2016.05.15_What the Lord Wrote With His Finger
in 2016 Lord's Day, Sung Hyun Kim
Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim
[John 8:1-11]
God
is the Word of eternal life.
By His word
He saved mankind who was doomed to perish (Jn 5:24).
The Son of God came to the world
to fulfill the Law with the Gospel
through His word (Mt 5:17-19).
The Law is
the word which God gave through an angel (Gal 3:19)
whereas the Gospel is
the word which the Lord gave Himself (He 2:3-4).
While the world was condemned by the word
which was delivered by an angel,
it is saved by the word of the Lord.
In this world where there is no one righteous,
the Lord wrote something for the sinners:
“Whoever believes he is without sin
must be condemned after reading this,
but sinners must be saved from reading this.”
Though this writing is forever invisible,
it is that which only sinners can read, the word of salvation.
Even now the Lord stoops down and speaks in our defense.
○Let us fill our hearts with
what the Lord wrote with His finger
and repent together.
○Let us love the church,
the Lord’s body.
○Let us discharge our duty
to preach the Gospel.
※Though the writings of the world may all be erased,
what the Lord wrote with His finger
will never be violated.
What the Lord wrote,
has everlasting salvation for us.
Duty of Believers At times, we can be burdened by our lives, and this is no different for Christians who believe in Jesus. Still, we have to overcome hardships. This does not mean you must force yourself to endure in tears. For us who look forward to the glory in heaven, life’s troubles are but trivial issues that we can easily overcome. Those who put their hearts in the world would consider the dream given from God as something small. However, the dream given from God is so great to the extent that we can overcome the world by it. We must do our best to fulfill all our duty as believers before God. Even if we are faced with real life problems, our attitude should be the same. If we do not do what we rightfully ought to do, we would have nothing to say, even if God does not listen to our prayers. We must not judge pastors or criticize what the church is doing with worldly standards. Instead, in any given circumstance, we should think hard about how we can benefit our church. Sinners Who Received Grace What we must not forget is that we are sinner sinners by nature. We cannot escape condemnation before the Law of God. Of course, since we already relied on the merits of Jesus Christ we are not condemned by the Law anymore. However, that does not mean that we can ignore the Law. It was the Law that made it possible for us to meet the Lord. Thus, it can be said that we are saved by the help of the Law. There are some people who get their own ways without being bound by any kinds of law, misunderstanding the meaning of “freedom from the Law”. Those are the people who forget that they were sinners originally. For Christians, the Law is most necessary. Jesus said He came to the world not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. Thus, if you are a Christian who has been freed from the Law, you should do your best more than anyone to fulfill God’s will that is contained in the Law. The Law is applied to all mankind. God wants all mankind to confess, “I am a sinner” before the Law. Jesus was punished in the place of human beings, and after that time, He speaks to God in our defense. However, for us to rely on the merits of Jesus Christ, we first have to confess that we are sinners. The problem that Jesus found among the Pharisees was not that they considered themselves as sinners before the Law, but rather, that they considered themselves as righteous. They were convinced that they kept the Law perfectly. But what Jesus did before them was to reinforce the Law. The reason Jesus did so was not for them to perish, but to make them kneel down before God’s grace by realizing that they were sinners. What the Lord Wrote on the Ground One day, taking a woman who was caught in the act of adultery to Jesus, the Jews asked, “According to the Law, this woman is to be stoned, but what do you say?” According to the Law, the woman had to be killed. But she was standing before Christ who came to the world as the Savior. At that moment, all the attentions of heaven and earth were focused on that scene. Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground. And, straightening up, He said to the people surrounding Him, “If any one of you is without sin, let him or her be the first to stone at her!” Again He bent down and wrote on the ground. Hearing the words of Jesus, the people felt guilty and left one by one. The woman caught in adultery was saved by what the Lord wrote. No one knows the contents of what the Lord wrote on the ground. The Lord did not leave any record of it, in order that those without faith cannot look into it, so that no one would be able to change that record. What we have to know clearly is that it was written by the Lord, who wants to save us from eternal punishment by laying down His life. Therefore, before His writing, we must remember that we were originally sinners. Before What the Lord Wrote Even though we became children of God after being saved, since it was not from our own merits, we must gird ourselves and always be careful (1Pet 1:13~19). Thinking of the Lord who wrote on the ground to save sinners, we should not lose our fear of God while living as strangers on the earth (Heb 12:28~29), and also continue to work out our salvation with that attitude (Phil 2:12). If you are a person who has read what the Lord wrote, you now have to change. You must not take the grace you have received for granted nor return to the past either. Instead of blaming others, you should be concerned about your own soul. Laying down the bad habits of judging the church, you should offer yourself for the sake of the Lord’s work. Rather than despising ministers, you ought to be a great supporter of the ministers. Our faith should be built on the merits of Jesus’ sacrifice. We must not allow other standards to take over our hearts apart from the merits of the Lord and God’s Law. We were sinners before God, but we already received the grace of redemption, and also receive the grace of the Lord speaking in our defense every day. If we received such a great love from the Lord, then we must offer ourselves to the work of spreading that love. Instead of putting the church in danger with worldly standards, we ought to protect and support the work of the church, and be the saints who save souls. That is the attitude that we ought to have as those who received grace. When we do so, God will remember our sufferings and help us.
It is fatherhood that makes one desire to give what is most precious and what is of the highest quality to his son as an inheritance, and thus be glorified by his son. Likewise, God gave all that he had created and the most high throne of His heavenly kingdom to His Son, so that God the Father may be glorified through Him – this is His righteousness and truth. Therefore, Jesus also desires to make this will of God known to the world and thus fulfill His will. Some would say, “God is selifish”, however, there is only One – God himself – who is able to do with His possessions whatever He pleases. God has given His Son all that He had, and it is God who is glorified by giving His possession to His Son. Is there any father who gives his son’s belongings to a dog with pleasure? In the same sense, what God wants is to be glorified by His Son. Thus, the scripture says, “Seek God’s righteousness.”‘How can we please our God?’, ‘How can we glorify our God?’– Longing day and night for this is our faith. I have labored doing Jesus’ work for more than half of a century. Now, taking a step back from the front lines, I want to do the same work through WolsanLiterature. This is my momentous task; it is like making a tunnel through a great mountain or building a bridge over a river for easier travel. I learn about humanity through literature. While ministry is about seeking Jesus Christ by Holy Spirit and the truth that come from God, literature is about seeking Jesus Christ through humanity and the dust of ground. The way to Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit and the truth from God is heavenly and holy. However, the way to Jesus Christ from dust is rugged and rough. The former is to find Jesus from the righteousness, and the latter is to find Jesus from unrighteousness. While the former is from the voice of God in heaven -“This is my beloved son, with him I am well pleased”; the latter is from the confession to come towards Him -“I am a sinner, dust of ground.” A confession of faith is to confess Jesus Christ, who is between God and man, and approaching Him with repentance from both the work that heaven justifies and from earthly things. The faith from heaven should lead to the confession, “Jesus Christ is the one and only Son and Christ”; The Son of God means that He is the righteous man, and Christ means that He is the savior who has saved a sinner like me. Through literature, I am walking towards God in the way in which unrighteous humanity seeks Him. I am an unrighteous man from the dust of ground, and I, the man, come toward the Lord. [gmedia id =75]
Outline translated by Sarah Lee Chief Editor: Helen Nam
Letter translated by Sung-In Hong
Interpretations by Angela Moon
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee