When you obey, the gates of heaven open
Contents
Ex) UPI communication
This is the second lecture on the Gospel of Mark following last week.
The text shows Jesus preparing through the scenes of baptism and temptation before starting his public ministry.
First, obedience opens the doors of heaven.
Verses 9-11 are scenes where Jesus heard the voice of God directly from heaven after he was baptized.
What is ‘baptism’?
Baptism has the meaning of ‘washing’.
Baptism contains the meaning of the decision to “get rid of the sinful life of the past” and “I will now live as a child of God”.
Baptism is for sinful people.
But the sinless Jesus was baptized.
The baptism of Jesus also has the meaning of the cross.
Mark 10:38 “Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup of my drink and be baptized with me?”
Baptism here symbolizes ‘the death of the cross’.
Ex) During the Wednesday worship prayer meeting
(God's love through the Gibeah incident)
Ex) Meaning of meeting
As John Howe said, “Nothing pleases God more than obedience.”
Jesus completely obeyed God's will.
That obedience divides the heavens and allows us to hear the voice of God.
Example) The story of a Jew who survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the International Trade Center
Obedience is something that must be done 'immediately' or 'immediately'.
Second, you must prepare, but you must prepare practically.
Verses 12-13 say that Jesus was tempted by the devil.
Jesus' ministry was to proclaim a spiritual battle with the devil.
Ephesians 6:11-12 “Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist the schemes of the devil.
Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and against the rulers of this world of darkness, and against the spirits of evil in the heavens.”
After fasting forty days in the wilderness, the devil tempted Jesus with a lie, telling him to make bread with stones, to jump down from a high temple if he was the Son of God, and to show him the world from a high mountain and give him if he bowed down to him. We overcome through the word of God.
In the face of the most basic human desires and temptations of fame and authority, Jesus overcame them with the Word.
The devil always approaches Yuri with or without words.
In Jesus' second temptation, the devil tempts with the words of Psalm 91:11-12.
“If you believe in God's care, jump down. Angels will support you.”
There is an important point we must not miss here, and the evil devil has left out the phrase, “I will keep you in all your ways.”
‘All your ways’ are the paths that God wants and pleases.
However, we need to know the nature of the devil who puts this part aside and uses the Word in a way that is favorable to him.
Jesus has perfect divinity and humanity.
Therefore, Jesus, who was tempted, knows the weakness and inadequacy of human beings better than anyone.
Hebrews 2:18 “Because he suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
Hebrews 4:15-16 “We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all respects as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Ex) Kwon's confession (sharing the pain)
Organize your words.
One step towards obedience is better than years of studying obedience.
God takes responsibility for a life of obedience to God's Word.
Also, Jesus, who knows our pain and weakness, becomes our mediator.
Our lives are hard, and sometimes we catch the bait of temptation thrown by the evil devil.
But do not despair.
The Lord knows.
I pray in the name of the Lord that we all have a life of obedience that holds on to the Word in the seat of temptation and wins.