Receive Jesus as Lord and Christ
“He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13)
These days, it is more popular to talk about what and how we as believers in Jesus do rather than how we can be saved.
In the past, when I was giving a lecture at a seminary, I saw a professor reprimanding the pastor for teaching the gospel to seminarians.
So I asked him, ‘Then what should we teach?’ and it was Christian education.
It is education on what we as believers in Jesus should do and how we should do it.
The reason we believe in and receive Jesus as Lord and Christ and believe that he is the Word (Hologos), who is with God and is the head of all things and rules over all things, is not because of any human conditions or efforts, but because we are already born of God.
That is why born again comes before faith in the systematic theology.
Because the Lord washed the disciples' feet and welcomed them, the Lord died on the cross, rose again, returned to heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit, they received the Lord as Christ, and were moved by the Holy Spirit like David's faith, and cried out in the name of the Lord who sat on the throne.
Therefore, there are people who insist on receiving Jesus because of the word reception, and there are also people who conveniently say that believing in Jesus is ‘reception’, but this word reception contains the mystery of God’s predestination, decree, and providence.
According to the will of God, which was predestined before the creation of the world, Jesus Christ came to this earth, died on the cross, and rose again, and all who were in God's predestination were received by the Lord Jesus Christ and transferred into Christ as a whole.
He says that we did not choose the Lord first, but that the Lord chose us (John 15:16).
He also says that only those whom God has given to him come to him (John 6:37).
That is why God says no one can come unless He draws them to the Lord (John 6:44).
Therefore, it means that it is not our will to believe and receive Jesus as Lord and Christ.
However, since we do not know who is chosen and called by God, it is natural to spread the gospel to anyone, but by presenting the condition that if you receive Jesus, then you will receive the authority of God's children, we are given the conditions for salvation as if we are the subjects of faith.
If you make it, what happens next becomes difficult.
It literally starts with the Holy Spirit and progresses to the flesh, so the spirit becomes dry.
That's because, after believing in Jesus, you fall into a sense of accomplishment knowing what to do and how to do it from then on.
That's why Christianity says it's not about achievement, but about reception.
Because the Lord is the One who keeps coming to us like particles of the sun.
So the most precious treat toward God (Matthew 7:12) is to ask, seek and knock on him.
Nevertheless, if we fall into the simple and foolish framework of faith by answering the question of whether we believe in Jesus and answering, “I believe in Jesus and what and how we should live as believers in Jesus,” we end up with a dull limestone path.
The reason why various heresies and new apostolicism are being staged now is because the original meaning of the word Christianity, which is to teach Christ, has been faded.
Because of ignorance of Christ, the environment of Christianity has become like this all over the world.
We can see and believe in the world of Jesus in the flesh, but the world of Christ, the Spirit of resurrection and life, cannot be seen without the revelation of the Holy Spirit because it takes place on from across of the cross.
Therefore, we must repent from the world of flesh and bloodand and return to God , and through baptism we must unite Christ's death on the cross and being raised again , we must move to a place that has nothing to do with sin, and receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.
Therefore, it would like to say that we should not arbitrarily interpret the word reception as if all we need to do is embrace Jesus, and thus become a faith that rewards us for having finally achieved it, as is the custom of pragmatism.
Reception is hearing the word and receiving it as it is, about the work of atonement that God has already planned in Christ and accomplished by coming to this earth according to His plan and we have been moved from where to where because of it.
Through this, we are given all the qualifications to become children of God, and although we are born as those of the earth, we are born again and seated in heaven, and by continuously invading heaven in the Holy Spirit and the truth, we gain salvation, glory, honor, and power.
Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.
Translated by Nancy Chung
COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION