Title: The Everlasting Country
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For this reason we have a multitude of witnesses surrounding us like a cloud, putting off every burden and the sin that so easily entangles us, and with patience run the race set before us, / not according to the law of one carnal commandment, but according to the power of immortal life. Hebrews 12:1, 7:16)
If I had to describe the characteristics of this generation today in one word, I would not hesitate to answer that this is a 'shaken age'. All countries in this age are swaying like a boat swaying in the raging wind. As the great powers, where the small countries of the East and West camps each had their backs on each other, are shaking, countries around the world are also shaking. Even in the sky, in the sea, and on the ground, it is being shaken by the test of the atomic bomb. People's hearts, friendships, ethics, and morals are shaken and turned upside down. We hope that the country in which we live, the country of nature, the country of art, the country of ideas, and the nation-state will last forever, but neither country is being shaken without being able to hope for complete eternal existence. There is nothing that will not change until the end and will not be shaken.
We sing the national anthem, hoping that our country will survive until the East Sea and Mt. Baekdu dry up and wear out. But even so, the kingdom of this world will come to an end someday. The three elements of national formation are usually land, people, and governing power. Given these three requirements, they are already variable. We will also be able to see the change of the land, the change of the people, and the infinite change of governing power every time we go through a war. In this reality, can there really be a country that does not change and survives forever? If so, what is the relationship between that country and the country of this changing world? And we have to think about our relationship to that immutable country.
We can answer the first question this way. The everlasting kingdom is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is expressed as the kingdom of truth and the kingdom of love, but Jesus said, "My kingdom is not like the kingdom of this world." Because this country is the kingdom of God, it is a world in which God's creation, providence, and the end of history are coherent and the overall economy of history is being concentrated and progressing. It is a country in which the visible and invisible worlds of the real world and the invisible spiritual world are consistently accomplished, and the will of God is fulfilled as it is. This nation makes this history grounded in God's creation order, humankind is united in one world community, God's goodness and holiness become the source of ethics for this community, the ultimate fulfillment of morality, and nature and history alike give glory to God It refers to the system of a country that responds to
For the achievement of this nation, the cross of Christ's redemption is the source of power, and the gospel of love and reconciliation plays the role of the six laws of all order. This country is growing infinitely in all the changing countries, judging the changing countries without permission, and always attracting them to the everlasting country. It is a country where the absolute principle is to foster persuasion and understanding through love and self-sacrifice instead of force, and to allow all people to enjoy equal peace and freedom. Such a country, while being influenced by all natural and man-made environments, does not become by them, and contributes them to a creative order of self-selection. This country guarantees absolute liberty to all citizens, but does not enjoy that liberty only as a privilege, but rather exercises it as a responsibility of service. is to give. No one can enjoy the value of human rights and freedoms until human beings are registered as citizens of this country. This is a nation that will live forever with the eternal life of God.
This kingdom of God is not separate from the changeable kingdom of this world. As a result, the ever-changing kingdom of this world becomes the field and soil for the achievement of God's eternal kingdom. The eternal kingdom of God does not oppose or ignore the kingdom of this world, but rather contribute to the growth of the kingdom of God by including and consuming the kingdom of this world. The change of the kingdoms of this world has value by having the unchanging kingdom of God in it, and the eternal kingdom expresses the growth of life by sacrificing the changing history. Therefore, we pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on this earth and on this kingdom, as it is in heaven." Therefore, we believe in the ideal of this world becoming a world nation that constitutes one human community, and we look forward to the establishment of a cooperative society of love and reconciliation.
Therefore, we reject all narrow-minded nationalism and racism, as well as international isolationism and self-righteous individualism. We reject communism, as well as imperialism, and dictatorship of all kinds alike, because we simply reject any system that absolutizes all variableisms and ideas. We cannot grant absolute rulership to any ruler other than God's absolute rulership, nor anarchism in which absolute indulgence is permitted. May we become a world that participates in the praise of the infinite glory of God as long as it exists, the kingdoms of this world, the dominion of this world, nature, the people, and everything, even if it is every single piece of grass that exists today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow .
The sense of despair and indifference that shakes the bottom of the kingdom of this world, when the cynics are directly connected to the kingdom of God, they will be transformed into infinite joy, burning hope, and fervent attachment in this world, even if tomorrow the world will be turned to ashes, today it is an apple tree. You will have the courage and faith to plant one tree. The fundamental reason that the kingdom of this world is shaking today is that the kingdom of this world has departed from the kingdom of God, which is its foundation, and that it is not subordinated to the kingdom of God. Therefore, we are convinced that the kingdom of this world will eventually be in the kingdom of God.
Now, human beings are fundamental to their existence to respond to their calling as citizens of the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of this world, a man lives as a citizen and does not have more than a job, but when he becomes a citizen of this eternal kingdom, he can make his job a mission. Until we have a world where we can dedicate our existence to humans, we cannot achieve true happiness, and we cannot give our whole existence unless the object is an absolute eternal value. Therefore, the way for humans to live in the divine and enjoy the happiness of life is also this way. He can't find it anywhere else but in aligning his vocation with the building of an everlasting nation. Humans are strangely conscious and unconsciously aiming for a world and aspire to the implementation of a common society of freedom, equality and peace.
In this world, in the midst of this division, in the transition, the church, the servants called for the realization of the kingdom of God, the national common society of truth and love, is the main organ of this movement despite all the tribes. is. Ladies and gentlemen, like the disciples of Jesus in the old days, we too are ignorant, ignorant people with many faults and faults. But there is only one thing, that we have been called by our Lord to unite this glorious life of our own as a missionary. And it is a glorious calling to be willing to dedicate our whole being to the building and expanding of an everlasting nation. Our profession of faith exists because each of us responds to this call where we are. God's call is an irresistible great command, as in Samuel's case, and a cursed destiny in a sense, as in Jeremiah's case. However, because of the obedience, loyalty, and sacrifice of these callers, this history still moves forward and the world still lives with hope. The resurrection of victory through the cross of suffering and the crown of glory are the promised rewards of believers.