2017.07.02_Our Own Cross

God is perfect. Although there are many gods in the world, God is different from them all. God exists by Himself. Because God is invisible, many people deny His existence or regard Him as an abstract concept, but God really exists. He is omnipotent. He is not the same as the idols made of wood or stone. Only He is God.

God sent His Word, and the Word became flesh and came into the world. This means that He became a man. Every person is conceived in their mother’s womb, experiences birth and growth and will eventually also experience death. No one who lives on the earth can avoid this process, and it is universally understood that as soon as a man is born, he is running towards his own death and he will not escape it.

Hebrews 2:9 says, “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” It is to taste death that the Son of God came to the world in the flesh. It is for this reason that He experienced life as a man. He lived for thirty three years and then He died on the cross. When He cried, “It is finished!”, right before He died, He was declaring that he had accomplished His purpose for which He came to the world in the flesh.

Jesus never disobeyed God the Father during His life. On this, Philippians 2:6-8 says, “Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a slave, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Jesus not only obeyed God the Father, but He submitted to Him as well. Obedience and submission seem similar, but they are distinct. While obedience means completing the task which was assigned to you, submission means yielding to the will and authority of the one giving the command because you trust him. Jesus did not want to obey everything that the Father commanded. That is why He cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The reason that the righteousness of God was credited to Jesus is because He never disobeyed the commands of the Father. Not even one.

On the other hand, man is unrighteous. Romans 10:2-3 says, “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” What man regards as righteousness is his or her own righteousness. The problem is that it cannot save a person’s soul. Only the righteousness of God can save mankind. That is why Jesus said, “Do not worry about what to eat, drink, and wear, but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.”(Matthew 6:31-33)

Even if a man cultivates a sense of righteousness, he may be praised for it, but he cannot save his own soul. Therefore the Bible always warns us not to depend upon our own righteousness but on the righteousness of God. People often say, “I’m not good enough.” That means that he or she does not rely on his or her own righteousness. It is absolutely correct that we have no merit that can save our souls at all, so we must rely completely on the merit and on the obedience of Jesus who came in the flesh to obey God the Father to the point of death.

Because we have relied on the righteousness of God, we have been saved, have received the Holy Spirit, and have been given the duties of a holy office. Still, many people are not interested in the righteousness of God, but rather are only concerned about their own comfort and that of their families. How can we claim to have good faith with that kind of mindset, in spite of how much we pray? The Lord promised that when we seek first His righteousness, that He will also give us all we need. So we should strive for the righteousness of God.

Jesus died on the cross. In Jesus’ time, the Roman Empire used crucifixion as a punishment for the most serious crimes. Crucifixion was reserved for those whose crimes were so serious that they could expect no mercy. When a man was crucified he would hang there dying with his blood and bodily fluids slowly draining out of his body. It was such a terrible and shocking scene that when people passed by they would turn their head, spit on it, and curse the person on the cross.

The cross was associated with a curse. The Jews did not only want to kill Jesus, but they also wanted to remove Him from people’s memory. Nobody likes to talk about dung, especially when they’re eating. It is an unpleasant subject and no one likes to bring it up. In like manner, whenever someone would start talking about the cross, most people would rather not talk about it. They would think, “Why on earth are you talking about the cross?” because they would not want to be reminded of the horrible scene. So they reasoned that if they crucified Jesus, no one would want to talk about Him and He would soon fade out of memory.

Who would remember someone who died on a cross? Furthermore, if someone were to claim that Jesus (who died on the cross) is equal to God, then who would believe it? The cross was used to remove Jesus from the people’s mind. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit reminds us of Jesus. Jesus said, “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

The reason that Jesus commanded His disciples to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit is because they could be effective witnesses only after the Holy Spirit had come upon the man they had received spiritual power. Those who do not receive the Holy Spirit can never testify of Jesus. If you encourage others to come to the church by telling them that they will be prosperous and their children will be blessed, you have not communicated the gospel and you have not testified of Jesus. Of course, you can use a variety of methods to instill Christian faith in others, but we must not forget the duty of every Christian who has received the Holy Spirit. Our duty is to testify of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) Jesus died not because someone took His life from Him, but because He Himself laid it down. It is because God the Father had given Jesus the commandment to die. (John 10:17-18) By saying, “Take up your cross and follow me,” Jesus meant that, in order to follow Him, we must also receive the commandment to die.

When they preach, many Christians say things like, “If you believe Jesus, you will prosper and maybe even be able to buy a house very soon.” This teaching places one’s faith in the blessing itself rather than in Jesus, which we must not do. Unbelievers can prosper, while believers can go through hardship. But believing in Jesus is not about material things. Jesus said to those who would follow Him, “If you do not take up your cross, you cannot be my disciples.” This means that if you are to be disciples of Jesus you must accept the commandment to die from the Father.

Quite embarrassingly, even though I have been saying that I have abandoned my honor, recent circumstances have made me realize that I have cared very much indeed about my honor. But now my honor has been so brutally beaten that I cannot even show my face to the world. I have lost everything I Had and the only thing I have left is my soul. That which I am preaching to you now is not for the sake of my honor nor to exercise authority over you, because everyone knows what little is left of my honor.

If a person’s body is beaten, he experiences considerable pain. But if his honor is wounded, the pain is much greater. But it goes much deeper than that. Someone might respond to Jesus’ words to “take up your cross” and think, ‘how heavy can it be’, ‘How much can it hurt to be crucified?’ But the physical pain is almost incomparable with the agony Jesus experienced before He was crucified. Jesus even said to His disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me!” Then Jesus earnestly prayed to His Father, saying, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me!” (Matthew 26:38-39)

Those who are calling for church reform are causing great confusion in the church. Their motivations might seem good on the surface, but as time goes by, their real intentions have become evident. Their first priority is removing Semuon. They say that Sungrak Church can only survive with him gone. They also say “Do not make Semuon into an Idol!” But an idol is some created thing that is made into a god and so far no one has made Semuon the target of their faith. They are trying to erase Semuon so that they can erase what Semuon has done.

What has Semuon done so far? The Berea movement is a movement to return to the Bible. From the moment that doctrines and spiritual leaders emerged, Christian churches have deviated away from the model of the church that the Bible teaches. So the Berea Movement strives to return to the biblical pattern of real Christian faith, proclaiming, “Return to the Bible!” The question is will the established churches and denominations let the Berea Movement thrive? The impact and influence of the Berea Movement has steadily increased because our church has constantly manifested signs and wonders with power, testifying by the signs that God is with us. The secondary aim of those calling for church reformation is to destroy the Berea Movement.

The third thing they want to do is to remove the very name of Sungrak church. They have stated that, if they succeed, as part of their reformations, they will change the name of Sungrak Church. They have said that they will remove the church where the Berea Movement began. Are these really the marks of a reformation – erasing Semuon, Berea, and Sungrak church? Semuon, Sungrak church, and Berea can never be separated. If Semuon is removed from the record, the Berea Movement might be remembered as a legend, but it will eventually disappear. To prevent that from happening, it must be remembered that a real historical person, namely Semuon, started the Berea Movement.

I have been attacked and slandered my whole life and I have endured. I can bear all attacks directed toward me as a person. However, I cannot allow the attempt to remove Sungrak Church and the Berea Movement to succeed. This is not my own challenge but the challenge of all Sungrak people and Bereans. As Jesus said, “If anyone would follow me, let them take up their own cross!” we all must receive the commandment to die to ourselves from God the Father.

Let us love our church! Let us be united altogether as Sungrak people for the success and the sake of the Berea Movement. As it is written, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered!” if Semuon disappears, Sungrak people might be scattered, wandering around. I will endure to the end for our church. You therefore, please devote your heart to protecting our church. As it is written, “Let us hold on tightly to the confession of our hope, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good deeds, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Let us all come together from all over the church and let us take up our cross, every one of us, and follow Jesus!