Title Becoming a grain of wheat...
Contents
Sunday day sermon
Text: John 12:20-36
Title: Becoming a grain of wheat...
After harvest, barley or wheat is sown in paddy fields or fields. It is to prepare food for next summer. Barley or wheat grains sown in paddy fields or fields must be burned before winter to take root in the ground. Otherwise, it will freeze to death. Wheat grains that are well rooted in the soil are not only resistant to disease after overcoming the cold winter well, but also begin vigorous activity in spring and begin to bloom and bear many fruits. Thus, a bountiful harvest is reaped in the summer.
In today's passage, Jesus uses this very parable of grain and says, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit!" Just as barley or wheat falls to the ground and can never take root without sacrificing its own body, so also humans cannot achieve good results without sacrificing themselves. Imagine if barley or wheat did not fall to the ground and die, but remained intact! Either the grain of wheat freezes to death during the winter, or even if a single grain is still there, no harvest can be reaped from the seed because the grain has not already sacrificed itself.
Likewise, since all human beings are sinners born of Adam's descendants, no good results can be achieved without sacrificing themselves. We must look deeply into why Jesus died on the cross by shed blood. As I said, it is not an easy part to say that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. If you are fully aware of why Jesus died for mankind, then neither the Jews of that time nor the Christians of today will be able to take any reckless action. And if you are fully aware of this fact, you should be aware of why we too have to become a grain of wheat in a common sense.
However, if you look at the lives of Christians today, you can see that they are so focused on not trampling on others, let alone sacrificing themselves. As Christians, I don't know when we've trampled on others, but put your hands on those of you who answer such questions and think deeply about yourself! How many neighbors I trampled on and how many neighbors I cried in order to eat better and live better than others, even though I kept mentioning the name of Jesus with my mouth. Even now, aren't your hearts filled with the desire to eat well and live well in this world? If you are a believer in Jesus, shouldn't you sacrifice yourself to set an example for the world, and see it so that all souls can come to you? But, on the one hand, they are doing evil while on the other hand, they are preaching to believe in Jesus.
We must understand deeply what the Lord is talking about with a grain of wheat in mind today. To understand this first, we have to go back 6,000 years from now and look at the sinful acts of Adam and Eve. Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:11, “Women should learn quietly with all obedience.” Then, in verse 12, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have dominion over a man, but be quiet!” In verses 13 and 14, it is written, “For Adam was created first, and Eve after that, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived, and fell into sin.”
What Paul was saying was that a woman should never come forward to speak without a man's permission. The reason is that a woman cannot be a man's head. It is said that God created man first and then made woman. What Paul was saying was that a woman should never have dominion over a man, nor should a woman be the head of a man under any circumstances.
It may sound very offensive to women when they hear these words today, but this is not a law made by man, but a law that God the Creator has already made. Anyone in this world who breaks God's laws will be put to death. A good example is the fact that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed when they went against God's law. There will be.
Why are women said to be more guilty than men? Let's find out why in the Bible! In Leviticus 12, the ordinances concerning postpartum rites, we read, “When a woman conceives and gives birth to a man, she will be unclean for seven days, just as it is during menstruation. She shall be clean, and she shall not touch the holy things, nor enter the sanctuary, until the time of purification is fulfilled; and if she gives birth to a female child, she shall be unclean for seven days, as in the case of menstruation.
As can be seen from the above rite, it is recorded that a woman is twice as unclean when she gives birth to a girl than when she gives birth to a boy. The reason is that blood loss lasts much longer when a woman gives birth to a baby than when a boy is born. Under the law, unclean women were not allowed to enter the temple. The reason is that you can never come before God with such an unclean body. As seen in the ordinances, the Bible clearly proves that women sin more than men.
In spite of this fact, the actions that women today seek to lead and teach men can only be seen as actions that directly challenge God's order. In the old days, our mothers did not even see the face of their future husband, married, and were only able to act as a member of the family after spending a total of 9 years - 3 years dumb, 3 years deaf and 3 years of service. In addition, if a woman had even given birth to a baby boy, her position could have been expanded a little, but if she was a woman who had only daughters, her position would be much narrower. In this way, our mothers lived many lives.
However, since when Korea began to accept foreign material civilizations, the family hierarchy is rapidly breaking down. As men's field of activity, who should be the head, decreases, and women's field of activity begins to expand, our society is breaking down the hierarchy and getting sick without realizing it. This is not just the world. The trend of the world is flowing into the church as it is, the men who should be heads are pushed out, and women are playing in their place. It may seem very reasonable in some ways, but women who have been properly taught the Bible should never sacrifice themselves so that men can become heads and work hard.
So, God gave women more gifts than men to sacrifice and help for men, but these days, women are sitting with those gifts and doing all sorts of bizarre things for their honor and wealth. No matter how beautiful and good a woman's work may be, it can never be perfect. Of course, it is true that even today's men have problems before they are born again into Christ. Even so, we are saying that we must not properly break God's hierarchical order.
When the Lord comes before Christians, and when this hierarchy is properly maintained, the Lord will save his husband through a sinful woman, and the saved husband will love his wife with the utmost sincerity. The Lord said that He only came to save sinners. Therefore, when women see their inner self and confess that they are sinners, the Lord has compassion on such women, and the woman who has received pity (forgiveness) is to treat her husband as if it were the Lord, even if it is a poor husband and an unbeliever it will be This is the meaning given to the one grain of wheat that the Lord is talking about today.
Therefore, the Lord speaks earnestly to our women today as well.
“Women born of sinful lives! I know your sins. Therefore, if you are aware of the depth of the sin of eating and drinking every day, you will absolutely need my help (the blood and flesh shed on the cross). I will forgive all your sins if you just confess that you are sinners. However, there is one condition in exchange for forgiveness of all your sins.”
“The condition is none other than that I want you to treat your husbands, who have been humiliating, despising, and despising you for not earning money compared to other husbands, as if you were treating me. Men are the beings who long for women who will fill them because they made it empty from the beginning. If you plant your true love in such an empty heart, your husbands are bound to follow you. Husbands who ate your true love should also all run in front of me so that they can eat and drink the love I have given them to their heart's content. This is by no means difficult if you put your mind to it.”
“However, if women try to rule over men, or if there is anyone who tries to subdue a man’s position and roll over him, such a person will be considered a child of Satan. Such a person should bear in mind that it is an act of not only ruining himself, but also of throwing his family into a pit of fire. God will never stand by anyone who goes against the providence of creation that He has made.”
Now, as women, it is up to us to decide which path to take. Will you become a grain of wheat and sacrifice yourself to save your neighbors along with your husband, or will you remain as a grain of wheat and go to death as a body of sin, or will you go to destruction according to your own choices? Or are you on the way to life? Only the problem remains. Why did God say to the serpent in Genesis 3:15, “The offspring of a woman will bruise you in the head, and you will bruise her in the heel”? We all need to ponder these words in Genesis 3:15.