Title: The Lord Knocking / Revelation 3:14-20
The Lord knocking on the door
Revelation 3:14-20
In a city called Somerville, a city next to Boston, USA, one year, the baby Jesus and the stable were decorated like a life-size in the middle of the city. The beautiful and realistic decorations were introduced in newspapers, and many people came to visit it, and it became a famous place. But one day, someone stole the baby Jesus from the manger. Those who visited later were astonished to see that the baby Jesus had disappeared.
This news went viral and reached the ears of the mayor of the city. Eventually, the mayor continued to write appeals to the newspaper, asking anyone who took the baby Jesus back.
It is unknown for what reason it was stolen, but the person who stole the baby Jesus heard the news and felt sorry, so he brought the baby Jesus back the night before Christmas.
So, with the baby Jesus, the city was greeted with a Christmas of joy. We may hear this as a funny story, but can we ever imagine a Christmas without the child Jesus? This Christmas season should be a season of great joy in having the baby Jesus in us.
Advent is the season to proclaim the coming of Christ. This Advent has three meanings.
The first is that the Lord will come in the flesh at Christmas,
Second, the Lord comes in word and spirit;
Third, the Lord will come in glory in the last days.
In the old days, this period was prepared as a period of preparation for baptism, and it was spent as a period of penitence and fasting like Lent. However, in recent years, the true meaning of Advent has disappeared as Christmas carols and music have been sung continuously since November to sell Christmas gifts in the United States.
Originally, historically, the church was supposed to start Christmas on that Eve and keep it until Epiphany on January 6th. In the future, the church should strive to keep the proper feasts according to the church calendar.
On this Advent, as we await the coming of Christ, we read the words to the messenger of the church in Laodicea, "Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he will also with me I would like to think of the words “they will eat” (verse 20).
These words were given to the church in Laodicea, which received no praise. They had faith that was neither cold nor hot, so they had faith that they could not help but vomit whether they were hot or lukewarm, and they were in a state where it was difficult to tell whether they believed in Jesus or not.
In addition, they were able to afford materially, but spiritually they were naked and poor. To such a church, the Lord told us to repent and say, “I am standing at the door and knocking.”
First, I would like to consider the words, "The Lord is standing outside the door."
To help you understand this verse, let's look at Holman Hunt's painting "The Light of the World" and quote a commentary by a man named Ruskin.
"On the left side of the picture you can see the door of the human soul. It is bolted firmly, and the bars and nails are rusted away. The doorposts are entwined with ivy vines crawling up and crocheting, and the door has never been opened. It shows that there has never been.
A bat flew around it, and the threshold was overgrown with thorns, nettles, and corn without a gleaning, and the mower did not touch the wild grass, and he did not tie it up in bundles."
'Outside the door' is a place where humans have lost their world. There is an eternal world. When the door to this world was open, I could breathe the wind of life. It wasn't frustrating. There was joy. There was love. I was able to receive the splendid light of glory.
However, after man sinned before God, he closed this door firmly and hid. They were afraid of the light of God's glory. I closed the door firmly and bolted it. I never dared to open this door again, and I finally forgot that it even existed. The door bars were rusty and overgrown with weeds, and the door was unlikely to open again.
"You say that I am rich, I am rich and lack nothing, but you do not know that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked."
That's right. People forget that this world is not their original home and live there contentedly. Without realizing how miserable and pitiful it is for human beings who have lost the eternal and beautiful world, they are contented with the most insignificant things they get from this world, and they are happy and happy.
People had expected that paradise would come when science developed, but it has brought more tragedies and is in danger of destroying even the world we live in today. However, many people are still struggling to gain something from this material civilization.
When God sees you, you have no choice but to see it as truly “wretched and pitiful”.
The way out of this miserable, pitiful and impoverished plight will be to remember the forgotten world of eternity. Finding the door to eternity, breaking the bars and opening the door. But man is only wandering here and there, unable to find the door to the soul on his own because he is miserable, poor, blind and naked. That is why he had no choice but to come to God first.
Second, according to this verse, it is said that the Lord is knocking on the door.
Seeing the wretchedness, pity and poverty of mankind, and the shame of being blind and naked, God Himself had no choice but to visit us. When you come, you personally knock on the door of our souls.
Knocking is a reminder that there is a door, and it is also a sign that someone is outside.
The Lord was able to proclaim an apology to all people by overcoming the power of Satan that made humans sin. Since Jesus Christ Himself paid the full price for all human sins, He declared that it is now possible to open the door to all humans who have sinned and hidden. However, people either haven't heard this word, or even though they have heard it, they don't believe it or are hesitant to open it.
Moltmann's Theology of Hope has this to say:
"God lifts man up and gives him a vast prospect, but man does not back down and despairs. God makes man his promise, but man refuses to believe in that expectation. This is a sin that threatens believers."
God has forgiven all our sins and has made us His children. You must believe in this promise. We must open the door to our souls, believing that God never condemns our sins. So what does it mean for the Lord to knock on the door? The Lord is knocking on the door of our souls in many ways.
The Lord gently knocks on the door of our souls through “the brilliance of the early morning sun, the blossoms of beauty and fragrance, the moment of love, the gift of joy that is bestowed upon us” (Bultmann).
Sensitive people like poets immediately understand the sound and open their hearts.
Here is a poem by Tagore.
"I know- the sound of your stars,
And the silence of your trees.
I feel it. My heart is about to bloom like a flower,
And that my life is filled with drinking water from an invisible spring.
Your song nests in my heart like three flying from a desolate country wrapped in snow,
In the midst of that, I am receiving the warm care of 'April' in my heart.
Yes, my heart is satisfied, and I am waiting for a happy season."
But most people fail to accept these happy moments and happy times with a grateful heart and miss them, so they don't hear anything from them.
Then the Lord knocks on the door of our souls in a different way. This time it's a more intense tap. It is to open the door through an incurable disease such as cancer, a car accident or business failure, the death of a loved one, or suffering in prison.
However, not everyone hears this knock. That is why God urges people to open the door to their souls through death.
In the face of this death, people realize the futility of everything on this earth and long for eternity. You will find your hometown to return to. The Lord said.
"The more I love, the more I rebuke and discipline. Therefore, be zealous and repent."
Death is the last knock given to everyone, and unfortunately, there are many people who fail to open the door of their souls in the face of this death.
Now, we need to sharpen our spiritual senses so that when the Lord knocks on the door, we can quickly open it and receive it.
"Therefore, I urge you, if you want to be rich, buy from me gold refined with fire; if you want to hide your nakedness and hide it, buy white clothes, and if you want to open your eyes, buy eye drops and put them on your eyes."
Finally, we need to know that the Lord is knocking on the door of our souls.
To proclaim liberty and liberty to us, and to fellowship with us, not to judge.
"If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he will eat with me. Let the one who overcomes sit with me on my throne, as if after I had conquered, I sat on my father's throne with my father. I will."
No one who heard the knock on the door and accepted the Lord failed. Because the Lord is amazing. If Jesus Christ, who is “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, and the author of God’s creation,” is with us, nothing will be impossible, and there will be nothing to fear.
He is the One who gives the lost eternal life and the glory and joy of the kingdom of God. He is the one who pours upon us the graces of heaven that cannot be exchanged for anything in this world. "He who refuses to open the door to Jesus is blocking the pouring out of blessings" (Trench). As long as we open the door of our souls and receive the Lord, surely our lives will change and shine with glory.
Beloved, "Behold, I am knocking outside the door." Even in the midst of the turmoil of this world and the temptation of frantic material civilization, we should be able to hear the voice of the Lord knocking on the door of our souls and open the door to receive the Lord. At that time, the breath of the clogged soul will burst, our blind eyes will be opened, and we will see the radiant glory of heaven, and the joy of new life will be filled and overflowing in us.