Title The cross and what's next? (John 19...
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-The cross and then what? (John 19:30-37)
After Pilate's trial, the Lord took up the cross and went up to Golgotha. Falling and falling and being whipped, the Lord ascended the hill of Golgotha. According to God's providence to atone for all the sins of mankind, the Lord alone bore those sins. On the cross, Jesus spoke seven words and died. Then, before the Sabbath began, he was hastily taken down from the cross and buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
In Exodus 20:8, it is written, “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy,” which is the fourth word among the Ten Commandments that God gave us. Because he rested, he began to call this day the Sabbath. He did not rest because he was tired from carrying out the work of creation, but God's rest means completion. Therefore, this day is God's day, and it is the Lord's day. It is not a day to enjoy for myself, but a day set apart to live for God.
The Old Testament observes this Sabbath from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon. However, for us living in the age of blessing in the New Testament, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven, according to the word of the Lord that He did not come to abolish the Sabbath, but to fulfill it, the very day of the Lord's Resurrection, which is the completion of the Sabbath, is celebrated as holy. I think that God will be more pleased if we separate them and keep them. As Christians, it would be better to call it the Lord's Day rather than the Sabbath.
The Lord is completely dead. You spilled water and blood. In fact, it is said that people who die of a heart attack, or people who die of shock, spill water and blood. The Lord died completely and was put in a tomb. The Lord, who was imprisoned in the tomb, prepared for the resurrection and was resting in the tomb for a while to give hope to the despairing disciples. Therefore, Saturday is the day of preparation for Sunday, and Saturday is the precious day we long for and wait for the resurrection of the Lord. As this Saturday passes, we must become all of us who wait and long for the Lord who will triumph tomorrow.
The cross is a life, not a doctrine
Someone said this. "The weather is cold, but the flowers are blooming". We're still hunched over because it's cold, but the flowers are blooming. It's really amazing and amazing. It is our human actions that are withdrawn, and the blossoming of flowers is God's work of God. Spring. So there is a lot to see. The dreams I cherished over the winter are blooming. The daffodils have already bloomed, and their yellow dreams have been spreading for a long time. The white dream magnolia is in full bloom, showing its abundance in spring. Forsythia is also expanding its petals. Azaleas are also blooming on separate and low mountains, trying to color the mountains red.
What people say with one voice is, “The world has become brighter. It's really nice weather. there's a lot more to see It has become a very colorful world. It feels like a spring breeze.” How did the flowers bloom this spring? How can a dull winter turn into such a bright world? How did the flower that bloomed last year bloom again? How does nature constantly change like this? Isn't it because there is winter? This change occurred because they had dropped all the fruits they had and blew away all the leaves they were wearing. They didn't have anything to achieve. All the fruits and leaves were thrown away.
I didn't care about the ones with the berries that opened and the leaves were so green, I threw them all away in the summer or in the fall. Whether it was by force or by themselves, it was because they had thrown away all of them, so that this spring could be greeted and resurrected. So we learn the cross and resurrection from this nature. The cross and resurrection that our Christianity shows is not a doctrine, but a life and a reality. It is a real life in which we must act. What is the cross? it will die The cross is not just death. It is death one by one. It is death that everyone must die.
Those who died on the cross did. After all the pain, all the pain, all the blood, all the sweat, and then all the water, I died. Whether it was for a day, two days, or a week, he had to let it all go before he died.
Today, I would like to share the sermon by connecting the two verses. These are the words of John 19:30 and 19:34. "When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished." He bowed his head and died. "One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out."
Jesus done
Our Lord Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished." and his soul went to the Father. What does this mean? The word “fulfillment” is reminiscent of Jesus’ prayer in a group of John 17:4. “I have glorified you in this world by doing what you gave me to do.”
I confess that the last words of our Lord have fulfilled the mission the Father gave him. The Lord was sent by God to come to this earth. He was completely dependent on God. There was no 'I' to him. If there was, there was only the one who sent it. It is the cross where it is most revealed. So, the life of Jesus Christ was a life that only God revealed. It was a life that showed how to gain and live life thanks to the love God has given.
To say that our Lord has accomplished everything is to send Himself to show us what the path to eternal life is the way God intended to achieve it, and to show us that it is the way to become one with God.
What did Jesus show on the cross? It's all throw away. You left everything behind. You have abandoned the path of having everything this world can have. That is why he died on the cross naked, just like when he came to this earth in the body of Mary, naked.
There is no way to reveal God's will without throwing away even one thing that is 'mine'. Our Lord gave up all honor, glory, love, shame, and joy on this earth on the cross. He threw away all the blood and water in his body. To have achieved everything means to have given up everything. So what is revealed is that only the glory of God has been revealed. Only the life of God was revealed. Only God's love was revealed.
Saints! What have you achieved now? What would you like to say you have accomplished? What can you say has been accomplished in your life so far? Just as rice enters our body and saves us by breaking and breaking, we must know that our lives are also rice that saves others.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit
The cross and the Holy Spirit seem like completely incompatible words. But this is not a match, but a fact that they are completely one. Without death you cannot enjoy the life of God, and without death you cannot be united with God. The Holy Spirit cannot work on us unless we die. The shed of water and blood after Jesus died on the cross is not just a statement. The death of Jesus was the channel through which the Holy Spirit came. The same applies to us.
As long as I do not die, as long as my will does not disappear, as long as I do not give up my desires, and as long as I do not give up my expectations, the Holy Spirit does not work on us. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, we cannot participate in the life of God. You cannot go to the glory of God.
Some have said that we humans have three breaths. There is life, there is breath, and there is breath. Life is the breath that even animals breathe. It is the breath you breathe through your nose. Speech breath is the breath you breathe with your ears as soon as you can hear it. In other words, it is the breath of the mind, the breath of awakening. Usum is the source of one's self, the breath of one's being, the breath of the heart. It is the breath of living in union with God and enjoying the life of God. If we were born on this earth, wouldn't we have to smile once in a while?
Faith life is changing
What does it mean to believe in Jesus? Is it just to live and die? Should I just listen to something, realize a little bit, and just be done with it? We must change. Faith is not just eating well and living well, it is not living knowing and feeling a little bit, but changing your life of faith. It is reaching the height of the fullness of Christ, that is, going to the place of God. Therefore, if we do not change, we are not already living a life of faith.
Everyone! Do you often feel bored in your religious life? Do you sometimes find your relationships boring? Why? Yes, there is no change. Tired of looking at nature? It won't be. Nature is constantly changing. Yesterday's nature is different from today's nature. If we too change, if we die, and if we are changed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our life must always be new. Such a life cannot be boring. It's always new and you won't ever think it's boring. That's why you smile on the day you die. Oh, you say I'm breathing right.
When Christians become the breastplate, the door to spirituality opens.
There are people in the world who are hardened by their selfish and personal lives. Since he is an excellent person who uses his head in everything he does, there are people who always risk their lives to make a profit or profit, no matter what they do. He is a person who lacks the power to empathize with the pain or joy of someone who has lost something or has been hurt and marginalized. All you can do is compare yourself to them and roll your hair. Then he gets angry when things don't go his way. Such a person is called a headboard person.
There is also a person in the chest plate. He refers to a person who can feel the pain of those who cannot move with his heart, sympathize with them with lamentation, control his emotions, and deliver the greatest love that he can to them.
Are you a headboard person or a chestboard person? In the future, our church will have to train to change from the headboard to the breastplate. When we Christians become the breastplate, the door to spirituality now opens. Then you can freely meet God.
Divide people into two categories. The first type is a person whose center of gravity is placed on the relationship between me and God. The second type is the person whose center of gravity is the relationship between you and others.
Like the first type, what would happen if the center of gravity of the relationship was placed on the relationship with God? It's just grace and thanks. When I meet other people with that kind of heart, I am just kind and warm. When you see a sick person, you feel pain together. When you see happy people, you rejoice together. The root is grace and thanksgiving from God, and everything that blooms on it is worthy of it.
But, like the second type, what happens when the center of gravity of the relationship is placed on the relationship with other people? A sense of merit and a sense of comparison take place there. You will be judging your opponent. You will always see comparisons. We live with a sense of superiority and inferiority. They are often seized by envy, jealousy, and hatred. Headboard. Their love is head love. There is no warm feeling that comes from the chest.
Therefore, when the center of gravity of the relationship is placed on the relationship with God, when we build relationships with others on the premise, then we can establish a relationship of true love. That is the precious value of faith.
The cross of Jesus Christ enables us to make a fresh start in which we can make a small struggle for growth. After the cross, it is the beginning of a new life for the resurrection.