"To Abraham and His Seed" 10       This is an edited version of the lecture titled, "To Abraham and His Seed," which was preached on November 3, 2007.       Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 2:5       They did not retain God in their knowledgeMy allergies tend to get worse every spring. I also suffer from sneezing and other signs of the flu in the fall, although it depends on what kind of area I find myself in. But one day, suddenly, all of these symptoms disappeared. Instead, I get sharp pains around my chest like I am being poked with needles. My stomach also hurt considerably, and I was worried that I might be coming down with a serious illness. However, all of these disappeared when spring, with its clouds of pollen, endedI think I suffer from discomforts such as these about six months out of the year. I often wonder why; the work that I do isn't particularly taxing on my body, nor do I live in an unhealthy environment. As we experience the multitude of events that befall each of our lives, we say that we are being trained through these experiences. These things that happen to me could also be considered tests. Sometimes I get the arrogant thought that I would do more things if I were healthy. Sometimes I am a little resentful towards God. There are times when I think that God, who made whole my unseen spirit, could perhaps do the same with my physical body. And sometimes I think of the apostle Paul who said that a thorn in the flesh was given to him, that is, a messenger of Satan (see 2 Corinthians 12:7).How should we respond to the small and large things that happen to us in our lives? I've come to realize a number of things during the past several years, and I've thought about my sense of responsibility. As a person who talks about the Bible, what kind of condition am I in? Would there be more humility in my heart if I didn't have any physical problems? Am I a man capable of thinking even once that I must kneel before God? I ask myself these questions.When we earn a good living, are healthy, our family is well, and things are generally going well for us, we live without knowing how thankful we should be. We only look for God when a family member suddenly becomes sick, a business we manage fails, or some other difficulty strikes. Then we look back on the past. I'm the same way. When something difficult happens while everything is easy and seemingly going well, it acts as a powerful wake-up call. I begin asking myself how much I thought of God in my heart in the previous few days or months. It makes my heart sink whenever this happens.The apostle Paul recorded thus in Romans:   Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man?nd birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:21-23)   This is one of the most oft-quoted passages when talking about sin. It is also used often to talk about the sins of man to people who are not familiar with the Bible. It is easy for us, who claim to know the gospel, to simply read over these passages. We think to ourselves, "I saw this passage a lot before I was born again," and merely move on to the next. But let us look at Romans chapter 1 verse 28.   And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.   Would this have been written only for people who know nothing about the Bible? The Bible was written for everyone, for the born again and those who are not. This passage was part of a letter that the apostle Paul sent to the Roman church. As we read, "Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God," we can think about the ways through which we can glorify God in our own lives. When we read "even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge," there might be those among you who say, "I always keep God in my thoughts. I pray daily, and I confess to God every time a little bit of sin stains me," and so on.However, if I really take a close look at the 24 hours that I have each day, the above passage often takes a far back-seat to my daily life. When I am busy, I sometimes think to myself, "For what am I running around like this?" When I look back on how I am living in this world, I ask myself, "What is the purpose of all of this?" Do we live merely because we have been born into this world? No. For people who at least claim that they know the Bible, there is another reason. That reason is the fact that we were born again. In our lives we continue to search and find the words of God contained in the Bible and the gospel hidden within it, and we do numerous works together because of this.However, even when we occupy ourselves with these tasks, there are often times when we do know God, but we neither glorify Him nor retain Him in our knowledge. Despite the fact that we have this problem in our lives, we do not want to give much thought to this. We might think, "I hold a responsibility in this fellowship, and since I hold this position, everything I do is for the good of the fellowship." I wonder, though, when I open the Bible, and examine the life of Abraham, and read what the apostle Paul wrote about Abraham, whether I have not simply squandered away each day of my life oblivious to God. Did they, Abraham and Paul, seek God only when some hardship befell them, or did they live lives that reflected the glory of God?That is why I think to myself, "I don't know how long I have to live in this world, or what kind of shape my body is in, but everything has a reason." I also reflect on myself as I give lectures to you about the Bible and the people we find in it, whether I myself am carrying out the numerous previously mentioned ways of taking care of our lives that we discuss within this fellowship.There is a reason why I am saying this. Living for God, living for the gospel is an individual decision. Before we decide on these things, however, we should examine our predecessors in the faith as shown in the Bible, and the lives of the people who have lived through the times when the foundations of this faith were being laid down. Then we will be able to learn how not to forget God or allow Him to drift away out of our hearts, through the words of the Bible that they recorded and the events that happened to and around them.   The life of Abraham led by GodGenesis chapters 1 to 17 may appear easy, but they are not. A lot is hidden in these chapters, much of which is difficult to understand. Chapter 18, on the other hand, might seem somewhat easier to understand.However, as we read chapters 18, 19 and 20, we experience significant changes in some of the ways we think. Earlier we saw how Abraham acted when God passed before Him with His angels, and we asked ourselves, "How do we live our own lives before Jesus?" Genesis 18 tells of God's appearing before Abraham. However, the same chapter contains the passage, "They did not like to retain God in their knowledge". Romans, which carefully and closely retell the story of Abraham's encounter with God, record that although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God. (see Romans 1:21)Then let us compare the position of the person called "I" with that of Abraham. Objectively speaking, it seems Abraham had a much easier time serving God. God Himself passed before Abraham; how easy must it be to serve Him? We have to believe in God Whom we cannot even see. There might be those among us who think, "Well, if God appeared before me right now, of course I will take off my shoes, and fall before Him." When we examine the lives of our predecessors in faith through the Bible, however, we can't help wondering whether we are really learning the meaning of their lives as we live our lives in this age, praying and talking with our brothers and sisters, claiming that we are following in their footsteps, or whether we are just liking what they are telling us through the Bible merely for its own sake.The epistles from Paul, beginning with Romans, are filled with words overflowing with grace. I don't know how well you remember the passages of Paul's letters or how much of it you have memorized, but we are obligated to closely examine his writings as well as his life. Paul lived a life so strong in the faith that we might even feel a little discouraged when we follow his life as written in the Bible. When we read the letters written by Paul in the New Testament, we see that the passages are filled with words of grace. But how are we? There are times when we wonder whether we really need to hear and know all the things that we encounter in the numerous tasks that we do in the fellowship. When I had such a thought, I recalled a passage from one of the many letters written by Paul. Every time this happens I become humble before the Bible. I've read this Bible, the New Testament, countless times, yet I know nothing about this single passage? Sometimes, when I read a passage, I gloss over it, thinking, "This is something I know well. I've read this countless times before." However, these passages come back to pierce my heart when I listen about the lives we have led together, and think about my own experiences. I come to realize, again, that, "This is the Bible, this is what it means."I think to myself that I know the words of Paul and the countless prophets and apostles as recorded in the Bible through and through, telling myself, "I've read them all and I know them all." But it takes just a single passage to make me kneel before God again and give myself up before Him. When I see myself like this, I also think how great it would be if I, too, could end my life as did the people who lived their lives led by God, like the apostles whose paths were guided by God, and like Abraham whose life God shaped Himself. The apostle Paul experienced all of these things to say this one word, and talked to countless people and suffered through numerous indignities. How much must this apostle have felt throughout his life? That is why every single passage in the Bible is precious. The life of Abraham is the same. We read through Genesis how Abraham left the home of his father in Ur of the Chaldeans and entered the land of Canaan, and all the things that happened to him during this time. These might not seem to be that important. Abraham rescuing Lot might seem like just a story, like that of the General in the famous novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms rescuing the son of his lord. That's how I read the Bible for a long time. Once I made more effort to understand the Bible, I slowly began to see that the things that happened within Abraham's family had a purpose, all leading towards a goal.I'll go straight to the answer. For what reason does the Old Testament exist? Of course, as it says in the passage, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me" (John 5:39), the Old Testament exists to testify of Jesus.But what is reading the Old Testament really like? A certain plan of God began when Adam sinned. Adam heard the voice of a woman, that is, of his wife, and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and was branded a sinner, and the two of them sewed fig leaves together and made themsel

정회원으로 가입하시면 전체기사와 사진(동영상)을 보실수 있습니다.