Title: The Crucifixion / Galatians 5:18-26
Contents Crucifixion (Galatians 5:18-26) - Lecture 14
If you go outside, you can see that there are churches all over the place, and crosses are erected in each church. Whenever I see it, when I think about how many churches out of so many truly know the cross, negative thoughts come to mind first rather than positive thoughts. Of course, we are not thinking except for our church. Because it is really difficult to find the spirit of the cross even in our church. After all, it cannot be denied that the current state of affairs is that every church, regardless of you, is ignoring and blaspheming Jesus Christ under the name of the church.
A believer is one who has been crucified and the Lord lives in him. When the Lord lives in me, it means that what comes out of me is yours, not mine. Therefore, the works of the flesh referred to in the text are the fruits that come from the body that has not been crucified, and the fruits of the Spirit refer to the fruits that are naturally produced because the Lord lives in us. Because of this, we cannot bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and because of the presence of the Lord, it is a natural appearance. A believer is a person who is not moved by the lusts of the flesh but is moved by the Lord. Are we really such believers?
There are countless people who speak of the cross on which the Lord died. But very few people speak of the cross on which he died. How do those who have not died on the cross live? They are guided by their own nature and live their own way. Everyone moves only in what is good for them. If it is beneficial to them, they leave behind the church and the Lord. To such a person, the cross is the cross where only the Lord died, but he did not die.
The kingdom of heaven cannot be reached by our own strength, but only by the grace of the Lord. That doesn't mean you have to sit still and do nothing. What we should do is not do what we do to receive the Lord's grace, to receive blessings, or to become a believer, but to live with interest in Heaven as those who know Heaven, know the Cross, and God is. It is trying to move not centered on self, but centered on God. It means to live by always thinking, 'How can I please God?' God doesn't tell us what to do. He wants us to live a life that only looks at the cross.
Although we say that we only look at the cross, when a small problem arises, all attention is quickly shifted from the cross to that problem. Because of that problem, all happiness in the world disappears, and he thinks that he is the only one living an unhappy life. If you truly know the cross and know that the cross contains all the happiness of life, looking at the cross should not change no matter what problems and circumstances, and that is a life that pleases God.
In the end, you will have to come to a clear conclusion about who I live for. If you think you live for me, then that person will want everything in the world to exist for you. They want God, Jesus, and the church to be there for them. But the believer who thinks he lives for God comes to think that everything must be for the joy of God. Who am I for now? I hope you get a clear answer to this question.
We worry, plan, and put all our energy into our lives, yet we do not put even the slightest heart in our hearts for the joy of God. Still, they say they believe in the cross. This is not faith. It is just a means prepared for you to go to heaven in the last days. In fact, don't we have that intention? Is it not because I have a thought that I must go to heaven at the end of time because I feel burdened and resist the word of God that requires me to give up my life, but I cannot throw away the cross right away?
Don't you have the idea of 'doing what I want'? Then look at verse 13. "Brothers, you were called to freedom, but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Freedom is not about doing your own thing. Knowing how to give up one's freedom with joy for the sake of others, that is true freedom. After all, freedom is moving in love. This image cannot be seen at all in those who have not crucified themselves.
Why are you always concerned only with your own physical problems? Why is there no seriousness in the Lord's problems? Because there is no seriousness toward the Lord, they do not take the problem of members seriously.
I am not alone on the cross. We all ran together. So it's delayed. Now, please buy with interest from the side. I hope that passion and lust will be nailed down, and the fruit of the Holy Spirit will be seen in you as Christ lives in me and is constantly being intervened by the Lord. That would be the true form of a believer who lives with the Lord.