Like Little Children (Luke 18:15-17)
According to the Lord’s word, little children have a special spiritual quality which is greatly valued. They cannot accept the Gospel because they are not yet conscious of sins. So until they can make decisions about faith for themselves, spiritual judgement for them is delayed, and they belong to the kingdom of God and have special protection for the time being.
1. The spiritual domain of children
Little children do not receive special grace and care because they have some merit or special knowledge. They belong to the kingdom of God at every point through the merit of Christ. This merit is grace to them because they do not consciously dwell in sins, and since their characters demonstrate purity and sincerity, they are most suitable to coming close to God.
2. Characters worthy of heaven
“Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” The Lord invites sincere people to be citizens of heaven. Like little children, they are pure, unpretentious, and without cunning or deceit. For sure, we do not have this character in us. But the Lord already redeemed us while we were tainted by sin, and He gives us a new chance to change our characters so that we are worthy of heaven.
3. Believers should change their character
We should accept God’s guidance until we reach eternal life. We need sincere character to achieve this, and this is because God is sincere. Though we lived deceitfully in the past, we should constantly change our characters so that we can have a relationship with God (who is sincere). These efforts are not just for our spirits. They are a most valuable gift for our children, as they will later stand before God by their own will.
October 3, 2021
Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim
