[Bible verses]
I Peter 1:19-20
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
I John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Hebrews 13:12
And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.
Ephesians 2:13
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
Hebrews 9:14
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
John 6:54
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
[My reflections]
Haggling in the market used to be a common scene in local markets when I was growing up in Korea. A lady may go to a clothing store and argue vehemently how one can charge such a high price for such a low quality dress. She is just saying things so that she can get as low a price as possible. But once she buys it and wears it, she wears it as if it were the most expensive, highest quality product imported from Italy or some such country known for high-quality clothing. If she had to pay a truly high price, she would be all the more proud of her dress.
When God our Father redeemed us, I don't think He was going for bargains at all. He chose to pay the full price by letting His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross. As Jesus died, He said, "it is finished" (John 19:30), meaning "it is paid in full." With Jesus' blood that is more precious than all the world, all the creation, God chose to redeem our lives.
Because God paid such a high price to redeem us, there is no way that He is going to let go of us. Our redemption is totally assured and is at no risk of being lost, because nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39). In fact, He put a seal on us, marking us as His own, and the seal is the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit is our guarantee of our redemption and inheritance in the kingdom of God (Ephesians 1:14). All the rich glories of the heavenly kingdom have been assured to be given to us as inheritance, because of the precious blood of Jesus.
"O Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my cleansing this I see -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
FOr my pardon this my plea -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can for sin atone -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my hope and peace -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Glory! Glory! thus I sing -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
All my praise for this I bring -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
O Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow;
No other found I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus." (Robert Lowry, 1876)
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
God's tears?
The anthem that the choir will sing this Sunday has the following phrase:
아버지 당신의 마음이 있는 곳에 나의 마음이 있기를 원해요
아버지 당신의 눈물이 고인 곳에 나의 눈물이 고이길 원해요
Roughly translated, the phrase goes like this:
Father, where your heart is, I want my heart to be as well.
Father, where your tears are welling up, I want my tears to well up as well.
My initial reaction as I was singing this song in practice was one of being taken back. Does our Father God shed tears? Even figuratively, I could not recall any recording of that. I was not sure if there is any Bible reference on God the Father either shedding tears or weeping.
The closest reference to God the Father weeping that I could find was in Micah 1. In speaking of the sin and judgement of Samaria and Jerusalem, the Lord says "I will wail and weep" because "her wound is incurable; it has come to Judah." (verses 8 & 9) Because of their sin, God must pour out His wrath and judgment on Samaria and Judgment, but at the same time He is weeping about it. Even though the Lord is merciful and "patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9), He is also just and has a predetermined day of judgment for those unrelenting, unrepenting souls. He will judge the quick and the dead, as we affirm in the Apostle's creed.
In the same vein, Jesus also wept in Luke 19, verses 41-44. As Jesus was entering Jerusalem, He looked ahead to the days when not one stone will be left on another and the city will be utterly destroyed. As He spoke of the destruction of the city, Jesus wept visibly. He lamented that the city would be destroyed "because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
If I am singing a prayer that where Father's tears are welling up, I want my tears to well up as well, I am singing of my heartache and my lamentation that many of my fellow human beings are going down the path of destruction. I am singing of my prayer that I will look toward them with compassion, that I will take my footsteps to deliver a message of repentance and redemption to them, and that I lay myself down to be used as a tool of God the Father to fulfill His will in any way He sees fit.
Father, my heart goes out to my brethren in North Korea. Father, as newborns are suffocated and buried alive when born to mothers of concentration camps, as children and elderly die of starvation, as the misguided soldiers worship a man as their god -- as the whole nation is going down a path of destruction, I think you are wailing and weeping. Extend your mercy to that desolate land. Let redemption and freedom come to that patch of a peninsula. Bless the NK Reconstruction initiave of WCNF. Let me keep my vow for NKRF. In Jesus' name. Amen.
아버지 당신의 마음이 있는 곳에 나의 마음이 있기를 원해요
아버지 당신의 눈물이 고인 곳에 나의 눈물이 고이길 원해요
Roughly translated, the phrase goes like this:
Father, where your heart is, I want my heart to be as well.
Father, where your tears are welling up, I want my tears to well up as well.
My initial reaction as I was singing this song in practice was one of being taken back. Does our Father God shed tears? Even figuratively, I could not recall any recording of that. I was not sure if there is any Bible reference on God the Father either shedding tears or weeping.
The closest reference to God the Father weeping that I could find was in Micah 1. In speaking of the sin and judgement of Samaria and Jerusalem, the Lord says "I will wail and weep" because "her wound is incurable; it has come to Judah." (verses 8 & 9) Because of their sin, God must pour out His wrath and judgment on Samaria and Judgment, but at the same time He is weeping about it. Even though the Lord is merciful and "patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9), He is also just and has a predetermined day of judgment for those unrelenting, unrepenting souls. He will judge the quick and the dead, as we affirm in the Apostle's creed.
In the same vein, Jesus also wept in Luke 19, verses 41-44. As Jesus was entering Jerusalem, He looked ahead to the days when not one stone will be left on another and the city will be utterly destroyed. As He spoke of the destruction of the city, Jesus wept visibly. He lamented that the city would be destroyed "because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
If I am singing a prayer that where Father's tears are welling up, I want my tears to well up as well, I am singing of my heartache and my lamentation that many of my fellow human beings are going down the path of destruction. I am singing of my prayer that I will look toward them with compassion, that I will take my footsteps to deliver a message of repentance and redemption to them, and that I lay myself down to be used as a tool of God the Father to fulfill His will in any way He sees fit.
Father, my heart goes out to my brethren in North Korea. Father, as newborns are suffocated and buried alive when born to mothers of concentration camps, as children and elderly die of starvation, as the misguided soldiers worship a man as their god -- as the whole nation is going down a path of destruction, I think you are wailing and weeping. Extend your mercy to that desolate land. Let redemption and freedom come to that patch of a peninsula. Bless the NK Reconstruction initiave of WCNF. Let me keep my vow for NKRF. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Praising the mighty acts of the Lord, Psalm 106
[Bible verses]
Psalm 106
Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.
Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare His praise?
Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.
Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them,
that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.
We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
Yet He saved them for His name's sake, to make His mighty power known.
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy He redeemed them.
The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.
Then they believed His promises and sang His praise.
But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel.
In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test.
So He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them.
In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD.
The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram.
Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.
At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,
miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him to keep His wrath from destroying them.
Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise.
They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD.
So He swore to them with uplifted hand that He would make them fall in the desert,
make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked.
This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.
By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them;
for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips.
They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,
but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.
They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves.
Therefore the LORD was angry with His people and abhorred His inheritance.
He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them.
Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.
Many times He delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.
But He took note of their distress when He heard their cry;
for their sake He remembered His covenant and out of His great love He relented.
He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive.
Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD.
[My reflections]
In this psalm, the psalmist is singing of the "mighty acts of the Lord." This psalm has been lyricized and is often sung by choirs. What are the mighty acts that the psalm is singing about? Without knowing them, one may not be able to sing from the heart.
Of the 48 verses of the psalm, more than 30 verses have been devoted to confess the sins, wrong-doings and wickedness of Israel. The Israelites did not remember how God performed miracles to lead them out of Egypt and rebelled against Him by the Red Sea (v 7). In the desert, they gave in to their craving and put God to the test (v 14). They envied Moses and Aaron, consecrated to the Lord (v 16). They worshiped a golden calf and forgot their true savior, the Lord (v 19-21). They despised the land promised by the Lord and did not trust Him (v 24). They yielded to the gods of pleasure and lust and sinned against the true God (v 28). They rebelled against the Spirit of God (v 33). Instead of destroying the heathen nations as they were commanded to do, they mingled with them and adopted their customs (v 34-36). Yet, in spite of all these, God forgave them time and again for His name's sake and saved them.
The very description of the Israelites is the same description applicable to us, is it not? Although we are utterly unworthy, God forgave us and saved us, with the price of the blood of His own Son (Romans 5:8). Despite having received such an awesome love, do we not time and again doubt the goodness, kindness and mercy of the Lord and habitually exhibit mistrust and unbelief? Instead of fixing our eyes on the kingdom of heaven, do we not take pleasure in the vanities of this world -- cravings of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and boastings of the world (I John 2:16)? Yes, yes, yes, we do all these. Yet, the Lord God still loves us to the end (Romans 8:38-39) and disciplines us as His children (Hebrews 12:5-6), so that we may be on the path of righteousness.
Herein are the mighty acts of the Lord: that despite all our shortcomings, He still loves us and will never forsake us. Herein lies His great love: with patience that considers a thousand years like a day (II Peter 3:8), He waits for us -- like the father waiting for his prodigal son to return (Luke 15:20). My prayer is that, as the psalmist prayed in v 5 of this psalm, I will be among those who join in witnessing and experiencing these mighty acts of the Lord and in praising the joy of being His nation, His people, His children.
Psalm 106
Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.
Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare His praise?
Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.
Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them,
that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.
We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
Yet He saved them for His name's sake, to make His mighty power known.
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy He redeemed them.
The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.
Then they believed His promises and sang His praise.
But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel.
In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test.
So He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them.
In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD.
The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram.
Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.
At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,
miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him to keep His wrath from destroying them.
Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise.
They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD.
So He swore to them with uplifted hand that He would make them fall in the desert,
make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked.
This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.
By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them;
for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips.
They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,
but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.
They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves.
Therefore the LORD was angry with His people and abhorred His inheritance.
He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them.
Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.
Many times He delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.
But He took note of their distress when He heard their cry;
for their sake He remembered His covenant and out of His great love He relented.
He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive.
Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD.
[My reflections]
In this psalm, the psalmist is singing of the "mighty acts of the Lord." This psalm has been lyricized and is often sung by choirs. What are the mighty acts that the psalm is singing about? Without knowing them, one may not be able to sing from the heart.
Of the 48 verses of the psalm, more than 30 verses have been devoted to confess the sins, wrong-doings and wickedness of Israel. The Israelites did not remember how God performed miracles to lead them out of Egypt and rebelled against Him by the Red Sea (v 7). In the desert, they gave in to their craving and put God to the test (v 14). They envied Moses and Aaron, consecrated to the Lord (v 16). They worshiped a golden calf and forgot their true savior, the Lord (v 19-21). They despised the land promised by the Lord and did not trust Him (v 24). They yielded to the gods of pleasure and lust and sinned against the true God (v 28). They rebelled against the Spirit of God (v 33). Instead of destroying the heathen nations as they were commanded to do, they mingled with them and adopted their customs (v 34-36). Yet, in spite of all these, God forgave them time and again for His name's sake and saved them.
The very description of the Israelites is the same description applicable to us, is it not? Although we are utterly unworthy, God forgave us and saved us, with the price of the blood of His own Son (Romans 5:8). Despite having received such an awesome love, do we not time and again doubt the goodness, kindness and mercy of the Lord and habitually exhibit mistrust and unbelief? Instead of fixing our eyes on the kingdom of heaven, do we not take pleasure in the vanities of this world -- cravings of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and boastings of the world (I John 2:16)? Yes, yes, yes, we do all these. Yet, the Lord God still loves us to the end (Romans 8:38-39) and disciplines us as His children (Hebrews 12:5-6), so that we may be on the path of righteousness.
Herein are the mighty acts of the Lord: that despite all our shortcomings, He still loves us and will never forsake us. Herein lies His great love: with patience that considers a thousand years like a day (II Peter 3:8), He waits for us -- like the father waiting for his prodigal son to return (Luke 15:20). My prayer is that, as the psalmist prayed in v 5 of this psalm, I will be among those who join in witnessing and experiencing these mighty acts of the Lord and in praising the joy of being His nation, His people, His children.
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