Title: Those of Heaven and Those of Earth!
Contents
Sunday day sermon
Text: John 3:31-36
Title: Those of Heaven and Those of Earth!
The Jews knew they were clearly from heaven. The reason they had no choice but to think that way is that they are descendants of faith because they inherited the lineage of Abraham, the father of faith. In addition, they are the only people on earth who have received the law from God and live according to that law by offering holy sacrifices to God every day. Because of this pride, they were always full of pride and believed that if they died like this as the holy people of God, everyone would enter the kingdom of heaven.
This is the same reason that Christians today believe that they are also people of the kingdom of heaven who have been saved because they believed in the name of Jesus and received the Holy Spirit after living as unbelievers. Christians too, as a holy people who have been saved, go to the chapel every day in accordance with the canon law (the law of the Holy Spirit) to worship in the name of Jesus, to offer gifts, and to serve faithfully in the church is the same as believing that they are fulfilling their duties as heavenly people. make sense As a result, Christians today feel great pride as the people of heaven, and it is the same reason that Christians believe that if they die like this, they will all go to heaven.
However, as seen in the example of the Jews, no matter how much they inherited the lineage of Abraham, the father of faith, and even if they went to the temple in Jerusalem according to the law, slaughtering cattle and slaughtering sheep and offering holy sacrifices to God every day, such acts would not You can never become a citizen of heaven. The reason is that, because worship and offerings offered according to the law are merely models of the coming Christ and are not realities, human sinfulness and self-crime cannot be forgiven through such acts, so no one can become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. the fact that it cannot be
Because of that, God sent His Son before mankind so that the people who were living under the pattern of Christ might live as people of the kingdom of heaven. And because the Son of God only came to save sinners, he does not force people to keep the law or tell them to live a good life. This is because you already know everything in the hearts of corrupt humans. Unlike the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers who believed that they were righteous at the time of Jesus, when they saw tax collectors or prostitutes, they said they were sinners and did not have any dealings with them.
However, when most of the Jews, including religious leaders at the time of Jesus, slaughtered cattle and sheep in exchange for their deathly sins and offered holy sacrifices to God, their original sins and self-criminals were all forgiven. it was believed to be However, as the writer of Hebrews put it, “Because the law is a shadow of the good things to come and is not the true image, the same sacrifices offered year after year cannot make man perfect, and that the blood of bulls and goats is able to atone for human sins I can't do it without it," he said.
However, the Jews who were living under the model of Christ at that time did not realize this at all and knew that if they went to the temple in Jerusalem and slaughtered only cattle and sheep, their sins would be forgiven through it. This is the same reason as today's Christians are mistakenly thinking that if they go to a chapel, call on Jesus and worship in Jesus' name, all their sins will be forgiven and they will automatically become the people of heaven. However, we must realize that Christians today, like Jews, are now merely a people living under the pattern of Christ.
Christians will be furious when they hear this, but the evidence that they are living under the pattern of Christ is all sorts of sins (hate, envy, jealousy, anger, greed, fornication, etc.) in their hearts. These sins are hidden in the heart, no matter how hard people who have lived their faith for a long time or who have been filled with the Holy Spirit, the sins that are hidden in their hearts never disappear. Christians fast and pray in order to control these dirty thoughts that come up in their hearts, go to places like prayer centers and attend revival meetings to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, but this too does not last long and you will feel that you are returning to the beginning. That is why Christians today are also living under the pattern of Christ.
These sins do not go away just because they call on the name of Jesus, nor do they go away because they go to church diligently. Christians keep saying that I am free from sin because when Jesus died on the cross, he took all my sins, but in reality, if you look into my heart, you will feel that I am never free from sin. In order to solve this problem for Christians, God sent His Son before Christians as well.
The Son of God who comes before Christians comes in a slightly different form from Jesus, who came to the land of Israel as a type of Isaac. Because Jesus came to the land of Israel as an obedient servant like Isaac, He died on the cross according to the Father's will. However, the Son of God who comes before Christians comes as a type of Jacob, so he comes with a vulgar character like Jacob. However, it is not mean that he has a mean heart, and because he has a rough appearance like a stranger, it is apt to be misunderstood by those who meet him for the first time. Only when Christians believe in the Son of God who comes in this way can they be forgiven of their sins and enter the kingdom of heaven.
The name of Jesus that Christians are currently calling is the name of the Messiah who came before the people of Israel. Only when the Jews believe in the name of Jesus, who came like this, can their original sin and self-crime be forgiven and they can enter eternal life. However, today's Christians do not remove the self-crime in their hearts just by calling the name. If Christians call on the name of Jesus who came to the land of Israel, the only thing that has changed is that they have changed from unbelievers who do not believe in God to people who believe in God. Just because we became God's people on this earth, we cannot say that we belong to heaven.
After crossing the Jordan River through the Son of Faith, you do not immediately enter the land of Canaan, but first, you must destroy the wall of Jericho, which is standing like a stronghold. At that time, the city of Jericho was a gateway that anyone had to go through to enter the land of Canaan, so no one could escape it. Likewise, Christians today must first destroy the city of Jericho that lurks in our hearts in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. The city of Jericho that lurks in our hearts today is one's own opinion or one's own thoughts. Only by throwing it away can you enter the kingdom of heaven. Then, when you enter the land of Canaan, you must defeat the seven Amorites who live there.