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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Love is the fulfillment of the law |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Ro 13:8-10 |
Date |
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Jesus was crucified to death and fulfilled the law with love. Today, we will look into how we could experience the perfect love of God and accomplish(fulfill) all of His law, following the sample of Jesus.
1. We should know the love and righteousness of God
We cannot enter into the love of God until we realize His endless love. As God rules over the world with love and righteousness, we should also know the righteousness of God as well as His love. Only when love goes in harmony with righteousness, we can truly realize the perfect love and thus become a sincere man of God.
To understand the relation between love and righteousness, we first should know about the law of God. There are many commandments in the law like ’DOs, DON’Ts, AVOIDs, KEEPs.’ as well as the Ten Commandments which God gave to Moses. For example, a total of commandments like ’Love, Give thanks, Pray, Keep the Sabbath, Avoid sins, Don’t hate.’ is called the law.
We should keep the law because there are the righteous rules of the spiritual world. God rules over the world on the basis of His righteousness that one reaps as one sows. In other words, we are punished and destined to death when we commit sins, while we get rewarded with life and glory if we obey God’s commands and live a good life.
2. The evidence of love is to keep God’s commands
God emphasizes that we should keep His commands in 1John 5:3 says, "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome."
Why is it to love God that we keep His commands? I will give you an example for your better understanding. Parents teach their children many rules necessary in their life. For example, they teach them, "When you return home, you should wash your hands and feet. While sleeping, you should put on a quilt. You must not jaywalk."
The parents don’t teach their children these rules to give them hard time but to let them be protected from danger and lead a peaceful life. It is the expression of their love.
And the children, even at their young age, obey them as they realize the love of the parents and trust them. Although the children get so tired that they don’t wash their hands and feet before going to sleep, they don’t be afraid of being rebuked by their parents. Even when rebuked, they will say to their parents, "Next time, I will surely wash my hands and feet before going to sleep." and throw themselves into the bosom of their parents. This reveals the trust and love between the parents and the children.
Moreover, the mature children will cherish the words of their parents in mind and keep them sincerely as they want to please their parents because they know better what their parents want from them. That is, love enables them to obey their parents. In the same way, we should realize that God gave us His law
3. God wants his children to answer their prayer and bless them
During God has cultivated men after Adam committed sins, the enemy devils have prowled around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour and tempted them to follow the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does(1John 2:16).
Likewise, the man who has sought for everything in the world and committed sins takes a thorny path and is destined to the death. Romans 6:21 says, that benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!?On the contrary, the man who has kept God’s commands receives anything for which he pray like 1John 3:21-22 say, dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.?God of love wants to bless us, but when we commit sins, God of righteousness cannot but giving us to the enemy devil. So when the man who believes in God doesn’t live by words of God, he has an illness or an accident.
It is equal to going with a light in darkness that we keep God’s commands. If we have a light, we don’t be afraid of falling down. Likewise, we can be free from danger in any circumstances and have eternal life with right as children of God because we are along with God, the light itself.
I have tried to keep all commands of God written in Bible since I believed in God and began to live a religious life. As I have done commands of God, God blessed me and answered my prayer. When I have believed and relied on God, God always kept me from illnesses or accidents and disasters and had me wield right of children of God.
Therefore, I have never been worry about me or my family but been worry about the kingdom and the righteousness of God. When I relied on God completely, God always kept me.
4. The law shows to us the way of salvation and blessing
God always keeps his children who have obeyed words of God and answers anything for which they have prayed according to rules of the spiritual world. How happy is he!
As children of God also have kept his commands, they change into pure and good heart and resemble God’s heart. As we resemble his heart, we can feel God’s love and love God all the more and become perfect children who God wants to get. In other words, we know God’s love and also can become true children who love God and all people.
Therefore, the law of God is textbook of love which shows the best way to us who have been cultivated in the earth. It also teaches us how to be free from disasters and to be blessed during we have been cultivated in the earth over which the enemy devil has ruled. In other words, God gave us the law so that he didn’t lead the man who didn’t keep the law to the hell but had all man keep it and them enter to the heaven.
5. Jesus fulfilled the law with love
When Jesus who is equal to God of love came down to the earth, he fulfilled the law with love. Above all, he observed all commands of God.
He kept the law completely, but he didn’t only judge the man who didn’t keep commands of God but also say to them, do you would die because you didn’t observe the law.?He taught many people with truth so that anyone repented his sins and would be saved. Also he healed those who suffered from many illnesses and diseases and were demon-possessed out of sins.
It was when a woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus that we knew Jesus’s love well(the chapter 8 of John). The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" It was to have a basis of which they accused him.
If he said to them, “Stone her” , she would be died from stones because her sin was exposed to many people. But he saw her and didn’t say to them, “Punish her at once in the law”, but had them realize that they couldn’t judge her because they were sinners before God.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. He asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
6. Love of the cross for sinners
Didn’t this woman know that she committed sins and would be died from stones? No. Although she heard and learned the law and was afraid of being punished, she committed sins because she didn’t abstain from sinful desires.
But when her sins was exposed and was afraid of being punished, Jesus forgave her. So she shed tears with gratitude and would decide not to commit sins again. She would not commit sins again as far as she remembered his love. Likewise, Jesus fulfilled the law with love.
He fulfilled the law with love for both this woman and all people. The begotten son of God without blemish or defect for sinners was whipped and was put a crown of thorns on the head. He was nailed on hands and feet and shed his water and bloods. This was the biggest love in human history. When we receive this love, we can observe the law completely.
If he didn’t fulfill the law with love and judged them severely with the law whenever people committed sins, no one would be saved in the world. Therefore we who received love and forgiveness like this should forgive and serve each other with humility.
7. We should love each other with spiritual heart
The point of the law is to love God and to resemble heart of God, goodness itself. But the Pharisees didn’t have an interest in making their heart holy but in keeping external form of the law. Also they thought they observed the law. They didn’t love the man who didn’t keep the law, but judged and condemn him. Likewise, they didn’t understand God’s love and try to resemble his heart through his commands, but accumulated them in memory and easily judged and condemned the man who didn’t keep them. So when they found out sins not to avoid yet and didn’t live by words of God, they judged themselves and got worried and easily disappointed.
However, God didn’t want us to become the Pharisees who judged people without pity and love and didn’t want his children didn’t feel his love and kept his commands difficultly.
1Corinthians 13:2-3 say, if I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.? If some have a faith and do anything for God, and if they knew God’s heart, but don’t do with love, they gain nothing.
The Pharisees didn’t have a love. So although they kept the law completely, there was nothing to their soul. They judged and condemned people with knowledge of the law. So they kept away from God and finally crucified God’s begotten son on the cross.
Therefore, as we avoid sins and make our heart cultivated purely and have a spiritual love, we can love God. If we indeed love God, we will love our neighbor as ourselves.
8. Paul the Apostle who was changed to be blameless and pure and shone with words of life
Philippians 2:17-18 says, "But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me." This is his confession with the attitude of useless servant so that his efforts in the Lord will not be in vain.
It is written in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians that he made much effort for the kingdom and righteousness of God. But he was never concerned about his difficulties but only worried about all churches. So he could extend the kingdom of God to all over the world as the Apostle of the Gentiles.
In spite of his outstanding conditions, he humbled himself and confessed that he was the least of the Apostles. Even though he had to go through the thorny path until he was beheaded, he said, "I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me."
He had made much effort only for proclaiming the words of life in his whole life after meeting Jesus Christ. So although he had many difficulties in this world, he was to get so big a reward in the Heaven. (2Timothy 4:7-8)
Therefore, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ that this word of God will remain in you as His grace and power and be revealed as light of life so that your life will be filled with the glory of God. |
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