Title: The Essence of Faith/Galatians 2:20
Content [I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Now that I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.]
God loves all the saints and wants to deepen our close relationship with you, so we thank you for the grace of calling us today and hearing these words. I hope you will have the grace to accept that great love and enrich your life.
Many people think of faith as knowing that human beings are infinitely weak and fragile, and trying to meet the Absolute and gain the assurance of life. That is why we believe that faith is our practical life in which we want to feel confident and trust in God’s power by working hard, to know a lot about God and Jesus Christ, and to live according to the will of the Lord.
This idea of faith is starting from me. And it is considered good faith when the human mind is completely directed toward God. Of course, there is no frame in explaining one aspect of faith, but it is far from the faith in the Bible.
What people know, feel, and practice mentally is only the tip of the iceberg, and what governs people is under the control of the unconscious, which people do not feel at all. So, no matter how much you think about it, if you experience a stagnation life even though your heart is depressed and there is no reason to be depressed, it can be considered that it is due to the operation of the unconscious.
For example, if a person with exemplary faith and life only dreams, he sins and becomes a completely different person from his own intentions, this means that the entirety of my life is not being held by God.
Therefore, faith is what my conscious and unconscious mind must live in a relationship with God.
Faith is not that I go to God, but that God comes to me.
Take the example of Abraham.
Abraham is an example of the Christian faith. Abraham was called to be the first true believer. He is the first chosen patriarch of Israel. Through Abraham, we are showing what the life of a believer is and what kind of relationship God wants to have with humans.
The event in which Abraham was called appears suddenly. There is no record of how Abraham prepared, how much he longed for God, and how holy his life was. The event in which God called Abraham begins with [the Lord said to Abraham...] (Genesis 12:1). It is not the order in which Abraham asks first and God answers, but God comes first, calls Abraham, and urges Abraham's answer. It is not that Abraham longs for God, but rather that God first came to Abraham and longs for Abraham to form a relationship with him and live.
As such, faith is a life of relationship with God, and that relationship is the relationship God longs for. Life itself is faith.
Meaning of the word faith
The Latin word for [I believe] is credo, which means to give or fix the heart. In other words, it has the meaning of giving my heart, the center of everything, to a specific object, fixing it on that object, and living dependent on him.
Credo is the first word of the Apostles' Creed, and when we confess that we [believe in God the Father Almighty, His only Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit], we confess that we will give our hearts completely to the Holy Trinity and depend on Him alone. .
When the apostle Paul confesses in the text, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" means that he has already given his heart to Jesus Christ and is living. Therefore he could boldly assert, "You are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). "Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into his death" (Romans 6:3-4). ) and the true meaning of Paul's writing is that only in God can we have life and meaning in life because people of our faith have already given their hearts to God.
Paul, who gave his heart to the Lord, cherished this day or that day, devotes himself to food, fasts and prays, and the reason was only for the Lord. If it is to glorify the Lord, this is permissible and that is permissible, but anything that is not worthy of the Lord is harmful and cannot be accepted.
Paul concludes this way: "Not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself. If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord" (Romans 14:7-8)
Also, to give our heart means to have the only object that deserves it.
Example) If we give 10 million won to anyone, we cannot give it to anyone. I will give it to someone with a special relationship.
How much less, if we are to give our one and only heart, that relationship is truly a special one. If I give my heart to the Lord, I can give my heart to Him when I decide that it is good to give my heart to the Lord through special fellowship and friendship between the Lord and me.
Faith is receiving the Lord.
Giving our hearts to him means putting him at the center of my heart at the same time. Therefore, after Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ," he immediately confessed, "Therefore, it is no longer I who live, but Jesus Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). Paul had already given his heart to Jesus, and his life was hidden from him. Therefore, Jesus came to his heart and dwelt in him.
The Bible teaches that Jesus is the One who wants us to enter. “Behold, I knock at the door; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). It is a church that is not hot” (Rev 3:15), and its own “who do not know that they are wretched and pitiful and poor and blind and naked” (Rev 3:17). 19) and the church that was rebuked But Jesus wants to enter the church with the problem and comes to the church and knocks on the door. Jesus wants us to come into us like this, because whoever receives him wants true fellowship, "eating with him, and he eating with Jesus." And to give the right to become children of God to all who have received Him.
Jesus will make anyone he receives a child of God and will give him the power to become a child of God. Just as the child of a dog has the power of a dog, and the cub of a rabbit is like a rabbit, so the children of men will have the powers of men, and the children of God will have the power, power, glory, and truth of God.
Jesus wants to come to us. He wants to be accepted by us. Therefore, whoever receives him will receive the authority of children of God, and will receive the light and light of heaven and become a man of light. This is the essence of faith.
Faith is complete obedience to the Lord.
To accept Jesus means to receive Jesus into our hearts and to accept Jesus as our Lord. Receiving Jesus means accepting Jesus as our Lord and living in complete obedience to the Lord Jesus as a servant.
To live obediently as a faithful servant means to completely exclude one's will, thoughts, and desires, and to accept and practice the Lord's will, thoughts, and desires as one's own.
The common characteristic of the servants of God in the Bible is that they waited in the wilderness, in the temple, in the cave, on the mountain, on their knees until the word of God came, and did not move until the word of God came. The false prophets of the Old Testament were those who could not wait to receive the word of God and prophesy and practice according to their own will.
Both John the Baptist and Moses waited silently until they heard the voice of God, and when the word came, they obeyed and became God's servants by obeying the word. Since the words that we have accepted Jesus and obeying Jesus are two different aspects of the same faith, we must accept this as an important content of faith.
Faith is the work of the power of the Son of Almighty God.
We have received the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He has been with God from the beginning and created the heavens and the earth, the life of our human beings, and the light that illuminates the darkness.
It is this Jesus who came into us when we received Jesus. No matter how little light enters a dark room, no matter how dark the room may be, the room will be as bright as the light. This is the principle of light. The reason Jesus is compared to the light suggests that wherever Jesus enters, there is no choice but to be brightened by the light of Jesus.
When Jesus met the sick, the sick were healed, and the demon-possessed man met Jesus and the demons came out. Among those who met Jesus, except for those who rejected Jesus, such as Judas Iscariot, the Pharisee, and the rich young man who had returned home in sorrow, everyone, whether they were sick, demon-possessed, crippled, sinners, tax collectors or prostitutes, could all be healed and healthy. He was restored and transformed into a sanctified man of God.
Among them, Mary Magdalene and Zacchaeus the tax collector are the events that most clearly show what it is to receive Jesus.
Mary Magdalene was a woman who was possessed by seven demons and wounded her parents' hearts and was a disgrace to her town and her family, and she was a subhuman who lost her sanity and went completely insane.
But when she met Jesus, her fate changed completely. Because Jesus is the light and the power of God, when he visited Mary Magdalene, the light of God shone on her and the power of God could not but be revealed. The demons have departed from her, and she is now one of the women who worshiped Jesus. Following Jesus up the Golgotha hill, following Jesus to the tomb before the cross, on the first day after the Sabbath, he met the resurrected Jesus and was the first to testify of the resurrected Jesus. became a person
Jesus made Mary Magdalene, the most noble and holy, from a lowly woman who had been reduced to less than a human being. This is the essence of the gospel. Faith is the work of the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came among us and made us in the image of God.
Zacchaeus was also a person who experienced the work of faith. Although he was a traitor from a nation that had been forbidden from fellowship, Jesus met him and invited him to enter his house and have fellowship with him. Thus, light came to shine on Zacchaeus' house, and the history of change began to appear.
Zacchaeus was attracted by money and became a publican, but now, by meeting Jesus, he has gained eyes that value the poor more than money.
Jesus made him a new life, a new life, and a saved man of God. This is faith. Faith is the work of the power of our Lord Jesus, who comes to us and restores true humanity in us and makes us God's savior.
Faith is giving our hearts to the Lord.
Faith is receiving the Lord.
Faith is complete obedience to the Lord.
Faith is the work of the power of the Son of God.