2015.08.30_Obey the Word

To follow God’s will is the way.

God is immutable. He is not an abstract notion that merely exists in the ideas of man; God is actually living. All creations exist because God created them, and it was for Himself that He created them. He created humanity for Himself, and gives them breath to this day for the same reason. One day, the universe will be destroyed, and even this, God will carry out for Himself. Simply put, God created all things according to His will, and thus fulfills all things according to His will.

People are generally used to being self-centered and tend to think that way. As a result, some even believe that God created the world for them. However human beings are such weak creatures who cannot make even their wish to live long come true. When Peter asked Jesus about what might happen to John, Jesus said, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me” (Jn 21:22). In this way, man’s life and death is determined by God for Himself according to His will.

Until we came to know Jesus Christ, we never knew God. Yet that has changed, for now we certainly know God is. Therefore we must realize that following God’s will is the way for us to go. We ought to remember that Jesus said, “I am the way” (Jn 14:6), and that God Himself said of Jesus, “Hear Him!” (Mt 17:5).

God definitely fulfills His word.

Even for the almighty God, there are two impossibilities – the first is lying (Heb 6:18), and the other is changing (Jam 1:17). Concerning this, Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.” Every word of God is sworn upon God Himself, and hence God surely fulfills His words.

God commanded Adam, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:17). However Adam ate the fruit and his spirit died as a result. At that time God did not say, “I will let you live this one time so don’t ever do it again”. God’s word cannot be changed even by God Himself. Just as He said ‘you will surely die’, Adam’s spirit was separated from God’s life, and consequently, mankind that was born from Adam became subject to eternal punishment.

Many people often pray out of habit, “Wash away my sins by the blood of Jesus!” But strictly speaking, ‘to wash away our sins by the blood of Jesus’ is not an appropriate expression. Sin is not something that can be washed out as if doing the laundry. Sin comes at a price. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. This means that a sinner’s spirit will go to hell. In order to prevent this, somebody has to pay the price of sin. Hence God sent His only begotten Son to the world to shed His blood, and by that paid the price of sin for man who became a sinner on account of Adam’s transgression. In this way, God keeps His word at all costs, even if it means sacrificing His own self, for He has sworn upon Himself in giving His word.

The word of God was with God from eternity past. That word possesses glory, authority and power, equivalent to that of God. Therefore God’s word is God (Jn 1:1), and thus to disobey the word means to disobey God, and likewise, to obey the word means to obey God.

Hear the words of Jesus Christ

When Jesus was baptized and coming out of the water, a sound heaven was heard saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17). To God, His Son is the only subject of His love, the sole reason His joy. This is why God said to the disciples, “Hear Him!’ (Mt 17:5). God only loves His Son and is pleased with Him only, and this is namely, righteousness. God does not love or takes pleasure in anything else apart from Jesus. If we believe this, God will deem us as righteous, otherwise, unrighteous.

It isn’t so easy to acknowledge Jesus as the One whom God loves and is pleased with, because the life and death of Jesus were no different to that of an accursed man. Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:14-15). Jesus who was hung on the cross was a cursed man in everyone’s eyes (Gal 3:13). Yet anyone who believes that He is God’s beloved One in whom God is pleased, God will acknowledge as righteous and give Him eternal life (Jn 3:16). On the other hand, whoever does not believe this truth has already been condemned in the Garden of Eden (Jn 3:18).

It is important that we understand what God is doing. God loves His Son and seeks His joy from His Son alone. Jesus possesses that joy of God within Himself, and has also given us that joy (Jn 17:13). This is so that we may bring glory to God in Jesus.

The word of God must be treated as God, for it is that which God has swore upon Himself and has been with God from eternity past. Jesus said, “The Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak, which is what I have told you. Thus whoever does not accept my words will be judged by that word” (Jn 12:47-50). Hence to obey the word of God is to obey God, and likewise to love the word of God means to love God.

The Bible can largely be divided into the Old and the New Testament. In the Old Testament are the Law and the words of the prophets, and their role was to prepare the way for Christ to come, just as it was revealed through John the Baptist (Mt 3:3). Thus if the Law and the prophets are omitted from our faith, a great number of people would be led astray by heresies and false christs.

The Old Testament is filled with prophecies concerning the Christ to come. According those prophecies, Christ must be born as the descendant of Abraham and David, conceived in a virgin’s body, and born in Bethlehem. Regardless of many great marvels a person might perform, if he is not a descendant of Abraham or David, nor conceived in a virgin’s body, nor born in Bethlehem, he is not the Christ. And yet if anyone follows after him, that person has probably never read the Law or the prophets.

Jesus Christ came through the way prepared for by the Law and the prophets. Speaking of this, John 1:14 says ‘the Word became flesh’. Our faith comes from hearing His words. As Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (ESV), to hear the word of Jesus Christ is righteousness.

Overcome ‘my own thoughts‘.

One of the factors that hinder people from fulfilling God’s righteousness is none other than their own thoughts. The story of Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Syria, is a very good illustration of this. Though he was honorable in the eyes of his king, he had a fatal flaw, which was leprosy. He appeared most splendid in his gold-ornamented armor, yet when stripped of it, he was nothing but a pitiful leper.

One day he heard there was a powerful prophet in Israel and visited Elisha. As he had already requested cooperation from the king of Israel through the king of Syria, his visit was not just a personal one. And in such circumstances, the reception Elisha gave Naaman was quite enough to make him furious. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and you shall be clean”. Naaman became furious and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Have I come all the way here because we didn’t have any waters in our country to wash in?”

When Naaman was about to turn and leave Israel in a rage, his servants persuaded him saying, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” At that, Naaman changed his mind. He took off his splendid armor, showing his poor figure before servants, and went into the water seven times and was eventually made clean. If he had stubbornly stuck to his own thoughts to the end, he would have lived the rest of his life as a leper and God would’ve cursed. However, he overcame his own thoughts and obeyed God.

The biggest deterrent in our faith life is ‘my own thoughts’. The reason people fail to receive God’s help is because they cannot give up their own thoughts. For instance, Adam perished because he obstinately followed his ‘own thoughts’ and ignored the word of God which said ‘if you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die’. Then again, King Saul was rejected by God when he followed his own thoughts and ignored God’s word which said to utterly destroy every single person and animal in Amalek. His intention was to spare the best of them to offer them as sacrifices before God, however, God desired obedience more than sacrifice.

Even today, many Christians lead their lives of faith according to their own thoughts. When the Israelites used to offer cattle or sheep as tithes, they did so in a way that God had commanded. That is, they had the cattle or sheep pass under a rod one by one, and the tenth one was to be offered to God. Even if the tenth animal was deficient compared to the rest, it was not to be substituted by any other. If it was, the both the first and the one substituted were to be offered to God (Lev 27:32-33). As such, in serving God, we must lay down our own thoughts even if they are of good intention.

Some people say, “I’ll start giving tithes later because I’m currently in difficult circumstances. I think God will understand me.” Isn’t this the way so many people have been going for years, or even decades? Can such people then question God by saying, “Why does my life have to be so miserable God?” God is now saying to us, “Consider your ways!” (Hag 1:5). Every problem to encounter arises from us following our own thoughts.

When Rehoboam, son of Solomon, became king, he pushed the construction of the temple, putting a heavier yoke upon the people than in his father’s reign. However, ten tribes excluding the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, refused Rehoboam and eventually moved up north to establish a separate kingdom. This was the beginning of the struggle between Southern Judah (Jerusalem) and the Northern Isarel (Samaria). An important thing to note here is that the Savior didn’t come from the Northern Israel which believed that building the temple was not so urgent and thus followed its own thoughts. Even the first to be destroyed by foreign invasion was not Southern Judah but Northern Israel. Likewise, the consequences of ‘my own thoughts’ can bring detrimental impact on the next generations.

Lay down ‘my own thoughts’ and follow the words written in the Bible.

Throughout our lives of faith, there are times when we are at a crossroads thinking, ‘Should I be doing this, or that? Which one’s right?’ Even though God’s will is clearly revealed in His words written in the Bible, people have such dilemmas because they are influenced by their own thoughts that much. We must realize that ‘my own thoughts’ is that which opposes the will of God and is enmity against God (Rom 8:6-8).

As we lead our church life, we often discover many aspects in the church that differ with ‘my own thoughts’. This is inevitable in the church where people of all different minds are assembled together. Then what would happen to the church if all of the church members refused to give up their own thoughts? Just as Naaman took off his armor and laid bare his wretched body, we must all lay down our own thoughts and stand before God in sincerity. We ought to lay down the glory, success, experiences and boasting of the past, and humbly bow our knees before God’s word.

Every answer is in the Bible. Not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will pass away from the word of God written in the Bible; all will be accomplished (Mt 5:18). Thus when we are at a crossroads, we must do as is written in the Bible, instead of worrying over ‘my own thoughts’. If we lay down our own thoughts and follow the word, we will be prosperous altogether with the true and unchanging word.