1112-주일(계3:4-8) 우리를 사랑하사 그의 피로 우리 죄에서 우리를 해방하시고

< God loves us and release us from our sins by His blood >

2017.11.12.




hymn 52
<There is a Fountain Filled with Blood>
...sinner plunged beneath that blood
Lose all their guilty stains
Wash all my sins away...

hymn 99
<I know not why God's wondrous grace>
I know not why God's wondrous grace
To me He hath made known
Nor why unworthy
Christ in love Redeemed me for His own
I know whom I believed
and am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I've committed
Unto Him against that day...

Let's pray.

Revelation 1:4-8
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood--
6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father--to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

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  Recently, we are studying the book of Revelation.

1:4 "John"
John the apostle is one of Jesus' twelve disciples. Jesus loved him so much. John wrote the book of Revelation, but this is all God's word. The Revelation is God's Word through John.

"Asia"
  Asia refers to Turkey belonging to West Asia. This means all the church of God.

"throne"
  The throne represents the throne of the kingdom of Christ.

Trinity God is revealed in this statement.

1:4 “who is, who was, and who is to come" ▶ God the Father
"the seven spirits" ▶ God of the Holy Spirit
"who is the faithful witness the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth" ▶ The Son of God, Jesus Christ


1:5 "to him who loves us"
  This love refers to the love of God. It doesn't mean the fallen human love. When people speak of God's love, they often say the love of a mother, but the mother only loves her own child. Love between a man and a woman and love between friends are not true love.
  The grace of God starts from the love of God. God himself is love. Grace and sacrifice come from Love. The man who doesn't know grace is not human.

1:5 "and has freed us from our sins by his blood"
God is holy. Even though there is only one sin, our relationship with God is cut off and we can't enter to heaven. Jesus died in place of all our sins of our past and the rest of our lives.
"though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18)
  The person who does not know his sin is the poorest. They don't have to care about God, afterlife and the resurrection. But the result is miserable. They will go to hell.  

God loves the elect.

  The center of this world is human. There are two kinds of people. They are  those who are elected by God (the chosen ones) and those who are not elected (the abandoned)
  God loves all of the elect. And God has dedicated all of himself for us.
  God chose us before we were born. God has chosen us with His grace. This love is unchanging love. We are the cause of God's joy. We must know how great, spacious, and high God's love is.  

  "and has freed us from our sins by his blood"
  God died for us. Jesus died for my sins.
  Let's think about what I have sinned. We must know how severe and heavy our sins are. If we sin, the connection between God and us is cut off. If the connection between God and us is cut off, the result is death. If a man sins, he becomes a slave of sin.  
  If a mother hits a child who stole something, the child does not know what he did wrong. Because the child has never learned that theft is a bad thing.  Then the child does not think about his mistakes and only has rebellion. The mother has to tell the boy's mistake and then has to scold him.
  So we have to know what is sin. If we don't know the Bible, we don't know what sin is. For example, the sins of reproach are greater than those that do not keep Sunday.    

1:6 "to serve his God and Father"
  God is perfect. God will put us in the most glorious position. The purpose of human is to glorify God.

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hymn 183 <Some day the silver cord>
Some day the silver cord will break
And I no more as now shall sing
But oh, the joy when I shall wake
With in the palace of the King
And I shall see Him face to face
And tell the story saved by grace...
There is a place in heaven for me...Amen.