Title: The Way, Jesus, and God
Contents
John 14:4-6 The way, Jesus, and God
In the valleys of India, there are no roads at all, the natives are the ones. Following him, I was able to come down to town. The same is true. We cannot find the way to heaven by our human strength. It's dark. It is dark and hopeless. You cannot find the way to heaven through human wisdom, intelligence, effort, discipline, morality, and asceticism. However, because Jesus is the way, if you follow Jesus, you can safely reach the kingdom of heaven.
A few days ago, there was an incident that was widely covered in the US news for a few days. It was none other than the death of a Korean man named James. On a cold winter day, when his wife and daughter got lost in the mountains, husband James went into the mountains alone to save his wife and daughter. However, his wife and daughter were rescued by rescue teams, but he ended up lost in the mountains. He made desperate efforts while waiting for the rescue team to arrive, but eventually froze to death. It was a sad tragedy for a family because they got lost in the mountains.
Ladies and gentlemen, getting lost is a great accident and a great tragedy. On September 1, 1983, very shocking news broke out in Korea. A Korean Air 747 was shot down by a Soviet missile, killing all 269 passengers and crew on the plane. As a result of investigating why this happened at the time, it was none other than the departure of the plane of the accident. As you all know, a car has a road, a ship has a boat, an airplane has a route, and a train has a train road, that is, a track. If they go their own way, a very grave tragedy will occur.
When our souls too get lost, a great tragedy occurs. It happened when I was in my 20s. I met a young man my age at a Presbyterian church called Daeheung Church in Mok-dong, Seoul. I have heard from him about a very impressive experience. One day, he attended a revival meeting in a certain church, and there he had the experience of communion. As you know, the new spirit refers to the state in which the spirit leaves the body after stopping for a while.
As he wore his clothes for a day, he looked up and saw himself walking down a certain path. And when I looked again, I saw that countless people were walking the same path as me. Curious, he asked a man walking in front of him. “Where the hell are you going now?” Then the man answers. "I do not know. It’s just that you’re pushing from behind, so you’re just being pushed and walking.”
Then he asked the man behind him again. “Where are you going now?” Then he answers. "I do not know. It’s just that the person behind me is Min, so I’m just being pushed forward and moving forward.” He lifted his eyes and looked up and saw that many people were walking the same path as him, without knowing where he was going. Then, suddenly, a sharp scream was heard from the front.
Terribly startled by the scream, I lifted my eyes and looked in the direction, but what's the matter with this? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In front of him there was a cliff that stretched a thousand miles, and people were forced to fall one after another on the cliff. And when I looked at the cliff, there was a red fire burning all over it. I was so startled that I woke up, and the thought that immediately came to my mind was, “Aha, this is the road to hell!” I felt urgent that I had to get out of this road of hell and go to heaven quickly.
Ladies and gentlemen, even today, many people are walking the path of hell without knowing where they are going. But in the not-so-distant future, on the day of their death, they will realize that the road to hell is the only way they have been told. But when you realize it and regret it, you will stop weeping and weeping for the fact that it is already too late to turn back.
One day Jesus speaks to his disciples. “Now I am going to my Father’s house, and you will know the way of the place I am going.” (John 14:2,4) Then the skeptical disciple Thomas said. “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:5) Then Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Folks, we are all people on our path of life. And this year we have to go our own way again. Shouldn't it be time to think about what kind of road you're going in life? And should I not think about what awaits me at the end of the road? If the end of the road is not good, shouldn't we quickly turn back to the good road?
Folks, our Jesus is the way. Jesus is the way of life, the way of blessing, and the way of happiness. If anyone does not follow Jesus, who is the way, he will eventually fall into death, misery, and curses. God has sent Jesus to be the way, and He wants us to receive God's blessings by following the way. And he is the one who makes the way when we get lost or the road is blocked and we cannot go forward.
The Israelites followed Moses from Egypt, where they had been slaves for 430 years, and they came all the way to the Red Sea, but the great Red Sea stopped them. There are no bridges to cross and there are no ships, so King Pharaoh, with all his army, came to attack them to take them back as captives. They were completely sandwiched between Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea. I have nowhere to go. There is no way. I was really disappointed. That there is no way in life means this.
At that time, Moses cried out to God and prayed, and God made a way. The Red Sea parted and made a way for the sea. Through this event, God showed us that He is the God who opens the way and makes the way. And though the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, how do they go through the wilderness? But God guided their way with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
Ladies and gentlemen, even if we do not know how to live in a foreign land like this in the new year, if God makes a way, opens the way, and guides the way, we will have a way to live. The Bible says “Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him, and he will do it, and he will make your righteousness shine like the light of the noonday” (Psalm 37:5-6) “For the ways of men are before the eyes of the Lord. He makes all his ways straight” (Proverbs 5:21).
Gentlemen, our God makes the way, and Jesus is the way. Therefore, in the new year, we must earnestly pray to God who opens the way. Do not try to carve the path yourself by human means. If you are wandering in search of your way, you may erroneously wander. Ask God who already knows the way and makes a way out of nothing. The Bible says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding; in all things give your credit to him, and he will direct your ways” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Ladies and gentlemen, after the fall of Adam and Eve, the road to the Garden of Eden was blocked. This is because God blocked the way into the Garden of Eden through an angel with a flaming sword. Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden and lived in the wilderness, pierced here and there by thorns and thistles. Life was really hard. They wanted to go back to the Garden of Eden. But they cannot return to Eden forever. Their way back was blocked.
However, 2,000 years ago, Jesus, the Son of God, came and tore His body on the cross and shed His blood to open the way for us to the Garden of Eden. He has opened the way to the place of God's blessing and eternal life. In other words, if you follow Jesus who is the way, you can reach the Garden of Eden of blessings and abundance. You can reach Heaven, the dwelling place of eternal life. I pray that this year will be a great blessing as you follow Jesus, who is the way to blessing, happiness and eternal life.