2005 North American Bible Study Meeting
December 28, 2005, Afternoon
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle,
separated to the gospel of God
which He promised before through His prophets
in the Holy Scriptures,
concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,
and declared to be the Son of God
with power according to the Spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead.
Romans 1:1-4
That You May Know that the Lord Does Make a Difference
And the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.” And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people. Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’” Exodus 11:1-7
God has continued to make divisions from the very beginning when He created the heavens and the earth.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:1-5
It does not say God saw that both the light and the darkness were good; it says, “God saw the light, that it was good.” It also says, “God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.” So we see that God separated the light from the darkness. Bright life began, coming out of darkness. In the course of all the events where God has been at work, he shows us this order of light coming out of darkness.
The question is, has it always been like this? In the words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” the nature of God who dwells in unapproachable light (see 1 Timothy 6:16) is revealed, and we see here a world that God created in which everything was beautiful. There, a certain archangel said, “I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14). He did not aim to be seated above God, but beside Him. Yet God judged him as iniquitous, saying, “Iniquity was found in you” (Ezekiel 28:15). As a result of this incident, a change came about God’s world, and this universe and this earth that we know came into being, having fallen down from the world above.
The Bible says that “scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4). Also, it says of such people, “This they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water” (2 Peter 3:5). They do not acknowledge that God created this world or indeed that God the Creator of this world even exists. There is a great punishment awaiting them. The principal reason that people of this world end up in hell is the sin of not recognizing God.
In Genesis, it says, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”. Since it says there was darkness, perhaps you imagine a room in which the lights have been turned off, but at that time the land, the water, the soil, and the sand were all mixed in together, making them indistinguishable. It was then that God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.
Then the Bible says, “Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so” (Genesis 1:7). God divided the waters under the firmament from the waters above the firmament. This is what happened as a result of Satan turning against God before the earth was made. As a small-scale image of this world as it was separated from God’s world on high, the waters below fell away from the waters above and an expanse formed between the two. When everything was in this chaotic state, the atmosphere came into being. Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear” (Genesis 1:9). God divided the water and the dry land.
We come across incidents that have brought about certain divisions in the course of history. The reason such incidents develop and occur is that history is being managed by the hand of God who created the heavens and the earth. We can find this in the Bible. Egypt is one case in point. God said, “That you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel”.
And when Jesus came to the earth, He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Let’s turn to John’s Gospel chapter 3.
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” verses 1-2
What “signs” was Nicodemus talking about here? He had seen Jesus healing the sick, feeding thousands of people, and raising the dead, and so he had come to look for Him, and said that He was a teacher come from God, in other words, come from heaven. In his own way, he was praising Jesus as he spoke of these miracles that could be seen through the physical eye.
When a person knows that Jesus was the God who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth, he will consider the visible miracles Jesus performed not as some kind of magic, but as something only to be expected. Such is a very simple faith. The Bible says, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). “The dust of the ground” here does not mean soil or clay that a sculptor might use; it means the tiny elements that make up the soil. God gathered these elements by His word and used them to form man in His own image. God, who exists beyond time and space, displayed to man His creative powers.
So it was that when Jesus came to the land of Israel and many people followed after Him in the hope of being cured of their illnesses, He was able to heal them with a mere touch of His hand. When the Jews saw these miracles they wondered what kind of Man this could be. They were curious as to how such things were possible.
In the book of Psalms it says, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (139:13-14). David wrote here that when a life begins and develops in the womb of a woman, the Lord is already watching over it. Since Jesus was the One who knew all these things, He needed only to touch a person who was ill and that person would be healed. When the hands of this Lord of creation passed out the bread and the fish, the people actually ate it and were filled. He did not just make an image of bread and fish; actual food was made. This was possible because He is the Lord of creation.
As Nicodemus praised Jesus, however, he spoke only of the visible works He had carried out, the works that could be witnessed with the human eye. He said that no one could do these signs that Jesus did. How did Jesus reply to this? Did He thank Nicodemus for recognizing who He was?
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3
What kind of answer is this? It seems to be completely unrelated to the question. Yet when the Lord of creation came in the body of a man, not a single word that He spoke for man to hear during the 33 years of His short life went to waste.
When He said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” He was speaking of a miracle that could actually happen. When Jesus healed people, it was all a way to let us see with our physical eyes the miracle that can happen within us. When Jesus said, “Unless one is born again,” He was talking about the miracle that God wanted from the beginning. Jesus was saying in advance that this is what would happen.
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” John 3:4-5
Through the Bible, Jesus told us that unless we are born anew, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. If we look at it the other way around, once a person is born again, he can enter the kingdom of God. Even so, there are people in this world who say you must go through the tribulation even if you are saved, or you must receive some kind of new life even after salvation, and they make every effort to attain such things.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6
The person born from the mother’s womb is flesh, but “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The Bible says, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63), and, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The words of the Bible that is open before us are referred to as spirit. The Bible itself is the voice of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus said, “that which is born of the Spirit,” He was talking about a change that comes about inside a person.
Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3:7-8
This passage is talking about the change that comes about in a person’s heart when he discovers an image of himself standing under the blood of Jesus, and an image of Jesus watching over him. There are people who read this verse and know the significance of the blood of Jesus, and yet they do not put their faith in it, that is, they have not come to believe in it. Every word of the Bible has the power to save. Even if a person takes what are referred to as the gospel verses—the verses that arise in a sermon about the gospel—and tries to live according to them until the day he dies, salvation will not come to him just as he pleases. It is all a matter of listening quietly to God’s word. Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” When these words of Jesus are accepted in the heart of the individual, a change will come over that person by the power of the words themselves.
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. John 3:9-11
Jesus said, “We speak what We know.” He was talking about the voice of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit who reveals these words to us.
Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. John 3:11-13
Jesus said that being born again is something that can happen on earth. It happens on this earth.
He Made Him Who Knew No Sin to Be Sin for Us
In that case, what sort of place is this earth? Everything on this earth is confined within the realms of time and space. When Jesus said it is possible for a person to be born again, He was addressing man, who lives on this earth within the bounds of time that dictate a starting point and an ending point. In other words, the eternal life of God the Father who dwells in heaven is able to pierce through the vast expanse of the universe and penetrate the heart of an individual.
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.
The Love of God is greater far by Frederick M. Lehman
Jesus came from beyond the highest star and was born through the body of a woman on this lowly e
| 정회원으로 가입하시면 전체기사와 사진(동영상)을 보실수 있습니다. |
 |
이전기사 :멋진 나무
다음기사 :<2019.06> 저를 믿는 자마다 영생을 얻게 하려 하심이니라