Title: The Remnant Chosen by Grace
Therefore I say, Has God forsaken his people? It cannot be so. I am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, and God has not forsaken his people whom he foreknew. Don't you know that he brought Israel against God, saying, "Lord, they have killed Your prophets, and they have demolished Your altars, and I am the only one left, and they seek my life." What was her answer to me? A thousand commandments have been reserved. So even now there is a remnant according to the election of grace (Romans 11:1-5).
Finally, the old year has passed and the first week of the new year has arrived.
There are many people who are excited with their own expectations and prospects for the 21st century. Is the 21st century we are supposed to live in such a beautiful and hopeful era that we are excited about? Futurists can't be trusted at face value, but their predictions don't give us such a fantastic answer anyway.
According to UN statistics, October 12, 1999 was designated as 'Population 6 billion Day'. This inspires fear as well as hope in us.
Because if the population continues to grow at this tempo, it is estimated that the world population will reach 8.9 billion by 2050. If that happens, we cannot guarantee the natural space, food and water for humankind to enjoy. So far, we can see that we do not feel so precious about water and use it sparingly. That's why it was even called 'It's like using water' to use it sparingly. But in the future, will the environment be preserved as much as it is now, as the number of humans on Earth increases like this? And can you drink such clear water as it is now? The problem is that it cannot but be taken seriously.
Moreover, no matter how high the economic growth rate of developing countries continues, the problem of excess will inevitably occur, which will pose a threat to the future of all human beings. It is said that even now, about 900 million people are starving, and about 1.3 billion people are extremely poor. The war of the future may in some way be caused by food. This means that there is a lot of potential for food to be weaponized.
On the other hand, in particular, the disasters brought by the selfish man of the 20th century civilization are utterly unpredictable. Many scientists believe that the war of the 21st century is different from conventional battles that mobilize missiles and fighters, spreading powerful information on the Internet that connects the world or leaking reverse information to disrupt the traffic, communication, and military information networks of other countries. We believe the risk of disruptive cyber wars will increase.
So, in order to gain the upper hand in information warfare, it is said that from two to three years ago, research on hacking and computer viruses, as well as physical viruses and radio wave interference, and the development of high-power electromagnetic waves have been started.
The United States is setting up an intelligence division within the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Critical Infrastructure Protection Center (NPC). Not only that, the US has established a hacker task force and has invested 3.2 billion dollars by 2002 to take countermeasures.
The Computer Year 2000 Recognition Error (Y2K), which started yesterday, is making us even more nervous. Because no one can predict where and what accidents will happen and cause chaos. In this way, it cannot be denied that our 21st century is an era of unpredictability of uncertainty rather than rosy. As believers, who must live together in these times, how should we depend on what to live?
1. God made an eternal promise to His people.
That is the promise of (The Remnant). There are promises in several places in the Bible. God made this promise to the remnant, not because their actions were righteous, nor because their faith was strong, but only because of God's own faithfulness. In the end, God made a promise to the field despite the repeated betrayal of the nation of Israel. And he was with the rest.
In today's text, the Apostle Paul is also quoting the words he said to the prophet Elias during the time of King Ahab, when everyone worshiped the god Baal.
As we know, Elijah won the battle of 850:1 on Mount Carmel with the prophets who worshiped the gods Baal and Asherah. After that, Elia, who was running away from the pursuit of King Ahab's wife Jezebel, was exhausted and depressed. Now all that was left was him and he was lamenting that he had bowed his knees to Baal.
God appeared to Elijah, who was groaning, and encouraged him by saying that there were seven thousand remaining who had not bowed their knees to Baal.
2. What message does this verse give us today?
As we saw above, many of those looking forward to the new millennium speak of uncertainty about the future. ??Population expansion, ??Pollution of the natural environment, ??Problems of dysfunctional poverty resulting from high economic growth, ??Predictions of disasters brought by computers, etc... There are many people who are very anxious.
In fact, no one can predict how advanced our science and technology will be in the 21st century. In the last 100 years of the 20th century, there are four surprising inventions in the scientific field. The first is plastic, the second is the radio, the third is the atomic bomb, and the fourth is the Internet. means that There are many people who conclude that the ethics and values of social change will lead the future era.
But what God's word of eternal promise shows us is the salvation of . It is a promise of assurance to the remnant. There are repeated promises in Isaiah 41:8-10 and Matthew 28:20. ?쏡o not be afraid, I will be with you, I will help you, I will be with you always, even to the end of the world.??
We promised to be together until the end of the world. No matter how ugly and strange things happen in the world, I will be with you. This is what the Lord said to His disciples. These are the words of God's eternal promise to His people. This promise is not a man's promise. We must live by believing in the promises we make with people, how much more will we believe in God's promises?
I have recently re-examined God's promises in my relationship with my grandson.
What parents in the world, or even grandparents, would not want to keep their promise to their grandchildren? No matter where you go, when you suddenly remember what you promised him, you put aside everything and do it first before starting work. Isn't that what God is also like? Why? For only one reason. Because I love you. It means that God loves the people of faith whom His Son saved through death so much. It is not that we are good on our own, nor that our actions are far more righteous than others. It is simply because God has called them and made them a remnant chosen by grace.
3. We must walk into the new year with the faith of the remnant.
God did not choose the remnant of His people in vain.
Because they have a purpose to achieve through them. It is to go to the ends of the earth and become witnesses of the gospel. This is not to say that the purpose was simply to make a choice to enjoy privileges. It was the Jews' fault in this way of thinking. The Jews at the time of the Lord said that they were the only people who had been saved. So he did not even want to sit with the Gentiles. Because they thought they were sinners. For he was told not to sit down with sinners, make friends with them, or pass by them. So, when the Lord entered the town of Samaria and stayed in the house of a publican, many Jews thought he was strange and made fun of him, saying to his disciples, 'Your teacher is a glutton and a friend of sinners.' At that time, what did our Lord say? He said, "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to save them."
In that sense, the task of a believer's life should be a life of responding to the grace of the remnant along with the sinners living in that era. Especially in the Korean context, we have the responsibility and duty to live according to God's plan to usher in the new millennium as believers in Jesus Christ. What kind of Christ image should the 21st century image of Christ be?
Everyone! What kind of religion should Christianity in the new millennium be? That would mean finding a living, breathing statue of Jesus in the most humble-looking crowd. It consists in living the love of Christ. If those eyes have not yet been opened, our faith would not be that of Jesus.
At the time of Jesus, the Samaritan was probably the most humble human figure. That is why Jesus emphasized the image of his Messiah as .
The 21st century Catholic's Up-Date update of the New Millennium's Jesus statue with a black woman really shows where the future of Christianity will stand.
In that sense, as our church's motto this year, a movement to practice love that values one soul more than the whole world should take place first.
It should not be an ideological love, but an action that comes from the emotion of the remnant chosen by grace. The field of love (?얍졃) should be the field of mission (若ｆ븥). We need to know that there is a will of God who has chosen us today for that purpose.
Dear saints!
The future is certainly uncertain.
No one can say for sure what will happen.
But one thing is certain: God's promises will be with us forever. The words "I will be with you to the end of the world" will not change. I hope that we will all hold on to this promise and start the new year strong. God will be with us. ??