and nobleman, and the discrimination according to the distinction was severe. Given their status as slaves, slaves, and traders, there was little to undress. It was indeed a tragic social reality.
The distinction between the superiority and inferiority of people or their lives by social status or occupation is rejected and extinct in modern democratic and civilized society, but it still remains deeply rooted for political reasons, such as the caste in India. Basically, social divisions are created by race, origin, gender, occupation, etc. However, such a distinction should not be linked to distinguishing between superiority and inferiority of a person.
Today, we are going to take a look at how to live a good life regardless of where you belong or what your living conditions are in terms of social division. The true best and best life is not limited by social status and class. The way is revealed in the Bible. That truth is implied in today's text.
First, the best and best life is a life lived while enjoying God's love to the fullest.
Of the knowledge and experience that a person has in this world, there is nothing more important than knowing, believing, and living in the love of God. Those who live and die without knowing God's love for the rest of their lives are truly pitiful.
The love of God is the love that He sent His only begotten Son to save us, who were living in our sins and were on the verge of destruction. The birth of Jesus Christ is a manifestation of God's love for us. The only begotten Son of God came into the world as a human to save people. All people are descendants of Adam, born in sin, and are sinners. A sinner cannot atone for the sins of another sinner. Therefore, the only begotten Son of God had to come in a human body. The death of Jesus Christ is also a manifestation of God's love for us. Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins and transgressions. God's love is the love that is poured out on us who do not deserve it at all.
We must not only believe in God's love, but we must abide in it. To dwell means to actively enjoy God's love. You live in that love. Fill your hearts and minds with the love of God. Let your life be fully exposed under the light of God's love. When God's love floods in, fear, anxiety, anxiety, and sorrow disappear.
Apart from the love of God, no one knows true happiness. The only way to truly live life is to know, believe in, and abide in God's love. Those who have not known and have not believed in God's love until now, believe in that love at this time. Believe in the love of God revealed through Jesus Christ, the love of God that is moved and guided by the Holy Spirit. Believers, I hope you live your life enjoying God's love to the fullest.
Second, the best life is a life that loves God to the fullest.
A fallen life has no wisdom, no ability, and no way to love God rightly. The Bible clearly says, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent his Son as the propitiation for our sins, we love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:10,19). God's love is the source and motive of the love that people love for God. The Christian life of love stems from the love God showed through Christ and is a response to God's love.
Humans are different from animals. People seek the meaning and value of life. Think about why you live and how you will live. The sense of meaninglessness and emptiness in life makes life weary and wandering. depravity or even death. Many people live their lives with their own meaning. But the truth is, I don't know that it's vain. Today, many people are living in the illusion as if they did not get the ultimate meaning of life. In an era when communist ideology based on atheistic materialism was prevalent, the spread of communist ideology and system was the meaning and reason of their lives for those who were deeply immersed in that ideology. However, less than 100 years later, communism proved vain on the experimental stage of history. Worshiping human ideas or idolatrous religions, or giving meaning to life to money, status, power, or pleasure, and being content with such acts and possessions are also foolish and vain gratifications.
We cannot truly live well until we have the highest value and meaning of life in loving the God who loved us in Jesus Christ. Those who claim to believe in Jesus Christ and love God must examine and test whether they truly love God.
If we love God, we must have visible love, not just verbal love. We must do what God wants and pleases us. Above all, worship is what God wants and pleases. I hope that the worship of listening to the Word, praying, praising, and offering gifts will come to the center of your life. Also, what God wants and pleases is evangelism. A soul is more precious than the world. Therefore, in order to lead people's souls to the Lord, we must work diligently. In addition, we must serve the body of the church and serve the saints in devotion. What else does God want and please? While we are walking in this world, we do not get swept away by the winds of the world, do not try to follow the fashions of the world, but discern God's will and live a separate life. It is living a holy life. In this way, I hope that you will show your love for God clearly by living a life that God desires and pleases.
We express our love for God practically, not because we are loved by God, but because we have been loved by God. Because we love the Lord, we begin to find out what the Lord wants and what pleases Him. And we should try to enjoy worship, which is what the Lord wants and pleases us, to enjoy evangelism, to enjoy dedicated service, and to live separately from the world.
The essence of Christianity is love. God loved us and we love God. So love your neighbor in the name of the Lord. We love God and our neighbor because God first loved us. ?쏧n this was manifested in us the love of God, that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Here is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us, sent his Son, and we love because he first loved us??(1 John 4:9,10,19).
This is the point of the gospel. The supreme best life consists in taking this gospel as one's own. I bless you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you, who love you, live the life that you can enjoy God's love to the fullest, and that you will live the best life possible by loving God to the fullest.