Title: Weeping into Laughter (Romans 5:1-4)
Contents
The emotion of Koreans is more developed to cry than to laugh. When Westerners make eye contact, they smile even though they don't know each other, but when Koreans make eye contact with people they don't know, they think they are quite hostile. On the other hand, it is understood that crying is not stingy and has a strong feeling, and the old custom cut off laughter and educated people to cry well. The Bible clearly teaches us both to weep and to laugh. Weeping is necessary, but God does not want it to last long. God's ultimate concern for us is laughter and joy, not weeping or pain. Sarah was in the pain of not having a son, but she laughed. Let's find the meaning of crying into laughter.
1. The Christian Symbol
As Christians, weeping must be turned into laughter. For Christians there is no eternal weeping, and weeping is
The more you laugh, the more you laugh. God is the giver of laughter, and Jesus is the source of joy. David is
He cried more than laughs. In his youth, adulthood, and old age, he lived in pain. However, in Psalm 56:8 it says, “Put my tears into your bottle,” but after the psalm, we offer thanksgiving with praise to God. David's tears were not eternal pain, but were remembered in God and offered as a thank-you offering in a bottle of tears. A Christian not only cherishes the pain of the cross, but also has the joy of resurrection and laughter after weeping.
2. The symbol of the church
The church is a place where weeping turns into laughter. The body of Christ established by the disciples who were grieving on the cross in the wake of the resurrection is the church. Just as our faith is in vain without resurrection, so there is no church without resurrection and no church without laughter. The Beatitudes are the Korean norm for Christians, but Korean members receive grace when they say, “Blessed are those who mourn, and they will be comforted” and forget, “Rejoice and rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven.” Just as the tabernacle of the Old Testament is the object of God's joy, the church is the object of God's joy. Thus, the church eliminates human weeping and provides a God-based laughter.
3. Symbols of the Kingdom of God
Christian laughter and church laughter are relative. Absolute laughter or joy cannot be given by the people of the world or the church. But the laughter of the kingdom of God is absolute. Because there is no weeping in the kingdom of God. Isaiah 66 sings the New Jerusalem, a symbol of the restored kingdom of God. Verse 10 says, "I love Jerusalem. Rejoice with him, rejoice with him, all who mourn for him, rejoice with him, all who mourn for him." The New Jerusalem is the shadow of the eternal kingdom of God, and we already own and live the laughter of the kingdom of God.
We have weeping, but it should be temporary, and if weeping dominates laughter, we are not true Christians. Let's all become the people of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of eternal laughter.