Title: The Cross and Salvation/John 3:16
Today we are going through the season of Lent, where we meditate on the sufferings of Jesus. The most important thing in Christianity is the cross of Jesus. It says that Jesus died on the cross to save us, and through that cross we have been saved.
If I had to define the gospel of Christianity in one word, it would be ‘the cross and salvation’. The core of our Christianity is that no matter who and what kind of sin he has committed, if he believes in the love of God shown on the cross and repents of his sins, he will not perish and be saved.
God loves us. God loves me and you. That's why you value us. God spares nothing to save us. God crucified His life to save us. You gave your life and saved us. He paid a great price to save us. Here we can realize a very important fact. It is the fact that we are precious and that we are saved.
There are things that are essential for a healthy and beautiful life. It is the assurance of salvation. There is nothing more important in our life than the conviction that we are saved. For those who live with the assurance of salvation, the following very important phenomena will appear.
First, greed disappears. This is the most important phenomenon that appears for those who live with the assurance of salvation. Those who live with hope and confidence in heaven have no desire for the world. You cannot be greedy. A person who has something better is not greedy for something worse than that.
I visited China for the first time in 1991. At the time, it seemed like China was just starting to stretch economically. It was a time when everything was active, but not everything was in place yet. I went to the department store. There were many things. But there were very few things I wanted to buy.
The guide wanted to show that China is also developing a lot, so he led us to a place that sells clothing and home appliances, but that was his mistake. There were many appliances and clothes, but none of them were greedy. Because Korea was a few decades ahead of us in that regard. I didn't want to bring it for free, to be honest, I already had some of the better design and performance than those in that department store.
Just because I live in Korea, which is a little ahead of China, I was able to have an greedy heart in a Chinese department store. At that time, I came to think that if I really live the life of the kingdom of God with the assurance of salvation, I will be able to live a clean life without greed while I am on this earth.
Being able to let go of greed is really great. This is because all problems of individuals and the world start from this desire. There is no such thing as an important word. The cause of all death in individuals and in the world is sin, and the cause of all sins is greed. Without greed there is no sin, and without sin there can be no death.
Greed makes people humble. Greed makes people cruel. When a strong man is greedy, he becomes cruel. They attack the weak and exploit those who do not have them. When a weak person is greedy, he becomes subservient. They flirt with someone who is strong, flattering them in front and cursing them in the back. It becomes a land beggar who picks up anything and eats. Greed makes people ugly.
A heart without greed makes people proud. Even if we are weak, we do not succumb. I don't get discouraged. Always honest and honest. Never pick up anything from the ground and eat it. Even if it is weak, it does not fret. I am not anxious. Don't envy others. There is nothing more wonderful than the courage and freedom of a weak person. There is nothing beautiful.
A heart without greed makes people cool. Strong but not arrogant. It is not cold. I am humble. It's warm. We serve the weak and the world with our strength and wealth. Serving in a very low position. There is nothing in the world as wonderful and beautiful as the humility and warmth of the strong and the rich.
Here we can see that strong weakness, richness and poverty are not very important criteria for living a good and beautiful life. The most important criterion for living a wonderful and beautiful life is ‘a heart without greed’. However, that important ‘heart without greed’ comes from faith. It comes from the belief that you are certain that you are being saved.
Second, despair and anxiety disappear. Despair, anxiety, and nervousness are diseases that drive us to death. But nothing in the world can save us from such anxiety, anxiety, and despair. It seems like it will disappear when you have more money, but it's the opposite. The more money you have, the more worries you have. I get more anxious. Do you know what the first thing rich people do when they make money? It is building a fence and hammering a wire.
It seems like it will disappear when you have power, but it's the opposite. When you live as a commoner, you are free to go anywhere, but when you become president, you cannot freely go anywhere. The bodyguard must follow along. It's because I'm anxious.
Hope and peace are given by faith. But the only person we can trust is God. When we can truly believe in God, who is all-powerful and who loves me more than me, we can enjoy true hope and peace. Nothing can give us hope like the assurance of salvation. Those who live with the assurance of salvation can never despair. You cannot be anxious. it is impossible.
I would like to give you an example that I use often. When Chan-Ho Park made his major league debut, it was one of the joys of watching a tape of a game he won. The children recorded the game in which Chan-ho Park had 3 or 5 wins, so they could watch it in their spare time.
It was the game that Park Chan-ho won, but in the beginning, Park Chan-ho's condition was not very good. He threw 19 balls in one inning. In some innings, I was driven by a pinch of full base, and in other innings, I hit a home run. Each time, the announcers and commentators were not the only ones worried. But I was very relaxed. Because I already knew the outcome of the game. If you've already won a game and you throw 29 balls instead of 19 in one inning, what does that matter? What's wrong with hitting a home run and getting a bit of a pinch? It's a won game...!!!
I watched the video game that day and realized that although I was already saved, I did not need to feel discouraged or despair just because I had to go through some hardships and tribulation while living in this world. If I had despaired and discouraged like the announcer and narrator in the tape while watching the tape that day, people would not have seen me as normal.
Gentlemen, we are people who have already been saved. The end of the ninth inning of our life is the word of victory. There are times in life when things don't work out. Sometimes it gets pushed into a pinch. Sometimes you hit a home run. But if you despair, give up, and become discouraged, aren't you crazy? We have been saved, but the game of life is ours, and if we get discouraged, despair, and give up if we encounter some difficulties in the process, how can we call it normal?
There is not much difference between those who believe and those who do not believe, those who have the assurance of salvation and those who do not. There is no difference between success and failure, health and disease, ascent and descent. There is almost no difference between the environment and the situation.
But there is a huge difference. It means that those who have faith do not despair no matter what happens. It is the hope that we will overcome all adversity. Rather, it turns adversity into opportunity.
A person who truly has faith will not become discouraged even when faced with tribulation. Be patient. Knowing Chan-ho Park's victory, I did not turn off the TV in the middle. I was able to watch the game with ease until the end. If you do not lose heart in tribulation and persevere, you will become stronger. Because you will receive refinement. Then he becomes the master of the environment, not the one who is governed by it. Instead of being a person who waits for hope, you become a person who achieves hope.
(Romans 5:1-10)
(Psalm 27:1 - 13)
Finally, the assurance of salvation gives us courage. It gives you the courage to overcome death.
If there is a person the world and Satan fear the most, it is the person who is not afraid of death. For he who is not afraid of death will never be threatened, nor will he be tempted. If you want to live a dignified life without being disgraced by Satan in the world, you must be able to overcome death above all else.
The true courage to overcome death is given by faith. Those who believe in God and who believe in the eternal kingdom of God that God has prepared for us do not fear death on this earth.
Courage gives us peace and stability. Peace and stability bring us victory. When exercising, the most important thing is to rest. But it's not that easy. What works well in practice doesn't work well when you play. It's because you don't feel well because of the fear of losing.
It is the same with our lives. It is no exaggeration to say that ‘Who can lead their life to victory?’ depends on ‘Who can quickly achieve peace of mind and stability?’
There is nothing more important in our life than peace and stability. But that peace and stability comes from courage, and that courage comes from faith. David is a successful and victorious man in his life. His success and victory came from the power of peace and stability, and his power came from faith.
(Psalm 23:1 - 6)
(Psalms 3:1 - 8)
I'm about to finish my talk. The gospel of the gospel is that God loves me and you. That He saved us by nailing His life to the cross so that we might be saved out of His love. Because it is salvation that has been accomplished at a great cost, no matter who you are, if you repent and believe in God, you will not perish and will be saved.
I hope that you and I will be able to live with the assurance of salvation. I hope that you and I will be able to give up our greed for the world because of the assurance of salvation. Because he has no greed for the world, he becomes a wonderful person who is weak and poor, but not humble, strong and rich, but not arrogant.
Because of the assurance of salvation, I hope that you and I can all be able to live a life that the world and Satan cannot bear, with hope and courage, not yielding under any circumstances, and enjoying peace and stability. Amen.