2014.05.11_Loving His Own
in 2014, Sung Hyun Kim
God
loves His own saints.
He sent Jesus Christ to the world
so that they may know God.
And the Son showed the Father (Jn. 14:10-11).
Jesus having loved His own, He loved them to the end.
Whoever is not of Him will be definitely forsaken (Jn 6:70).
We keep His commands because
we know that we belong to Him.
Whoever is not of Him does not love His commands,
and they would rather follow the Devil (Jn 13:27).
The Lord Jesus cleanses His own (Jn 13:8)
and imparts His grace upon them.
Faith
is receiving the love of God.
The Lord Jesus has given the Holy Spirit
to those who receive God’s love in order
to nurture them with the truth (Jn 20:22).
We are not religious people;
we are people who receive God’s great love.
○Let us receive God’s love.
He will bless us and never cast us out.
○Let us receive the love of our Lord Jesus.
Anyone belonging to the Lord Jesus
would keep His commandments.
He will love them to the end.
○The Holy Spirit works in those
who receive the love of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit will provide protection and peace.
※We must discern spiritually whether
we are working with God or following the Devil’s works
The Love of Parents – Loving Their Children to the End God loves His saints. He loves them as with the love parents have for their children. There is not a parent who does not love his or her child. Every parent wants their children to be well, and sacrifice themselves for their children. Even if children grumble, rebel or even turn against their parents not knowing their heart, the parents put up with their children’s ignorance and betrayal and never give up their hope in them. Yet, no parent ever receives more than they expected from their children. Instead, the parents walk on eggshells around their children in later years. At times, the children resent their parents and talk about other parents in comparison. This breaks the parents’ hearts, as they always feel bad for not having done enough for their children. There is always a sense of guilt in the heart of parents that they were unable to do the best for their children. Some things that the child experiences throughout their development remain engraved in the parent’s heart and grieve them all their life. Every parent has shortcomings, weaknesses and mistakes. It saddens every father, when he gets mad or loses his temper at his children, for example. Even the Scripture warns, “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged” (Col 3:21). The parents no longer have the opportunity to look after their children once they are grown up, and they spend the rest of the life with regrets. They wish they could go back in time and do more for their children, but the cruel reality does not allow them. When children are young, they write “I love you mommy!” or “You’re the best dad!” and express their pure hearts. The parents truly appreciate how their children think of them in that way. However the parental relationship becomes somewhat awkward when the child is grown up. When children send their parents on a trip, the parents feel sorry instead of taking it for granted. On the other hand, the children think they have done their filial duty, feeling light at heart as if they have paid off their debts. As the children go through the difficulties of life away from their parents and raise children of their own, they then begin to understand the parents’ position. However, they cannot properly look after their parents although they see the poor circumstances of their parents, as they are busy making a living and trying to find some pleasures of their own time to time. Before long, a time comes when neither the parents are able to help their children nor the children able to look after their parents, and they are both left with the same feeling of confusion. Though the children observe their parents’ weakened, poor condition with regretful hearts, there is not much that they can do. There was once a report on the news. A mother who had married off her only son, after some time wanted to find out why she was not getting a grandchild. And she was shocked when she discovered the reason. Her daughter-in-law had married her son under one condition that she was not going to have any children. Her daughter-in-law said she was not confident that she would be able to sacrifice for and raise her child to be happy. Her position is somewhat understandable when we consider the way of life in the modern society. The important matter is not about what or how much our parents have done for us, but the fact that there is someone who loves us unconditionally. If we were to consider everything our parents have done for us one by one, frankly the children have nothing to say. Parents have not only birthed their children but actually saved their lives. Parents provide their children with everything they need to survive, teach them how to speak, educate them with the knowledge and skills necessary to live in the world, and equip them to be independent individuals in the society. And although the children do not understand such heart of their parents, the parents bear with their children’s indifference and are constantly concerned for them. Nobody can ever love a child as a parent does. People cannot depend on someone as much as they would their parents, even if that someone has promised a lifetime together, or pledged their loyalty to the end. Mothers particularly have a special heart for their children because they gave birth to their children from their own womb. When women decide to have a baby, they have to cope with the changes in their body shape. They cannot easily recover the beautiful appearance they used to have, after going through what is an extremely difficult and stressful time for women. No one can possibly imitate a mother’s love. As long as our parents love us, our debt to them is ever increasing. If parents wished for anything, it is for their children to be well. And if they did have another wish, it would be to eventually receive some of the love in return from their children. However in the end, this second wish does not come true regardless of whether the children have become successful or not. Only when the parents have passed away do the children come to realize they have lost their last supporter. As such, the relationship of parents and children always end incomplete. The world is revolving around modern advanced technology rather than the interpersonal relationship of people. The beautiful truth and precious values of humanity, which has continued on for thousands of years are being neglected constantly and eventually erased from people’s memories. People are putting off marriage, families are shrinking, materialism is prevalent, man’s duty is no longer honored but neglected, and a parent’s role is deemed merely functional. Appreciation of parents is gradually being lost, that the good virtue, which has been passed down from old is on the verge of being buried in history. The Love of God the Father Who Loves Us to the End The parental relationship is precious and special, but the true form of that relationship is not found in this world. The original of the parental relationship is the relationship of God and His only Begotten. The only Begotten was with God from eternity past (John 1:1-2). The relationship of God and His Son was before man came into existence (Prov. 8:22-31). God is the Father of Jesus Christ (Col 1:3). God, the Creator, is also the parent of all mankind. 1 John 2:13-14 says, “I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father,” indicating that knowing the Father is fundamental, and “I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning”, which reveals that knowing the Father is the root of all thoughts. Isaiah 41:4 says, “Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the Lord, am the first; and with the last I am He.’” It is God who has determined the first generation of man, as well as the last. A parent’s love is the most sincere love that man could have, and yet it is only a shadow that represents God’s paternal and maternal love. Earthly parents fulfill the role of connecting one generation to the next through their love for their children. However, God is the parent who has birthed man’s eternal being. When God created man in the likeness of His image He would have been pleased and said, ‘Oh how you resemble me!’ God prepared His special relationship with man from the beginning. We came to know this because Jesus Christ came out from the Father and perfectly revealed the Father’s true self and accomplished the Father’s will. When God had revealed Himself to the world, man had fallen and was heading for ruin. Ignorant of God, sick and lying collapsed was man, in a state of irreparability. Nevertheless, God did not abandon man but gave Himself to him saying, ‘I must save them and wash them clean’. Spiritual depravity, that is, the sin of rejecting God and shunning God’s word, could not be taken lightly even by the almighty God. In order to remove sin, even God had to sacrifice what is most dear to Him. As it is written, “for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Lev 17:11), the price of sin had to be paid. The only Begotten, who is the Word, came to the world in a lowly form like a creation in order to taste death. Yet, He had to shed His blood and die on the cross to make atonement for man’s sins. Therefore, every man ought to return and belong to Jesus Christ. The Gospel declares to the world, ‘God has sacrificed His only Begotten to pay the price of your sin, and you must believe this!’ But people would not believe in the Gospel. Such an attitude is a direct reflection of man’s countless sins, rebellion and treachery, and ultimately leads to destruction. Even though man receives the forgiveness of sin and escapes perdition, going to Heaven is a separate matter. In order for the forgiven to enter Heaven, there has to be the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and His guidance. God has re-birthed us through the Holy Spirit so that we could become God’s children and have rights to enter the Father’s house. This is God’s resolution to lead and take care of us forever; He has borne on Himself an eternal responsibility. When Jesus said, ‘unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’, Nicodemus asked, ‘how can man be born when he is old? Does he enter his mother’s womb a second time?’ Jesus answered, ‘unless a man is born of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’ (John 3:1-5). God wanted to take the corrupt and dying mankind to Heaven, even by raising man’s status to equal the Son of God. For such a great turn-around, God had to give up His only Begotten from His bosom, and let Him be killed in the hands of the people. In such sincerity God came to us who are mere creations. Though man neglects and forgets God’s love, God has come to him with an eternal resolution. We believed in Jesus Christ and have been born again through the Holy Spirit. The first thing a newborn baby does is to cry. Although we do not know what the baby is crying about, the baby is probably saying things like I’m tired, I’m sleepy, I’m hungry, I feel uncomfortable, I’m unhappy. A tough battle begins from when the baby faces the world for the first time. The same applies to when the believers are born again of the Holy Spirit. If someone is born again, it means the old things have passed away and he has begun to see a new world through spiritual eyes. God who has become our Father does not have any carnal desires, weaknesses or limitation of power; thus He is perfectly able to nurture us and fulfill His role well; He could help us faithfully and sincerely. The One who has introduced the Father to us and enabled us to go before the Father is Jesus Christ. He submitted Himself before the Father’s will despite having His own will. Although He had the weakness of having the flesh, He offered Himself as an atoning sacrifice and accomplished His duty of making God known to the world. The Lord Who Revealed God the Father’s Love When Jesus knew that it was time for Him to leave the world and return to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. He knew that the Father had given all things into His hands. Now everything was up to Jesus to do. As the Father had given everything to Jesus, Jesus had to fulfill the duty entrusted to Him all by Himself. He knew that He had to return to God just as He had come from God (John 13:1-3). Jesus got, poured water into a basin and washed His disciples’ feet. When it was Peter’s turn to be washed, Peter said “You shall never wash my feet.” But Jesus answered, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” Peter was confounded and said ‘Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head,’ but Jesus replied, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean” (John 13:4-10). Jesus washed His disciples’ feet ahead of the task of saving His them. This was an expression of His resolution, ‘Not only will I die for you; I will help you until you have gone through all the earth! I will not leave you as orphans but come to you! I will nurture you until you enter the kingdom of Heaven.’ It was also His determination that He would love His disciples who were on the earth to the end. Jesus showed that the Father, who had sent Him, loved us. He clearly spoke for the Father saying, “as the Father loves you, so I also love you.” He said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day” (John 6:37-39). This was both His determination and mission. At the time when Jesus was washing His disciples’ feet, the Devil had already taken over the heart of Judas Iscariot (John 13:2). Aware of this Jesus said, “you are clean, but not all of you” (John 13:10). The idea of betraying Jesus had entered Judas Iscariot. By the Holy Spirit, he should have resisted the thought when it came through his mind, but Judas Iscariot accepted it, pondered over it and finally turned against Jesus. Jesus was determined to die even for Judas Iscariot. However, God too will forsake those that follow the Devil, in other words who have renounced God despite having heard the Gospel of grace. It is insoluble even for the merciful Truth, if anyone rejects the merits of Jesus given through the immeasurable sacrifice, and betrays Him who has granted that great forgiveness. God is speaking to us who are still in this world. ‘Do you believe? Then act. Otherwise you are already condemned.’ Every act of sin we see on the earth originated from the Devil’s sin in Heaven. Before the Devil, there was never any unbelief found even in Heaven. In God’s eyes, every one of the fallen man bears the likeness of the Devil. All men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Thus, God sent Jesus as an atoning sacrifice and waits patiently so that He may resolve the problem of man’s sin (Rom. 3:23-25). Jesus endured the shame of the cross for the Father’s will, and how the sinners rejected Him (Heb. 12:2-3). Jesus said, “Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19), “and I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak” (John 12:50). He also said, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him” (John 8:29). Jesus Jesus has become the Father’s perfect Ambassador and is telling us, ‘you ought to be well. I will make you well’. 3 John 1:2 says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers”, which directly expresses the Lord’s words. God has taken us to be His children in Christ according to the good pleasure of His will, so that anyone would be treated equally as Christ (Eph. 1:4-10). God the Father’s Expectation of Us God desires everyone in Jesus Christ to bring glory to God, the Father of Jesus Christ with one heart and lips (Rom. 15:5-6). While each and every believer has their own experience, they cannot lead their spiritual lives independent of a community. Even if someone used to live for himself in the past, he must deny himself after believing in Jesus. God remembers the deeds and hearts of everyone who live as a community that forms the body of Jesus. The Lord, who washes each of His disciples’ feet, has an ardent wish. The Lord speaks to us as well through the Scriptures. “If you love Me, you would keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you the Counselor Holy Spirit. I will not leave you orphans. The world will say Jesus has disappeared for they will see Me no more, but you will still see Me. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:15-23). When Jesus said, “If you love Me, you would keep My commandments,” He was not implying ‘you should keep my commandments’ as a duty but a natural course of action (John 14:15). The Lord has cleansed us and will continue to sanctify us just as He washed His disciples’ feet. God sanctifies us because He loves us. Although we have received the forgiveness of sins, there are still traces of sin left within us. Hence, we cannot remain clean unless we constantly receive God’s grace that cleanses us. Jesus loved His church and gave Himself up for it. He established His glorious church, washed it with water and sanctified it through the Word that it may be holy and blameless (Eph. 5:25-27). He wants us to be gathered not scattered, to become a glorious and blameless church. We must please the Lord by discharging the holy and spiritual duty as the Lord’s members. Ephesians 1:23 says, “the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all”. With Jesus Christ at the center, the church is where we gather and carry out His words. The church must not follow the world or be swayed by people. When people enter the church, they should be able to sense the fragrance of Jesus Christ, experience His nature, and witness His words in operation. The church ought only to be filled with everything of Jesus Christ. By the Holy Spirit, the Lord dwells in us and loves us. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to love us. The Holy Spirit supports us, encourages us, strengthens us to succeed, and gives us power and spiritual perception. If God is thus for us, who can be against us? No creation can sever us from the love of God we receive in Christ (Rom. 8:31-39). The promise of the Lord will be fulfilled, that He will be with us to the end of the world (Matt. 28:20). For this, the Lord is at the right hand of God, interceding for us even today (Rom. 8:34). To receive God’s love is faith; to be filial to God is a spiritual life. God first of all desires us to receive Jesus Christ whom He has given; secondly, receive the grace of Jesus without limit; thirdly, receive the help of the Holy Spirit eagerly. Soon, we would live forever in God’s arms with Jesus Christ, just as a baby takes rest in the arms of a mother. Therefore, we ought to fully enjoy God’s love and not be shaken at this time while God’s love is at work within us. Most of all, we must not be afraid of partaking in Christ’s suffering. When the glory of Christ is revealed, we will rejoice and be glad together with Christ (1 Pet 4:13). If we are God’s children, we are co-heirs with Christ who will inherit the kingdom of Heaven. As Christ has suffered in order to inherit Heaven, we too must not be afraid to suffer with Him (Rom 8:17). We must go before the Lord humbly and say, ‘Lord, please wash my feet!’ The power of the Lord’s precious blood has cleansed us, and now He wants to sanctify us with the Word. We ought to please our true Father God by being blameless in His sight through our holy service, holy dedication and holy obedience. We need to be holy, so that we may be found spotless when Christ returns (1 Thess. 5:23). If we received God’s love and have been called to be His saints, we must enjoy the grace and peace that comes from God the Father and Jesus Christ (Rom 1:7). As the Lord desires and endeavors for us to be cleansed to go before the Father, we must obey the Lord and present our feet before Him. We ought to take part in the Lord’s endeavor and passion to cleanse us.
Christ is one with the Father, and He is the factor that united us with the Father. The Father does not do anything without Jesus; the Father has entrusted all things to Him.
This world is not the Kingdom of God. In this world, food spoils quickly, new becomes old, life meets death, worries arise like a storm, anguish fills one’s heart, passion to live diminishes, resentment surfaces, and weariness and sickness exhaust one in pain. There are also times of separation, tears, grief, fraud, shattering and brokenness, and damage in this world. In spite of all, everyone in the world dreams and makes an effort to achieve their dreams. However, they definitely realize that achieving their dreams is as vain as building a house on clouds. And as a result, there is only one road that they will end up at, namely death. I have lived seventy-seven years. It was actually good that I did not befriend the world during these years and lived only with the Lord for half a century. Though I was with the Lord, my flesh fell into a swamp and experienced much pain. The swamp engulfed and heavily cursed me to bind me to the world. And through such curses, I have learned and realized much. In the end, my flesh gained nothing eternal; the experiences of the flesh only resulted in regrets and mere memories. My heart was scarred, and nothing progressed from then. When I thought about it, the ones who have already left this world seemed to be happier and at peace. Though a group of people takes a train to head the same way, they all go their own separate ways to reach home once they get off the train at the final stop. Though people take the same airplane that flies high in the air, they go their own ways when they arrive at the airport with their relatives or friends escorting them. Likewise, people ride express trains and travel together on fast airplanes in life. However, they all go their separate ways at the end as the ones who go their own ways at the final station. They are flying high, but they would have to descend sooner or later. They are riding an express train, but they would need to get off soon. Where would they go next when they reach the final stop? Who would come out to escort them? I fear that the most. Even the beloved Son of God became a curse, was beaten, experienced hunger, and encountered unfair treatment and cruelty in this world. Hence, what attachment would He have for this world? It is just that there were few people who loved Him. Thus, He spoke of the place in Heaven, which He was and still is preparing to keep them closely by Him. Heaven is the house of God the Father. It is the place full of peace and glory, a place full of life without pain. Therefore, we call ‘living in this world’ as ‘life’ and ‘living in Heaven’ as ‘eternal life.’ ‘Life’ and ‘eternal life’ are defined by the difference of Heaven and hell. My flesh is dirty and my life feels like a curse. Yet, my soul is happy in faith since my spirit has served God as my Father in Christ Jesus. I am happy in faith. I have received much persecution and estrangement from the world due to this faith, but I am in fact the happiest in this faith. Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
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Outline translated by Sam Park Chief Editor: Helen Nam
Lord’s Day Worship Column
Summary translated by Sarah Nam
Letter translated by Jada Shim
Revisions and Interpretations by Sam Park
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee