February 4, 2018_Call the Name of Jesus

Seek God’s Life

God is the only One who can save us. People pursue power, fame, and wealth in hopes that they may be saved through them. But the truth is that those things cannot save a man. In fact, some people rather fall because of them. Nevertheless, people waste away their one and only life single-mindedly chasing after those things. We must be clear: God is the source of life, He alone is life, and He is the pinnacle of life. To seek God is to seek life; to acknowledge that God is in you is to acknowledge that life is in you.

Some people say they are seeking God, yet they are apathetic about life. They come to the church on the Lord’s Day, attend service, and listen to the sermon, but what they really want is an outward religious expression in order to obtain peace of mind. But our faith is not a religion. We live out our faith in the face of all kinds of suffering and hardships in this world, because we long to obtain eternal life.

Many people followed Jesus in the beginning, but when He said, “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them,” most of them left Him. (Jn 6:55-56) They considered the eternal life that He spoke about irrelevant to them. Jesus went on to say, “Most assuredly I tell you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”(Jn 6:26) They were concerned about their well being in this current life, and not at all concerned about eternal life.

God’s righteousness obtained by faith not by the good and evil

Religious people take their own conscience as the standard by which they measure righteousness. They distinguish between right and wrong based on their conscience and live a life that satisfies that standard. But before God, all of that is meaningless. The law of Moses provided Israel with a conscience based on faith. But the role of conscience is to make man aware that he is a sinner, thereby leading him to repentance. Because of that, a man’s conscience plays an important role in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. The problem is that even after people receive the gospel, they still judge themselves and others based on their conscience.

Whether or not someone has eternal life is not determined based on any standard of good and evil based on conscience. To accept conscience as the standard of righteousness is to be under a curse, because it is no different than trying to be righteous by keeping the law. Galatians 3:10 says, “For all who are of the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in book of the law, to do them.” Those who rely on conscience will eventually be condemned and perish.

Those who are slaves to conscience define good and evil based on men’s ideas of moral values and ethical behavior. But the matter of good and evil had already been settled when the soul of man died in the Garden of Eden. Salvation is no longer dependent on good and evil. Jesus will return to save the righteous. Who are the righteous? Jesus considers those who live by faith as the righteous, not those who live by conscience.

Romans 10: 2-3 says, “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” Anyone seeking to establish his own righteousness ends up not submitting to God’s righteousness. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and attained righteousness for everyone who believes. Therefore, in order to be saved, we must believe in the finished work of Jesus and call on His name. Anyone living a life in which good and evil are defined based on their conscience has no part in salvation. Men began to distinguish between good and evil when they had been tempted by the devil. Even so, they could not obtain the righteousness of God, but rather quite the opposite happened.

Jesus gave life and eternal life to mankind in Adam 

The soul of man died in Adam. Not just some, but all mankind died. The death of man’s spirit did not happen because of an act by some random individual. The spirit of all mankind in Adam died because Adam, the first man, disobeyed God. Because of him, all men were destined to eternal punishment in hell. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death came to all men, because all have sinned.” In short, man was destined to hell, not by a sinful act of an individual, but because of the sin of Adam.

The only way to save mankind from the punishment of hell is to address the sin of Adam. That was the only way to save the spirit of all mankind who died when Adam sinned. The plight of man’s spirit – destined to perish because of Adam – could not be remedied by the good deeds of a random man. Since Adam’s transgression led to the death of the spirit of all men, his penalty for his sin had to be paid in order to save the spirit of all men. That is why God sent His Son into this world as the second Adam. He is Jesus Christ. Romans 5:19 says, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”

Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross. When people looked upon Him, they thought He was a sinner. But He was not put to death for His own sin. He was sinless. Who could possibly testify to this? It was none other than God Himself who testified to this fact. God testified to the righteousness of Jesus by raising Him from the dead. Acts 3:14-15 says, “But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised form the dead.”

The resurrection of Jesus revealed that His death on the cross was not for His sin. Then, why did God let His innocent Son die on the cross? God had Jesus redeem man for the sin of Adam. The second Adam bore the sin of the first Adam by taking the punishment. He paid the penalty for the sin of the first Adam. Therefore, mankind is no longer accountable for the sin debt of the first Adam.

Even unbelievers outside the church are free from the debt of sin. Since the death of the last Adam has done away with the sin of the first Adam, the sin of all mankind was atoned for by His death. Now there is no one in this world who will go to hell due to the sin of Adam. If anyone is cast into hell it will be because they rejected Jesus. Therefore, every single one of us must acknowledge the finished work of Jesus on the cross where He shed His blood, by which He redeemed us, and through which our spirit is made alive. Once our spirit is made alive, we must abide in Jesus and carry out the work He commanded. Jesus said we must eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to gain eternal life.

Call On the Name of Jesus

Romans 10:13 says, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” God revealed His name to us. The name Jesus is not just the name of any number of young men from Nazareth. The name is originally the name of God the Father. The Father gave the name to His Son as an inheritance, and the Holy Spirit came to us in that name. The name ‘Jesus’ is the name of God the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This was clearly understood by the disciples of Jesus, and that is why they baptized in the name of Jesus Christ in accordance with the Lord’s command. (Acts 10:48)

We have never seen God with our eyes. But by calling on His name, we acknowledge His existence. It is like a peasant who lives in the country, having never seen the king, and yet she acknowledges his existence by using his name to address him. Worship is where we meet God face to face. How can you see the face of the invisible God? By calling on His name, which is Jesus. That is how someone can meet with God. It is possible to call on the name of Jesus because we know the only true God. Do not waste your time trying to see God with your naked eyes, but just call on the name of Jesus.

In the past, when people didn’t know God’s name, they called Him Lord! Lord! Now, we have come to know the name Jesus. Call on the name of Jesus. It doesn’t matter if you do not get the pronunciation perfect. After all, it is not the sound of His name spoken that attracts God’s attention. As a matter of fact, there have been many Jews and gentiles named Jesus. When you call on the name of Jesus, know that it is the shared name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. When we call the name of Jesus, the Father hears us, the Son hears us, and the Holy Spirit hears us.

When you pray, you must believe in the name of Jesus and pray in that name. When you worship, you must believe in the name of Jesus and worship in that name. When you heal the sick, you must believe the name of Jesus and heal in that name. When you receive the word, you must believe the name of Jesus and obey the word in that name. The name of Jesus will save us and heal us. In this life we will face extreme circumstances from time to time when we desperately need God’s help. It is then when we must call on the name of Jesus. Call out, “Jesus! Jesus!” The scripture will be fulfilled which says, “Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)

I truly shed many tears after coming to know the living God, His name and the Nazarene who, in this name, came into the world as the Immanuel. God whom I met did not appear in a majestic court, wearing silk garments, and having boisterous authority. Rather, He was an ordinary man, a poor and common person with nothing special in outward appearance. He appeared in the world in the status as a carpenter’ son, a job of manual labor.  When I heard the words of the Holy Spirit that that very person is my God, I was shocked. Our God is not a God far from me, nor is He difficult to find. His circumstances were no different to mine, and I am not ashamed though I stand by His side. When I found out that He is our very God, I was overcome with great joy and shock.

The title, ”God“ indicates the One who is greater than the life of man, greater than the life of the soul. It is the noun that is the height of life – the truth of eternal life. It designates the height of eternal life that gives life to my soul. Therefore, we call Him, “Father”. Father denotes the highest and greatest who is One and Only. He let His Son die according to the desires of man, and did nothing even though they committed another murder to confirm His death. Three days after He died and was buried in the tomb, God raised Him back to life from the dead by His Holy Spirit. And in the midst of the sight of hundreds of His disciples, He went up to heaven and finally sat down at the right hand of God. From there, He received all the kingdom, the power and the glory from the Father. He also asked the Father and sent the Holy Spirit Paraclete to the world. And today, according to our faith, our souls have received and welcomed Him in.

The Holy Spirit is the One who raised Jesus to life from the dead, and if this same Spirit has entered us, He will also give life to our bodies, which are destined for death. Therefore, we have received the Holy Spirit, and by the enabling of the Holy Spirit we speak in tongues. The Holy Spirit also makes us call on the name of Jesus, and testifies that the name of Jesus is in my soul. I have seen several tens of thousands of occurrences of demons that know the name of Jesus,  tremble at it, and depart from people. God has allowed me to experience that I have received the Holy Spirit, that I am the Lord’s servant, and that the Lord is with me and dwells in me.

Therefore, I have dedicated my spirit, soul, and body and offered everything to the Lord. I did not choose the Lord, but the Lord chose me to become His servant. What the Lord said to the great disciples, He has spoken exactly to me: “Whoever wishes to follow me must deny himself, abandon all his parents, wife and children and fields, and only receive the commandment to take up his cross and follow me. Only then can you be My disciples.”

I am a clergyman dedicated to the Lord. I am not a laborer. If God uses me according to his will, I merely say “Lord, your servant is an unworthy servant”. I say this because I belong to Him. I offer everything to him 24 hours a day, and I offer my whole life to him. I am a worker to do only His work. I am a man who has received a holy duty. Amen.

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Outline translated by Sarah Lee
Letter translated by John Kim
Interpretations by Daniel Hong
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee