Title Solve the Fundamental Problem/Acts 3:1~10
The world says that now is a good time to live, but on the contrary, the fear, anxiety, worry, and worry in the heart increase. We also have to deny that our consciousness is rotting away in the meantime. These days, some young people wear ‘Chanel’ makeup, wear ‘Armani’ and ‘Gucci’ bag, live in ‘Porsche’, and eat gimbap for lunch, but nightclubs are said to be the best. Other murders, robberies, rapes, incidents of teenagers… , and the individualism of the older generation caused distrust among neighbors, and the amount of alcohol consumed to relieve frustration while working for self-fulfillment became the world's number one. According to the 1991 Interpol tally, South Korea had the third highest rate of sexual violence in the world after Sweden and the United States.
Children leave their parents to starve to death, fathers beat their children to death, and children kill their parents again. Citizens enter the police box and kill the police officer, the police switch the perpetrators and the victims, the prosecutors get a confession, and the suspects are tortured and killed, which is now becoming a social problem. A student assaulted a professor and a teacher sexually assaulted a young student. Expressways spread out and advanced means of transportation made the whole country a one-day pass, but traffic accidents became the best in the world. With the development of medicine, the number of hospitals continues to increase, but the reality is that we have to watch people die from incurable diseases. Even if you have a lot of wealth, there is no peace in your family, you do not have joy in your heart, you wear many clothes, but your face is full of sorrow. There are many things in the world, and even though we have many things, we feel not satisfied and lacking.
North Korea has already announced that it has developed nuclear weapons and even developed biological and chemical weapons, but Korean politicians intensify their conflicts according to each other's party-party strategies, and the presidential candidates' slander against each other is getting more and more serious. The sighs of housewives carrying shopping carts increase, and the rampant heinous crimes make people fear going out. You want a fancy job in the office, but you don't want to work in a factory. Therefore, in the manufacturing industry, the production line is reduced because the machine cannot be operated due to a lack of manpower. Nevertheless, the number of highly educated unemployed is increasing year by year because they do not like hard, dirty and dangerous work. If so, what causes these problems to occur? The reason is that the root problem has not been solved.
crippled state
In Eastern countries, it was customary for beggars to sit and beg at the entrance to a temple or temple. The reason such a place is considered the best place for beggars is that when one goes to worship God, he is most tolerant of others.
If you look at the words in today's text, the crippled man was not injured by any accident, but from his mother's womb, that is, "the lame from birth." Let's take a look at the three spiritual states of this lame man. Being crippled by birth means, first of all, a completely corrupt human being with original sin. Also, sitting at the beautiful gate of the temple means that you are a person who has not entered the temple, that is, a saint who has not entered into grace. He is weak. Because he is a cripple who has been carried on by other people every day. And he came to beg. This means that you are a believer who has no purpose in worshiping God, but something else. This crippled man is brought to the temple gate every day by other people, but he is just a pitiful onlooker who can't do anything but ask for money from those who come and go. The crippled man who came to beg is a spiritual beggar. Remember, those who have no purpose in worshiping God but other purposes are spiritual and his faith is crippled.
a temporary solution
A temporary solution to this beggar would be to give him money. Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you; and it will be given to you, pressed generously, pressed down, shaking and overflowing.” Even if we are now mentally, materially and physically strong and wealthy, let us not only think of ourselves, our problems, our family, but our neighbors. What's the use of telling the hungry not to be hungry?
Today's protagonist, the crippled man, has been begging for 40 years (Acts 4:22). Unless there is a fundamental solution, we have no choice but to live and die. Therefore, reaching out and begging for a penny to every passer-by is his temporary solution. Even in our religious life, there are times when material is needed as a temporary solution. However, although the substance may solve temporary physical discomfort, it cannot solve the underlying problem.
fundamental solution
He has been carried to the temple every day. I was able to be healed that day because I came to the temple gate every day even after being carried. Faith grows only when believers gather (Acts 3:2). He obeyed. All he needed was money. But Peter and John looked at him and said, “Look at us,” and he looked to see what he would get. Although the purpose was different, obedience to the servants of the Lord, full of the Holy Spirit, gave him an opportunity to be healed. The way to obey the Word is the way to solve problems.
I command you to walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Nazareth is the name of a town in Galilee where Jesus grew up (Luke 2:16). The people of this neighborhood are ignorant, eccentric, evil, and dirty, and everyone despises them. When Philip introduced Jesus of Nazareth while preaching to Nathanael, the words, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth” (John 1:46) clearly prove it. That is why “the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth” was not a proud and glorious name, but a title of disdain, contempt, and ridicule. However, adding the word “Nazareth” to Peter’s cry has the meaning of exalting Jesus’ position, who was despised, as a victor and giving hope to the despised sick.
For this beggar, health was more important than money. This is because if you just walk, you will not lose the position of being a beggar or being carried by others. Therefore, the first solution for this person is to walk. However, even a person who walks is already 40 years old, has no skills learned, and without someone to hire him, it will be difficult to live in despair. But Peter and John gave him the name of Jesus Christ. It cannot be repaired by human strength and cannot be repaired with gold or silver, but it can be repaired with the hand of Jesus Christ. The problem of faith is not solved with material things, but in the name of Jesus.
That is why the Bible says, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:30, Acts 2:21). You can receive salvation only in the name of Jesus, receive forgiveness of sins only in the name of Jesus, be healed only in the name of Jesus, and overcome the power of the devil. The name of Jesus is not the vain name of the dead, but the name of life that is alive and works, and the great name in which power is revealed.
This great name gave the lame faith to praise God. He healed not only the physical but also the mental. And this glorious name gave strength to the lame feet and ankles. It signifies the warning of faith. He said he jumped and walked. This means moving forward in faith. As I entered the temple with them, I experienced the fullness of faith in the temple, so I ran and walked, and gained the joy of faith, praising God. . The greatest purpose of his life has been achieved.
Dear brothers and sisters, praising God will open the way. By holding on to Peter and John, fellowship of faith was established, and when all the people were amazed and gathered in the street, the way of evangelism was opened. Our life should be a life that spreads only the precious name of Jesus to all peoples. Baal's name was called hundreds of times, but there was no response, but the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth made the crippled who was born walk and run. Only the name of Jesus can do anything and solve it.