2014.08.31_The One of the Lord

We Need to Know God’s Will

God’s will is to bestow His love to mankind, and also to make that known to them. If that will of God is being fulfilled in someone, he is the one who is of the Lord. When we go overseas people often ask, “Which country are you from?” In most cases they ask with certain preconceptions in their mind based on the other person’s actions and demeanor, and the person suddenly feels loaded with a great responsibility in answering them. And when he answers, “I’m Korean,” it could even intensify their prejudice against Korea. Hence, a citizen of any country must know the nature, traditions and characteristics of his native country and behave according to them. In the same way, if someone were to ask us, “What is God’s will?” we should be able to speak about the nature, traditions and characteristics of our faith and live a life that is in harmony with them as Christians who have experienced the fulfillment of His will. If an individual fails to represent his country, it might bring shame to the nation for a while, but if someone fails to harmonize with God’s will, he may end up not being accepted as one who is of the Lord.

My mother once said to me when I was a little boy, “I see your face is sunburned. Don’t walk around in the sun.” So I fully obeyed her words. But a few days later she said, “You’ve gone darker. I told you to stay in the shade.” Later, I realized that though I tried to obey my mother’s words, I had not clearly understood what she meant. I thought that my skin would be white if I was in the bright, sunny areas while my skin would become dark if I was in the shade.

If we do not know the Lord’s will properly, no matter how hard we try to build our faith it will only turn out to be hypocrisy, and the consequences will last for eternity. Believers ought to live according to God’s will but not every believer actually does so in reality. Many people desire God’s help yet do not want His intervention. They want the church to enrich their lives but do not want to be hassled by the church. However, treating matters that concern eternal life in such a way is a very dangerous thing to do.

A large number of people misunderstand the meaning of living according to the Lord’s will as having to give up what they have for the Lord. When they are encouraged to fervently serve God they first think about the money and time they would lose, and even feel deeply burdened by the idea that they might have to give up their life. Rather than having a sheer determination to obey even the smallest thing, they are calculative and want to see what others do before they make up their mind. This kind of narrow minded and impudent attitude comes about because they misunderstand the Lord as a tyrant who oppresses His people.

People see the doings of God as the bountifulness of one who has plenty. Because man lacks many things in many aspects, it is easy to only think about the matters before him and especially feel anxious when it comes to financial matters. Perhaps for that reason everyone is keenly interested when they hear that God can provide financial help, but are very neglectful about the point that they need to testify of their faith by offering something to God. However, believers have an obligation they must bear before God. It is certainly not the will of God to be negligent about this matter that is directly connected to the eternal life of our spirit.

We have to clearly understand what God’s will is. There are probably not a lot of people who would be able to give a clear and definite answer when asked, “What is God’s will?” The reason for that is most likely because God’s word written in the Bible is so comprehensive. It is certainly not easy to define God’s will in one word. But if we are focusing on the subject of the love God has bestowed on man, we would be able to give an answer somewhat easily.

Man’s Salvation was Achieved Through the Sacrifice of God’s Son

The first sentence of the New Testament, Matthew 1:1 says, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” The New Testament is a book about Jesus Christ. In general, every book introduces the aim of the contents of the book in the preface or introduction and the same goes for the Bible. Verse 21 says, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” It reveals the reason why Jesus came to the world. Jesus came to deliver mankind from a state of utter wretchedness. In regard to this the Lord said, “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. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” To summarize, it is Christ’s will as well as God’s will to save and give eternal life those who were already dead. This will of God is being repeatedly emphasized in the Bible and John 3:16 in particular says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

There is something the Lord Himself has done for the deliverance of man. When He asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ they answered ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets’. He then asked them, ‘Who do you say I am?’ and Peter answered ‘Lord, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ The word Christ means “savior.” The Lord replied Peter, ‘Yes, I am the Savior!’ Then He said, ‘On this rock I will build my church,’ and showed His determination. After that the Lord began to tell them how He would go up to Jerusalem, suffer and be put to death. Unable to accept this, Peter said, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!’ However the Lord told him sternly, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’ The death of Christ was the will of God who sent Him (Matt 16:13-23).

First Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” In order to give salvation to man and deliver them from destruction Christ came to the earth and took the path of death. From this we can clearly see that God the Father’s will is nothing like trying to take away man’s happiness or tyrannize him.

When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him he cried out, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). This was a very unusual description. The Israelites knew very well that the lamb was an animal sacrificed for the cleansing of sin. Through spiritual inspiration, John the Baptist knew that Jesus was the One who had come to the world to shed His blood and die. God sent His Son into the world to die in order to take away our sin. And God’s Son silently accepted such will of the Father and offered up Himself.

The process from the moment Jesus came to the earth up to His death, was not at all smooth and easy. Though He is equal with God, He came to the lowly world of man and lived without any prerogatives. He had taken a huge demotion. His task demanded responsibility and perseverance. He undertook a great struggle to make us the ones who belong to the Lord. The fact that He was born in a horse stable when He came to the earth reveals just how tough His life was. He had no beauty in appearance nor did He possess anything. He was despised by men throughout His life and died along with the most vicious criminals. People treated Him like a criminal as He endured all kinds of insult and yet remained silent like a lamb being taken to the slaughter. He was crucified for the redemption of man’s sin. Though He was wrongfully put to death He instead prayed for the sinners. And this was prophesied in Isaiah 53:1-12. As it is written in verse 10, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand,” God’s pleasing will was accomplished through Jesus Christ. Although the prophet Isaiah faintly saw the coming of Jesus, he precisely explained the fundamental idea.

The goal of man’s salvation was originally an impossible task. However, God decided and proceeded with the radical measure of sacrificing Himself. There was no other way to save man except by sacrificing the Son of God. The salvation of man was not like an act of generosity of a rich person towards the poor as a way to show off his wealth. God was not sharing something that He had left over to man. He gave up His beloved Son to be killed in a world full of murderers. He had taken away His Son’s happiness in order to give happiness to man.

Jesus said, “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28). Even if the Lord had given up halfway through His plan of man’s salvation and left man in his original condition, there is no one who can criticize Him. However, He did not lay down His heavy burden midway through and carried it to the end. He bore severe loss for all mankind and gave His love to them, and imparted His grace joyfully to those who would become of Him.

We are the Ones of the Lord Who Ate and Drank His Flesh and Blood

Jesus has been enthroned but it was not because man had exalted Him as a great one. Starting from the lowest, He fought through the difficult struggles one after another to be seated on the throne. What is it that He finally gained by doing so? He gained us. Jesus built the church only after having fought the battle Himself, and called as His own those who believed and came before Him. He did not exercise His authority as the Creator to unilaterally make a people to serve Him; He first served His creation and then said, “You are my people. You belong to me.”

We have become those who belong to the Lord because we came to understand His sacrifice. The Lord is He who leads the creation, and He is the Lord of Heaven. However that is not why we came to be His; it is because we know of His sacrifice. Whoever does not know, accept and do not want to know of the Lord’s sacrifice cannot become the one that belongs to Him. And therefore even the Lord cannot deliver such a person from going to Hell. Our faith is the Lord’s gift given through His sacrifice and we are the masterpiece produced through His sacrifice.

Jesus became our Lord by offering Himself to us through the shedding of His blood and death. The Lord commands us today to eat His flesh and drink His blood. He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me” (John 6:53-57). The Lord accepts as His own, anyone who eats His flesh and drinks His blood.

There is something we must remember. A person cannot attain eternal life on his own just because He ate the Lord’s flesh and drank His blood; the Lord will raise him on the last day since he has become the Lord’s. Just as the Father raised Jesus Christ because He belonged to the Father, now Jesus Christ would raise those who belong to Him.

To drink the blood of the Lord means to able to hear the Lord’s word. When our spirit receives in the grace given through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we receive the forgiveness of sins and the spirit of Christ is planted in us. To eat the Lord’s flesh means to hear and experience the Lord’s word. If we have received grace in our hearts, God’s word can now be fulfilled through us. In short, those who have eaten and drunk the Lord’s flesh and blood are the ones who know of His sacrifice. The Lord makes them His own and nurtures them with the word even today so that they would be transformed into an imperishable body on the last day.

Those who belong to the Lord have the right to seek His help in the face of hardship. Psalm 50:15 says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Such promises of the Lord can be found in many parts of the Bible. The problem is that people ignore God in most times and seek Him only when faced with troubles. We need to remember that those who serve God with a thankful heart in all circumstances are the ones who can receive His help.

Luke 12:8-9 says, “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” The angels are our helpers. Yet if we are not in fellowship with the Lord with thankful hearts, the Lord will keep His silence even though the angels are ready to help us. The angels might ask, “Lord, should we help this person?” and wait for the Lord’s command, but they cannot do anything if the Lord remains silent. Proverbs 1:28 warns, “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.” The Lord desires to help the one of the Lord, who has become His through His sacrifice.

We are the men of the Lord who ate and drank His flesh and blood. Even if a person who never ate and drank His flesh and blood tries to shake our faith with such convincing words, our hearts should not change. We are able to stand tall as the Lord’s people because of His sacrifice. We need to have pride of the fact that we belong to the Lord who has won.

Let Us Fulfill All of Our Duty as the Ones of the Lord

The one who is of the Lord needs to experience Him continuously. He ought to make ceaseless efforts to produce holy fruits. For a successful life of faith, there are things we cannot do though we want to and vice versa. A person who lives by the spirit of Christ should not fall back to being concerned about food, drink and clothes as he did in the past. We have a task that is more important than that. We have to be led by the Holy Spirit and fight for eternal life. We need to fulfill our duty well as stewards which have been given by God. We should receive the promised reward of the Lord in Heaven by being faithful to our duty while we have the chance to work.

There is an idiom in Chinese, “飮水思源,” and it means that anyone who drinks water should think about where the water has come from and be thankful for it. In the city of Guang’an in China, there is a memorial square (思源廣場, named with the same characters of the above idiom) to pay tribute to the achievement of Deng Xiaoping who led China to be where it is today. The spirit of the Chinese people who named the square as so in remembrance of the grace they received is remarkable. If this is how we repay the grace and kindness received from men, what ought to be our attitude as those who have received the grace God has imparted through His own sacrifice? We have come to know through the Gospel that the Lord sacrificed Himself to give us grace, and we are thoroughly benefiting from the outcome of His sacrifice.

So now, we must take part in the Lord’s love. We have to do our part as those who have received God’s grace. First John 3:16 says, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” The ones who are of the Lord need to help the other members of the church to succeed in their life of faith so as to have the Lord’s will perfectly fulfilled in the church. A newcomer in the church cannot be left neglected just because he has received the forgiveness of sins. We need to teach the Lord’s word to him, inform him of each of the works he has to do and instruct him. We have to help him to get accustomed to the life of eating the word of God. This is a responsibility that needs to be carried by anyone who is of the Lord.

For those who ate and drank the Lord’s flesh and blood, the church needs to be made into the most favorable environment to lead their spiritual lives. Even if they are new to the church, they should be able to integrate into the church without feeling left out. There should be an atmosphere conducive to obedience so that even the fiercest person becomes as gentle as a sheep. The attitude to comfort and serve one another needs to be established between the saints. The people of the Lord should carry their responsibilities and duties toward one another, not follow the ways of this world where people put off their responsibilities and duties to others.

If we have been shown kindness and consideration by someone else, we should immediately and automatically respond, “thank you!” People take their time to walk as if they do not care when someone in front of them is holding the door for them, or do not even say thank you and just walk through the door. However, such conduct needs to be fixed. Another person’s warm and considerate actions should not be taken for granted; we have to actively express our gratitude to them. We should not let a culture be rooted where the person being considerate and kind feels disappointed and thinks, ‘why am I even doing this?’

Through the Lord’s sacrifice, we have been freed from curses, death, afflictions and sadness and received eternal life. Even though we face many kinds of hardship in the world, our hearts are still full of peace. We cannot have the people who ate and drank the Lord’s flesh and blood to be easily despaired by the things of this world. We must take pride in the fact that we are being nurtured by the Lord as His own, and fulfill all of our duty. We need to produce fruits of eternal life for the sake of our spirit. We have to exert ourselves in making the church a comfortable place to lead a spiritual life.