The power of God to unite
Contents
The world is changing rapidly. The Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, symbolized by the red bear in the Arctic, collapsed in vain, like the image that appeared in King Nebuganezzar's dream. The Cold War system has retreated into history. However, there is only one place where the Cold War remains. That is our Korean Peninsula. It's a shame. It's unfortunate. Even though we are of the same ethnic group, we have lived through 48 years of hatred, conflict, death and killing. Germany and Yemen were also unified, and even a peace treaty was signed between Israel and the Philistines (PLO), who had been at war for thousands of years as the enemies of the Great Heavens. However, only our people have not become one, and they still have distrust and hatred. In short, this reality is not in accordance with God's will.
In the midst of this reality, we long for God's power and grace to unite us. In addition, we must be vigilant and overcome Satan's conspiracy that divides us and causes us to fight, which ultimately leads to death and death. So today, I would like to learn a lesson by examining God's organs and Satan's organs.
First, let's think about God's organs.
The Lord is the power to turn hate into love, curses into gratitude, despair into hope, and unity in what is divided. The focus of Jesus' missionary work was the work of salvation to heal the sick. He healed the lame, blind, and lepers who were not in perfect body. He made the sick, crooked, and divided bodies into one. He made the mentally ill (those possessed by the devil) become one, whose body and mind play separately. Not only that, when society is divided between the poor and the rich, and when divisions between the oppressed and the oppressed arise, He made them unite with the justice of the Gospel.
This is also the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18). In the book of Acts, the believers of the early church received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. The effect of the dialect was to break down the barriers of language and culture and to realize the message everyone shared. It has enabled people of different regions, languages, cultures, and systems to become people among themselves. Even if we go to the same church, it is unfortunate that sometimes we cannot communicate, but this is because there is no Holy Spirit to unite us.
The Apostle Paul also confesses that Christ Jesus is the one Lord (Gal 3:28). It is racism, classism, authoritarianism or militarism, and sexism that divides individuals and countries and divides them into battles, both then and now. But Christ is the Lord who breaks down the barriers of race, gender discrimination, and the barriers between master and servant in one stroke.
The logic to break down this wall is . Despite being Greek, despite being a woman, despite being a slave, the Lord freed them from their sins so that they could be reborn as free men and children of the same God.
But what are Satan's organs? It is the power to divide, the power to hate, the ability to set up barriers. It is the power that brings suffering and death (Psalm 36:1-4). It forces darkness and despair. Darkness, like a thick iron fence, drives us into fear and anxiety. It is also the veil of death. In that darkness they hate each other and encourage each other to get rid of each other.
Dear classmates! What is the true meaning of the cross?
The Lord died to put an end to all these divisions and battles when it was divided up and down, divided into North and South, divided into left and right, and opposed to East and West. The Lord became the sacrifice of peace, breaking down the barriers between upper and lower, north and south, left and right, and east and west.
However, the Korean church was only divided by the cross. There are close to 90 Presbyterian denominations alone. This is far from the Lord of Peace. It is a reality that is far from God's organs.
Moreover, the nation is the only divided nation in the world, and hatred, distrust, and confrontation continue to occur even now. We must wake up and work hard for the Korean people to become one and the Korean church to become one. I have dreamed of becoming a social doctor since high school. I tried to become a social doctor who heals and heals the sick, cracked, and torn. The Lord made me a professor of sociology, and now he has called me a public official with the responsibility of national reunification. I feel every day that Satan's power is truly formidable. Because the valley of the shadow of death is appearing in our reality every day. From Monday to the next Monday. I feel with my body that the Lord does not need only Sunday. But don't be afraid. Because even in such a valley, I feel the warm touch of the Lord who brings us together, heals us, and brings us peace. So thank you.