2015.02.01_God Who Gives Grace
in 2015 Lord's Day, Sung Hyun Kim
![CenterLogo](https://www.sungrakberea.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/CenterLogo.png)
Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim
[1 Cor 1:18-25]
God
has given us faith in order to make Himself known.
He has given faith to the world
because the Truth is
sufficient for us to know and believe in God.
It is impossible to know God
apart from the Truth.
The fullness of God’s will and purpose is only in the Truth.
Hence
the word of God is Truth (Jn 17:17),
the Son of God is also Truth (Jn 14:6),
and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth (Jn 16:13).
The Law was not called Truth,
for it is a parable,
which cannot fully explain the will of God.
However,
through Jesus Christ
He has sufficiently revealed His intended will,
so that whoever sees and knows Jesus
knows God the Father (Jn 14:10-11).
One must understand this by the Holy Spirit.
○Let us carefully examine the Scriptures;
The Scriptures
has spoken of God’s will sufficiently.
○Believe and obey Jesus.
Through the Son,
God has explained His will sufficiently.
○Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Through the Spirit of Truth
God has revealed His will sufficiently.
※Let us know and trust in God;
know and love Jesus;
know and obey the Holy Spirit.
God’s Perfect Memory God possesses a perfect memory unlike humans. He does not forget anything, and the words of faith written in the Scriptures are founded on this truth. For instance, Psalm 105:8-10 says, “He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant”. It is God’s nature not to forget. The reason God listened to the Israelites groaning in Egypt and delivered them was because He remembered the covenant He made with Abraham hundreds of years ago (Ex 2:24). The Israelites who left Egypt made a golden calf in the wilderness. At that time, God wanted to punish them but Moses appealed to God’s memory and cried out for sake of the people, “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever’” (Ex 32:13). There are many verses in the Bible where people earnestly ask for God to remember. One cried out, “Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O Lord. Have respect to the covenant. Remember how the foolish man reproached You daily. Do not forget the voice of Your enemies” (Ps 74:18-23). Another pleads, “Remember, Lord, the reproach of Your servants—with which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed” (Ps 89:50-51). Still another pleads, “Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom the day of Jerusalem, who said, “Raze it, raze it, to its very foundation!” (Ps 17:7). The reason we can trust in God is that His memory is perfect. We are most thankful to God about the fact that He remembers the wicked acts of His enemies. When Satan became the Devil, God said to him, “The seed of the woman will crush your head” (Gen 3:15). Thousands of years later, that word was fulfilled without the slightest of errors. That is, the condemnation of the Devil had taken place. There was a time when Jesus rebuked his beloved disciple saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me” (Matt 16:23). He was able to detect traces of Satan in his disciple’s words because He clearly remembered what Satan had done before the creation of the world. We have come out of the Devil’s rule and receive salvation today because God has not forgotten about the Devil. The Gravity of Stereotyping We are very grateful that God remembers all things. Yet that is also a problem we face. How do we erase from God’s memory the fact that we were sinners in the past? Should we just leave it the way it is? It is not at all difficult for God to remember the fact that we were sinners, when He still remembers Satan’s deeds for this long time. Even though we have received the forgiveness of sins, it may become a serious problem for us if our past as sinners is still in His remembrance. A stereotype or prejudice towards something is a preconceived notion or opinion that a person already has fixed in his or her mind. Negative stereotypes can follow and torment people all their life. Once set, a stereotype cannot easily be removed. It does not disappear with time either. There are not many who can actually stand against and overcome the prejudices against them. The stereotype and prejudice that result from one mistake could become the source of misery throughout a person’s life. The stereotype embedded in people’s minds will certainly not disappear unless a powerful and radical measure is taken. “I heard you’re currently dating someone. Are you going to get married? Wow, congratulations! Can I ask who he is?” “Sure. He’s so-and-so.” “What? Are you out of your mind? Do you even know what kind of person he is?” If this conversation continues, even the wedding they planned could be in jeopardy. The one who is speaking about this particular person does not even know much about him. She has simply based it on the few things she heard about him from others, or she has exaggerated one or two flaws she noticed about him and portray him as the worst villain ever to exist. And the man could have a very stressful life as a result. Some might argue that this example is somewhat extreme. Then what about in other instances? A person will always be wary in front of the person he is prejudiced against, even if he pretends to be fine on the surface. Without even realizing, he will approach the person with dislike, and it becomes apparent though he tries not to show it. There are certain stereotypes of black people present in Europe and North America. Many Africans who recently have migrated to Europe are good and down to earth people. Despite this, people tend to associate them with crime and eye them with a look of suspicion. Then again, Asians are often treated as if they are somewhat unintelligent. These are all stereotypes. People with a criminal record have difficulty finding a job wherever they go. This is because the society as a whole is wary of such people. Stereotypes are much like a fine crack in a glass cup. At first it appears to be undamaged but as soon as it comes in contact with hot water, the cup shatters. In the same way, a negative stereotype (or bias) may not be all that obvious, yet if it remains, it could suddenly result in negative situations. God’s Measures to Resolve His Prejudice Against Man These stereotypes and prejudices within human society can still be overcome to a certain degree. However it is God’s prejudice that is of actual concern. If God’s prejudice against us as sinners in the past still remains, it is a fatal problem for us. But as if He was going against His nature, God declared, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Heb 8:12). This was already promised in the past through the prophet Jeremiah, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer 31:31-34). Our desire is that God will always remember and never forget the sin of the Devil, but remember our sin no more. We will certainly perish if God remembers our sin. But how can God possibly forget? How can He who has a perfect memory forget our iniquity? How can He who rules all things with justice and righteousness keep silent of the fact that we were sinners? What would ever make this possible? God fulfilled this through the cross. Jesus was wrongfully accused as a sinner, shed His blood on the cross and died. Man came to understand the purpose of the cross only after this had actually taken place. Even the Son of God is not exempt when it comes to the cross. Though it was man’s sin He bore not His, He became the object of wrath once He was upon the cross. The cross is the instrument of wrath that caused Jesus Christ to suffer the eternal punishment due man. It is also the authority of God exercising His duty of justice. Jesus redeemed us by being cursed on the cross (Gal 3:13). Thus the curse of the cross is actually ours to receive originally. The cross is not only an official confirmation of the fact that we are sinners, but it is also our candid self trembling before the Judge. We would never escape punishment if God sees us upon the cross when He looks upon it in His righteous wrath burning. Hence to prevent this from happening, God sent His only begotten Son 2000 years ago to die on the cross. Consequently, not only were we redeemed from sin but our past as sinners was also covered. In other words, the Lord forgave us our sins as well as put a measure in place to remove His prejudice against us. We often see in movies, scenes where a robber is holding a person hostage inside a bank surrounded by armed police. The police have the upper hand against the robber in terms of number and strength. However if the robber threatens to kill the hostage unless the police withdraw, the police can do nothing against that one man and would have to put their guns away. Similarly, as the end of man and God’s wrath were looming, God sent His Son to the world and let mankind take Him hostage. God purposely did so in order to grant grace to mankind. The cross is an object of wrath before God. If God sees us on the cross, we will be subject to His wrath. But now, every sinner can take cover behind Jesus Christ so that when God looks upon the cross, He will only see His beloved Son who was cursed in our place and our iniquities will be hidden from God’s sight. Moreover, the fact that we were sinners in the past will also be hidden. Hence Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior sent by God to deliver us when were under a curse and in despair waiting for our eternal punishment. He is also the Lord of grace whom God sent to help us because, even though we receive the forgiveness of sins, we would still be in anguish from God’s prejudice against us.
I have tried to uphold my dignity all throughout my life. I just didn’t want to show any flaws to others. If I did, then I would be deceived by them. I would then become a broken branch that could no longer bear fruits and thus, people would break me off and throw me into the fire just like the word of God says. Though it had been just few months attending YeSan Methodist Church in my early Christian life, I was quite diligent in the church. I remember one of my friends, a Jehovah’s witness, frequently approaching me. His words were so reasonable; it even seemed interesting because his belief was different from what I usually heard from churches that already existed. However, right at that moment, I suddenly realized that I must be alert in my mind. ‘My friend must be looking down on me. He knows that I became a believer, but perhaps he found my weakness or flaw for him to believe that I would fall for his words?’ I chuckled but instantly became alert. ‘He knows that I am a believer at YeSan Methodist Church, so he must be planning to get me out of there.’ ‘A famous phrase, “Little strokes fell great oaks” will not apply to me. Did he think that I have no opinions of my own?’ I became upset, making a firm decision to keep my dignity. I myself worried about my heart being weak. However, ever since I had faith, I was determined to be dedicated to the church that I was serving in. Thus, I took responsibility of all the church work and tough tasks. Even then, was my weakness still being revealed to others? I began to rather counterattack his weakness. “What church do you serve at? Did you receive the Holy Spirit? What is your hope?” He eventually stopped speaking when I continued to question him. Then I told him, “I will teach you these things” and led him to my church. Since he did not have answers to any of my questions, he even began to diligently follow me in morning prayer. Later, he started to serve in the church with me also. If you allow others to look down on yourself, then that would be a wide open door that welcomes temptations that come your way. I was determined to intensively listen to the word of God. I firmly kept my dignity so that no one can mock me. The goal of partaking the resurrection was before me and thus, I only focused on being loyal to the position that He has appointed me. Since then, I do not tell anyone about complaints concerning the church because that would become a weakness to my spirit. Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
[gmedia id=53]
[vimuse id=”2″]
Outline and Summary translated by Sarah Nam Chief Editor: Helen Nam
Though I was poor and couldn’t attend an outstanding school, I considered ‘keeping my dignity’ as my duty. In other words, I tried living a certain way so that no one can look down on me. Yet, this was not my arrogance or haughtiness.
Lord’s Day Worship Column
Letter translated by Jada Shim
Interpretations by Sarah Nam
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee