Title Then, Now (Ephesians 2:11-22) ...
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At that time, now (Ephesians 2:11-22) October 10, 1999
A sequoia tree lived in the forest. Sequoia trees were not deeply rooted, with their roots almost at the surface of the ground. Still, the branches of the tree stretched out boldly into the sky. The sequoia tree was the largest and most beautiful tree in the forest, but it never lived alone. It must be a group of people living in a forest. Still, the leaves of the tree were large and shiny. Sequoia trees only grew heavily in windy areas. Even in strong winds, the tree grew well.
One year, a huge storm hit the forest. The wind smashed the trees so hard that all the trees in the forest were broken or bare their roots. But the sequoia tree stood tall and unshaken. It was strange.
Curious and impatient people were astonished when they dug under the sequoia tree. Under the trees, the trees were still holding their roots by the hand.
That was the past that made today possible, and now it is a time of hope to renew and prepare for the future. The past and present must hold hands firmly and overcome the strong winds of hardship and trials to design and realize a future full of thanksgiving.
Here's what psychologists have in common. It is said that there are three things that are absolutely necessary for a human to live as a human being. Humans are not animals. Animals need food and a place to lie down. It is not a zoological need or such a physiological need, but because we are human, there are needs that only humans have and there are necessary requirements for them.
In order for a human to exist as a human being, there must be three things, and the first is what is called the need of significance. It has meaning and life has to have meaning. In other words, you can only live if you can feel the meaning of your existence and think about the value of your existence. That is why it is said that people live by eating love and living by eating worthwhile lives.
In other words, when you are young, you live with the love of your parents, and you have the love of your parents, but when your sibling is born, your love is taken away. It is very intolerable. It feels like the world is collapsing. Say it or not, because he now loses the love I had received.
So, when you are young, you need to be loved unconditionally, and then you live with love. When you love, you feel the meaning of existence. This is the power to live.
Who do you think will live the longest among single and married women? Who do you think will be healthy? A single woman who does not suffer from children, nor from her husband, who lives only freely and freely, is likely to be healthy, but statistically it is not. Single women are ill and statistically short-lived. The average lifespan of a Catholic nun is 40.
So, whether you like it or hate it, you have to have something, whether you have someone to hate or someone to love. Only then can you survive. Living with love, living with love, and creating the meaning of life here.
There is a famous saying by the psychologist Unbiesma. To know oneself is to know oneself by being known by others. Now everyone, even when you came here, you must have looked in the mirror at least once and took your face and applied it. What does that mean? Knowingly or unknowingly, you want to make a good impression on others. Making money and studying are to increase the value of one's existence. Whether you know it or not, it is absolutely necessary.
What does it mean to believe in Jesus? Jesus died on the cross for us. I paid. So what's my price? It is the price that Jesus died for me. The price paid has the meaning of my existence. A Christian is a person who knows the meaning and lives.
Also, the second is the need of security. Security in the field of food, clothing and shelter is important, but it is animalistic and we want to be mentally free from worries and anxieties. Everyone wants peace of mind. So we are searching for reconciliation. . You cannot live without harmony. Human beings cannot live without making enemies. You can't help but get sick with your bones. You can only survive when you completely relax your mind and become a person of peace. If you try to kill others, you die first. You must not forget this. This is why people want peace and are destined to live in peace. Pursue it and live it.
The third is the need of belonging. You need this sense of belonging. That is why we live in solidarity called family with strong bonds, work together with friends, and live together with the nation and the nation. What is this? This is how we have to belong to each other and feel the bond. So loneliness is a sin.
You can never be alone. The moment you feel loneliness, that being is already falling apart and falling apart. Now, we are all one. When we feel the spacious home and all the wide love, that being can make a human being healthy. that is possible. Therefore, envy, jealousy, and hatred never make a person a person. Only in love and peace, in love and being loved can one be physically, mentally and socially healthy. We need to be raised as people like this, especially people of God. This takes a lot of time and requires a lot of study.
Forgetfulness usually worsens with age. However, this forgetfulness is also sometimes beneficial. The sooner you forget hatred, hurt, and resentment, the better. However, there is one thing that should not be forgotten. It is [Grace]. If you forget your parents' grace, your friends', your teacher's, and your neighbors' grace, you become [ingratitude]. It is human nature to always show gratitude to those who are indebted to us. It is impossible as a human being to live while forgetting God's grace.
Idol worship and sin begin from knowing God but not giving thanks or glorifying Him (Romans 1:21). No one can survive without God's free grace. If you forget grace, you will become a disgraceful child. The secret to happiness is to live with gratitude and remember grace.
See verse 11. [Think therefore]
Those who have been saved by the amazing grace, the gift of faith, "remember" and "do not forget". It is to remember and think about the grace of salvation. In other words, thank you.
To live without forgetting the grace of salvation
I. Let's not forget the distant past (11).
Don't forget the time when you were an unbeliever. We were all non-Israelites in the past (verse 11) physically, Gentiles, and uncircumcised. This is a very derogatory expression compared to the chosen Israelites. (Verse 12)
*Those who were outside of Christ, outside the nation of Israel
*A foreigner to the covenant of promise
* Those who have no hope and no God in the world
No matter how good and hard we live in this world, we are those who do not have God, those who are excluded from heaven and go to hell, and those who have nothing to do with God's blessings.
This memory of our past realizes two facts.
1. It means to be humble in grace.
It is not to be conceited in today's position. It is the fact that our level of faith today and the offices and positions of the church are not from birth. In the past, we too were poor people who did not know God and lived in idolatry. Therefore, let's think about our unfortunate past and understand others. We are people who understand, help, and cooperate with each other.
The church at Ephesus was a church made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers. The Jewish believers condemned, criticized, and hated the Gentile believers who were less strict than themselves and had no faith. Believers who have faith will become angry and hate to deal with them when they see those who are intemperate and ignorant without faith. But let's not forget that he was once like that too.
Don't criticize me for being different and don't condemn me. A former ex-convict who becomes a new person does not criticize other ex-convicts. understand and help. Those who used to be sinners but were saved by the grace of Jesus have compassion, compassion, and help toward sinners. Let's beware of the Pharisee's disease.
The question is whether we are in the grace of Jesus Christ or not. It means that you can change and change when you taste grace. If you don't experience grace, you can. It is because they have not yet experienced God. He's a pitiful person. He's a pitiful person. We need to have compassion, be patient, pray, and help. People do not change by judging, criticizing, and rebuking them. Man cannot make man. We can be changed only when we receive grace by understanding, sympathizing, pitying, loving, and setting an example.
2. It is to be thankful for grace.
God who has changed even people like me, grant double grace to those who are still far from God so that they can be transformed ??You should always be able to ask for help. Ah! I don't know why God's grace redeems this useless one.
Grace is a precious and precious gift that money cannot buy, and that cannot be obtained even if you give yourself the whole thing, Jesus Christ. I hope that you will always be grateful for the grace that Jesus gave you as your Savior.
To live without forgetting the grace of salvation
?? Let's not forget that we are close now (13).
Now we live in Christ, in the kingdom of God, in the promise of blessing, and in heaven. It got closer. became one body. Now, God who answers whenever we call, Jesus who always protects us, and the Holy Spirit who always helps us are by our side. Words are near your ears, and praises are near your lips. With a passionate heart for the Lord, we devote ourselves to serving with sweat on our hands and feet. And the leaders of the church became close and friendly.
So you can enjoy peace with God, enjoy peace with your neighbors, and be happy. However, all these things were not due to internal merits, but to the merits of Jesus (verse 14).
*Just as prisoners in a prison have a high prison wall that separates them from their affectionate family and society, so everyone has a wall of law. This wall of God's corporate law was too high for a sinner to keep, and all people had no choice but to die. In the end, the wall of the law blocked the relationship with God. So they became enemies with God.
1. Jesus broke down the wall of the law on the cross (14)
Just as criminals on the list of criminals must be punished according to the law, humans who cannot keep God's law must be punished according to God's law of justice. So no one could escape the wrath of God. This was the fate of all of us, descendants of Adam.
But God had compassion on us and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take over our sins and die on the cross in the flesh. By paying the price of death, which is the requirement of the law, the law was broken, we were freed from the list of hell, and we were able to draw closer to God.
How terrible it is to forget the grace of the cross of Jesus Christ, which is so amazing and wonderful. The driving force of our Christian life is the gratitude and loyalty that comes from not forgetting and thinking about the grace of Jesus on the cross. Do you not forget the grace of Jesus on the cross?
2. Jesus broke down the wall between Jews and Gentiles on the cross (15).
In the law, only Jews were God's chosen people, but now that Jesus has broken the wall of law, he has given us the authority to become children of God if we believe only in the merits of the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, whether Jews or Gentiles. It is a place that collapses due to the work of blood.