The passage we read today is from Galatians 3. To explain briefly first, Jesus Christ was cursed. Jesus is the One whom people who attend church receive as their Lord. We know that He is God. But when He came to the earth, what He had to bear was the curse. It was the most terrible curse. He was crucified. That was a method of execution. The fact that He was sentenced to death itself was tormenting enough and unjust, yet He was subject to public execution. He was cursed to be shamed before many people.

People who don’t know why He was cursed might think He did something to deserve it. But we have come to realize that the curse He bore was so that we could be blessed. Because He was cursed, we received the blessing.

We were supposed to be cursed. One of Korean songs is called “The Thorn Bush.” If you get too close to a thorn bush, you get pricked. We were all like thorn bushes. We kept hurting other people. Not only did we hurt others, but we also got hurt. We were hurting one another. We were stuck in this bondage of curse. Some people, in an attempt to escape this bondage, choose to take their own lives. But who would’ve known? They took their lives to be freed from the curse, only to find that an even more frightful reality was waiting for them.

God sent Jesus the sinless One, to be cursed so that we may not be cursed. That is why we give thanks to Him, follow Him, and serve Him. Thankfully, He didn’t remain dead; God raised Him from the dead―from among the many who were dead. And all who believe in Jesus have the testimony that He has risen. It is a marvelous thing.

Then where is He after He was risen? He is not on the earth. He was taken up through the clouds, so much so that people lifted their heads up to the sky and watched Him ascend. Where did He go? He isn’t somewhere up in space, but rather, the Bible tells us, in the spiritual world which is beyond the universe. He is there. And we, who believe in Him, will also go there one day.

Going to heaven doesn’t mean we are going to have a boring time in heaven. How diverse is this world? Yet heaven will be far more diverse than this world. When I came back to Korea for short visit while staying in China as a missionary, people often asked me questions like, “Are there watermelons in China? Do they have apples? Do they have computers in China?” And I answered them, “Everything we have in Korea, they also have in China. Plus, there are many things in China that we don’t have in Korea.” Obviously, there would be more diversity and variety in China since their land is a lot bigger.

In the same way, everything that we have on earth is also in heaven. But there are many things in heaven that are not here on earth. Whatever is on earth is in heaven. Our God sent His beloved Son to die. Wouldn’t He feel sorrowful? But that’s how confident God was. The reason is that God prepared Heaven in advance for the Son, to be given to Jesus as a reward, where He will be glorified forever. And He is there right now. He promised us that He will take us there as well. Believers will have a body that is forever imperishable and enter heaven. This is the reason we believe in Jesus.

Indeed, when we believe in Jesus, we have a relationship with God. Because of this, we can receive God’s help, and therefore the emptiness in our hearts disappears. Furthermore, we can receive answers to our prayers, and sometimes gain financial help too. We can also experience prosperity and receive help in many ways. But the ultimate purpose is to enter heaven.

Even though you may receive a lot of help on earth, you have to rid your hearts of impatience. If you believe in Jesus today and expect changes to take place just next month, you may be disappointed. Of course, when we first have faith in Jesus and undergo transformation, we may experience great changes. I’ve seen many people who were healed of their sickness right after being baptized. However, there are many things that require a lot of time. But my point is, if we planted a seed, the seed is not going to bear fruit the next day just because we are believers; we have to wait a long time. In the same way, you must be able to wait until you start to experience the blessing as you obey God’s words.

What I want to share with you today is that this blessing is called by God as “the blessing of Abraham.” It is written that Jesus was cursed in order that we may receive the blessing of Abraham. God promised a blessing to Abraham, and that which He planned in Him has come to fulfillment so that we have come to believe in Jesus.

But when He promised Abraham, He said, “You are a blessing! Through you, all nations on earth will be blessed!” This is the characteristic of the blessing given by God. When we are blessed, it is not only me who is blessed, but many other people become blessed through me, who has been blessed. That is why He said that Abraham will be a blessing. If you believe in Jesus and have been baptized, you are already blessed. Since you are already blessed, you just need to wait and persevere for that blessing to bear fruit.

Not only are you blessed, but you can also be a blessing through whom many people can be blessed. And it must be that way. Your family will be blessed through you. If you grab a taxi, the taxi driver who is driving you will be blessed through you. There are many people in misery and despair in this world. They don’t know how to go about their lives, and many are wasting their lives in futility. When those people meet you, they will receive the blessing God has given. Therefore, you must keep in mind: “I am a blessing!”

If you come to church and believe in Jesus from today, you shouldn’t only think of yourself being blessed. Rather, you need to come to have the faith: “my family will be blessed through me, my friends will be blessed, my neighbors and even the people I don’t know will be blessed through me.” And this really happens. To what extent does that blessing spread? It reaches all the nations of the world, so the peoples on earth may be blessed through you. You do not understand God’s heart unless you have this in your heart.

You might have come to church with the hope of receiving some help from God. But when God created humanity and granted salvation, He had a purpose for you to be partakers in His work. Just as God is not only the blessing but also blesses those who draw near to Him, you too can become someone who blesses those that come near you. It is not “Become a blessing!” Rather, it is “You are a blessing!” That is what it means to believe in Jesus. Thus, it is written, “Believe in the Lord Jesus! And you and your household will be saved!”

I met Jesus in 1992. I was very lost before I met the Lord Jesus, but after meeting the Lord, in various ways I experienced a great change and incredible joy. Although my family is the head family (eldest), now everyone believes in God. The first person I evangelized was my grandmother. My grandfather had already passed away, and my grandmother had been going to the Buddhist temple for over 80 years old when I evangelized her. She had even inscribed the names of her descendants in the temple.

But before she passed away, I introduced God to her. Since we didn’t have a lot of time together, I gave her the Bible to read. I printed the Bible in large print for her. At the age of 83, she believed in Jesus and was baptized, and then read the whole Bible once before she passed away. When she passed away, none of my family members were believers. My father, uncle, and aunties did not have faith. But in my grandmother’s final moments, my younger brother and I, along with a few others, sang hymns and kept her with God’s word. Then she passed away, but we couldn’t tell if she fell asleep or had passed away because she was smiling as she died. She had a big smile on her face as she died.

As many who are elderly might have experienced, when people die, they don’t all look pleasant in their last moment. Some leave in a horrible manner. But my grandmother was smiling as she passed away. And aunt, who also had been a Buddhist all her life, was very much in shock when she saw her mother’s peaceful, smiling face. “There surely is something!” And she said to me, “If I want to go where my mum has gone, I will have to start going to church!” Ever since she started going to church. Similarly, after seeing the change in my grandmother, a change came upon my parents too, and they decidedly said, “Just as mother had faith, we should also go where she has gone!”

Since then, all member of my family started to change, one by one. We were the head family. Well not my father’s but my grandmother’s family was. I had a big uncle and his son―my cousin―was in charge of ancestral rites. But since there was more than one ancestral rite every month, I think it was really hard for him. My cousin’s wife, who had to prepare the ancestral rites for 10 years, also suffered from depression for 10 years. She was on antidepressants for 10 years. So, my cousin was having a hard time. When I preached the gospel to his wife, she was very interested and accepted Jesus Christ. What do you think happened after that? She stopped taking antidepressants, and she became a completely different person.

What do you think happened to my cousin after seeing that? He witnessed with his own eyes that God is living because he went through the painful times with his wife and noticed the change that came upon her. He decided that he should have faith too, and now leads a faith life. Before, when our family came together on Korean Thanksgiving Day, we used to perform ancestral rites. But now, we have a worship service instead. And we are now witnessing how different are the lives of family members who believe in Jesus and of those who do not.

We are receiving such a blessing even on the earth, but it doesn’t stop there. The fact that we will be receiving an everlasting blessing in heaven which is something to be more joyful over. But on  earth, we have testimonies. Not only have my family members changed, but each of them is also changing the lives of many people in their own regions. At the moment, it is not only the people in Korea but also those in China who are being blessed through me because I had served in China as a missionary. Moreover, people of other languages are also being blessed. The whole earth is moving as one. We are witnessing in our time that the word of God which says that all nations on earth will be blessed through us is actually happening in reality.

This is the nature of God. He not only wants to bless us but also desires that more people be blessed through us. If you understand God’s heart and obey, God will be pleased, and He will work with you more bountifully.

If you have come to believe in Jesus and know the Lord, and have started a faith life, you should not only live that faith life for yourself. Instead, you should have the desire to share the blessing you’ve received and the faith you hold with more people. For this, you need to live a church life. If you only want to be blessed, you can just remain as you are. But if you want others to be blessed through you so that God is pleased, be absorbed into the church life. Be educated in the church, give service, and then be used for the works that help others not only yourself. Then, the glory you receive in heaven will change.

The glory of each person is different on the earth. There’s the glory of a beggar and then there’s the glory of a country’s president. There are presidents of small countries and also of big countries. Though they are all people, the glory that they have varies greatly. The glory of the president of a big country and the glory of a beggar in a small country, despite both being human, are vastly different. Not only are there humans, but there are animals too. For example, there are dogs and worms. Worms have flesh, and so does a president, but what a difference there is between the two! It’s a world of difference.

In this way, the glory that we will have in heaven will vary from person to person. For this reason, you strive to be used to bless more and more people on the earth. Then, you will shine like the sun in heaven. Though there are countless stars, when the sun rises, we cannot see them. In the same way, may your glory shine like sun, I bless you in Jesus’ name.

Please do not stop with only you being blessed. Rather, determine yourselves, “Now I will make the people around me blessed. I will ensure more and more people are blessed! I will live a church life so that I can be taught and take part in giving service!” I bless you in Jesus’ name. I’ll pray.

God our Father, thank You for calling these souls here today to be a blessing. Father God, though their eyes may not yet see, help them to see with their eyes and experience more over time. Furthermore, help them to be a blessing to many others, starting with their family, relatives, and neighbors, reaching to the people they do not know so that they fulfill their role as a blessing. In Jesus’ name. Amen!