Title: The Unity of Christianity
Contents
2007.1.14 Sunday morning sermon
Bible: John 17:14-23
Title: The Unity of Christianity
Chapter 17 of John's Gospel is the story of Jesus' deep and lengthy prayer before he died on the cross for our sins.
The overall content of the prayer is that we pray that we will become one with one another in faith, hoping that people will know why our Heavenly Father gave Himself to the world and why He sent Him, and we pray to be “one with one another,” a term we use particularly frequently. Based on your words, we would like to get inspiration for the word about the unity of Christianity.
What is the content of the unity that you want to become one in the Lord's prayer? I hope that we will become saints who know correctly, understand the discrimination against social terms, and fulfill the prayers of the Lord.
The first thing we need to consider is,
1. Why is the human condition not at peace?
Why did Jesus pray for us to be one?
The reason should be looked at fundamentally.
Also, what are you talking about when people are not at peace?
If we look at the basis of the Bible, we find that fundamentally, after people's spiritual communion with God is cut off, the reconciliation between humans has been broken.
It is a tragedy that occurred after the sin of breaking God's word in Genesis 3, the so-called original sin.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from hearing you.
“Because of original sin
1) Loss of spiritual communion with God
2) Loss of trust between people
3) Relations with all things have become unharmonious.”
Romans 8:21 “The hope is that the creation also be set free from its bondage to corruption, to the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 We know that the creation has all been groaning and suffering together until now.”
If you believe in Jesus, you will know the origin of man and realize the Creator and find the meaning of life. As a result, even the relationship between neighbors and nature can be restored. Therefore, we must obtain atonement in Christ.
Jesus Christ became the sacrifice that came to restore our relationship with God.
1 John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent his Son as a propitiation for our sins.”
2. As Jesus became one with God the Father, we must become one
22 “I have given them the glory that you have given me, that they may be one, just as we are one.”
The essential content of our Christian unity is that, just as Jesus was one with God the Father, we must be one with God and with our neighbors and with all creation. We are not the pacifism of the world.
14 “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
You should carefully consider the content of “The content of unity that Jesus prayed and desired must become one as God the Father and the Lord become one.”
Jesus is not like God, he is just like Him.
John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”
John 14:9 "Jesus said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father; why do you say, Show the Father?"
From the time of the early church, was Jesus like God? Are you similar? and argued.
In 325, Arius asserted that Jesus was an imperfect human and had the same essence as God Athanasius.
If you look at the text, "homoiousios, which is similar to homoousios of homogeneity, has only one letter of iota (i) intervening in the middle, but will you see Jesus as a pure human being? It is a very important word choice that determines whether the Messiah is homogeneous with God.”
There is a saying in Korean, "Ah, different, uh, different", which means that even if they look similar, they can be very different.
You believe in Jesus, you believe, but how you know and believe is so important. So the Lord prayed like this at the beginning of the prayer.
John 17:3 “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
And,
Ephesians 4:13 “And we will all become one in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and come to be a perfect man, even to the stature of the stature of the stature of Christ.”
Jesus asked his disciples. Who do people say I am?
As it is said in Matthew 16:14, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and some say Jeremiah or one of the prophets”, even the world and even churchgoers misunderstand Jesus. If you believe in Jesus with the ups and downs of faith that it will be enough to help you live your life in this way or that, there will be no salvation.
Even Jesus' disciple, Iscariot Judas, was abandoned, and in Matthew 7:21 and below, there are cases where, by performing many miracles, demons were cast out and even great prophets were abandoned.
So, Chef Frasis said, 'Believing in Jesus is both easy and difficult.'
Hebrews 3:1 “Therefore, holy brethren, together with you in the heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our faith.”
“The 21st century is where everything is coming together as one. Politics will also unite the world in the future. The world, including European E.C., is already moving towards integrationism. The day will come when politics, economy, and religious society will all become one (Revelation 13).”
The wave of pluralism may look good on the outside, but in reality, it is syncretism with various channels and ideas, and it is an unsuitable nature for God.
The W.C.C. World Christian Association has already gathered several religions. The KNCC, which is operated by the Korean Federation of Churches, does not have a biblically correct view of the church and is moving toward socialism.
Politicians are Christians to secure their position and donate something to the Buddhist temple and go looking for it, and Buddhism celebrates Christmas! While doing it, I put the frankcard in front of the seminary and it is funny. But let's not have that unity as God wants us to!
2 Corinthians 6:16 "How can the temple of God agree with idols? We are the temple of the living God..."
It is a misfortune that occurred after we deviated from the truth of God that we lost our spiritual communion with God and the relationship between people was filled with unbelief.
Therefore, the Lord prayed like this.
17“Sanctify them in the truth, for your word is truth.”
19 “And for their sake I sanctify myself, that they too may be sanctified by the truth.”
What you seek to be sanctified with the truth is that you can restore your relationship with God to a holy human being with the truth.
It's not like the truth. Only the truth. So, not living a biblical life and having good people is not the humanity that the church desires. The church can only be a person of true reconciliation only when people are faithful in the truth.
3. For what purpose did Jesus pray for unity?
23 “I am in them and you in me, so that they may be perfected and made one, so that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them as you loved me.”
It is a fact that we may believe that God has sent the beloved Lord Jesus into the world. After all, these words mean that Jesus was sent by God and is a sign that He loved the world. If we look at this verse in another verse,
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Ultimately, salvation is the goal of God who gave Jesus to the world.
The activity of the church society is of no use unless salvation is ultimately achieved. “The church was not created to be a cultural organization that reconciles the world or to teach a way of life, but it was given to us to understand why God sent His Son into the world.”
1 John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent his Son as a propitiation for our sins.”
Living in harmony is a good thing.
However, more important than maintaining a comfortable relationship with people is the relationship with God. That's why he said that if you believe in the Lord, your family will be angry (Matt 10:), but you have to realize the deep meaning behind the teaching that it will only get better if you love the Lord more, but...
The apostle Paul was full of the mission to save people, but he did not become a servant as a means to please people.
Galatians 1:10 “Am I now seeking to please men or God or do I seek the joy of men? If I have been seeking the joy of men, then I am not a servant of Christ.”
The Lord sacrificed Himself to make us one with God. Devotion is what you must do to become one.
If we preach the truth of the gospel in a secular way that persecution will happen when we invite and preach the gospel, it will be punished with pantheism.
In order to live in the truth of God, embrace God's true love and taste true reconciliation and unity.