Title: Why I Believe in Jesus
The whole world decorates the streets for Christmas, spends cards and rejoices
do.
Why do you enjoy Christmas so much and make it so festive?
Even among those who have been out of church for a long time, there are some who cannot clearly state why they believe in Jesus. Also, people who have not grown spiritually often attribute their faith in Jesus to physical prosperity, success, and health problems in most cases.
Of course, no one will have spiritual growth from the start.
If you look at the reasons for believing in Jesus in the first place, they are all 'low level' faith.
As there is a saying among the political terms of the low-level federal system these days, in the religious life of a low level of faith, first of all, the problems of the flesh are of the greatest concern.
However, when you start to rise step by step and achieve spiritual growth, you can easily realize how humble your life of faith at the lower level was.
① Then, why do you believe in Jesus on a higher level?
② Why do you want to lead a life of faith?
③ What is so good that you are exhorting us to believe in Jesus?
④ And what are the blessings that those who are saved enjoy?
We are going to look for it in today's text.
1. First, it makes us realize 'the hope of the calling' (verse 18a).
I hope you will read verses 18-19 carefully today.
There you will find all the reasons why you want to believe in Jesus.
① What does it mean to believe in Jesus?
② Among the many people in the world, what is the calling?
③ Why did God call me to believe in Jesus?
Let us know the reason for that calling. In other words, you will know why you saved me.
For example, imagine that there are many children running around on the playground, and the teacher calls me and tells me to come to the office. At first, you will not know very well. But, looking back, what kind of errand would the teacher have entrusted to you, how would you feel as a student? Especially for female students, if the teacher calls them separately, the student will be selected.
It will change the way you think about life. This is the consciousness of the calling.
This is important. It makes me realize the calling of God who called me out of many people in the world. Because God has called me, who was living in sin, I come to realize that I am sitting here and worshiping.
This is the meaning of the saying, "This is the hope of the calling...".
However, there are two kinds of calling.
① One is General Calling.
This is a call to salvation in order to save me from the world of sin, which will end in eternal death.
② Another one is Special Calling.
Not only does he call me to salvation, but he calls me to run on errands.
In theological terms, this is called effective calling.
That is, it means the calling of spiritual blessing.
He entrusts us with this effective calling.
It means letting go of the errands.
When this sense of calling is standing upright, a sense of mission to God arises.
① Why did you call me as a pastor?
② Why did you make me an elder in the church?
③ Why did you appoint me as an ordained deacon?
④ Why did you make me a Kwonsa out of the many goddesses? You will have a sense of mission (使命) for your position, etc.
And he makes you work while being moved by the sense of mission.
If any of us still do not have this consciousness, then the person does not know what the blessings of that office are. If they simply know that they have been elected by people's vote in the organized society of the world, they are truly ignorant of the hope of the calling.
The Bible speaks of this as a 'natural Christian'.
Believe refers to people who say they believe, but do not know what spiritual blessings are, but do and do everything physically.
Those who realize the hope of this calling will lose their faith.
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.”
You have to keep in mind the word.
It is often said that these are not those who were chosen by men or obtained by asking for their own cut, but those who were called by the will of God.
It should be remembered that for such people all things work together for good.
So, in any case, you will not be discouraged and you will have confidence in your salvation.
You will be armed with thorough gratitude and loyalty to your position.
However, the position received without such consciousness has no hope of calling.
To be honest, it is difficult to find a job in society when you are over 50.
I wouldn't even dare to be president.
However, they say they can't do it, even though they've been elected to the mission president or officer in the church. This is because we do not know what the hope of God's calling is. However, if you immediately realize the meaning of the calling, you can overcome any situation. Because we realize how precious the hope of our calling is. While Paul is writing this in prison now, he is confident that all things work together for good with joy.
2. Second, let us know what the riches of the inheritance are (verse 19b).
Inheritance means inheritance.
It makes me realize how great the glorious inheritance that will be given to me.
That is, to be a glorious heir.
We, the saved saints, are the heirs to enjoy on this earth and in the kingdom of God. What can we envy when we realize that the heirs of the world's perishable riches live happily ever after, and realize that they have become the glorious heirs of heaven!
Also, the writer of Hebrews told us to be careful not to show foolish people who forget this heavenly inheritance and sell the birthright's birthright to enjoy an eternal inheritance in a bowl of real, visible red bean porridge like Esau.
God's riches are many, but they cannot be measured in words.
There are many kinds of riches of God, but the representative one is the riches of God.
There is no shortage of grace that comes upon us.
No one has grown up to the point that this is no longer needed.
This is because the more silver you dig, the deeper it leads to veins.
The abundance of grace comes more abundantly the more you receive grace.
There is nothing more precious than the grace of grace.
The grace of God is because no one can say enough to say, 'I have no more to hear'. The grace of the Word is infinite grace.
Through this, we come to realize the glorious inheritance of the kingdom of heaven we will enjoy in the future.
In this way we can overcome any hardship in the world
is the sword (劍).
In order to stand against the enemy Satan, we have to have a.
The only power that can defeat Satan is the Word. Jesus also defeated Satan with .
3. Third, let us know the exceeding greatness of God's power (verse 19).
① If we become a people saved by believing in Jesus, we will know the meaning of our calling, ② we will know what the glorious inheritance of heaven is in hope, and ③ we will experience God’s exceedingly great power.
This is not a simple mind-boggling knowledge.
It's not the kind of priest you're talking about in a religious studies lecture.
① It is the great power that the Israelites experienced when they saw the Red Sea parting. ② It is the ability to drive quails with the east wind to eat meat. ③ It is the power to drink living water from a rock when you die of thirst in the wilderness. ④ The city of Jericho was rotated once a day without firing a single shot, and on the 7th day
It is the ability to collapse by making them shout all at once.
What is that ability? It is the power that works in Christ to raise him from the dead.
① It is the power to bring the dead back to life. ② It is the power to bring the skeletons of Ezekiel back to life. ③ It is the ability to revive a life that is as dry as a bone. ④ It is the ability to make things that are not there. ⑤ It is the ability to transform worn-out souls into good soil, like the road.
⑥ It is the ability to draw out those who have been struggling in the bog of sin. ⑦ The ability to get out of the dreadful puddle of life. ⑧ It is the ability to overcome unexpected and tragic hardships. ⑨ This power is the power that comes from God.
The power that can overcome the world comes only from above.
It is this kind of grace that those who believe in Jesus and are saved can enjoy.
You will experience the greatness of God's power in your life.
So the hymn bursts out.
So you will be filled with joy.
There is no way the world can afford these abilities.
This was what the believers of the early church looked like.
They are ① harassed, ② whips, ③ bondage, ④ imprisoned, ⑤ stoned, ⑥ killed by the sword, ⑦ want, ⑧ affliction, ⑨ abuse, ⑩ wilderness, ⑪ mountains. I was able to overcome it while staying in the gang, ⑫ blood, and ⑬ crypt.
Is that their strength? What is the power of political ideology? no! It was the result of the realization that the saved saints realized through the Holy Spirit.
As verse 17 of today's text says, "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory
It is the grace that has given you the spirit of wisdom and revelation to make you known.
It's never meant to be worldly knowledge. No matter how much worldly knowledge you have, what is your calling if you have not been enlightened by the Spirit? What are businesses in the sky? And what kind of power God has... we never know.
Dear saints!
Why should I believe in Jesus?
Why are you exhorting us to believe in Jesus?
This is because, as mentioned above, if you have spiritual insight, you can live while experiencing that all things work together for good.
Hopefully, our faith will now become unwavering, so that we can clearly understand why we believe in Jesus, and that our faith life will not be shaken under any circumstances. ♣