The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ Leads to Salvation and Reconciliation (Part 3): Reconciliation [Romans 5:6-11]

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6-11)

 

        Why is there a need to reconcile with one another after having conflicts and arguments? Can’t we just remove and forget people we are not compatible with as family members, friends, etc., and make new ones along the way? The answer to this is “absolutely no.”  The main reason for this is that we have been designed by God to love and receive love from others.  As each person is part of the body of Christ, all humans are meant to be connected with each other.  It is challenging to live without love.  I always received love, mostly, especially from my father.  After having conflict with my dad, and I usually deserve to get told off, he always reconciles with me a bit later.  He is not a firm believer like I am, but he illustrates God’s love.

We have explored the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the salvation we receive from Him spiritually, but what is the core reason of these? The reason that Jesus sacrificed His life for us is to offer us salvation through Him, but also to offer us the way to know and believe the Sovereign God, who is our Creator and Heavenly Father.  People had to carry the ark of the covenant wherever they went to stay in touch with God, and temples were the only place that the high priests could meet with Him and offer Him sacrifices to be cleansed of their sins and the sins of their community once a year in ancient times (Exodus 25:1-22; 30:10). 

However, as the temple curtains were torn when Jesus was crucified, God’s presence became available and accessible to everybody anywhere (Matthew 27:50-53).  Furthermore, Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit, who is also known as God’s Spirit and the Spirit of truth, to His followers to guide them on their journey with Him (John 14:26; 16:7-15).  The journey with Christ is knowing and believing in God through faith in Christ because Jesus is the exact image and representation of God (Colossians 1:15-23; Hebrews 1:3).  Although God is watching and looking after us all the time, we just need to set time aside for Him and spend time with Him through reading the Bible, God’s word, and through prayer, our conversation with God, even if it is challenging.  These are essential spiritual practices to grow in Jesus spiritually.

Meditate on 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, and ask yourself these questions: “Although I have been saved spiritually, am I truly following Jesus through reading God’s word and through prayer?” “How can I improve my spiritual growth in Jesus?”

 

The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ Leads to Salvation and Reconciliation (Part 2): Salvation [Romans 5:6–11]

 “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6-11)

 

How many of us got saved physically? I was not in any dangerous situation except two circumstances: I carefully walked when getting out of the car because of the edge of the cliff when my family and I went to one of the Korean churches, and I quickly opened all windows when I accidentally cooked instant noodles in a microwave because of the much smoke.  These come from basic and common knowledge.  Another situation that could have been dangerous was that when I was young, I was playing on the road, even while a car was trying to go somewhere, and my father quickly grabbed me and told me to go to the family because the car was trying to get out.

The theological definition of salvation is deliverance from sin and eternal consequences by God’s redemptive work through Jesus Christ.  Sin has been originated from Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, and his consequence was separation from God (Genesis 3:1-23).  As the Hebrew term for ‘Adam’ is humankind, we naturally followed in his footsteps, even without us knowing.  Due to this, the second ‘Adam,’ Jesus Christ came down to the earth and sacrificed Himself for our sins.  The reason that only He could be sacrificed for us was that He was entirely both God and human (Romans 5:12-21).  As sin separates us from God and we have tendency to follow our desires, instead of God’s, we cannot ever done with sin, regardless of how many sacrifices we make, as our desires naturally creep back in.  In ancient time, high priests could offer specific sacrifices in specific ways to take their sins and sins of the many once a year (Leviticus 16:1-34).  However, sins could creep back in and high priests have to wait once a year to cleanse them.  This repetition shows that people are inadequate to be done with sin once for all.  Therefore, Jesus became human to take sins of the whole world away once for all. Although He was tempted, He could not ever sin because He was entirely God (Hebrews 2:14-18).  Overall, Jesus Christ has been our Lord and Saviour since AD 33 or approximately 2000 years ago, until forever (Romans 3:21-26).

     “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under             heaven by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

 Salvation in Christ means eternal life through faith in Him.  Nonetheless, this does not only mean that we can just do everything we want and wait to go to heaven at the end of our physical lives.  We have to commit our lives in following Jesus, even if life gets challenging and tough.  The cost of following Him is to sacrifice our natural desires and devote our lives to God through faith in Christ (Mark 8:34-38; Luke 14:25-33).

Meditate on 1 Corinthians 15:1-58, and ask yourself this question: “Have I received salvation in Christ but have not been doing anything about it? How can I devote myself to God through faith in Christ?”

The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ Leads to Salvation and Reconciliation (Part 1): Sacrifice [Romans 5:6-11]

 “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6-11)

How many of us are doing everything we want to do without a single sacrifice? Although we desire to live by accomplishing everything we desire to do, sacrifice(s) has to be made, unfortunately. If sacrifice(s) has to be made, we have to choose which is for the greater purpose. For example, I used to have a health issue when I was staying over at Waiheke to attend Waiheke Island Baptist Church. Although I do not know about it now, I had to choose between staying over there continually, regardless of it, and waking up around 4:30 am on Sundays to attend there. I chose the latter, even though I thought about leaving there at some stage. The reason that I chose to wake up around 4:30 am for the church has been based on how much I love the church community and God. I want to serve there continually by taking care of the sound desk for His kingdom glory.

It is natural to sacrifice our lives for those we love dearly. However, Jesus Christ sacrificed His life on the cross for all humans, including future generations, even though all of them did not follow Him faithfully. Although He prayed to God, His Father, that His sacrificial action would be taken away from Him to the point where his sweat was like drops of blood, Jesus faithfully obeyed His Father. He knew He would be with His father in heaven again (Hebrews 12:2). While Jesus was on earth, He only focused on His primary purpose of being on earth, which is to do the will of His father (John 4:31-34). God’s will for Him was teaching and discipling people to know that there is the heavenly Father, who loves them unconditionally (c.f. Psalm 136:1-26), and to join God’s Kingdom, which mainly includes following His way (c.f. Isaiah 55:8-9.'

Although we may not sacrifice our lives drastically for others’ well-being like what Jesus did, unless saving someone from a car accident, we need to have an interest in others first before our own and sacrifice in small things, such as donating items or money, time, energy, etc (Philippians 2:1-4). For example, if I want to spend time with a person/people I love, even if it is quite far away, I go anywhere to meet them. Another example is that my love language is in giving, so I like to treat others to food, purchasing for others with my money and give my items I do not really want/need anymore for free. Jesus commanded His followers to take up their crosses by sacrificing their lives and following Him, so they would have secure lives spiritually (Mark 8:34-38). Nevertheless, self-care is also essential, especially to those who sacrifice their lives to serve others for the greater good. Otherwise, we would not have any energy to serve others. Jesus also has stated that the burden of following and obeying Him is light, as these come out of believers’ disciple-relationship with Jesus and He is gentle and humble in heart (Matthew 11:28-30).

Meditate on Philippians 2:1-4 and Matthew 11:28-30, and ask yourself this question: “Am I balancing the need to sacrifice for others and the need to care for myself?"

The Most Important Commandments (Part 3): Loving One Another as Ourselves

 “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating.  Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”” (Mark 12:28-31)

Love transforms the hearts of people to be more affectionate towards one another.  Although we know this as much, we have conditional love.  We love people to be more nice and kind towards themselves, but if they do not love us back, no matter how hard we try, our love towards them may fail or become weaker.  The worst case scenario is we tend to forget and ignore each other to the point where we forget their existence.  Loving others unconditionally is challenging, but we have to keep practicing it.

It was because of God’s unconditional love, He sent His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to be sacrificed for our sins (John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:9-10).  Although we do not have to literally sacrifice our lives to show our love for others like Jesus did, we can learn from God, even it takes long time. 

Hence, the best practice for loving others unconditionally is probably loving others as ourselves. We love and value ourselves.  If we treat others how we want to be treated but without having expectations of others treating us back, we are practicing unconditional love.  This means we actually have to value others above ourselves (Philippians 2:3-4).  Secondly, we have to listen more than we respond, even though this may require continual practices.  Then, we can respond appropriately.  For example, God is always there in heaven, waiting for us to come to Him in prayer through faith in Christ and do His will through the Holy Spirit’s leading.  God always has wanted us to do His will in entire devotion, but the fact that God has given us free will to do anything we want is that true love cannot be coerced.  God can do anything but the one thing He cannot do is coercive and forced love.  God has the identity of true love, instead of just illustrating His unconditional love.  As God has created us to be His image-bearers, we have to show His unconditional love toward every person we meet.  Otherwise, it claims that we are not God’s children and do not know Him, as loving one another unconditionally is the perfect illustration of God’s dwelling in us (1 John 4:7-21).  Jesus even has said that we ought to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48; Luke 6:27-36).

Meditate on 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 and Romans 13:8-10, and ask yourself these questions: “Am I illustrating God’s unconditional love towards everyone I meet? If not, what do I have to do and let go of, to show His unconditional love?”

The Most Important Commandments (Part 2): Loving God Wholeheartedly

 

The Most Important Commandments (Part 2): Loving God Wholeheartedly 

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating.  Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”” (Mark 12:28-31)

 

Everyone may know that God is the Sovereign Creator.  As they believe God has given them their life and surely know there is only one chance to live, some may live how they want without their belief and knowledge about God except in the forgiveness of God.  In the other words, they live their lives according to their natural desire, and only when desperate situations and bad outcomes happen, they run to God, asking for His forgiveness.  Afterwards, they return back living their lives how they want.

As God has created everyone with His unconditional love, our response should be loving Him back wholeheartedly.  However, as He is invisible, loving Him wholeheartedly is challenging.  Therefore, it is recommended to love Him wholeheartedly, based on the goodness and faithfulness of God.  This does not mean that we should love Him to get benefits, regardless of what we do.  Instead, it means we should love Him because of His goodness and faithfulness.  God illustrated these in number of ways.  For example, He used Moses to deliver the Israelites out from the enslavement in Egypt, and God also used him to feed them with bread and water (Exodus 14:1-31, 16:1-17:6).

According to Jeremiah 32:17-19 and Romans 11:33-36, God is the Sovereign Creator, who can do anything anytime with His unfailing love.  Besides all of us have been created by God, one of the most radical goodness of God is Jesus’ sacrifice to offer us eternal life in Him (John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:9-10).  This means that we can have eternal life, even on the earth, by accepting and believing in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and do whatever the Spirit of God calls us to do (Romans 10:9-10; Galatians 6:7-10).  Furthermore, He has given believers the right to become God’s children because of their acceptance of Him (John 1:12-13).  Although we know we are not perfect in our own eyes and by worldly standards, God see us as perfect creations because we have been made into righteousness of God by the blood of Christ, and He has been always ready to do more (Colossians 1:21-23; Romans 1:16-17; c.f. Ephesians 3:14-21).  What Jesus asks of us in return is to love God wholeheartedly as the first priority (Mark 12:30).  Out of our love for Him, we can do good works in Christ God has already prepared for us to do (c.f. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3; c.f. Ephesians 2:8-10).

Meditate on 1 Corinthians 13 and Ephesians 2:1-10, and ask yourself these questions: “How devotedly I have done anything in Christ? How to make loving God as our first priority and do things for God’s Kingdom Glory out of our entire devotion?”