In Christ (Eph. 1:7-10)
What does “in Christ” mean? Those who believe in God are in Christ. Those who say Jesus’ death is my death and Jesus’ resurrection is my resurrection, those are those who are in Christ. What’s important is, where am I? That’s the very first thing we must believe. If I’m inside Christ, I’m outside of curses and disasters. We must escape from curses and disasters and remain within Christ, then God moves us forward.
Whenever I face a problem, where am I? The problem isn’t the problem, but where I am, that’s the real problem. If I’m within Christ, it’s not a problem for me, because God is guiding me forward and He is moving. What’s important is how quickly this becomes our nature. If possible, it’s good to listen while you’re young and allow this to become your nature, and regardless of your age, you don’t have to be young, but as soon as you believe in Jesus Christ, you must have this nature.
All our thoughts that come outside of Christ are the problem. What are the things outside of Christ?
Gravity pulls things down, no matter how much research you do. What happens if you escape from earth’s gravitational pull? Will things still drop down? Almost everybody lives centered on themselves, they’re used to this gravitational pull. In other words, they’re so used to their self-centered thinking. To escape gravity, you need to get away from yourself and be within Christ. We studied this in physics but it’s spiritual. Let’s say I’m within Christ but I keep thinking of worldly things. If you’re within Christ, God guides you irrelevant to you, but your thoughts keep going down to earth, down to the gravitational pull even though there’s no gravity in space.
Are you on earth or in space? It doesn’t matter to people who are inside of Christ, but how great is this blessing and incident? Even if you graduate from Harvard, you still have gravity; you can’t escape. You can’t do this with the abilities of mankind, but you have to escape from sin and Satan. If you’re within Jesus Christ and communicate with God, your life will flow according to God’s power and blessings.
This is not something I can accomplish with my strength; the more you lose your strength, the better, because here, things move without force. You are moving with the power of Christ. If you try to solve your problems with your own thoughts, that’s to your own loss. Of course, we must solve our problems, but can I stay? That’s like gravity, “I have to resolve this somehow,” but people within Christ will be led by God. That’s why it’s important where I am.
We are within this blessing, and this is our walk of faith. You must always be careful not to go towards this, why? You are always within Christ, you must always hold onto that. Where am I? That’s important. Even when I’m studying, where am I? During my holidays, where am I? Even when I’m on vacation, where am I? Where you go and pack your bags, it’s not important. Sure you can go somewhere physically but what’s important is where you are.
Your life will change depending on whether you’re inside or outside of Christ. By Jesus Christ, I’m set free from sin, Satan, and hell, and now I’m in the Kingdom of God, and remaining there, you see God’s guidance. God’s level is not at the level of earth; it’s outside of this, it has nothing to do with our thoughts. Even if it looks like a problem, it’s a blessing. Gravity may be a problem, but once you go into outer space, it’s a problem but it’s a blessing. This is another world, it’s a world within Christ and it’s extremely important. You must not lose hold of this.
This may be different according to each person’s time schedule but it’s important to confirm where you are. Ephesians 1:7-10. All you have to do is to go quickly back into Christ. We cannot keep the law by ourselves, so we’re sinners, but Jesus Christ completed the law. By believing in Jesus Christ, He regards us as having completed the law. Even though I’m constantly sinning and making mistakes, God regards us as keeping the law because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. We must constantly enjoy this.
If I cannot enjoy the gospel, I become difficult for myself. Then, does that mean we can live however we want, even though we’re in Jesus Christ? Does that mean everything is fine even as I do whatever I want and make a mistake and sin? The Lord received all the curses I should have received for those sins. If you know and truly believe this, then your mistakes and sins will become fewer and fewer.
The remnants must know this. I’m not saying you can do whatever you want; I’m saying you’ve received forgiveness. If the fact that you’ve received forgiveness doesn’t go into your heart, the devil will use that to oppress you and to drag you towards wickedness. This person thinks their life is determined based on their actions and goodness, and if someone like that makes a mistake, they commit a sin against God, then they try to receive the punishment themselves. That’s a masterpiece of the devil.
Then, why would Jesus Christ have to die on the cross once and for all? This is extremely important. Otherwise, the messages you hear will say you must repent every time you sin, otherwise you’ll go to hell and live a life of corruption. Repent, repent, repent! It’s possible that among the youth sitting here, you lean in this direction, and that’s because you’ve listened to sermons from a church like that for a long time, so you cannot enjoy freedom, but instead you’re burdened and you struggle so hard not to sin.
How can you not sin? If it’s possible to stop ourselves from sinning, why would Jesus have to come? Some people don’t understand. How are we supposed to live, then? Within Christ. Live within Christ. Stop trying to live without sin, but if you live in Christ, this naturally takes place. Stop living a life where you try to fix your problems, but Christ resolves it for you. How do you resolve depression? It’s already here and I can’t do anything about it, what can I do? I just have to remain within Christ. That’s the method.
Whether I have depression or not, I have to go into Christ. Whether the problem stays or goes, I go into Jesus Christ. It’s God’s problem now. Sometimes the remnants are so anxious about their future. Are you going to solve it that way? You don’t know what the future is, so you’re rightfully anxious about it. At that time, be within Christ. All problems of past, present, and future are solved. You must not be deceived.
Satan will try to deceive you but it’s already been finished and the Lord is with me so it has nothing to do with me anymore. In the past, I had a scar because it was all about me, but now, it has nothing to do with me. If anything, this scar becomes a footstool and a stepping stone for me to get closer to Christ, but the characteristic of someone is that they try to resolve their scars, trying to live an upright and clean life. “We’re so clean. How can we make those old things go away?”
Stop comparing yourself to others or comparing other people. Do you know what that is? That’s greed. You have certain things you’re good at, but ignoring that, you compare your weaknesses with others. I’m not short for my age, I just think of it as rightful. But, I’m burdened when I look at what I’m lacking, comparing myself with others. I should live my life holding onto and enjoying my God-given things, but I have no interest in that; I’m only interested in what I lack, because the greed of mankind is endless. The state of human greed where we try to become perfect will never end.
No need to compare, we are perfect and complete within Christ. What is there to compare? God made me perfect and He saved me and guides me forward to complete salvation through me. You must never compare yourself. If you do that, you’ll spend the rest of your life comparing yourself to people who aren’t even that great, then your life will end. That’s why people who race towards success have such deep spiritual problems. They are never satisfied or grateful.
“You are never perfect, you must always develop,” that may help advancement but it does not help spiritually. Without spiritual satisfaction, people try to fill their void, but they become more and more burdened. Some students think stupid thoughts, putting their parents’ problems on their shoulders. Your problem is between you and God, why do you drag your parents’ problems into your life and kill yourself with burdens? Just finish it by praying for your parents. Because that parent needs the Triune God, it’s not something you can resolve with your worries.
Try worrying about your parents, will that solve anything? I am within God and Christ, and I just pray for my parents. We pray for our parents so they can become one with God as well. For example, let’s say our parent is sick, and because they’re sick, we won’t feel good as children, but we shouldn’t go beyond that. If you do, that’s over the top. You have to remain within the thing God gave you. When you pray for your parents, it’s important that you pray so that God may work upon them. Then what will take place? God takes care of everything on His own. That’s the work you must do and enjoy.
It is the wisdom and understanding of God, in Eph. 1:8. One of my older friends is a dermatologist and he named his son, “Understanding,” because he wants his son to grow up with more understanding than he did. “What is your son up to now?” He’s so full of understanding that he’s a forklift driver. This isn’t bad but I don’t think he’s as wise or understanding as his parents wanted him to be. It must be within Christ, it must be given to you by the Lord within Christ.
You should think of your studies as an opportunity. What opportunity? Studying might be hard, Think of that as an opportunity to be filled with Christ to receive God’s wisdom and understanding, and that’s why a problem isn’t a problem. Being bad at your studies isn’t a problem, because through this, I go into the wisdom and understanding of Christ.
You must know this law to save America. The remnants come to church and do different things. Sometimes the teachers ask you to do difficult things, and it’s hard, but at that time, change it into an opportunity to receive Christ’s understanding and wisdom. But if you’re self-centered, you’ll think, “How can I do this?” Of course, it’s impossible from that perspective, and your studies will be hard, but if you receive the understanding and wisdom of Jesus Christ from this assignment, it’s a blessing to me.
Think about what happens after you graduate from college and go into American society. Nobody wants to do hard things; they only want to do things that help themselves, but the people who saw God’s wisdom and understanding will raise their hands, and God gives it to them. That was Joseph. We might think Joseph was really smart, but that’s not the case. What’s there to be so smart about? Did he do anything more than taking care of sheep? He wasn’t smart, that was David, and so was Joseph, but nothing was a problem.
COVID-19 is a problem but it must turn into a blessing. People say it is hard; go into Christ and receive God’s blessings and understanding. When you go to school, you learn about “me,” and even though gravity pulls us down, the world says to get back up. You cannot solve this with the wisdom and understanding of the world, but only the wisdom and understanding that come through Christ.
Instead of trying to study, study to receive God’s wisdom and understanding. No one knows you’re doing this, but you do this by yourself. Everyone else says it’s so hard, but that difficulty is an opportunity for you to go into Christ’s wisdom and understanding, it’s the way for you to win without fighting. If you remain within this gravitational pull, no matter how many people you fight, you can’t win.
Within Jesus Christ, we go through the answer of uniqueness that nobody else can do. So, our way of thinking is different. If you think like an unbeliever, you’re stuck in the same gravitational pull. Don’t be afraid of your studies, but change it into a blessing to receive God’s wisdom and understanding. Don’t be afraid of your family problems, but change it into an opportunity for blessings.
When you go to school, you’ll face many problems. Someone stuck in self-centeredness won’t resolve the problems, they just stand still. But the one within Christ will pray for Christ to work within their school. Only that person receives answers. The person stuck in self-centeredness will look at the problem the same, but the one within the wisdom and understanding will pray for the school.
You can experience this just once in your family and school, then you’ll see how God is working in Christ. If you have a problem in church, is it really a problem? Change it into an opportunity for blessing. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, a problem will always be a problem. What goes up must come down, but in Christ, nothing is a problem; you think it’s a problem, but nothing is impossible for Jesus Christ. Everything is a blessing and opportunity.
Ephesians 1:9, the mystery of his will. It is invisible, hidden. You and I continue to reveal the mystery within God of Jesus Christ. God’s will, what is it? It’s a mystery because it’s hidden. Our will is knowable, but God’s will is a mystery. The meaning of the mystery of this will. God revealed the mystery of what would happen in the future to Abraham. There were many Christians in the area, but God told Abraham that Sodom and Gomorrah would be destroyed. God promised, “If there are just 10 righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah who believe, I will not destroy them,” but there were none righteous before God because no one believed in Jesus Christ. Many lived upright lives but none were righteous. There were so many people who never inconvenienced anyone else, but no one believed in God, and that’s why Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.
God asked, “Why would I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” To whom will God reveal this? To those who are within Christ and God’s will, this is the way to win without fighting and competing. If you invested so diligently in Sodom and Gomorrah without knowing it would be destroyed, that’s a waste of effort. If you knew it would be destroyed, you would not invest there. It was the most prosperous area at the time and Abraham’s nephew Lot invested there.
Physically speaking, the covenant of God seems so foolish and empty, but God revealed everything. This time was predestined according to God’s plan and time schedule, “now disclosed.” God created the universe with His plan and it moves according to God’s time schedule. The mystery of the gospel is the same, God’s time schedule for one person to reveal the gospel, and more and more, it is being revealed.
Unity is being united with God through Jesus Christ. Even unbelievers in the world can have oneness with God, and that’s how God moves everything forward. I have to be aligned with God, within Christ. In order to be aligned with God, God’s Word must become my Word; God’s plan for world evangelization must become my plan; when God’s power becomes my power, I become aligned with God. If any of these three things are misaligned, it’s not right. If you don’t have God’s plan, how could you be aligned with that future plan? If God’s power doesn’t come upon you, how can you move according to God’s strength?
Align yourself to the Triune God so that God and I are united. If the person next to you does not have oneness with God, you can help and support them to believe in God. Remnants, nothing to worry about, because you’re united with the heavens and earth through only Jesus Christ. Why do you study? Your studying will be used to unite the many unbelievers with God; so your studies are aligned with God. It doesn’t matter if I’m good or bad.
If there’s a blockage in communication between God and people, pray for them. What happens when you pray, God begins to work, invisible to your eyes. You must know this, people are controlling America, people who are filled with demonic, evil spirits; controlling other people spiritually and the working of the devil spirits.
Why does God work when you pray? When a child of God prays, God answers. People don’t know about transcendental meditation Just pray hold to the covenant Then it would be hard to talk to adults, but when you pray, God moves. God is working. Joseph had that mystery. David protected his nation with his mystery. Elisha raised up his disciples with this mystery.
Bible study is theory so you know about prayer but you don’t know how it works. Receive this knowledge at a young age, and put it into practice. Anyone who believes in Jesus Christ has the heavenly armies of angels. May you have victory.
Prayer
Bless the remnants. Please bless them so they may be the ones to unify through Jesus Christ, and to have the wisdom of understanding of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.