Little Children, Fathers, and Young Men (1 John 2:12-13a)

“I write to you, little children,
Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
I write to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
Because you have overcome the wicked one.” (1 John 2:12-13a NKJV)

There are three stages of growth, little children, young men, and fathers. There are three stages of bearing fruits, thirty times, sixty times, and a hundred times (Matthew 13:8). There are three stages of reward, praise, honor, and glory (1 Peter 1:7). There are three visibly observable points in growing seed, blade, head, and grain in the head (Mark 4:28). There are milk drinkers and solid food eaters (Hebrews 4:12).

Here, John describes the result of growth for each stage and later explains the progress to reach to the goal. These three stages of Christian growth are not chronological order nor by age. It could be possible for young men to be spiritually fathers and for old men to be spiritually little children.

Who are little children? They are new born Christians because their sins are forgiven for His name’s sake. Anyone who receives Christ Jesus as Lord is welcomed by the Father because he is cleansed and washed by the blood of the Son. The new born Christians unquestionably experience exquisite joy and freedom because their sins are forgiven. They have been delivered and liberated from the slavery of the evil authority.

The new born Christians feel like everything is over and alright from then on. The impact of liberation is so powerful and convincing that it may give an illusion that the battle is over. Soon or later, they encounter the old habits of sin one way or the other even if not worse than in the past.

But one thing is still true despite of failures and errors after the conversion experience. That is they are still the children of God whom the Son Jesus Christ cleansed their sins. Young Christians do sin and yet are forgiven their sins for His name’s sake. God knows that they are going to fail down the road. So, what they need to do is to grow in Jesus Christ. That’s all.

Fathers indicate mature Christians which God intended men to be. This is what our God is after. God is not interested in outward rituals and religious activities even if they are expressed and presented excellently in the human eyes. The primary concern of God is the transformation of our hearts by the revelations and knowledge of God who He is and what He is.

What is it that they know about God? First and foremost of all, they know that God is the Father who cares dearly and faithfully of His children. They also know that why God sent His begotten Son Jesus Christ to die, that He is the giver of eternal life, that He sent the Spirit into their hearts forever, and that He chose them in love to be holy and blameless before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).

Although God is not visible, mature Christians know that there is He everywhere in heavens and on earth as many patriarchs of faith did like Abraham, Moses, King David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, and on and on. They know that God is immortal and eternal and praiseworthy with glory and honor forever and ever (1 Timothy 1:17). They fix their eyes upon Jesus Christ whom God sent and pay heed to whatever He says.

They know that God is the ultimate ruler of all the human events and incidents and there is nothing happening without Him. They know that there is nothing for them to contribute to earn the righteousness of God which is solely given by the faith in the Son Jesus Christ. They also know that they have nothing to depend on themselves but solely and entirely rest on God to live a life of faith.

There is another stage in Christian growth, young men. They are the one who overcome the wicked ones, the prince of dark world. They are tempted and pressed and tested in the world as Christians in all ways, materially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. But they endure and hang on tight all the pressures as Jesus Christ overcame the world.

They understand that Christianity is not a picnic but a fierce battle. They are the veteran fighters who know how to fight against the evil ones. They know that the battle is guaranteed for victory for the Lord Jesus Christ paid the price with His blood by laying down His life unto us on the cross. They know that they wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, authorities, and all the powers of evil ones (Ephesians 6:12).

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:10-20 NKJV)

A New Commandment (1 John 2:7-11)

“Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.” (1 John 2:7-8 NKJV)

Jesus summarized the Ten Commandments in response to the question brought by a scribe as two parts—love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul and with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39, Luke 10:27, Mark 12:30-31) This is the old commandment which all Christian believers heard from the beginning of conversion. The Ten Commandments spell out how we can love God and love one another, because love fulfills the law.

What is then the new commandment? John recorded it in his gospel when Jesus Christ gave the disciples at the Last Supper. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34 NKJV) The old and the new are the same except the phrase, ‘as I have loved you.’ The manner the Lord Jesus Christ has loved us was that He laid down His life for all who has been lost. His love was truthfully and faithfully demonstrated on the cross of Calvary, so that the world can never miss to see it.

Why did Jesus Christ give a new commandment? It is because we cannot keep the old commandment. If we say that we can keep the law, then we must keep the whole law. The more we try to keep it, the more we get powerless and overburdened. Since we cannot keep it, we have been condemned and doomed for the judgment. All has sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). As a matter fact, the old commandments were not given to keep with all our means and strength, but to reveal how degraded and corrupt we are.

“Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.” (Romans 7:13 NKJV)

What is then the new commandment? John answers, “Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.” Jesus Christ manifested the perfect life which God intended man to live before the creation of the world. The truth and reality of human mystery has been seen in Jesus Christ and in us. He is the truth, the way, and the life.

In Him, the wholeness and perfectness which is acceptable to the immortal God has been fully displayed, which anyone can see only through faith. Jesus Christ has been brightly shining the light of the unsearchable riches of glory in the Father. In Him, there is no darkness at all, so those who walk in the light.

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” (1 John 1:5-6 NKJV)

The mystery of how to keep the law perfectly and completely has been revealed in Jesus Christ. How did he love the enemies of God, just like us? He laid down His life for sinners who were ignorantly and unwittingly at war against God. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NKJV)

He is the good shepherd of all who follows Him. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for his friends (John 15:13). “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” (John 10:11 NKJV) Now, Jesus Chris the Lord commands us to do the same thing to our brothers and sisters.

“He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” (1 John 2:9-11 NKJV)

We cannot love our brothers and sisters until we die of sin, the old self in Adam, just like Christ Jesus died on the cross with the blood. The cross of Jesus Christ stands forever. When we are drawn nearer to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and identify ourselves with the death of Christ, just right on the corner, there comes the resurrection of life through faith. The resurrection life is filled within us again, so that we can love one another.

It is not us who love one another, but Christ in us who does all things. That’s the new commandment. We live an imparted life of Christ Jesus forever because we are set free from the old nature by the Spirit. Therefore, we continually live in the Spirit with the full submission and sacrifice of our body. Let the Lord Jesus Christ abide in you!

Keep His Word (1 John 2:3-6)

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:3-6 NKJV)

How do we know that we know the Lord Jesus Christ? We can know that we know Him by keeping His commandments. Jesus told his disciples in His prayer to the Father that knowing God who sent the Son is eternal life. “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3 NKJV) If we say we know Him and do not keep His commandments, then we are liars and the truth is not in us.

What does it mean to know Him? It means to know that God is love now and forevermore. We may not always appreciate the way He loves us, even in the midst of tough discipline. But the Scripture puts it very clear that we shall rejoice even in the sufferings because in them the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit (Romans 5:5). Further, here is the undeniable evidence of His love by sending the begotten Son Jesus Christ when we were still in the worst surroundings and at war against Him.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Romans 5:8-10 NKJV)

That is the assurance and promise of His love for us that no matter what happens nothing can separate us from the love of God, death or life, angels, principalities, or powers, things present or things to come, height or depth, or any other created thing (Romans 8:38-39). In Him there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17). How many times did Jesus Christ accept the lonely, lost, outcast, sick, adulterous, and wounded and hurt when they had come unto Him? In Him, we cannot find an iota of rejection or unwillingness to reach out His gracious and merciful hands to those who were asking for help, any help.  

How do we then know that we are in the Lord Jesus Christ? “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” John explains later what the commandments of God are. It is to love one another. When we keep His word, loving one another, the love of God is truly perfected in us. It doesn’t mean that the love of God is not perfect. Loving one another includes everyone, especially loving the unlovable and unacceptable. Is it not what our Lord Jesus Christ did first for us? He manifested His love first in public on the cross of Calvary. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10 NKJV)

Keeping His word means continually obeying it, that is, to keep on loving one another. How can we do that even if our experience says the opposite? We can keep His word by reminding the irrevocable fact that He loved us first and still loves us even when we fail terribly. In fact, we with our own might and strength cannot keep His word. But we can with His might and power. Here is the secret of new life in Jesus Christ. The one who keeps His word is not me but Him. Under the new covenant living in Christ, God not only demands His beloved children to keep on loving one another, but also provides power and strength to keep on doing it.

We are but the instruments for His every good work. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV) Since we are born again in Jesus Christ, we do not live but Christ lives in us. “For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” (Galatians 2:19-21 NKJV)

We May Not Sin (1 John 2:1-2)

“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2 NKJV)

What a tender word of ‘little children’ John called the saints! That’s how our heavenly Father sees us as little children. He already knows that we are going to fail and stumble down the road. However, instead of condemning us, he tenderly and kindly offers his helping and gracious hands for us to hold on tight again and again. If we accept His hands, then the righteous Christ Jesus, the eternal Advocate with the Father, becomes the propitiation for our sins, not for ours only but also for the world. But this eternal Advocate will not defend us until we stop defending ourselves.

Jesus Christ is the Lord of all peoples on earth. There is no partiality on people in Him. There is no us and them in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Lord of the Jews and the Gentiles. Anyone who comes to Him must come in the same manner as the prodigal son came to the father in the parable Jesus spoke in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 15. Rich or poor, educated or less, white, yellow or black, intelligent or less, young or old, all comes to God only through the One who died with blood on the cross in Calvary.

Do not miss that John wrote these things, so that we may not sin. It implies that we may sin and in fact we do sin. It also means that we don’t have to sin any longer in Jesus Christ. The secret is the fact that we have been belonged to the family of God and thereafter we have fellowship with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ. We are no longer in Adam as the children of darkness but in Jesus Christ as the children of light. We have been delivered and liberated from the dark power of evil through the faith in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

A whole new life has begun in our hearts through the most gracious gift of faith in the Son Jesus Christ whom God sent for the world. That’s the life of resurrection. Those who believe in the Son Jesus Christ are forgiven their sins without any blemish. Not only that, but also they are given a new life in Him, overflowing from rivers of living water. Remember that we have fellowship with God and His Son Jesus Christ. Fellowship is experiencing the reality of the resurrection life in our midst right now.

As Apostle Paul says, we are possessed by Him and we possess Him, so that all His is ours. That is what we are and what we have since we have been purchased with the blood of Christ Jesus the Lord of glory.

“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” (1 Corinthians 3:18-23 NKJV)

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:12-20 NKJV)

No Darkness In Him (1 John 1:5-10)

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. 1 John 1:5-10 NKJV

What a message we have heard from the apostles! God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all. Apostle John was invited to the heaven and saw the throne of God which he recorded in the Book of Revelation. “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things." Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.” (Revelation 4:1-4 NKJV)

Prophet Isaiah prophesied about this light some seven hundred years before Christ was born. “The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2 NKJV) Light means knowledge, revelation, relationship, energy, vitality, and power. What is darkness? Darkness is the absence of light. The psalmist beautifully described how bold and daring are those who walk in the light. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4 NKJV)

John explains what it means to walk in the light. “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” No one who walks in the light is not in darkness because there is continual and persistent fellowship between the Lord Jesus Christ and the saints. It is called the perfect communion. Through the fellowship with Jesus Christ, we have what it takes to cope with all kinds of lives. Paul pertinently expressed the natural outcome of the fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV)

The power to maintain that marvelous fellowship with Him is the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. He cleanses us from all sin so that we stand in the sight of Holy God righteously and blamelessly. John explains what blocks the flow of fellowship with Christ Jesus. “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” Sin has separated humans from the intimate relationship and fellowship with God. Sin is pride, selfishness, and lawlessness. All has sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

All what God wants us to do is to admit and confess our sins honestly and humbly. God sent us the most powerful defender and advocate to release us from the bondage and slavery of the prince of dark world. Paul burst out the ultimate grace upon the saints in the letter to the Romans. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1 NKJV) Here is a simple analogy. How can you make a dark room bright when you enter it? The answer is just turn on the switch. That is what God wants! Just admit and confess our wrongs and errors to the Father in heaven. Then the Son cleanses us with the blood shed for us on the cross in Calvary and clothes us perfect righteousness. This we will do again and again! Then the faithful God will do cleanse us again and again through the Son Jesus Christ. 

What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine (1 John 1:1-4)

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. 1 John 1:1-4 NKJV

No one has seen God but the Son Jesus Christ has manifested the invisible Father in heaven. John uses the phrase ‘from the beginning’ to indicate the full experience of the enrichment of life in Jesus Christ. It includes all the Christians who have been delivered by the grace of God. The new relationship has come and begun through the faith in Jesus Christ and by the touch of God. A new born Christian has become a new member in the family of God, escaping from the hands of the devil by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The salvation comes by the coming of the Son into the hearts of people. Some two thousand years ago, the Son was born in the small and obscure town of Bethlehem and indwelt among the people. He ate together with the people, talked to them, walked on the streets in the land of Palestine, slept often in the mountains and woods, spent time with the outcast, taught all kinds of people especially the twelve disciples, engaged in the intense arguments with the leaders of the nation, performed the miracles that no one had ever done, healed the sick, opened the blind, let the lame walk, let the deaf her, and comforted the numerous.

The Word of life was seen and heard and proclaimed by the disciples. The life contacted and touched the numerous who received Him and entered into the intimate and friendly relationship with Him, breaking up the unwanted and uninvited relationship with the prince of the world. Once entered into the family of God, the unsearchable riches of fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ are available. The relationship is what we are and the fellowship, what we have. The fellowship means what we are experiencing now in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have fellowship with one another, who shares the same life of the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn’t always have to be bible study but chat, coffee time, exercise, sports, walking, whatever it may be. There is just one bundle of life in the universe. How can it be? Yes, it is true just because no one can live alone at all. There may be a thousand and one different roles in life but only one life. We are not in competition or rivalry with one another in defending and advancing the gospel.  

We also have fellowship with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ. What a fellowship it is! We may continually have overflowing life since we have access and privilege to the throne of grace where we are fully enriched through the fellowship. We may continue to be fully satisfied and filled because He pours out love in our hearts by the Spirit. We may be always filled with heavenly joy because He is the fountain of joy. We may be completely and perfectly in peace because He is the father of peace. What a life it is! 

Rejoice!

“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:3-10 NKJV

How can we rejoice in the sufferings? Is it possible to rejoice in the sufferings anyways? If the Scripture says so, then it is absolutely possible to rejoice in the sufferings. First of all, what is suffering? Is it not everything in our midst? Waking up in the morning, going to work, coming home and fixing dinner, washing dishes, taking care of children, doing laundry, exercise, paying bills, cleaning house, etc. Doing those humdrum and commonplace things every day is a challenge but how to do is another. The latter is more difficult and testing than the former even as a Christian.

How do you handle if you were bothered by your very own families? How do you handle if you had to work with someone you don’t like at work? How do you handle if somebody cut you off when you drive? How do you handle if you got a conference call from your kid’s school for discipline? How do you handle if you got a dispute over the telephone bill or something else? How do you handle if didn’t like the dishes your wife fixed? How do you handle if your kids spent too much time for computer games? How do you handle if you didn’t like your church members or pastors?

The first and most frequent response of the people at such surroundings is strongly negative, crying out, “Why does it happen to me?” But the Scripture says exactly the opposite. “Rejoice in the sufferings!” It doesn’t mean that we are supposed to make plastic smiles at the sufferings. The Hebrews tells us that the disciplines are painful and excruciating at the time (Hebrews 12:11). Though it is hurtful, we rejoice in the sufferings because we know that it produces perseverance (stability), stability, character (reliability), and reliability, hope in which we are not ashamed of.  And most of all, we know that the sufferings are the expression of God’s longsuffering love which poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

How can we be sure of that the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit in the midst of troubles and travails? Apostle Paul explains for us how we can be certain of God’s love, even not His wrath. He reminds us of the unfailing fact that God gave His begotten Son Jesus Christ when we were the hostile enemies of Him. God loved us first even when we were still sinners. The demonstration of God’s love has been manifested in the bloody death of the Son Jesus Christ in Calvary. God did reach out His loving hands to people who were aliens and strangers, standing far away from the righteousness of God through not an angel but the Son Jesus Christ.

Paul comparatively concludes the incontestableness of God’s love as Eugene Peterson renders, “Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life!” (Romans 5:9-10 The Message)

We have the undeniable reason to rejoice in the sufferings because we are in Jesus Christ who suffered and died in our place when we were still sinners, the enemies of God. 

The Greatest Miracle of All

“Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” Matthew 11:20-24 NKJV

Do you think that if Jesus Christ performed miracles now just as he had done in the first century, then people would believe in Him? The answer is no. How the people respond to the miracle of raising the dead man Lazarus? They tried to kill not only Jesus Christ but Lazarus. The miracles are not designed for changing the heart of people but for manifesting who the Lord Jesus Christ is. The knowledge of the Lord may lead people to repentance and salvation. The miracles accredited that Jesus Christ came from God (Acts 2:22). Jesus Christ performed many miracles because they were necessary to demonstrate the fact that He was the promised Messiah written in the Law and the Prophets.

However, the miracles were not for amazement and admiration but for repentance and salvation. In due time according to God’s plan and program, God sent His begotten Son Jesus Christ to fulfill the promise of salvation and redemption for humanity and the earth. “But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.” (Acts 3:18-20 NKJV) Repentance means changing the heart and mind to the way God thinks. The miracles of Jesus Christ are shouting the facts that He is the life, the way, and the truth. Jesus Christ is the visible exhibition of the invisible God in heaven. That is what the miracles are telling us eternally.

The greatest miracle of all is the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This undeniable and incontestable fact of resurrection from the dead has been working powerfully and sturdily for bringing a great multitude of people from all tribes, nations, peoples, and tongues out of the darkness and blackness into the marvelous light and salvation of Jesus Christ. The resurrection life is the one that God has been longing to give everyone who believes in the Son Jesus Christ. It is eternal life. “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 NKJV)

The resurrection life is given to anyone who believes in the death of the Son Jesus Christ on the cross in Calvary. Death comes first and resurrection follows. The death of the Son Jesus Christ reveals the fact that God has punished the sin of the world. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV) The death of Jesus Christ is the substitutionary death of all who believes in Him. Christ Jesus didn’t have to die for Himself. He died for those who believe in Him. The resurrection life manifests in the lives of ordinary people through the faith in Jesus Christ. What faith? The faith in the blood of Jesus Christ! It means the death of us in the experience of life going on every day. Living by faith means that we accept that there is nothing in us to contribute or add to earn the gift of God. So, in effect, we live the exchanged life of Jesus Christ who indwells within us forever.

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:1-10 NKJV)

We Died to Sin

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Romans 6:1-2 NKJV

What does it mean that we died to sin? Here ‘we’ indicates the regenerated people, the born again Christians. Something has happened when we believe in Jesus Christ the Lord. What is it? Human beings are born in the fallen state since the fall of Adam. The devil deceived humanity to violate the command of God. The Scripture calls it sin. Whatever that is, humans inherently have a serious problem which leads to death. The death means not only the cessation of physical life but the absence of life like no excitement, joy, vitality, and love. It causes humans to be suffering endlessly from the sense of insignificance, pettiness, emptiness, meaninglessness, and worthlessness. The Scripture calls it the slavery of sin and death. The powerful dark force and relentless heavy burden are upon the shoulder of humans.

But that formidable force has been loosed to those who received Jesus Christ the Lord because the Son is incomparably more powerful than that of the devil (Mark 3:27).  The moment of release and liberation from the slavery and bondage of evil power through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was when we died to sin. Humans are three-fold beings—body, soul, and spirit. The moment Adam fell was the time that the human spirit died by the invasion of the dark force of evil. But now the human spirit is recaptured by the invasion of the Holy Spirit through faith in the Son Jesus Christ. So, as Apostle John puts it, the children of light cannot go on sinning. “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9 NKJV)

However, the human body is not yet redeemed. The Scripture calls it the seat of sin. So, we sin and fail at times until the redemption of our body. “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:23 NKJV) Even if we fail and make errors, the Scripture says that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus because the sons of light were propitiated through the blood of the Son (Romans 8:1).  

With this infallible hope given from the heaven above we persevere and endure and stay under His marvelous grace. “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” (Romans 8:24-25 NKJV) On that day which is much closer and nearer than we first believed, we will be clothed with the heavenly tent which God made by His hand (Romans 13:11, 2 Corinthians 5:1-2).

“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:1-8 NKJV)

When the Holy Spirit Comes

“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. John 16:8-11 NKJV

How does the Holy Spirit convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment? It is not true that the Holy Spirit would directly convict the world because He never comes into the heart of the worldly people, the Scripture says. “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17 NKJV) The Spirit comes into the believers only who have received Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior.

So, the Holy Spirit indirectly convicts the world through the saints who live in the midst of the worldly people as the salt and light of the world. The world is guilty of sin, because they do not believe in Jesus Christ the Lord. How may the world be convicted and understand that they are guilty because they do not believe in Jesus Christ? They think that believing in God is nonsense and noise in their career pursuits. They think it is senseless and thoughtless to believe in God in an effort to extol all the human achievements. So, the humanists conclude that it is ridiculous and ludicrous if they believe there is a God who sent His begotten son to save the world.

In these harsh circumstances, the saints in the midst of pressures who are called by grace live to demonstrate that it is absolutely possible to believe in Jesus Christ. The life of saints tells exactly the opposite of what the world insists on the existence of God. Here we see how the Holy Spirit indirectly works for the saints to convict the world of sin. While the saints are under tremendously pressured, the indwelling Spirit sustains and strengthens them to stand firm on the rock of truth in Jesus Christ.

Secondly, the Spirit convicts the world of righteousness, because Jesus Christ the Son went to the Father and the world would see Him no more. Righteousness means the sense of worth or wholeness. Every person wants to be whole from the down deep inside. Humans are puzzled by the fact that no matter how much they achieve and possess in the material level they still feel futile and fruitless and even empty. They are bewildered by the fact that they feel further and further away from satisfaction. What is wrong in humanity? All the efforts and endeavors put to earn the sense of worth fail to produce the fruits. Just look around the people who dedicate to work hard and yet invariably frustrate and defeated after all.

In the midst of futility and frustration, the world may see some peculiar people who are standing firm righteously and blamelessly in all the circumstances. These people may intrigue the world how could it be possible for them to stand in peace and serenity although they may be much less talented and possessing than they are. That is the exact picture of what the born-again Christians look like since they have been propitiated by the death of Jesus Christ with blood. Genuine Christians are justified through the faith in the Son Jesus Christ and have continual access to the throne of grace. The Spirit teaches and enlightens and reminds the children of God from within that they have been redeemed and liberated to make free indeed (John 8:31-32).

Finally, the Spirit convicts the world of judgment, because the prince of the dark world is already judged. Although the devil is seemingly winning and captivating in human affairs, it is not true at all. God pronounced the irrevocable verdict that the devil has been cursed and disgraced since he had rebelled and contended against God (Genesis 3:14). The devil has been fallen from the position as the highest angel (Isaiah 14:12-21). In due time, through the death of the Son Jesus Christ, God has judged the devil. He is the son of perdition, of total hopelessness, and of complete defeat.

Satan the devil is not in dual against God but under the full submission of God. He is nothing but one of creatures. The devil cannot work independently without the permission of God. No matter what the devil may try to achieve in human affairs he cannot do anything at all. He is always defeated and humiliated even at the moment he thought he won.

That is the reason why the worldly people are experiencing terrible frustrations and insignificance and futility after all they tried hard. Out of ignorance and witlessness, they follow the footsteps of the devil. The Holy Spirit convinces the saints in the world that there is no condemnation even in the midst of failures and errors in Jesus Christ. So, although the Christians are pressed and attacked hard by the fiery darts of evil one they are able to quench them through the Spirit within (Ephesians 6:12).

Here is the full assurance of victory uttered by Apostle Paul. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10 NKJV)

Rivers of Living Water Flow From Within

“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39 NKJV

Jesus Christ the Lord invites all people to come unto Him and drink. Jesus Christ invites particularly anyone who thirsts to come unto Him in order to give eternal life. Jesus does not specify what criteria of thirst like academic success, marriage, promotion, healing from disease, friendship, or achievements. Jesus invites anyone who thirsts. If you thirst for anything, then you are eligible for the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ understands who we are and what we need the most. He also knows and understands that we humans are essentially and fundamentally thirsty at all. Most of all, the Lord Jesus knows what the best gift of all is for us. What is it? It is the Holy Spirit. The blessed promise given to Patriarch Abraham was but the Holy Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:14).

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:10-14 NKJV)

Jesus knew that the people were tired and weary after the great day of the feast. During the feast people were excited and thrilled. However, after all the excitement and uplifted spirit had gone, they felt unfilled, empty, and unoccupied. Right there when the people needed the most, Jesus Christ the Lord stood and cried out, offering the great invitation of all to come unto Him and drink.

The promise of our Lord Jesus Christ is beyond what we expect. Note that the promise is not limited to the problem itself, because it touches incomparably deeper level of humanity, even the cause of thirst. Yes, anyone who comes unto Jesus Christ and drink shall be given a marvelous gift from heaven above. How could that happen? Jesus Christ says that if anyone believes in Him and out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John immediately made a comment that it indicates the Holy Spirit.

Note that the promised Spirit will be given to those who not only come unto Him but believe in Him. Only through faith the promise of God can be fulfilled. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV)

What does it happen to the person who has received the promised Spirit? Jesus says out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Do not miss the point which it is not from without but from within. There is nothing that can quench the human thirst from without. No material gain or mental serenity can extinguish the ever mounting and intensifying thirst in you. The world says that there is if you dig in further, but it is a lie.

Eugene Peterson rendered like this, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.” Imagine rivers of living water flow from within you and me! Jesus Christ tells us that we will be glowing and shining right where we are, not because we have received some magical power, but because we have been called to be the praise of His glory in our midst.

Love Fulfills the Law

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-20 NKJV

How has Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law and the Prophets? How has Jesus kept the Law and Prophets? The answer is in love the Son Jesus Christ obeyed the Father God. Jesus Christ was the Lord of all and given power even to create another universe and yet he obeyed the Father even to the point of death. That’s the secret of keeping the Law and the Prophets. The Law and the Prophets represent the holy character of God. They cannot be broken and neither violated. They shall stand as they are forever.

The Law makes us sin all the more. Sounds nonsense! But it is true. Apostle Paul describes his own experience in Romans 7 that what he would not do he did and what he would do he did not. He cried out “What a wretched man I am!” (Romans 7:24) That is the reason God has given the Law to His people. God knew that it was impossible for them to keep the Law of God. God gave them to reveal the reality of wickedness and evilness in humanity.

But many a people think that they can keep the Law by trying hard like the Pharisees and scribes. They considered the regular fasting and prayers and offerings as the fulfilment of the Law. They made numerous regulations and precepts in order to keep the Law of Moses. You don’t have to break many laws to be a law-breaker. By breaking a single law, you are already a law-breaker. They broke the law of God to honor their parents by making the precept of ‘Corban’ in order to evade the responsibility (Mark 7:11-12).

Although they made tremendous efforts in an attempt to keep the Law of God, they were hypocrites. Jesus Christ pronounces that we must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. What does it mean? Only righteousness acceptable and satisfactory in the sight of God is the righteousness from heaven above.

“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:2-14 NIV)

Only when we are clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we can enter into the throne of grace with full confidence and boldness without fear. Only when we are righteous before God, we can keep the Law and the Prophets in perfection. It is no longer we who keep the Law but Christ in us does. The Law of God says that you cannot keep it by yourself but can do in Christ Jesus the Lord.

Jesus Christ the Son has fulfilled the Law and the Prophets in love which He obeyed the Father unto death. Love is the most powerful weapon of all to fulfill the Law. In fact, the Ten Commandments are the commentary for the true love of God. Love must be spelled out so that we may understand what the true love is. Likewise, we can keep the Law of God in love, the love which we have received first through the Son Jesus Christ.

The Truth Shall Set You Free

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32 NKJV

Humans yearningly long for freedom from deep inside. History proves that even the brutal slavery system could not get hold of the explosive desire of humans for freedom. We are made and born free from the beginning that nothing can steal the freedom of humans. However, physical freedom is not enough for humans to be truly free. We are of mind and spirit as well as of body. So, the mind and spirit must be free to be completely free.

Jesus Christ the Lord is the way to total freedom. There is no other way than through Him. How can it be happen that we can be free through the Lord Jesus Christ? In the Gospel of John Chapter 8, Jesus Christ tells us how.

First, if we abide in His word, we indeed His disciples. What does it mean to abide in His word? Abiding in His word means obeying Him. It includes reading, studying, meditating, contemplating, and understanding His word. Obedience is the key to abide in His word.

If we continually obey His word, then we shall know the truth. Do not miss to note that obedience leads to know the truth, not the other way around. We cannot know the truth unless first we abide in His word.

That is why the flesh and the world never know the truth because they do not obey the word of Jesus Christ. Apostle John aptly says so, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19 NIV)

Here the truth does not mean the religious truth like the existence of God. It includes all the truths about the universe and humanity which God made in the beginning. For instance, what man is, the purpose of living, the reason why man dies, what happens after this life, the purpose of the earth and universe, how we can abide in His word, etc. Jesus Christ is the truth. He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1, John 1:1-3).

Then at last the truth shall set us free. We cannot know all. But when we abide in His word what we do know, we shall know the truth and the truth shall not fail to make us free indeed. When we obey Christ Jesus the Lord, He is able to set us free. Yes, if and only if we obey Him and His words, then we can be set free.

Why are we indeed free if the truth set us free? All humans are at war within. Our enemy is not flesh and blood but the principalities, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). Jesus Christ is incomparably stronger than the powers of this dark world and the spiritual hosts of wickedness.

Jesus Christ told a tiny parable regarding how He would rescue us from the hands of the devil. “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.” (Mark 3:27 NKJV) Jesus Christ came to earth to deliver and liberate us from the real enemy of humanity the devil. That’s the true freedom. That’s the good news. 

Earthen Vessels

Why did Jesus Christ perform the miracles on the earth? Is it to impress people how much he could do through the miracles? Of course not! Then, why did he raise the dead, feed five thousands with five loaves and two fish, drive out demons, give sight to the blind, and heal the lame, paralytic, and many others? It is not for the people to believe in Him although it contributes that He was the promised Messiah. As a matter of fact, just a handful of people believed in Him though he demonstrated so many miracles in His earthly ministry. At the culmination of His messianic ministry on the earth in Calvary, all the disciples fled away from Him except a group of women.

The main reason our Lord Jesus Christ did perform the miracles is for the revelation of who He really was. Although the miracles had happened physically, the spiritual meanings are more important. The miracle of five loaves and two fish reveals that Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life in whom everything in the universe sustains life. Jesus Christ defeated the devil by quoting the scripture, “Man does not live on bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) Jesus Christ is the Word (John 1:1).

There was a time when humans ate food which didn’t come from the earth but the heaven. Forty years of wilderness life was the only case in human history. It wasn’t a day, week, month, or even year, but forty years. God rained the manna from the heaven above every day except the Sabbath day consistently and faithfully. It pictures how humans can truly live through the manna. Jesus Christ is pouring out His life unto those who believes in Him.

The miracle of changing water into wine reveals that Jesus Christ is the giver of joy and happiness in life and makes it bear fruits. The symbol of water in the miracle indicates commonplace, humdrum, colorless, ordinary, and dull life. However, wine represents exciting, colorful, vital, fulfilling, rich, and glorious life. When we obey Him in our midst, it bears the fruits of joy, peace, and love within and without by the touch of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

We are just earthen vessels that carry the treasures of the glorious gospel. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV) There is nothing, absolutely nothing, for us to contribute to earn the righteousness of God. From the beginning to the end, we totally and completely rely on the work of Christ Jesus the Lord through faith. That’s how we live eternal life now and forever.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV)

O Love That Will Not Me Go

Why do we give thanks to the Lord always? Are there not enough troubles and problems in our midst? But why does the Scripture consistently say that we must not fail to give thanks to the Lord in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Are we sure that we have enough reasons to give thanks to Him? Or, are we deceiving ourselves by being piously grateful in appearance and yet confused and uncertain about His love?

We shall be eternally thankful for the Lord because He loved us first. His unfailing and eternal love was demonstrated on the cross in Calvary where His begotten Son Jesus Christ died to take away the sin of the world and give a new life anyone who believes in Him. Apostle Paul pertinently described the love of God in Romans Chapter 5.

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5 NKJV)

Again, Paul says the same thing in Thessalonians Chapter 2.

“But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 NKJV)

Who are we that the Lord of glory laid down His life when we were still sinners? We have nothing to contribute and earn His grace. We were totally lost and dead in our sins and transgressions. We were the enemies of God who followed the spirit of age, the devil.

But in due time God sent His begotten Son Jesus Christ to release us from the prison of bondage and slavery and guide into the kingdom of light, so whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life forever (John 3:16).

What is it to give thanks to God in practice? It’s loving one another. Not all saints are lovable. But we shall love one another not because they are lovable but because they are our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Apostle John blatantly and bluntly says so, or we are liars.

“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” (1 John 4:20-21 NKJV)

"O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.  by George Mattheson

STOP!

Why do we wake up in the morning and go to bed in the evening every day? Why do we go to work and come home every day? Why do we eat three meals every day? The answer is that’s life. No one can refuse those daily activities persistently. Those who can are called the dead. Anyone who is alive cannot escape the daily routines.  

The next question then may be why we have to do repetitively and continually. Why can we take a real good meal once a week and sustain the rest of days? All things are the daily reminders and teachers for us to learn something. What is it? It keeps reminding us that we are limited and fragile. The Scripture says that we were formed out of the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). Since we are dust, we shall go back to dust (Genesis 3:19). We are made and designed that way.

Prophet Isaiah said so.

“A voice says, “Cry out.”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All people are like grass,
    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. Isiah 40:6 NIV

James says the same thing.

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:14 NIV

But it is not a curse but blessing and sanctification for humanity. In this way, God draws everyone to come unto Him and have eternal life in Him. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:44 NIV) Although it is true that we are powerlessly bound and fragile in time and space, we humans can access to the throne of grace and have His life in full in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:7, Colossians 2:2).

That limit and predicament in our humanity open the marvelous opportunities to learn what we really are and why we wake up, go to work, come home, go to bed, and wake up over and over again. Have you ever driven on highways without any stop and felt the need to stop for a moment? Yes, we need to stop and see what is really going on around us. If there are no challenges at all in life, then how can we learn what the excitements and enjoyments of life are?

That humdrum and routine things we face every day are the challenges, aren’t they? Was it okay to wake up this morning? Was it okay to drive for work? What about the people at work? Were they lovable and pleasurable? We have to face it though every day. That’s the STOP signs designed by the loving Father in heaven who cares for us like the dear children.

At a stop sign, we stop and look around and then go if clear. God puts the huge stop signs ahead of us down the road every day, so that we may not fall into the trap of eternal separation from God. Putting the stop signs is not the act of harshness but that of kindness and gentleness. We at times pay no attention to the stop signs either in ignorance or intention. Consequently, we shall pay the price for it, probably fines.

Our God is eternally long-suffering and enduring that He never ends posting the gentle and kind stop signs for us to come unto Him and have eternal life in the Son Jesus Christ the Lord (John 3:16). At each stop sign, we may stop and see Jesus Christ who endured the cross, scorning its shame, for the joy set before Him and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

Cheerful Giver

Why is church here on the earth? Church is to be called to declare the gospel and manifest the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the world in darkness. It’s obvious that church is not building but the people who are called by God’s grace. Church is the frontline battlefield to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ for the people who are in the shadow of death. This is the ultimate goal of the church of Christ on earth. There is no need to set up the new goals and even stratagem of the church of Christ. It’s because the goal and strategy have been set by the Head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ. The goal of church is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, the strategy, the Holy Spirit run the church of Christ according to the will of God, and the tactic, church obey whatever the Spirit moves and directs.

How could we achieve the goal of the church of Christ? Of course, it is not through the church-invented programs like disciple making ministry and anything else but through the transformation of the people within and without by the grace of Jesus Christ the Lord. Yes, transformation and change manifested and demonstrated among the people who are touched and contacted by the gospel of Christ Jesus in the midst of just humdrum ordinary lives.

For example, Christians are willing to give than to receive because Jesus Christ laid down His life for the peoples of nations. Jesus Christ is always and eternally giving everything out unto anyone in need. If comfort is in need, then He gives comfort, consolation, consolation, mercy, mercy, light, light, power, power, understanding, understanding, love, love, peace, peace, joy, joy, strength, strength, and everything. Jesus Christ invites anyone to come unto Him and drink the living water springing up to eternal life (John 4:13-14). Christians receive freely so much, so give freely and cheerfully (Matthew 10:8).

What we receive from the heaven above is righteousness through the blood of Christ Jesus (Romans 3:21). We are redeemed and liberated from the bondage of sin and death (Ephesians 1:7). There is no condemnation to those who are in Jesus Christ the Lord (Romans 8:1). We are set free by the word of truth (John 8:31,32).

Therefore, Christians live now and forever on the completely new arrangement of life just as our Lord Jesus Christ lived on the earth. The new terms of life is “I in Christ, Christ in me.” We individually are united with Jesus Christ by the faith in His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:1-11). We belong to Christ in body, soul, and spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). So, we obey Him everything, even a breath of life. We live in Him, through Him, by Him, on Him, for Him, and with Him forever.

That’s the new way of living for Christians. We no longer live by the standard way of living in the world -- rivalry and competition. Apostle Paul admonishes the saints in the first century and us in the twenty-first century. “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7 NKJV)

Shun Any Bitterness

How can we overcome bitterness, resentment, repulsiveness toward our brothers in Jesus Christ the Lord? The first and foremost significant step is always to take heed to the words of Jesus Christ the Lord which are the supreme and ultimate authority on humanity. He is the begotten Son of Immortal God the Creator. In Him, evermore abundant, full, and overflowing are grace, mercy, life, and truth. Jesus Christ is the way. No one can come to the Father God except through the Son Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

What our Lord Jesus Christ tells is the mystery of life. For example, Jesus Christ says, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3 NASB) This is always the starting point by seriously taking the word of Jesus Christ. And then we would not fall into the sin of being self-righteous, judgmental, and hateful upon our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

Whatever the reasons that may be, judging brothers is sin. Why? Simply because we are not God, but His creatures yet the beloved children. Trusting in Jesus Christ and His word and being strengthened by it, we can flee any bitterness and anger, even what we think it is right.

God is just and compassionate forever! All the vengeance is God’s. No one can judge justly and compassionately except God and the Son Jesus Christ. “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19 NASB)

Jesus Christ is the great example as Apostle Peter said. “… and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” (1 Peter 2:23 NASB) Jesus Christ is the only Person, the Lamb of God, who is able to open the book and its seals.

“I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?" And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; and one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals." And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth." (Revelation 5:1-10 NASB)

God Initiates All Our Prayers

Prayer is initiated by God, not by us. Many may think that we initiate prayer for God to work. No, it’s just exactly opposite. God draws us first to pray and we respond to His drawing and begin to pray. It is true from the beginning. It is shown in Genesis Chapter 3. God initiated the first conversation with the fallen Adam and Eve by making the visitation to them. This is called the prayer of Adam and Eve, just talking with God honestly. Adam and Even hid themselves from God. But God initiated the conversation and led them to pray. What our God wants us to pray is to say the same thing what He said with Him. That’s real prayer, talking to God honestly and openly.

Prophet Daniel started prayer for his people to return to the holy land based on what he learned from the prophecy of Jeremiah (Daniel 9:1-3). The prophecy was for the people of Israel that they would return to their own land after the seventy years of captivity in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:1-14). God must have moved the heart of Daniel when he read the scriptures regarding the return of his people. Then Daniel began to pray to God that He would answer what He had promised through the Prophet Jeremiah. Daniel’s prayer is recorded in the Book of Daniel Chapter 9. More than that, when Daniel prayed God revealed the remarkable revelation of seventy weeks in which God would do beyond the return of his people till the coming the Messiah for the first time and the Day of the Lord, the second coming.

Patriarch Abraham was told that God would destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God’s judgment plan caught Abraham’s attention to start praying for his nephew Lot. Abraham was so touched by the Lord’s revelation that he earnestly pleaded to save the cities if God found ten righteous people. Why did he stop at ten? Well, he was drawn by the Spirit of God to stop praying at ten. This is a remarkable account after the conversation between the Lord and Abraham. It says, “As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place.” (Genesis 18:33 NASB) Wasn’t it that Abraham spoke to God, pleading for mercy? No, the Scripture said that God was speaking to Abraham. That’s true prayer. We listen what God is saying to us, not telling Him what he needs to do.

Our Lord Jesus Christ lived such a prayerful life all the time. He said so, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19 NASB) Jesus Christ was always listening to the Father through prayer and obeyed what the Father wanted Him to do. When some Greeks wished to see Jesus at the feast in Jerusalem, Jesus Christ said the remarkable words, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” (John 12:23 NASB) Our Lord Jesus Christ was always in prayer though which He communicated with the Father in spirit. By this, He knew exactly when He must have died.

Is it not encouraging by the fact that God draws us to pray in order to fulfill His promises? Some believers must pray for God to start His promised works to be done. One prayer which has yet unanswered we are drawn to pray is “Your kingdom come, your will be done as it is in heaven!” We are called and privileged to pray for that. Won’t you be thankful and join in that prayer which many saints and believers have been praying for centuries over centuries? God initiates all our prayers and will answer them all in due time. 

Will Be Given More Abundantly

Summer has gone and winter comes. Snow over snow! Temperature is below zero. Who has made all these? Why winter comes after summer consistently? Who commands snow to fall? Why do the leaves of trees fall? Who commands the water in tree to be gathered in the roots?  We know that there is a God who runs the universe according his pleasure and will (Genesis 1:1, John 1:3). Under the freezing temperatures, all the grass and plants and trees will be like as barren and dry as dead. But we know for sure that spring will come and overcome the powerful barrenness and dryness of winter. Grass will turn to green and plants and trees will be viable and alive again.

Nature says a tremendous truth in life. Have you ever seen that nature disobeys the invisible command of God? Have you ever seen that summer is sluggishly stretching throughout the winter time? Have you ever seen that winter is stubbornly refusing spring to come? Never and ever! Nature obeys just exactly as it is told. It is a great reminder for human beings to be warned again and again that there is the law of life, the law of universe, even the law of God which cannot be breakable and changeable.

However, human beings are so foolish and stubborn by and large that we do not respond to the law of life like nature does. We blindly and ignorantly and largely intentionally reject the marvelous revelations of truth and reality in which nature demonstrates every day. Apostle John is absolutely right on that. “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19 NKJV) Prophet Isaiah cried out regarding his peoples’ stubborn stupidity.

“Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!

For the Lord has spoken:

“I reared children and brought them up,

but they have rebelled against me.

The ox knows its master,

the donkey its owner’s manger,

but Israel does not know,

my people do not understand.”

Woe to the sinful nation,

a people whose guilt is great,

a brood of evildoers,

children given to corruption!

They have forsaken the Lord;

they have spurned the Holy One of Israel

and turned their backs on him. Isaiah 1:2-4 NIV

The Lord Jesus Christ rebuked the unfaithful peoples on the face of the earth. “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” (Matthew 17:17 NIV) Nevertheless, our God is stretching out His hands all day long to reach out the fallen race. “But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” (Romans 10:21 NIV)

But our God is merciful and compassionate. So, whosoever returns to Him, changing his mind and heart to accept the truth of God will never fail to receive His unfathomable grace that from within rivers of living water will flow abundantly (John 7:38). ““Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24 NIV)

That kind of God we have and believe. Jesus Christ the Lord revealed the marvelous truth regarding the eternal riches of God. “Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” (Matthew 13:12 NIV) Our God is forever giving, yes the giver of everything. Did you know who commands one of the essential organs in your body, heart, to beat every second nonstop throughout your lifetime? Our God is pouring out truth after truth both in nature and scriptures.

But only those who take heed to the Lord Jesus Christ and His words will be given more and more. Such a people will never be in want even though they might go through the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4). This is the law of life and the mystery of life. There is no other way to have life in Jesus Christ apart from God. As Hebrews tells us, let us not forget this great admonition. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV)