2014.07.06_The Blood of Jesus and Redemption

The Faith of Eternal Life

God is the one and only true God. As Christians we use the word ‘God,’ whereas the people of this world use ‘god’ instead. The word ‘god’ refers to all kinds of gods that exist in the world. However, we say ‘God’ because the God we serve is the only true God. Though there are many gods (spirits) in this world, none of them are like God. A spirit does not have a flesh and therefore does not have blood. But only God, out of all the spirits, has blood.

The people of this world do not understand our faith. After all, our faith did not stem from our own intellect or knowledge but from the word of God. In other words, our faith is God-given through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:9). We believe that Jesus is the image of God. The reason people are unable to believe this is because the god of this age has blinded their hearts (2 Cor. 4:3-4).

We attend church to obtain eternal life, not to cultivate ourselves. However, attending the church alone does not necessarily guarantee eternal life. Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). If anyone does not believe that Jesus is the image of God, he cannot have eternal life but be sent to hell regardless of how diligently he might have attended the church.

Even though we have zealously led our faith life, what good is it if we cannot obtain eternal life? On the earth, we endure all kinds of hardship and practice self-control because we have the hope of eternal life. John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God has given us Jesus because He knew that we would forever perish without Jesus.

Sin and the Spirit’s Death

Why does man have to perish forever? He committed the Original Sin. Sin can be classified into three kinds: personal sin, intrinsic sin and Original Sin. Personal sin is when a person follows his flesh’s desires and sins with his actions. And the sinful desire lurking within the person is called intrinsic sin (sinful nature). God was speaking of this intrinsic sin when He said to Cain, “Sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Gen 4:7). Even an innocent and happy little child starts to become jealous and hate his or her newborn sibling who takes all of mom’s love and attention. Nobody has to be taught to do this for it is a nature of man that manifests on its own. Jesus highlighted the fact that the sin of one’s heart is no different to that done in action.

The Nephilim used to live on the earth before the Flood during Noah’s time. They also had personal sins and intrinsic sins. However, none of them would be sent to hell since they do not have a spirit, and because their souls evaporate and disappear as soon as their bodies die. They are different to the living spirit, namely the man who has a spirit. The Nephilims’ souls disappear together with the death of the body just like the animals. In the case of the living spirit, his soul could exist eternally by uniting with the spirit even when the body ceases to function.

The soul is made up of three elements: intellect, emotion and volition. For man, this is called a personality. As the soul manifests itself through the body, the soul and body cannot exist separately. For the Nephilim, who do not have a spirit, their soul disappears along with their flesh. As well as humans, animals also have a soul, that is, an instinctive soul. Although a buzzing fly has never learnt self-defense, it is quick to fly away and escape the fly swatter when a person is about to catch it. Indeed the instinctive soul of animals is very simple, incomparable to the human soul (personality). Yet, they are similar in the sense that they require a body to exist. Considering the fact that the soul cannot exist apart from a body, the word soul then also encompasses the body.

In order that man may live forever, God poured on him the spirit He created in Heaven and thus man became a living soul. The name Adam itself actually has the meaning ‘living soul.’ The “a” in Adam means ‘God’ or ‘spirit’ while “-dam” means ‘blood’ or ‘flesh.’ When God poured the spirit into man, he became a spiritual being, that is a living soul.

One thing to remember here is that the spirit in itself is not a personality. God is the Spirit who has a personality. The Holy Spirit is a person. Jesus Christ is a person. God the Father is also a person. In other words, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit each have their own intellect, emotion and will. However the “spirit” that is generally mentioned in the Bible is not referring to a person. For instance, when Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63), it does not mean that His words are a person but that they are spiritual.

The ‘spirit of Jesus’ as mentioned in Acts 16:7 is also not referring to a personality. Although Jesus Christ is a person, the spirit of Jesus denotes an eternal entity and not a person. The same applies to ‘the spirit of Christ.’ It is written in Romans 8:9, “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” A Christian must have the words of Christ, His blood, and His flesh, which are all eternal entities.

If God has given man a spirit so that he could live forever, what is it that caused him to perish? After God made man become a living soul, He put him in the Garden of Eden and said, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Anyone who does not take an interest in the spirit would think this word is indicating physical death. However, Adam did not physical die though he ate the fruit. Instead, he went on to have Cain and Abel, then Seth and many other children.

The flesh has a limited lifespan. People used to live up to a thousand years before the flood in Noah’s time, but since then man’s lifespan has been cut down to below a hundred and twenty years just as God said, “Yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years” (Gen. 6:3). The flesh certainly dies, and afterwards there is a judgment (Heb. 9:27). Who is going to be judged when the flesh dies and returns to dust? It is the spirit. It will be judged and be sentenced to eternal punishment; spiritual death is eternal punishment. The warning God had given to Adam was regarding the spirit’s death.

The spirit is not a person; the soul is. While the soul of the Nephilim disappears when their flesh dies, the soul of the spiritual man (living spirit) remains forever by combining with the spirit when the body dies. The spirit of man died as a result of Adam’s sin, and every soul that unites with that spirit also dies with it.

The death of the spirit refers to the eternal torment that man would suffer in hell. Concerning hell, Jesus said, “Where ‘their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched’” (Mark 9:48). Once a person is in hell he cannot die even if he wishes to, and he will be tormented forever in the unquenchable fire. If death were the end for everything as people often say, there would be no problem. However that applies only to the Nephilim, not those who are of the living soul.

Since man has never been to hell, he does not realize what a dreadful place it is. Yet God knows, and for that reason, He warned Adam not to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Nevertheless, Adam ate the fruit and his spirit became separated from God’s life, so that he would ultimately have to face eternal punishment. It was not that Adam had committed theft or murder. He disobeyed God’s word and thus became subject to eternal punishment. The problem is that in Adam, all mankind has been severed from the life of God. As a result, they cannot escape God’s punishment. This sin that has caused Adam and all mankind within him to perish is called the Original Sin.

The Essence of the Original Sin

What is the essence of the Original Sin? It is unbelief, that is, not believing in the word of God. When the serpent came to the woman in the Garden of Eden and asked, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” the woman answered, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” However God had clearly said, “For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,” and that was a command. God’s command is eternal life (John 12:50). Therefore, disobedience to His command is equivalent to refusing eternal life.

The aim of the Devil’s temptation on man was to stop him from believing in the word of God. The Devil directly opposed God’s word by saying, “You shall not surely die” to Eve who had had faith in the word. And having yielded to the Devil’s lies, Eve entrusted his words more than God’s and thus fell.

The people of this world would immediately return to God if they believed His words. However, they do not believe in His words and thus do not return to Him. This is the same for Christians. It is often the case that people who used to attend the church as a child no longer do when they are grown up. This is because they do not believe in God’s word. Some people leave the church and turn back to the world although they have received baptism by sprinkling. This is also because they do not believe in God’s word. The reason man perishes is not for any moral misdeeds. Jesus said, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4). The church is like the vine and we are the branches. If anybody leaves the church, he is going to perish just like a branch that is cut off the vine.

The Devil hinders man from believing in God’s word and by doing so, destroys him. Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). We should not be deceived by the Devil but be the ones who believe in God’s word.

There are some people who think they would definitely be saved since they zealously serve in the church and give generous offerings. Yet, they are being deceived. Salvation is obtained not by our actions but by faith. Then, how do we obtain faith? It says in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” If we want to have eternal life, we must hear the word of God that comes through the mouth of Jesus Christ, and we must believe in those words. Where there is no word, there is no faith. We do not have faith just by shouting, “I believe!” Faith has a definite object, and that is God’s word. Who is Jesus? He is the Word which became flesh and appeared in the world. Thus, believing in Jesus is in turn, to believe in God’s word.

Christians are able to cast out demons because they have the Word within (Matt. 8:16), and they receive the Holy Spirit also because the Word dwells in them (Acts 10:44). Even though Jesus has made atonement for man’s sins, how many people are there who still have not escaped from destruction? That is because they do not believe in God’s word. The spirit of man must receive the word of God to live. When the spirit has received God’s word and lives, God seals it by sending the Holy Spirit as a guarantee. While the Holy Spirit is invisible, He surely dwells in us and even the demons recognize this and tremble.

Repentance and Faith

How do we receive faith? It is through repentance. When Jesus was preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of Heaven, His very first words were about repentance (Matt. 4:17). Unless one repents, he cannot hear the Word in his heart. Regardless of how diligently a person attends church, he is merely a religious person if he has not had the biter experience of repentance. As John was baptizing in the Jordan River, he also cried out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt. 3:2). Without repentance, nobody is able to enter the kingdom of Heaven.

As we can see from the verse, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt 6:11), the Lord’s Prayer is a prayer we offer everyday in the same way that we ask for daily food. And just as it says in the prayer, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6:12), Christians are those who never cease to repent throughout their lifetime.

So then what is the meaning of repentance? Jesus said, “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven” (Matt. 23:9). Repentance means to turn away from the life when we relied on the flesh and called the one on the earth as our father. A person must be baptized if he wishes to have a true repentance. Being baptized is having a physical experience of repentance.

Some people do not accept the fact that another person has repented and received forgiveness, and they pass judgment based on the person’s past. However, that person has already relied on the blood of Jesus and repented. So then, to be judging such a person is no different to denying the blood of Jesus. Even if someone in the church had been a prostitute in the past, if they have repented and come into Jesus Christ we must think about their sins no more. If anyone cannot do that, he is unknowingly displaying his denial, that is, his unbelief in the blood of Jesus. We must remember that a person is a new creation when he has been born again after having repented of his unbelieving old self and receiving baptism (2 Cor. 5:17).

Who are the Pharisees? Being circumcised on the eighth day from birth, they receive rigorous training in the Law and grow up to be blameless and perfect outwardly. The word “Pharisee” means ‘set apart.’ They were so holy that people called them “holiness advocates,” and yet Jesus said, “Woe to you!” and rebuked them.

How about the teachers of the Law? They were scribes and scholars who copied down the Scripture and studied its contents. They had such a high standing in that even kings respected them for their interpretation of the Scripture. All men honored them and called them, ‘Rabbi.’ Surprisingly, Jesus said, “Woe to you!” and rebuked them also.

Jesus said, “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4-5). This is true. You will perish unless you repent. Not only will your spirit perish but your flesh, your business, even your children will perish if you do not repent.

We have become a new creation after having repented and receiving baptism. For that reason, we have come to serve the Father of Jesus as our Father, and live forever by obtaining the eternal life of Jesus as our own. The Holy Spirit testifies to this. We need to remember what Jesus said when He rebuked the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were full of self-righteousness. Some people believe they have a fine character, not having done anything evil since childhood, and therefore deserve to be commended by God. Yet, we must keep in mind that even the righteousness of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, who were brought up in the Law rigorously, cannot save their own spirit.

If anyone boasts of his righteousness, he cannot experience the working of the Holy Spirit. We ought to be the ones whom God deems as being righteous. Just because a person has never been drunk does not mean God considers him to be righteous. A person might have never been in conflict with anyone in his life, but that does not make him righteous. Each person’s own righteousness cannot lead himself to salvation. Nobody can be saved unless the spirit that died in sin is buried through baptism and he unites with God’s righteousness.

After Jesus resurrected He appeared to His disciples and said “Receive the Holy Spirit!” Then He said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:22-23). Before His ascension, He commanded them, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19). When He said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them,” it does not mean we can actually forgive someone’s sins on our own. It means that when we preach the Gospel and bring someone to repentance, we should acknowledge his repentance and baptize him in Jesus’ name. In doing so, that person becomes a new creation.

The Blood of Jesus and Righteousness

Then, how did God save the spirit of man? Some misunderstand about the Devil being the power of death. They think that God gave His Son over to the Devil and purchased man’s spirit from him. That is not true. It was the word of God, not the Devi, which said, “When you eat of it you will surely die.” Even God Himself cannot change His own words (Num. 23:19). It is in accordance with God’s word that the man who ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil had to die.

God sent His own Son to shed His blood and thus paid the price of man’s sin. The blood of Jesus is not human blood but spiritual blood. Because His blood is spiritual, it is able to atone for the sin that Adam’s spirit was carrying. When we pay $10 in cash we are able to purchase an item at that price because they have the same value although they are different in form. Similarly, in order to save the spirit of man that is destined to be punished forever in hell, God’s Son presented His everlasting blood before God.

What took place in the Old Testament temple was a model of such reality that was to come. On the great Day of Atonement, the high priest took the blood of the lamb in a vessel into the Holy Place and sprinkled the blood over the ark of atonement. Likewise the blood is sprinkled before God, not before the Devil. God had already said that man would surely die if he eats of the fruit. Thus, without death, there was no other way to save man’s spirit that fell after eating the fruit. For this, the Son of God presented His own blood and redeemed man’s spirit.

How did Jesus shed His blood? Philippians 2:6-8 says, “Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” In the Garden of Eden, Adam disbelieved God’s word and disobeyed; however, Jesus fully trusted in God’s word and obeyed to the point of death.

What does it mean when it says Jesus is without sin? What did Jesus do to drive out those selling doves inside the temple? Did He plead with them to leave? In says in John 2:15, “When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.” If the people today were to see Jesus do this, they might even fall into temptation, or at least be stunned and say that He has quite a temper. Despite this however, the Scripture testifies that He is without sin. What is the reason for this? It is because He wholly submitted to the Father. Although man sinned as a result of his unbelief in God’s word, Jesus submitted to even the least of the Father’s words, and God regarded this as righteousness. Therefore, anyone who repents and believes in Jesus receives in His righteousness, for he believes in the blood that Jesus shed in perfect submission to God.

We must daily acknowledge the blood of Jesus within us and be joyful. Then, the works and wonders of the Holy Spirit will follow. Mark 1:12 says, “ Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.” The church is Jesus’ body. The Holy Spirit, who had driven Jesus into the wilderness of solitude, hunger, cold and ferocious animals, is also driving and leading the church into the world today. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, the church cannot do its function in the wilderness of this world. Hence, we must eagerly rely on the blood of Jesus and let the Holy Spirit work inside us freely.

Today, we have the boldness to say, “I am righteous!” because of the blood of Jesus within us. One’s own righteousness cannot deliver him from going to hell. Even the greatest reward received in the flesh is only a form, a shadow. A meek person may be able to inherit the earth as Jesus said, but his meekness cannot save him from hell (Matt. 5:5). The only way for the spirit to have life is repentance. One must repent first and foremost of his past unbelief in God’s word. He must rely on the blood Jesus has shed in submission to God’s will.

Witnesses of the Blood

The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of the blood of Jesus in us. Some people claim that the bread turns into Jesus’ flesh and the wine into Jesus’ blood as soon as we pray. However, this is not true. Jesus commanded us the Lord’s Supper to remember His flesh and blood that is within us. In celebrating one’s birthday, a person does not go in and out of his mother’s womb again. In the same way, the Lord’s Supper is about commemorating the flesh and blood of Jesus that are already within us.

Then, can we say that anyone who comes to church and commemorates Jesus’ flesh and blood are succeeding their faith life? That alone is not adequate. If anyone does commemorate the flesh and blood of Jesus, then he has to obey the Lord’s will. First Corinthians 11:26 says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” When Jesus gave the bread and the cup to His disciples, He said, “Do this in remembrance of me!” By this, He meant that we should testify to the grace we have received. As the witnesses of the blood of Jesus, we need to constantly testify that we have been made righteous through His blood.

People like to boast and tell others time and time again about the certain foods or medicinal products that made them well or treated their illness. How much more should those who received forgiveness through the precious blood of Jesus! If anyone commemorates the blood of Jesus within him, he must testify the Lord’s death until He returns.

We believe in Jesus’ precious blood. Jesus said, “Harlots enter the kingdom of God before you” (Matt. 21:31). Harlots realize they are sinners worthy of death and without any righteousness, which is why He said they would enter Heaven first. We must not rely on our own righteousness but obtain life into our spirit by receiving the righteousness of the blood of Jesus.