Beloved, you all have secrets, don’t you? God, too, has a secret. And the mystery of God is Jesus Christ. When you come to church, there is One you truly need to encounter. You must meet Jesus Christ—He is the mystery of God. A secret is not revealed to just anyone; it is kept hidden. You do not expose a secret carelessly and allow it to be treated lightly or despised. When God desires to give His very best, He gives it to those who seek it and keep seeking. I bless you in Jesus’ name that you will discover this hidden mystery. I desire that you seek Him. You can surely find Him and meet Him. God is alive. Jesus Christ is alive.

When I was young, I often heard adults say, “Why are you so careless?” I used to break things easily, and I fell down a lot. So when I broke a glass, no one ever asked, “Are you okay?” They scolded me instead. Whenever I got hurt, I was scolded again. Instead of saying, “It’s okay, you’ll be fine,” and putting medicine on it, they scolded me first—because it happened so often. Even now, my knees still show that they never fully healed.

Have you ever heard of Confucius? Among the writings recorded by his disciples, there is an episode like this. A fire broke out in the stable, and when Confucius arrived, he asked the servants who were there a question. His disciples heard what he asked and were shocked. They were so surprised that they recorded it in their writings. A stable was burning, and because of just one question he asked, they reacted, “What kind of person is this? How can someone like this exist?” What did he ask? Confucius said, “Is anyone hurt?”

Is that something surprising? No—if a stable is on fire, it is not surprising to ask, “Is anyone hurt?” But when did this happen? It was three thousand years ago. At that time, the idea of the dignity of each individual didn’t even exist. In those days, the price of one horse was equal to five human beings. You had to give five servants to buy a single horse. And when wars broke out, they took young men as soldiers and slaughtered tens of thousands at once. It was an age when slavery was the norm. So if someone had died in that burning stable, who would it have been? A servant, of course. Yet Confucius asked, “Is anyone hurt?” He did not ask, “Is the horse okay?” That difference shocked his disciples so deeply that they recorded it. Even today, if a child breaks a cup, many parents say, “Look at you—careless again!” instead of, “Are you hurt?” But three thousand years ago, in that harsh era, Confucius asked, “Is anyone hurt?” Unless we understand the world of that time, his question may sound obvious to us now, but back then it was anything but natural.

In fact, much of Asia was the same throughout history. Even in our own country, if you look back just a hundred years, were women treated as full persons? It cannot be summed up in a single sentence, but in short, most women—aside from a very small few—did not even have names. They were simply called things like ‘Eonnyeon-i,’ ‘Jeonju-daek,’ or ‘Gaettong-i’s mother’—labels borrowed from animals, objects, or place names and attached to people instead of giving them a name of their own. They were not recognized as full social or legal persons. Then what about the men? Did they all have names? Except for the noble class, most men did not. In fact, it was not until the 1920s that people in Korea came to have proper names and surnames. And what kind of period was the 1920s? It was during the Japanese occupation. Under Japanese rule, surnames were forcibly assigned in order to systematize and standardize society. Because of this, some say, “Modernization came through the Japanese period,” while others say, “We would have modernized on our own even without Japanese rule,” and there is still debate. But one thing is certain: until the 1920s, not everyone in this country had a family name.

Do all countries in the world experience what we in Korea call “adolescence”—a stage where children often resist or push back against their parents? Let me show you why this matters. There are places where it simply does not exist. Adolescence is not something that must appear everywhere—it is something unique to our own social environment. I even confirmed this when I visited China, our neighboring country. Of course, China differs from region to region and from one ethnic group to another, but among the Han people I met, I found that they do not really experience adolescence. The term itself is hardly used. And why is that? It is because, in many cases, they respect a child’s personal opinions more than we do. Perhaps this is even more true today since many families have only one child. This is why mothers around me often say things like, “My child never listens! My child doesn’t take me seriously! For example, I tell her to wear pants, but she insists on wearing a skirt.” Then I ask, “But why must she wear pants? If she wants to wear a skirt, couldn’t she just wear it?” And the mother responds, “Because of the weather, and because she has PE today—she’ll have a hard time if she goes in a skirt.” So the parent insists and forces the decision. When the child refuses, she is seen as talking back. And the response is to suppress and ignore her. From a young age, children are trained to be ignored. They grow up learning that their personal opinions do not matter. And what happens when such a child grows up? They treat others beneath them in the same way. This shows up in things like an older sibling ordering a younger one around—“Hey, come here! Do this! Didn’t you hear what I said?” —or sometimes even in unhealthy patterns in dating. This is what happens.

This mindset—that it is acceptable to treat others carelessly—has shaped our entire nation and its people. Instead of honoring another person’s dignity and recognizing their freedom, many have lived with the illusion that they may handle another human being however they wish. And this has been ingrained in us for a very long time. In the past, the nobles believed they were entitled to treat their servants this way. When a noble harvested crops, he took a portion for himself. And if he saw a beautiful woman among the servants, he would take her as well. If her family protested, or if the man she was seeing dared to object, the noble could beat him to death without consequence. If a servant and a free man became involved in an incident and the free man died, the servant was always executed. But if a noble killed someone, he was released without punishment—merely given a warning. This was the kind of society people lived in.

And so, from childhood, we have grown up learning—far too easily—to disregard a person’s individual freedom. We were constantly told, “Do this!” And once we entered school, they sat us down and ordered, “Do this! Do that!” That is why a simple question like, “What would you like to eat?” feels so unfamiliar to us. Because we grew up in a society like this, someone like me feels quite stressed when eating at an American-style family restaurant. They keep asking questions. I think I only need to order one thing, but they come and ask, “What soup would you like? What appetizer? How would you like your meat cooked? Would you like rice or bread?” And since these were words I had never really used, when they said, “Rice or bread?” I realized just how unfamiliar it was for me to be treated with such consideration. In the same way, when someone asks, “What do you want to eat?” we tend to say, “Oh… whatever everyone else is having.” I also have occasions when I buy meals for people, and when I ask, “What would you like to eat?” hardly anyone answers clearly, “I want to eat this!” If someone did, I would probably find it adorable—and I might even buy it for them even if it’s expensive. But what often happens is this: “What would you like?” “Oh… I don’t really know. Anything is fine.”
So I buy anything—and then they say, “Um… I don’t really like this.” This is what happens.

In our society, people rarely had opportunities to express what they personally wanted, nor chances to choose it. That is the kind of society we lived in. And yet—even so—we are now, little by little, becoming more accustomed to a culture that respects the dignity of each individual.

Then where did this culture of respecting individuals come from? It was not originally here—it came from somewhere else. And where was that? It came from Western civilization. But why did the West develop a culture that recognizes the dignity of each person so strongly? Even a four-year-old child there—still just a little child—is remarkably confident and clear in expressing what they want. They speak very precisely: “I want to eat this,” or “I don’t like that.” I once watched a video where an adult gently patted a little Western girl on the head because she looked cute. Immediately, the child said, “No!”—firmly and clearly. Her eyes did not look like the eyes of a little child at all.

Where did this recognition of personal dignity in the West come from? Was it always that way? No—it goes back, in large part, to the Reformation. The Reformation began in 1517, when Martin Luther wrote ninety-five theses criticizing the practices of the Roman Catholic Church and nailed them to the door of the Wittenberg church. That event triggered the Reformation, and together with the social atmosphere of that time, the idea of recognizing each person’s dignity was restored within the Church. One of the key truths Luther emphasized was “the priesthood of all believers.” And what does that mean? It means that every person—each and every one—can meet with God personally.

Before that, could everyone meet with God? No. The Catholic Church continually taught that such a thing was not possible. Then who could meet with God? Only the priest. “You belong to my parish, so everyone in this area must come to me and listen to me. Do you want forgiveness? Tell me. You think you can repent directly to God? No—you must tell me, and I will speak to God for you and declare your forgiveness in His authority.” In this way, they denied personal freedom. They did not acknowledge a personal meeting between an individual and God. In short, they treated the dignity of the individual as worthless. But through the Reformation, this dignity of each person—the truth that every individual can meet with God, the priesthood of all believers—spread throughout Europe, and later reached America, forming the very foundation of Western society. This is why one of the basic foundations of Western culture is the dignity of the individual.

Then did the idea of personal dignity first come from Martin Luther? No. Luther said, “Let us return to the Scriptures.” And returning to the Scriptures meant discovering that personal dignity was already there. People had drifted far from the Bible, but when they returned to it, the dignity of each person became clear again. This means that the very words recorded in Scripture speak about personal dignity.

So then, whom does the Bible speak about? Who is at the center of Scripture? It speaks about Jesus Christ. And this means that when Jesus Christ came to this earth, He emphasized the dignity of each person.

Then what was it like before Jesus came? There was no such thing as personal dignity. Where was it missing? It simply did not exist anywhere on earth. Personal dignity and individual identity did not exist anywhere in human history or in the entire record of human thought. What about the people of Israel? Did they have personal dignity? Did individuals meet God one by one? No. There was no concept of personal dignity. They believed that God met with the nation as a whole, not with individuals. So for the Israelites, what was considered the greatest curse? Being cut off from the people. Then what about Rome? Rome was the most advanced civilization of its time. People outside Rome were called “barbarians” because they were considered to have no civilization. They lived by hunting—going out together with spears to catch bears or boars and sharing whatever they caught. Was there personal dignity in that? Did anyone ask, “What do you want to eat?” They simply worked together and divided everything equally. The individual did not exist as an independent concept. Personal dignity was not even considered. And within Rome? Rome was an empire. An empire rules over other nations—so would it respect the dignity of each individual in those conquered lands? Not at all. It had to suppress them. And slavery existed everywhere. In other words, the very idea of personal dignity did not exist anywhere in the world. The thought that an individual might act independently was unimaginable. People functioned as part of the state, the tribe, or the family—never as individuals. Today, most people have their own rooms, but that is a very recent development. In those days, society functioned almost entirely as a collective.

So what did Jesus say when He appeared in that collectivist Roman world? And what did He say within Israel’s nation-centered faith environment? He declared, “Each one will receive according to what he has done.” He said, “Each person must believe in Jesus. Each person must receive the forgiveness of sins. Each person must become a child of God.” So when the people heard Peter—Jesus’ disciple—and asked, “Then what shall we do?” Peter answered, “Each of you, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and each of you will receive the forgiveness of sins; and the Holy Spirit will come upon each one of you.” In that verse, the word “each” appears only once in the translation, but in the Greek, the meaning is entirely “each one.” In the original text, it is clearly: each one must receive forgiveness, and each one must receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself said that God will repay each person according to what he has done. And when Jesus prayed, He said, “Father, love them with the love with which You have loved Me,” praying for each person. He even said, “This prayer is not for these alone, but also for each person who will believe in Me through their word.” In this way, the Son of God—Jesus Himself, who is God—came to this earth and affirmed the personal dignity of every individual, something humanity had never known before. And it was none other than God who did this.

In truth, if there were anyone who had every right to disregard us, it would be God—because He is the One who made us. Yet it is He, above all others, who honors the personality and worth of each one of us more than any being in the world. Then why does Jesus Christ value us this way? And how did Christianity come to honor the individual so deeply? To what extent does He respect us? The real question is: just how far does His regard for us go?

What we must understand is this: heaven was not originally prepared for us. I am urging you toward heaven so that you may enter it, but heaven itself was not made for our sake. And honestly, if heaven had been created for people like us, I would not expect very much. Because it does not take much to make me feel “eternally happy.” If, while I am struggling through life, God were to ask me, “What shall I give you?” I would probably say, “Hmm… a three-story house all to myself would be nice.” That alone would make me feel quite happy. Then I would likely ask, “Lord, may I add one more request? I’d like a car too—three of them, please.” If God gave me three cars, I think I would feel very satisfied. If God supplied me with a three-story home, three cars, food and clothing without lack, and allowed me to travel whenever I wished—and then asked, “Are you happy?” I would immediately answer, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Because we humans are small-minded. We have lived such small, limited lives on this earth that we become satisfied with very little. But thankfully, heaven is not a place prepared for human beings.

Then for whom was heaven made? It was created by God for His Son, Jesus Christ. In fact, heaven is the place where God displays His glory for His Son. Long ago, the devil appeared before Jesus—the Son of God—and showed Him all the splendor of the world: every form of power, culture, and civilization. He said, “If You bow down to me, I will give You all of this.” But was Jesus tempted? Not at all. Jesus regarded the things of this world as nothing more than a garbage bin. And Scripture even calls this universe a kind of dung heap—like a waste pit. Who would desire such a place? The Son of God viewed the glory of this world in that way. Heaven is the place where a Person like Him truly delights. Heaven is glorious because He finds it glorious. And that is where we are going. This is why we look forward to it. Heaven was not prepared for us; it is the place God made for His one and only Son—where He poured all His power into it and staked all His majesty on it. And through the resurrection, we are brought into that very place.

Jesus prayed to the Father like this: “Father, as You have loved Me, let that same love be in them. Just as You and I are one, let them also be one with Us.” And His disciple John said, “I am telling you these things so that you may have fellowship with us. This fellowship is originally the fellowship between the Father and the Son; I have entered into it, and I want you to enter into it as well.” So to what extent does God honor each person? How highly does He honor us? He honors us as He honors His own Son.

This is where the dignity of human beings comes from. Many Western nations acted on the conviction that “the same love with which God loved His Son has also been given to human beings,” and therefore believed, “Human beings are that precious.” Naturally, the politics shaped by people who believe this and the politics shaped by those who do not will look very different. Yet even so, we do not consider any form of politics in this world to be complete or perfect. That is why we do not seek the love with which God loves His Son through any human being. We receive it directly from God Himself—from God’s own Son.

And how do we receive that love? By being baptized in the name of Jesus and becoming united with Him. This is how God honors us so greatly. This is the mystery. For that reason, we call this God’s mystery. Something hidden from man, yet through union with the Son of God, we now share in it. I hope you come to know Jesus Christ, the mystery of God. And how do we open the door to this mystery? By being baptized in the name of Jesus. Then the one who could never have known His name—the one who could never have entered God’s mystery, the one who was cursed and had no connection to God—now all that He had prepared and hidden in that mystery is opened to us. Through baptism you become one with Him, and the mystery begins to unfold—one by one—and we begin to enjoy it in reality. It is no longer hidden. It starts to be revealed to us. For those who are baptized, the hidden mystery of God is opened to us, step by step.

So I bless you in Jesus’ name that each of you will enter into this mystery of God—where He regards you with such honor and treats you with such worth—and fully enjoy all that God has prepared for you.

Father God, we thank You that You have honored each one of us in such a great way. Help us understand what You regard as so precious, and enable us to respond to You. We give thanks and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.