Title: Your father Abraham
Contents
Worship on the 22nd of Lent>> ----> Saturday
Title: Your father Abraham
Bible: John 8:52-59
Quiet Prayer: Together
Hymn: 341
Representative prayer: holistic prayer
Starting Point of the Word>>
This time, we share the grace of the text by saying, “Your father Abraham”.
Example>>
Yesterday afternoon, I got a phone call from my brother-in-law.
I was driving a taxi and a person from the ‘Church of God’ got into the car, so there must have been an argument about faith.
Those people interpret the Word according to their own convenience and torment others as if it were the truth.
Anyway, the two of them were arguing with each other, and my brother-in-law would call the pastor, so I told him to talk to the pastor.
Then, he stopped the car, threw the car bill and ran away.
When we live in the world, the group we belong to plays a very important role.
What if we were sitting in a place other than the seat of faith?
No, what would have happened if I had been standing in a position where I did not understand belief?
Looking at the words of today's text, the Jews believed that they belonged to the position of being the descendants of Abraham, who had received the blessing.
The blessing of Abraham is that God will unilaterally give the blessing of salvation to that individual, family, nation, and nations.
Therefore, standing in Abraham's descendants is a great blessing.
The Jews lived happily with this blessing.
The problem, however, was that someone spoke of greater blessings than the blessings of Abraham.
That's Jesus
However, the Jews said that Jesus was a man possessed by a demon and tried to strike him with stones.
Today we need to realize some lessons through the words of the text.
The Israel mentioned in the text is not a nation that does not know God.
To enter the descendants of Abraham means to hear the word of God and live by faith.
However, Jesus says through the words of the text that one of them is lying.
The Jews who believe that they are descendants of Abraham and live without recognizing the Messiah, and Jesus who said that Abraham rejoiced to see him and then rejoiced when he saw him. Some are lying now.
Go to Word>>
Today we are faced with these two problems.
And you will have to choose between the two.
First, we must understand the inner meaning of the Jews who said that Jesus was crazy.
If we look at verses 52-53 of the text,
“The Jews said, “Now I know that you have a demon. Abraham and the prophets are dead, but you say that if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is already dead? Who do you say you are?”
say.
Why did the Jews claim Jesus was crazy?
This is verse 51 of the text.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
In verse 51, Jesus is talking about eternal life by saying that if a person keeps my word, he will never die.
They say they are crazy when they see Jesus talking about eternal life.
For the Jews of that time, there was no human greater than Abraham.
However, the great father Abraham also died, and all the people who received Abraham's blessing also died. A man named Jesus who appeared suddenly said that if he kept his word, he would not see death and would live forever.
The Jews rejected it, saying it was crazy.
Why did they refuse?
The greatest blessing they could think of was to increase the Jewish population and conquer all their adversaries, namely all the nations, to establish a strong nation of Judaism.
They never thought of eternal life.
What do most people think of today's blessings?
It is making a lot of money and living better than others in this world.
It is also about enjoying honor and power and making the essence of life better than others.
However, there is no idea of eternal life in the thoughts and ideologies of these people.
At that time, the Jews were also interested in their own physical blessings, but because they did not have a deep thought about eternal life, they rejected Jesus who spoke about eternal life.
Another reason they rejected Jesus was because of “death.”
Death, as they know it, simply means physical death, the cessation of breathing.
But this death is not that serious.
A truly terrifying death is a death that is cut off from God, the source of life.
This is the death we are talking about in the text.
However, when Jesus came to this earth and died on the cross, He reconnected the life that was cut off to God who is life.
This is the eternal life Jesus speaks of.
Of course, Christians also die physically.
But that death is entering into the perfect life of God.
Therefore, physical death is the final obedience given to us, and at the same time suffering, it is the entrance to eternal blessing.
Second, then, what kind of person is Jesus mentioned in the text?
If we look at verse 58 of the text,
“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Says.
If we look at verse 56 of the text,
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.”
Says.
Jesus himself says, “I was before Abraham, and I am greater than him.”
Jesus is the same God as the eternal God.
Jesus is the one who has the glory of God and the one who has the life of God.
This is the one who promises to give us life.
If we look at verse 55 of the text,
“You do not know him, but I do. If I say that I do not know him, I will be a liar like you. I know him, and I keep his word.”
Jews can lie because they do not know God, but Jesus cannot lie because they know God.
The word ‘know’ in this verse means that we are one with God and share all of God’s works.
In other words, Jesus cannot lie because He is God.
But they could not understand, nor do they want to understand what Jesus is saying now.
Looking at the words of verses 56-59,
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and when he saw it, he was glad.” The Jews said, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” But Jesus hid and went out of the temple.”
The covenant between God and Abraham and the covenant between God and Jesus could not be compared.
The covenant with Abraham is the shadow of God, and the covenant with Jesus is the reality.
Therefore, if there is life in the covenant with Jesus, we will not see death.
Who is in the covenant of Jesus?
Those who believe in Jesus.
The way to know those who believe in Jesus is to see if they keep the words of Jesus.
At the end of the speech>>
Organize your words.
Today Jesus is speaking to the Jews.
“Your father Abraham rejoiced when he saw me, and when he saw me, he rejoiced.”
These words indicate that the Jews did not know about Jesus, who speaks of eternal life with God's blessings, looking at the existence of an ancestor called Abraham, thinking about the blessings of the world he received.
Jesus, who was dealing with the Jews now, speaks to us through the Word.
“What do you believe when you say you believe in me now? Your father Abraham rejoiced at what I saw, and he saw it and was glad.”
Now, the special morning prayer service for Lent is over half.
With new resolve and faith, we should be more diligent in thinking about the sufferings of the Lord for the rest of the time, and becoming believers who stand together in the place of suffering.
United Prayer>>
We give glory, honor and praise to God the Father, who is the source of all blessings.
We thank you for the grace of not leaving us who live according to the lusts of the flesh in our sins, but standing in the class of salvation through the anointing of Christ.
Grant us the faith to bear the harsh storms and tribulations of the world, and grant us the faith to stand on the path of righteousness with the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
May God's power be revealed in our lives, and through our little faith, many souls may have a history of believing and following You.
May it be planted in the world like a small grain of wheat and bear fruit 30, 60, 100 times, and bring forth fruit that pleases God, and let the confession of your victorious life overflow in the name of the Lord every day through the world.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who is the light and salt of this earth. Amen