Title The Glorious Church / Romans 11:33-36
Content May the glory be with him forever and ever - Glorious Church -
Romans 11:33-36
Now, the inspirational apostle Paul is voicing his explosive admiration and hymn. It is about God's mysterious and sovereign work of salvation. He is praising God's riches of wisdom and knowledge for the deep salvation of mankind (Romans 11:33). It is said that the riches of that wisdom and knowledge are truly impossible for anyone other than God Himself to be a counselor, or to give back to God at all (Romans 11:34).
The reason is that God alone is the origin of all things (all things come from Him), the course of all things (through Him), and the end of all things (return to Him). ) because of it.
Especially in the text, all things can refer to the whole of the created world, but when considering the concept of Romans that reveals the truth of the great salvation, it means God's own salvation for mankind. Then, God is the source of salvation, the creator, the planner, the one who proceeds with salvation (the way of salvation), and the achiever of salvation. Indeed, it is a biblical revelation that expresses the greatest expression of God's absolute sovereignty.
Then, Romans 11:36 can be said to say that the church comes from God (him), the church comes through him (God), and the church returns to him. Therefore, the church is to glorify him for ever and ever. Only a church that aims for the glory of God becomes a glorious church.
What kind of church wants the glory to be with Him forever and ever?
I. It is the church that establishes the true identity of the church as the center of history.
In Matthew 16:18, “… On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
Matthew 16:19 says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
The church on earth was established by the Lord. That is why it was called “my church” (Matthew 16:18).
In Acts 20:28, “… The church that God bought with his own blood.” The church that God bought with His own blood is a community that exercises the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
1. The center of world history is the history of redemption.
The history of mankind that began outside the gates of that Garden of Eden is a time-limited, finite history that exists until the Second Coming of Jesus. The history of mankind, which exists for a limited time in this world, is the history of mankind’s redemption by seeking and saving those who were ordained by God to give eternal life before the foundation of the world (Acts 13:48), that is, the lost descendants of Abraham (Luke 19:9-10). .
2. The center of the history of redemption is Jesus Christ.
God sent His Son Jesus Christ as a ransom for many to find and save the lost covenant people (Mark 10:45). Finally, on the cross, he paid the price of death (the redemption) and accomplished our atonement (John 19:30). Thus, the historical eras of B.C. (Jujeon) and A.D. (Juhu) were born. When talking about the genealogy of God's great history of redemption, the Bible expresses it as "the world of Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham and David" (Matthew 1:1).
3. The redemption of Jesus Christ is expressed through the movement of the church, which he bought with his blood.
The church was Jesus' own movement that was started anew by the Holy Spirit who came as promised after Jesus' resurrection and ascension into heaven. Jesus made the Word flesh and dwelt among us. He again dwells among us through the Church through the Holy Spirit. So the church became the center of history. That is why the ‘church movement’ was called the ‘Kingdom movement’.
4. The church movement of Jesus Christ develops through the khvrugma movement.
It is preaching, evangelism, and the preaching movement. This evangelism was God's own essential method for the Kingdom movement (1 Corinthians 1:21, Titus 1:3, 2 Timothy 4:1~5). Then, the essential function of the church as a church is the movement of the kingdom of God in this world. The essential identity of the movement lies in preaching the gospel of salvation, the gospel of the cross, and the gospel of eternal life.
Therefore, the essential identity of the church that glorifies God for ever and ever is the fact that it is the community of the redemptive movement of Jesus Christ. So the Lord called this church “one body in Christ” (Romans 12:5), “the church is his body” (Ephesians 1:23), “the head of the church” (Ephesians 1:22), and “he is the head of the body, the church,” ’ (Colossians 1:18).
II. It is aimed at the fullness of the church in history.
The word fullness (plhvrwma) is one of the brightest words in the Old and New Testaments of our Bible. It means 'to fill', 'to fulfill', 'to complete', etc. It is a word that also contains meanings such as 'to overflow', 'to overflow', and 'total'.
Among the classical Greek usages, ① when the ship is full of sailors ② when the city is full ③ when a certain number is full ④ when a certain period (time) is exhausted ⑤ when something happens It is a word used to indicate the completion of
God is full. God fills the church with the fullness of Jesus Christ.
The existing world is the fullness of God. The earth and its fulness, and the world and all that dwell in it, belong to the Lord (Psalm 24:1).
The created man was commanded to fill the earth with blessings (Genesis 1:22).
The church is Jesus Christ Himself, who is full of grace and truth, and is a community of people that Jesus Himself established (John 1:14~16).
In Ephesians 1:20-23, the power of God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, exalting Him above every name that is called, not only in this world but also in the world to come, and put all things under His feet, and gave Him above all things the He said he gave it to the head. And the church said that his body is the fullness of him who fills all in all.
In other words, Jesus came into the world with the fullness of grace and truth, rose again and ascended into heaven, and came into the world filled with the Holy Spirit, filling the head and body of the church, and making his church exist with the fullness that fills the world.
The church is the fullness of the area. It is Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). The space of all mankind that exists in this world is the mission field in which the church must preach the gospel (Matthew 24:14).
The church is the fullness of time. The church is a vineyard that exists at the time set by God from early morning to late evening. In the meantime, we need to call out those who are playing in the marketplace (Matthew 20:1~16). It is said that the end, the fullness of time, will come at last (Matt. 24:14b). The dispensation of the fulness of times is foreordained in Christ (Ephesians 1:9).
The church is the fullness of the savior. The gospel of the kingdom of Jesus must go to all nations in the world. Our goal is to form “a great multitude that no one can count, from every nation, kindred, people, and tongue” in Revelation 7:9. The number was symbolically said to be 144,000 (Revelation 7:4). The crowds stood on Mount Zion, and they said that they had the seals (seals) of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit on their foreheads (Revelation 14:1, Ephesians 1:13, 4:30). They said that there were 144,000 people who were redeemed from the earth (this world) without exception (Rev 14:3).
They were called the full number of the Jews (Romans 11:12) and the full number of the Gentiles (Romans 11:25). This combined is called “the salvation of all Israel” (Romans 11:26).
Then, the fullness of the church is to fill the fullness of the people saved through Jesus Christ, who is the fullness of grace and truth, and it has its essential identity and its original meaning, purpose, and content. is. Therefore, the church is the center, artery, and kernel of existing history. This world and history are like earthen vessels that temporarily and indirectly contain the precious people of God. Here is the essential mission of evangelism and mission (khvrugma) that the church has received today.
Ⅲ. It is in holding firmly the future of the church in history.
Truly I am coming soon (Rev 22:7, 12, 20)! This is the last future promise the church on earth has received from Jesus. So, the church is compared to a virgin waiting for the bridegroom (Mt 25:1~13), a servant waiting for her master (Mt 25:14-30), and a long-awaited people (sheep) waiting for a king (Mt 25:31-46). ).
Jesus never came to this world to build the bliss of heaven. So he said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). His first public proclamation in this world was not the kingdom of this world, but the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15). And his last was the kingdom of God. And he ascended to the kingdom of God. And he promised us that he would come again on the day when the fullness of the church was fulfilled.
The church at that time was called “the assembly of the firstborn” (Hebrews 12:23). It is called ‘the church of the firstborn son written in heaven’. Therefore, the true church in history must remember when the day of the Lord comes like a thief (2 Peter 3:10) and must not forget the dispensation of the Lord's fulness of times, where one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like one day. Therefore, the Church must always not lose its sense of direction in its existential function, from today to tomorrow, and from this world to the world to come. On the day when the Lord appears as a broken stone, we will have to put our hopes in front of the kingdom of full glory that will judge the world and form the Great Mountain (Daniel 2:31-35).
Dear saints,
Today, I gave a de facto farewell sermon to end my 50 years of public ministry as an evangelist, and especially the 32 years of long and short public ministry of Kyunghyang Church. This is the moment when feelings arise. Nevertheless, sympathizing with Paul's inspiration for the church in Rome, he preached a sermon praying that Kyunghyang Church would become a church that gives glory to God for ever and ever. This is because He is the ultimate being that brings history into existence.
The church as the center of history! The Church as the Fullness of History! The Church as the Future of History! It is truly a church that will give glory to Him for ever and ever.
We have been given a provisional time of silence for half an hour in heaven (Rev. 8:1). Fully fulfill the price of living in an era of peace! It is the common celestial law in the natural and spiritual worlds that life comes through death and the fruit of glory through self-sacrifice (John 12:24).
We must not forget the ontological meaning of the glory of God as the purpose of life and the missionary life as a means (1 Corinthians 10:31). Even the body we have received must become a missionary living sacrifice as an instrument of righteousness (1 Corinthians 6:20, Romans 6:13, 12:1). As the church that has received the world (Acts 10:9-23), I pray that you will enjoy the blessings of the gospel priest (Romans 15:16), the royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), and the spiritual and holy priests (1 Peter 2:5) do.
Tendency! Glorious Church!
May the grace and word of the Lord be with you! Bless the Lord! Open the door the Lord has given you! Have the grace to become a father of nations and mothers of nations! Blessings be in the best of luck! Prosper in prosperity! Be the starlight that turns many back to right! Have the final victory with the Lamb (Revelation 17:14)! A glorious church that gives glory to Him forever and ever (Romans 11:36)!
- Amen -