The play we just watched made me think of many things. When a person is born in this world, he is not wearing any clothes, hats or rings. Somebody wrote in the Bible saying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there.” In other words, we come emptyhanded and will return emptyhanded. When a man is born, he does not have anything in his hand. But as he lives in this world, he receives things from others. And the being that holds or owns something we call “oneself.” But originally, all of us didn’t have anything. Hence, when we depart, we will return in the same manner.

Now, we come to church and live a faith life. What kind of life is a faith life? It is not a life of loss, but gain. Faith life is not a life of loss but a life of possession. People that misunderstand think that if they go to church, they lose time, money, and relationships. But they are mistaken.

Faith life is not about losing things but aimed at gaining and possessing things. The question is, while everyone owns something and desires to own more, what are we trying to possess through our faith life? We are not living a faith life in order to gain what belongs to Mr. Kim or the inheritance that my father is going to give me. The reason we are living a faith life is because we want to take possession of something that belongs to someone, and that someone is God. Faith life is seeking to possess that which God possesses. And we can actually gain it. We do own it. As a result, what is God’s is now mine. God’s own is now mine—this is the reason we live a faith life.

Of course, there is something we need to acknowledge first. “Everything that is mine is God’s!” Remember, we didn’t own anything originally. Even my existence and being are from God. And the reason we live a faith life is to own what is God’s.

What do you think are God’s own? That which belongs to God is different from what belongs to man. Even if man owns and possesses things, over time he will lose everything. Just as he came empty-handed into this world, he will leave empty-handed. For this reason, there is nothing that man can claim as his own. Yet what came from God is different, because God exists from eternity past unto eternity. Thus, everything He has is eternal. None that belongs to Him will ever disappear. So if we can possess them, we will possess them eternally.

However, our life lasts about 70 or 80 years. So how can we possibly possess something eternal? We couldn’t even dream of it. But God created us humans as eternal beings. The flesh will fade away with time. However, that is not the end. Our souls remain forever.

How can we exist forever? God has done that in order for us to possess what is God’s. So we are able to possess the things of God. Because what is God’s will not disappear but remain forever. To God, those things which exist for a short time and then disappear mean nothing because God is He who lives eternally.

The word eternal or eternity may not hit home for you. If a person were to live 100 years, we would probably say he had a long life. A thousand years is ten times a hundred years. There are 10,000 years, 100,000 years, and a million years. But eternity is longer than all of them. It has no end. That is how God lives. This is why everything He has is also everlasting.

God is happy. For humans, we have to have something to be happy. But God can be happy even without anything. That is God. Again, man’s happiness is short-lived. But God is happy eternally. God is joyful forever without any conditions. Man needs something joyous in order to be joyful. But God is joyful eternally. Moreover, God has power. Therefore, He is able to do anything He wants. Everything that people call “mother nature” is God’s creation, which He made according to His desire. They all belong to God.

In addition, God not only created the visible things but even the invisible world. There is matter which is invisible. We can’t see air, but it exists. Then there are also things which are not matter. Countless spirits, angels, the souls of man—all of these are invisible but existent. Heaven and hell cannot be seen, but they exist. They were all made by God.

God is almighty. Nothing is impossible for God; whatever He decides, He is able to do. God is all-knowing. Didn’t it say that He even numbers the hair on our heads? He even knows what’s in a man’s heart. It’s true. No matter how many people are on earth, God knows the minds of every one of them.

There is no one on earth as rich as God. If He wanted to monopolize everything He has, it would be impossible for man to possess the things of God no matter how hard he tries. But God is the One who wants to share all the good things He has. He desires to give every good thing He has to man. He doesn’t only give to the people that He looks upon with favor, saying, “Ah, he is an outstanding man.” If one is a human, regardless of whether he is outstanding or not, God wants to share what He has with him. In regards to this, we say that God “called us by glory and virtue.”

God is not only full of glory but also full of virtue. No matter how rich God is in glory, if He is not virtuous, He would enjoy that glory all by Himself. But He wants to share all those good things with us. That is why today, we can dare possess the things of God.

Who are we? We were nothing but flesh that came empty-handed and will return empty-handed. But to us, God breathed in the spirit and bestowed His grace so that we may know Him, and share in all the things of God with Him. That is why man is a great being. In terms of flesh, man is no different from animals.

However, man is regarded by God. Despite this, if man says, “I am no different to animals! I just need to live and then die!” he is treating himself as an animal. But God treats man the same way He treats Himself. He wants to give everything He has to us humans. Thus, He wants us to accept that everything which is God’s is mine. God’s own is mine.

How can we dare do that though? If someone came up to me saying, “All that is yours is mine!” how astounding would that be? I would be stunned, won’t I, if a little kid came to me and said, “Yours is mine!” But let’s say that little kid happened to be my son. Then what he said is right, isn’t it? Everything I have is my son’s. Although we are foolish and ignorant like a little child, God accepted us and made a way for us to say, “God’s is mine!” and actually demand His as mine. This is a faith life.

Faith life is not a life of losing at all. “At church, I’m told to give offerings. It takes away my time.” People think that they lose things based on what they can see. But if we can have inspiration to see what God is doing, we would realize that God is actually trying to give us many things. When we realize that, we can’t help but be hooked on God. We can’t help but love God. We can’t help but entrust our lives to God.

So from now on, what should you do as you come to church? You need to possess the things of God. You should be able to boldly profess, “What is God’s is mine!” Then your life will become abundant in the same extent that you understand the richness of God’s things.

Let me tell you in more detail how you can possess the things of God. It is by knowing God. The way to possessing the things of God is by knowing Him. The way for my son to own my things is by knowing me. To say that I know someone means that I own his everything. Only when you are able to say to someone, “Everything you have is mine!” do you really know that person.

So in the Bible, the idea of “to know” is used slightly differently from what we are generally familiar with. In the Book of Genesis of the Bible, it says this: “Adam knew Eve his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth.” Adam was the first spiritual man, and Adam laid with his wife Eve so that she conceived. And this is written in the Bible in the original Hebrew language as, “Adam knew Eve his wife” so that she bore a son. Also, where it says that God chose Abraham, it is written as ‘God knew Abraham’. Thus, in these verses, the notion of knowing means to overpower that person and to take everything he owns as mine. So if we are going to possess the things of God, we have to know God.

What’s the way for us to know God? Originally, man cannot know God since God is invisible. But in the passage which I read for you, it 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.” Where it says, “whoever believes in Him,” it means, whoever knows Him. In other words, whoever knows Jesus will know God. To know the invisible God is difficult. But that is why God sent for us His Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus came into history and spoke while He was here. He worked and interacted with many people, demonstrating Himself. That is why we are able to know Him. The invisible God is unfathomable. We don’t know how we can come to know Him. But we can know Jesus. Everything He did is already written in the Bible.

So when we see Jesus and the works He did, if we find that He is so full of mercy, it means God is full of mercy. If we see that He has power, that means God has power. If He came and condemned and judged man because man sinned, that means God will do the same. But actually, when man committed wrong, Jesus never condemned, judged, or rebuked him. Instead, He embraced man, forgave, and opened a way to life for him. Thus, He says, “I do not condemn you!” And it happens to be that God doesn’t condemn us because we sinned. Rather, He saves man who was doomed to death due to sin.

Whoever knows Jesus can know God. And only such a person can possess the things of God. Everything that God gives, He gives in a bag. And that bag is called eternal life. I am speaking figuratively. In eternal life is everything of God.

Eternal life means life that is everlasting. A seed has life in it. Although a seed is small, it contains its tree, the orchard, and its amazing world. In the same way, within eternal life which God gives is everything that the eternal God has and enjoys. The reason God sent His Son was for us to know God and have eternal life through His Son. It was for us to enjoy all the things of God.

Can anyone dare say to God, “All that is Yours is mine”? But whoever has faith, whoever knows Jesus, can say to God, “Yours is mine!” This is because God granted that. When we are facing hardships, there is no way for us to overcome them on our own.

For example, we might urgently be in need of funds. What do we do? We need help. In that situation, although some people might make a few phone calls seeking help from others, we Christians seek God. Since God is rich, we call upon God. Everything of God is mine. God is rich. Apart from financial needs, we may be unwell health-wise. But God is full of life. So we call upon God. “God, everything that is Yours is mine. Grant me that health!” When we are lacking joy, “God, give me Your joy! All that is Yours is mine!” To be able to do that is our faith life.

Faith life is not about trying to have what other people who believe in Jesus have. If that is what’s on your mind, later you will be disappointed. If you’re thinking, “I see that the people who attend Sungrak Church have something. And I must have what they have,” you will be disappointed. God has everything, and to have that which is God’s is faith. We are here to help you achieve that. I bless you in Jesus’ name to possess the things of God who is happy on His own.

I’ll pray for this.

God our Father, thank You for sending us Jesus Christ so that we can possess everything that You possess. Help everyone here to discover more of that from now on and enjoy them abundantly. In Jesus’ name. Amen!