The sting of death is sin, and
the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers
and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to
the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in
vain.’ – 1
Corinthians 15:55-58 NIV
Most of us know that
God is the Ultimate Judge of all living (James 4:12) but some of us tend to take it very
seriously. For instance, we worry that we are going to make wrong move or
decision that is not or contrary to the will of God, and we dwell with this
thought all the time. If this happens, we cannot function as the children of
God properly, due to the fact that we lose our confidence to walk and stay in
relationship with God. Because we think God is the Ultimate Judge so seriously,
we forget God is the Forgiving God. Therefore, when we once sin after we became
the children of God, we may believe that our life is all over. We might return
to our natural passions and desires, and live according to those ways, or we
might sacrifice ourselves to death.
However, the truth is
that Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for our sins already (Colossians 2:13-15), which means we do not have to bear the consequences
of our sin at the end of the age or our physical lives. Moreover, He
resurrected three days after His crucifixion (Luke 24:1-8) and God has given us eternal life through Him
(Hebrews 2:14-15). This basically means that God would
resurrect us in the glorious bodies at the end of our physical lives as long as
we have been born in the Spirit of God (John 3:1-8) and believed in Jesus Christ during our lives
on Earth (1 Corinthians
15:50-55; Romans 8:1-17; John 11:25-26). “For
the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) How can we born in the Spirit? We are able to
be born ourselves in the Spirit of God by starting to believe in Jesus Christ.
After acknowledging that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord—since He is the
perfect image of God (Hebrews 1:3)—and we have been baptized—just like Jesus
Christ was baptized (Matthew 3:13-17)—we fully become the children of God (John 1:12-13). Why do we have to be baptized? did not John 1:12-13 clearly say that once we have received Him and
believed in His name, we become the children of God? Yes, but Baptism is
necessary because Baptism represents us that we have died to ourselves—our natural
passions, desires, pleasures, and will—and then, we let the Spirit of God to
control us from that point on (Romans 6:3-11). Why God came down into the earth from heaven,
as Jesus Christ, only to save us spiritually? The main reason for this is that
God has loved us from the beginning and He has created us to be His image (Genesis 1:26-31) and His children (Ephesians 1:4-6). In other words, because God has loved us, He
wants to restore us back to Him so that He has given us eternal life through
faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16-18; 1 John 4:9-10). Out of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I believe
the crucifixion and the resurrection is so important, that I am already
thinking about making a book called “The Crucifixion + The Resurrection of
Jesus Christ” when I become a Christian Writer.
[Jesus Christ] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality
with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself
nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And
being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to
death—even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name
that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11)
Therefore, we ought to
remember that God is not only the Ultimate Judge, but He is Forgiving God as
well. If we only confess our sins to Him, He is able to forgive us (1 John 1:8-2:2). Hence, we do not have to be stressed about
our sins. In fact, the angels of God rejoice each time we repent (Luke 15:1-10). In addition to this, repentance should be
the joyous act of our lives because we are willing to become more holy and
righteous in Jesus Christ and to stay in an intimate relationship with God than
our previous times with Him. This does not mean that we purposely can live
according to our natural passions, desires, pleasures, and will until the end
of our physical lives and start to confess our sins to Him before we die. This
is because God looks at our heart (1 Samuel 16:7) and He is going to judge us according to our
deeds as well (Mark 8:34-38). Furthermore, there are two kinds of law—the
law of God and the law of the world. The law of the world demands us to forget
about God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, or to think that we literally
have to try hardest to please God by doing good deeds, in order to go to the
kingdom of heaven at end of our physical lives. However, the Spirit of God
urges to change our heart from the natural world into godliness (2 Peter 1:3-11; Titus 2:11-14). This is because we are
saved spiritually through faith in Christ Jesus Christ rather than our deeds.
Because of this, truly-devoted followers of Jesus tend to do good deeds through
faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:3-8). The main reason that we have
to remain in godliness, righteousness, and holiness through faith in Jesus
Christ (Ephesians 4:17-24) probably is that all of
us have been made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the
image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and
sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also
justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30). I strongly believe what we
focus on becomes like an addiction (Colossians 3:1-4). I watched pornography
online or out of DVD, even after I knew it was sin. I knew that I had to stop
watching it but I kept doing it with religious and worldly repentance. After a
while, I quit watching it since I knew that I was a child of God and want to
walk intimately with the Lord, and now, I do not even like to think about it.
Another example of mine for addiction that I had is watching television other
than Christ-related resources. I used to watch Korean dramas. The Spirit of God
was urging me to read the word of God something from time to time but I did not
listen to God. All that I cared about was fulfilling my worldly desires. I also
watched Pokemon cartoons, which has been my childhood favourite cartoon. Because
I watching it too much, the desire to download the game increased. After I
downloaded the game and played it whenever I got bored. However, I realized
that playing Pokemon game was sin for me when I heard my favourite worship
song, “Jesus At The Center” by Darlene Zschech in the church service. Because of
this, I deleted the game to regain my focus on Jesus Christ. Now, I am very
glad that Jesus Christ became my true and only passion. In other words, through
faith in Jesus overcame my natural desires, that Jesus Christ, Christ-like, and
putting my theological mind-set is like so natural to me, now. To be more
specific, I desire nothing else apart from Jesus Christ. This is the reason
that I want to do theology study(s) so badly.
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. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding
of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his
righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed
beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present
time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law
that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we
maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or
is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of
Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by
faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the
law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. (Romans 3:21-31)
Few days ago, I sensed
that going to Unitec is the will of God for me right now, even though I think I
made a big mistake. What I am afraid is that I might lose my passion of Jesus
Christ through the computer servicing course. I cannot fully explain to
everyone why I think going to Unitec is the will of God for me right now
because of a personal issue. What I can tell you is that I noticed that christian-writing
has been the will of God for me over the years. Therefore, I am going to try my
best to study computer-servicing while I am staying in an intimate relationship
with God in Jesus Christ.
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