2016.07.03_Christ’s Grains of Wheat

God who is Glorified through His Son

God is the One who is glorified. He deserves to be glorified. Those who saw Jesus heal the sick and perform miraculous signs were amazed and glorified God spontaneously. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, and brought Himself glory through the Son. In the Bible, there are many comments that if you glorify the Son of God, then the Father receives glory and glorifies the Son again. This is the relationship between God and His Son. God reflects all glory to toward Jesus and wants to receive glory from Him.

Thus, if anyone is to glorify God, he or she must glorify the Son first. Some people may think, “Is it okay just if I give glory to God anyway? I will glorify God not through the Son;” however this is not what God wants, and also the result of a misunderstanding as to why Jesus came to the world. Jesus said, “I in the Father, and the Father in me. The words I say to you are not my own, and the Father, in me, does His work. Whoever believes in me does not believe in me, but the Father.” It does not make sense to worry and think, “If we glorify the Son of God, God might be jealous.” Rather, God is pleased if we glorify the Son.

Those who Feel Ashamed of Jesus Can Never Glorify God

Those who feel ashamed of Jesus can never glorify God. When Peter heard that Jesus would be harmed in Jerusalem, he tried to stop Jesus, saying “Never Lord!” Then Jesus rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:21-23) If anyone, other than Peter, would have listened to Jesus’ words when He explained His death, he or she would have reacted like Peter did. From a human point of view, death means failure and desperation. Peter was ashamed of Jesus’ death.

Jesus was born in the manger and grew up in a poor household. He worked as a carpenter, which was one of the poorest job at that time, and got along with sinners. At the time, sinners were an isolated group whose social status were lowest. Around Jesus gathered tax-collectors, the poor, the sick, those with leprosy and even prostitutes, as well as other sinners. With this situation, many ignored Jesus. Considering Jesus’ situation, it was almost impossible for Him to be respected by others. However, His disciples respected Him, and through them God was glorified.

Of course, there was a time that Jesus was once favored. When He was regarded as a political figure, many people followed Him. Someone asked, “Lord, if you become the king, let one of us be seated on your left, and the other on the right.” But then, when Jesus was judged and crucified, people abandoned Him. However, Jesus’ mother and several women did not abandon Him, but went on to take care of Him.

Our faith is to be like the mother of Jesus. Even though the appearance of a person with leprosy is terrible, his or her mother will never abandon that person. Even though the thorns of a hedgehog are sharp, its mother embraces it in her bosom. Jesus, on the last day, will say to those on His right, “When I was hungry and thirsty you gave me something to eat and drink, when I was a stranger you invited me in, when I needed clothes you clothed me, when I was sick you looked after me, and when I was in prison you helped me.” (Matthew 25:34-36) When someone is hungry, thirsty, lonely, sick, or in trouble, helping him or her is what a mother would do for her children. If we become the mother of Christ, when He is in an unfair situation or suffers severely, we will always be with Him.

Even today, when Jesus works in us through the Holy Spirit, He needs His mother. Jesus’ suffering under unfair situations was not His voluntary choice. He obeyed God’s commandment to fulfill the holy work. Faith is about taking the role of Christ’s mother according to God’s commandments. When we glorify Christ by doing so, God can be glorified at last.

Feeling Burdensome about the Lord’s Mission Is Being Ashamed of the Lord

Since Jesus is currently in glory in His throne, among Christians, there is no one who feels ashamed of the Lord’s status. The fact that He was once poor, had a poor job, got along with the sick, and suffered is not a reason to be ashamed of Him, but rather, the reason why you should respect Him. Thus, it is not that meaningful for a Christian to say, “I am not ashamed of the Lord.” Instead, there is another thing that people are ashamed of – that is the mission that He has given them. Being ashamed of the mission of the Lord is, in fact, being ashamed of the Lord. The Lord is now shamed by those people.

Some people thought the church should serve them rather than serving the church, and they view those who serve the church as unwise people. These people totally forget the fact that the Spirit guides and rules the church. Others, even saying that they glorify God, in fact, use the church for their own glory. And if their intention is not achieved, they abandon and leave the church. If they were acting as the mothers of Christ, they would not do that. There is no mother who would abandon their children just because they do not like them. We are the people who must keep the Lord’s name, not seeking our own glory, even if we must lay down ourselves. We must remember that Lord’s sufferings were glory to God and take part in the sufferings of Christ.

Being a Grain of Wheat like Jesus, Let Us Bear Fruits and Glorify God

It is the principle of heaven that a grain of wheat can bear fruit only if it falls to the ground and dies. By this principle Christ died as a grain, and we became His fruit. Jesus wants us to become the grains of wheat as He did. If we fall to the ground and die, bearing fruits, Christ will be glorified, and eventually God the Father will also be glorified. Those who are obsessed with their glory take the glory for the Lord in spite of themselves. Those people might realize that they have never glorified God when they recall their past.

We must be the grains of wheat for the sake of the church. The church is being supported by those few people. Amongst the many tasks of the church, the primary one is evangelism and nurturing. If you are a saint, you must present the Gospel to others and lead them to the church. And in the case of a person who is invited to church, you must take care for him or her to help them settle in the church. Evangelism and nurturing are closely related. Even if you lead so many people to the church, without proper care, they will return to the world. Loving and taking care of souls is no less important than evangelism.

When saints in the church serve and love each other, God will be glorified (1 Peter 4:8-11). Dying with Jesus is our faith. To teach us the principle of faith, He gave us the New Commandment – Love each other. Gathering and worshiping in the church together is not for the sake of meeting God individually, but for meeting God together. God is pleased when the saints love each other and come near to Him. When those who are in Christ love each other, they can glorify Jesus Christ, thereby glorifying God. We must be like grains of wheat and live a public life. We must respect each other and lower ourselves. Not only must we lead many souls to the church, but also we have to bear fruits of the sacrifice of Christ, by caring for and nurturing them.