Title: The Handle of Grace
Contents
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Psalm 133
1. How good and beautiful it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.
2. Like the precious oil on his head, flowing down on his beard, Aaron's beard, down to the collar of his robe.
3. As the dew of Hermon falls on the mountains of Zion, where the LORD hath commanded a blessing, everlasting life.
Luke 15
17. Then he turned to himself and said, How many servants my father has enough bread;
18. I got up and went to my father and said, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
19. From now on, I am no longer worthy to be called your son; see me as one of your servants.
20. Then he got up and went back to his father. Although he was still far away, when his father saw him, he had compassion on him, and he ran and hugged him and kissed him.
21. The son said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son."
22. The father said to his servants, Take out the best clothes and put them on, and put your ring finger on your hands, and put on sandals on your feet.
23. And bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let us eat and rejoice.
24. And they rejoiced, saying that this my son was dead and is raised again; I was lost and is found again.
Content
Subject: The Handle of Grace
Text: Psalm 133:1-3, Luke 15:17-24,
We are living in an era where we have to talk about the 'second liberation'. It reminds me that there are still things that have been stolen. It reminds me that there are still things to find. Of course, it is an expression that also contains the peaceful reunification of our nation. We have entered the 21st century by speaking of peace, but the current situation of the global village is farther away from our hopes. Washington-based Middle East expert Anthony Coddersman wrote on the website of the Center for Strategic Studies (CSIS) that the ongoing 'six wars against Islam' in the United States seem to have a greater chance of defeat than of victory. I did. The realization of peace through human power, that is, military or economic power, or power is impossible. Because human pride is already countering peace. This is because global peace is a task that cannot be achieved through selfish human efforts or strength alone.
Let's find out how to achieve this kind of peace more specifically. Chuck Smith's book Prayer and Healing quotes 'The Way to Peace'. 'For those who are at war, there are two ways to find peace. One is by surrendering, the other by conquering. Do you surrender like this during war? Conquest? There is no other way to peace. If you are at war with God in your heart, you can only experience peace when you surrender to God unconditionally. When I finally came to my senses, I realized to myself, “How foolish I am that I am at war with God. This is nonsense. O Lord, I will surrender now” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
If peace is a grace from God, then peaceful unification will also be a grace from God. There is only one way to become a peacemaker: to become a child of God (Matthew 5:9). Let's pray for peaceful unification, our longing, and meditate on today's texts. The prodigal son, who left the house, realizes his mistake and returns to his father. It can also be expressed as surrender. If peaceful reunification is the festival of the nation we desire, the condition for the festival of the father's house is that both sons surrender before their father. Just as the second admits his mistake (Luke 15:21), the first must kneel before the father's tender counsel (Luke 15:29-32). The poet of error is the ‘handle of grace’. If this image is applied to our inter-Korean relations, the song of an old poet (Psalm 133) will be embodied, and there will be a feast of peaceful unification.