The Gospel of John -- The Word became flesh

"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." (John 1:14)

the fact of the incarnation--that Jesus the eternal Son of God, the One through whom all things were made, actually became flesh and made His dwelling among us, is something i have a hard time grasping, no matter how many times i think about it.

every year, christmas presents an opportunity to reflect on such wonderful truths, but it seems like the older i get in my christian faith, the more amazing is the wonder of it all.

and as unbelievable as the incarnation was, i used to wonder about the following question just as much: what happened to jesus's humanity when He died on the cross for our sins, was resurrected by the Father, and taken up into heaven?

i used to think that Jesus became a man for just the duration of His earthly life, in order to complete the work God gave Him to do. when Jesus was resurrected and taken up into glory, i thought that He would assume the divinity that He had before He ever came into the world.

in other words, i thought that Jesus would fully assume His divinity

without the humanity.

but i have come to realize that this is just not true.

Jesus will never, ever be again what He was before He was incarnated on earth.

when Jesus the Son of God left His eternal glory, and took upon Himself our human nature, He did so for all eternity . . .

for all eternity He will bear our human nature.

even now, as Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father, He is as fully in His essence man as He is God. He is the Son of God, but also the Son of Man; conceived by the Holy Spirit but born of the Virgin Mary.

now we can understand why theologians describe the incarnation as the humiliation of Jesus.

there is no other word adequate to describe how much Jesus lowered Himself for us.

Glory be to God in the highest that Christ ever came into the world to save sinners such as us.

as we reflect upon these glorious truths, may we be moved to worship and adoration and gratitude for Jesus who left His eternal glory, and walked among us, forever taking upon Himself our wretched human nature.

and as we grow in our knowledge of Him, may we be able to testify along with the Apostle John that "we have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth".

Full of grace and truth.

Jesus Paid Too Much To Pick and Choose

"He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fullfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

As I was reading this, it was strange that I was only able to think how people often times pick and choose when it comes to accepting one another. The text is about what Jesus said before he ascended into heaven, but what does it have to do with 'pick and choose'? You must think, "what is this guy saying?"
When I read the scripture or hear a good sermon, I have this strange understanding of how the text should be applied. And I find it quite helpful because many times it's exactly what I should do. Everyone understands that the text teaches how the gospel is to be shared and we as Christians should be compassionate towards non-believers and obey Jesus' command to spread the good news. The lesson I got from this text is that we should not judge each other and show compassion to everyone we encounter.

"The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

Jesus' suffering was too high of a price for us to pick and choose who we should share the gopel with or open our arms to or love or hate or eat JJamppong with.. just kidding. My point is that we only tend to think of this text in relations with sharing the gospel, but Jesus' precious love should be reflected in our lives so that we are not judging people, but accepting them for who they are and showing the same compassion that Jesus demonstrated on the cross. God shows us that we are all equal and to him we are all precious. Today's message reminds me to treat people without any prejudice or pre-conceived notions or misconceptions, but show love to all as Jesus has shown His love to me and to all of us.

The Awesomeness of the Gospels

"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." Luke 1: 1-4

Luke's gospel is unique in that he was a Gentile that converted to Christianity, and not one of the original 12 disciples. This gives us a a unique historical, investigative presentation of Christ from an outsider --a 3rd party verification of eyewitness accounts and events that transpired. Luke's gospel is written for Theophilus but also talks to every reader today to give further credibility on the authenticity and historical accuracy of the accounts. Never thought of the book of Luke in this way.

I am reminded again of the awesomeness of these four Gospels. How four separate accounts of Christ, at different times all tell the same story but each serves a unique purpose in revealing who Christ was and is to every person. Written by man but definitely orchestrated by God.

Happy New Year everyone!

What the sufferings of Jesus means for our daily living

What caught my attention from today’s reading was the place of suffering in the Christian life. If our life is to be patterned after Christ, then suffering is a necessary part of discipleship. And if this is true, then any attempt to avoid suffering is wrong headed. It will lead to false expectation about the Christian life as if God’s purpose in our lives is to protect us from all kinds of sufferings and hardships. No, rather God's will for our lives includes sufferings. As the apostle Paul says in Acts 14:22, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” God’s purpose in our lives is not to help us to avoid hardship and sufferings but he does promise to give us his sufficent grace in our sufferings in order to accomplish his goals and to purify us from the power of sin that works through the members of our bodies. If we see our earthly sufferings as a necessary part of God’s plan of salvation, instead of trying to avoid it, we will be better prepared to face it when it comes… with the right frame of mind, knowing that God has a greater purpose than what we can understand in allowing us to go through sufferings.

As we enter into another new year we are entering uncharted and unknown sea. No ship has ever sailed this way before and we cannot tell what we may encounter on our journey in 2008. But whatever sufferings, trials, hardship, or difficulties may come our way, “let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised – to give us grace at the moment of our trials – is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23). As many of you know, the New Year began at least for our dear sister Ji with the sad news of her father’s passing. Even so, let us pray for her and her family as they grieve…that God would comfort them and strengthen their faith in Christ!

Posted by Pastor James

Matthew, Part 2 - Jesus the Internationalist

“Many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 8:11)

Jesus’ Earthly mission was geographically limited to a relatively small region - namely Palestine. A Jew himself, his audience was mostly, but not exclusively, Jews. Matthew chapter 8 tells one of those accounts involving a Roman centurion. A Gentile, yet one with complete trust in the healing powers of Jesus, asks for and receives the healing of his servant. In fact, Jesus turns to his Jewish followers and calls this Gentile’s faith greater than any other in Israel. It is in this context Jesus speaks of many gentiles at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

It is a stretch to call someone who at best met all his neighboring tribes and one occupying force an internationalist. But come to think of it, I don’t know what is an internationalist. Has anybody seen an internationalist lately? Sorry. I cannot get my arms around this word “Internationalist.” I am not aware of purported allegations of ethnic pride or prejudice Mr. Stott mentions and therefore his defense entirely unnecessary.

Now if Mr. Stott wants to defend inclusion of Koreans in the periphery of internationalist realm…

Happy New Years~!

As I was driving to work this morning (yes, i work today), i suddenly realized today is the last day of 2007. I mean I knew tomorrow is New Year's day, but it didn't really hit me til this morning that today was THE LAST DAY of 2007. So I had a chance to reflect on year 2007 and realized I had so much to be thankful for. In fact, I should only be thankful... Like what Pastor William said yesterday, the moment things don't go our way, we start to question God, and I am very much guilty of that. Who isn't? I know we're going to be facing lots of hardships and struggles in year 2008. and I just wanted to share this one song with you. I know samonim is not a "fan" of Brian Doerksen, but I just thought the lyrics were great.
Happy New Years~









Your Faithfulness



I don't know what this day will bring
Will it be disappointing, filled with longed for things?
I don't know what tomorrow holds
Still I know I can trust Your faithfulness
I don't know if these clouds mean rain
If they do, will they pour down blessing or pain?
I don't know what the future holds
Still I know I can trust Your faithfulness
Certain as the rivers reach the sea
Certain as the sunrise in the east
I can rest in your faithfulness
Surer than a mother's tender love
Surer than the stars still shine above
I can rest in your faithfulness
I don't know how or when I'll die
Will it be a thief, or will I have a chance to say goodbye?
No, I don't know how much time is left
But in the end, I will know your faithfulness
When darkness overwhelms my soul
When thoughts and storms of doubt
Still I trust You are always faithful, always faithful
Certain as the rivers reach the sea
Certain as the sunrise in the east
I can rest in your faithfulness
Surer than a mother's tender love
Surer than the stars still shine above
I can rest in your faithfulness
I don't know what this day will bring
Will it be disappointing, filled with longed for things?
I don't know what tomorrow holds
Still I know I can trust Your faithfulness