What is the Gospel? (Romans 1:1-4)
If Christians don’t know what the gospel is, even though we’ve received all the blessings, we’re still failing. The Jews couldn’t understand the gospel, it’s a very simple gospel, but we can only believe it by receiving God’s grace. How does the Apostle Paul define this gospel? In Romans 1:2, he talks about the gospel God promised beforehand through the prophets.
Gospel: Through the Prophets
This gospel came through the prophets, promised beforehand. When? It was promised beforehand regarding God’s Son.
God’s Son -> Promised Beforehand
We don’t make the gospel, but the prophets talked about what God already promised beforehand. What were the conditions for God’s son?
Flesh: David’s Bloodline
In Romans 1:3, he had to be a descendant of David, it was already promised. Anyone not through the bloodline of David could not be the Messiah; it must be through David’s bloodline.
Spiritual, Death – Resurrection, Jesus Christ
He had to die and resurrect. He was appointed as the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. These are the characteristics of the gospel. Outside of this, this is not God’s promise. “Prophets” imply that God was constantly telling us about the gospel. Moses was a prophet who relayed the Word of God through the Pentateuch, and all the prophetic books of the Old Testament are the Word of God.
John 5:39 Old Testament – Jesus Christ
When we looked at John 5:39, it says everything in the Bible is about Jesus Christ.
People talk about money and people need success, but the Bible doesn’t talk about success. People need skills but the Bible isn’t a record of skills, because all those things are already contained within God’s promise. In today’s responsive reading, we kept hearing these words:
Wisdom, Knowledge, Throne } Jesus Christ
These are talking about Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is Wisdom, Knowledge, and the Throne, and He created the universe. Jesus Himself is Wisdom, Understanding, and the Throne. The Bible isn’t talking about anything else, about wisdom or understanding. If you’re outside of the gospel, you focus on those things, like idol worship. You’ll misunderstand the gospel and worship idols.
Idol Worship, Satan
All the problems in your family line are Satan’s channels, all the things your parents have imprinted in you without you realizing it. “Live a good life, be nice,” those are channels, because ever since we’re very young, our parents imprint us with things that are irrelevant to the gospel. “Study hard,” that’s a channel, why? Because everything that makes us hold onto something other than the gospel is Satan’s channel. It’s a channel for Satan and disasters upon our family line.
You must do everything within the gospel, ever since you’re young, then it becomes an education to overcome Satan and disasters. But if you don’t have that, you’re imprinted with something else and you’ll live according to your imprints. The Jewish people should have held onto the Law pointing to the Christ, but they only held onto the Law. The law emphasizes diligence because we have to keep the law, and that’s what we call religion.
Religion
Religion starts from the law because it’s about people trying to keep God through their religious laws, but nothing can please God, why? Because we’re sinners from the beginning, and no matter how well we keep the Word, we’re still sinners. Religion is just the efforts of mankind to have some kind of order, structure, doctrine, or behaviors to get people closer to God. Those behaviors and diligence and efforts, from people’s perspectives, are very inspiring. That’s the Jewish people.
The Apostle Paul said he was the most diligent of all, but with his diligence, he went in the direction of persecuting the church, persecuting those with the gospel, because those people were different from him. The Jewish people had to persecute the gospel because Jesus Christ was not present in their scriptures, and they were preaching something else. Even though they studied so hard, they were in an extremely successful and powerful position, and people thought they were diligent, but God said they failed.
You’re trying hard on your own, and it’s all for yourself. “I have to please God,” there’s nothing that pleases God other than the gospel. God Himself came down to earth, but you reject that and try to please God? That’s impossible, so that’s why the Jewish people crumbled with that religious diligence. Still, they worshiped so well.
They went as far as to prevent themselves from walking more than 5km on the Sabbath because they weren’t supposed to work, so they would sleep 5km away from wherever they were going to worship the next day, because they had a maximum distance they could walk to worship at the Temple. That’s how diligently they lived, but all that diligence went in the opposite direction of the gospel. This didn’t please God at all, so religious life will fail; idolatry will fail, because this is something that pleases the devil, it is a channel for Satan.
You think diligence is good? You cannot satisfy God with your diligence. The gospel means that God already worked hard to bear the cross for us. You say, “If He bore the cross for us, we must live diligently for Christ,” but no, God is already working within us, … but if you work diligently after being saved, you’re going to fall and say you’ve tried it all and it doesn’t work, but you haven’t tried the gospel; you only exert your own diligence.
The gospel is something God started, God didn’t discuss with us when He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us; He did it Himself, and it’s not that I wanted to believe in Him, but God gave us the grace to believe in the Lord, and then He came to us but we’re still religious, living diligently for God. That’s not true; He comes to us and guides us in the direction He has planned, so you have no idea how scary our religious habits are.
It is not about your hard work; you have to stake your life for the Lord. You cannot cast out the devil with your hard work; you simply have to stake your life on the Word. That’s why life is life. If you don’t want to do that, but you want to work diligently instead, that’s not God at all. You must stake your life on God’s Word. It doesn’t matter how diligently you work for the Word of God; the devil will flee. You hold onto the Word of God, staking your life, then everything takes place within that.
After that, whether you work hard or whatever you get, you have to stake your life on the Word for everything to come into that. Because I’ve been crucified on the cross and Christ lives in me as life, if someone dies and comes back to life and lives diligently, it doesn’t matter. The Lord is already working diligently, giving us His Word every Sunday, and that’s why He promised to give us the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Lord has already planned evangelism and missions and is guiding us in that direction. It is His mission, and God gives His talents and fulfills the Word, so we live our lives following God’s Word; we study following God’s Word. We’re not studying to study, but we study to follow God’s Word. We pray, following God’s Word. That’s what it means to study and pray with God.
You’re living your life holding onto and fulfilling God’s plan, God’s desire. That’s the proclamation of the gospel, not my diligence, but God’s diligence being fulfilled through me. Once you become a college student, you’ll get a driver’s license, but you’ve never had a car. Even if you have a driver’s license but you never drive a car, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the benefits of that license. But who cares if you say, “I have a license, I’m saved, I’m saved,” but you need a car to use it. “I’m saved, I’m going to heaven as a child of God,” It doesn’t matter if you say it 100 times, you must go into the blessings of salvation and the working of God; you must drive that car. That’s how the car’s power becomes my power. That’s what we call life and power.
By law, you’ve been saved according to what God said, and as evidence of that, He has sealed our salvation with the Holy Spirit, so my life must be one that goes with that. In other words, I have to apply the power of God in my life. Even after receiving your driver’s license, if you don’t drive your car, you’ll walk around. You could drive your car but you don’t even though you have a license. It’s too far to walk or to take a bus, and if you don’t have money, you can’t take the bus, so you can’t do it. Will it work out?
If you’ve received salvation, you must enjoy it in every aspect of your life. You need to give every aspect of your life up to God and live your life with His power, but you never do that. Nonbelievers don’t have a license so they have to walk, but you live like that, “How diligently and quickly did you walk?” Saved people can enjoy their salvation and laugh at that, because the saved travel being with God, and when they pray, God answers transcending time and space, but this answer cannot come even though you work 100 years. This blessing comes even if you pray for a moment.
When you enjoy your status and authority, Satan and disasters are broken. You may walk all you want, thinking you’re living diligently, but Satan laughs at you, knowing that you have a license but you cannot enjoy it. If you have the gospel, you must enjoy it with everything, enjoying your entire life with the gospel. Without understanding these words, you can’t enjoy it; you’re just working hard instead of enjoying the gospel. It’s not diligence, but it’s staking your life. Which is better, diligence or staking your life? Even by being diligent, you cannot fight with someone who stakes their life on the Word, because your life will change to be at the speed and pace of the Word of God. As big as the Word is, the answers will follow.
But you’re being stubborn, holding onto your own diligence. Do our lives crumble due to our diligence? Do you think Jesus Christ died on the cross because we’re not working hard enough? So even if we heard the Word, we cannot overcome it, and we cannot overcome the devil. We can’t see Satan with our eyes, but he digs into our hearts and minds, enslaving us. Even so, you say, “I’ve worked so hard; why aren’t things working out?” Because you must hold onto the gospel.
Our lives can only work out when the spirit of God comes into me, completely guiding me. That’s why every single place you go, you are victorious because it is the work of the Lord. You’re worried of something because you have a driver’s license without enjoying it. So you’re afraid, wondering how you’ll get there. Even if it’s raining, you just have to go in your car and go, but instead of enjoying your license, you’re outside, walking in the rain, and you’ll get a cold or a fever. You wonder why life is hard, you just have to drive, but you don’t. You just lock your car up, living your life like a nonbeliever. Then how pitiful is that?
You fall and get hurt on your way, then you have to pay money to the hospital when you didn’t have to do that to begin with. All the money you’ve saved diligently will be spent on hospital bills. You get hurt so you can’t go to school. You just have to drive, to take a plane. Are you going to walk to Korea? That’s the reason world evangelization seems so hard, because you’ve looking at the promise of world evangelization with religious eyes, “How can I go to Korea or America?” That’s why it’s difficult.
But the gospel is easy, it will take you around the world. If the Lord is with you, missions will take place, because God leads us along the lines of missions and evangelism. God gave us the gospel through the prophets in the Old Testament and will continue to give us the Word towards that mission. Don’t worry, what does God’s Word say? Enjoy it and pray, and God answers you. You can try running around for 100 years and it will be difficult.
If you tried to walk to Korea your entire life, you’d die. You’d have to walk through Seattle, Canada, to Alaska, then you’d swim through the ocean, and you’d die. But some strong swimmer might make it to Russia, but it’s so cold and you’d almost die. Then you’d walk across China, and before going past China, they have to go through North Korea which is even harder, then you’ll get to South Korea. How long would that take? But if you’re thinking of going to Korea with that level of religious diligence, this destiny is so burdensome and stressful.
Taking a plane, you’d reach there in a few hours and you just need to stay still, you can even sleep and you’re there. If you’re with God, then the line God takes you along is the line according to the time schedule of missions and evangelism, but you don’t have any sense of that, so you make a plan or destination for yourself and you walk there, so that’s why you’re devoured by wolves. The devil is just waiting for you to drop off and die, because the devil has a role to play, holding onto those who fall off this path to enslave them. That’s why you have to hold onto the gospel and enjoy it.
Genesis 3
The gospel is prepared by God from long ages past, since Genesis 3. As soon as humans were corrupt and fell from God, God gave them the gospel. What happened when mankind fell and became separated from God? They were afraid and ashamed. We were supposed to be with God, but we became divided from everyone, and their eyes were opened to see their nakedness so they were ashamed. In Genesis 3, it says they covered their bodies with fig leaves. That is religion. You’re trying to cover your shame with your religious actions, ethics, and morals, but you also have fear.
(Ashamed, Afraid) – Religion
The moment human beings were separated from God, they were ashamed and afraid, even if they make a lot of money, because they’re doing shameful things and they’re always afraid. It doesn’t matter how much you try to cover that up with your money and your actions; you cannot block your shame.
Animal Hides
That is why God clothed Adam and Eve with animal hides. If the fig leaves dry up, your shame will be exposed, so you diligently have to cover yourself again. After some time, the fig leaves dry, then you have to cover yourself again, but if you forget, you’ll be exposed. This is not a method. God took a lamb and put all the sin on that lamb, killed the lamb, and made our salvation eternal. Humans don’t need anything else except this gospel; we fail because of religion, using our own methods and diligence.
When the gospel becomes a religion, it will fall. Everything happening in America right now is because of fear, panic attacks. It’s shame, they have to cover and package themselves with other things instead of just meeting with God. If you have met God, then you just have to be with God, but instead you run away again, trying to live with your own diligence again. After receiving the driver’s license, you’re trying to walk, it’s our nature to live diligently. But that’s not how we live. If we stake our lives and get on a plane, everything works out.
Transcendental Meditation
This is the gospel. When the gospel is weak, churches will close their doors, and people are receiving healing through transcendental meditation. It started from the internet, everything you’re doing is a form of meditation. Before transcendental meditation, people tried to do something by going into religion. But Buddhism and Hinduism built their religions on meditation. America is pretty slow because once they lost the gospel for religion, they’re turning to transcendental meditation, but you just have to experience Christ dying for me to take away my shame and fear, and this life must come into me.
Although I’m ashamed, the Lord must die for me to take away my shame. I have no choice but to do shameful things, but with the gospel, I can overcome. But if you’re not able to do that, you’ll be oppressed by guilt. The devil keeps pressing you, “You’re a Christian? How can you think like this?” The Lord knows we’re like this from the beginning, so He is with us. Quickly let go of that and hold onto God. I’m not the master of my life, but God is the Master of my life. That’s how the devil will flee; otherwise the devil will oppress you and follow you around.
“What did I do wrong?” You were wrong from the beginning, but you don’t consider that. It’s Original Sin, fundamentally, your life is wrong, but God promised to get rid of that through Jesus Christ. But our nature to sin doesn’t go away; I still have a sinful nature, so because I am hopeless, God comes into me and promises to be with me eternally, even at this moment until eternity, whenever I’m in danger or fail, God is with me. Quickly hold onto the gospel.
Victory. The devil and curses and disasters will flee. Mistakes are not failure. Joseph sold as a slave was not a failure, David running away was not failure either. It was part of God’s plan, and the gospel changes everything, but you lose hold of the gospel. “I am a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.” The sin that makes me live for myself, rejecting God, is gone. Now, the Lord is inside of me, living with me, and I align my life in His direction.
There’s a lot of things you’ll face in the world, and first, you’re going to be afraid because you have a physical body, and at that time, you have to quickly change yourself to your real self. God is with me. Some people believe in getting jinxed, and it’s the same. You have to overcome that to be with God. Some people are really good at studying, but when they take tests, they get a bad score, it’s the same. Overcome it with God.
My skill level can only make me fall into superstition. Look at athletes, they do a lot of things. I thought it was just Korean athletes, but even American athletes have superstitions and do many things. One guy went outside and saw the number seven, so they won that day. “I saw the number seven and so I won.” The next time they have a game, they’ll look for the number seven, and not finding it, they will be shaken. They’re completely seized. “This is the color of your clothes.” I left my house not in my uniform, but I wore these clothes and we won, so I’ll wear these clothes. Some athletes don’t wash their hair because they won with that hair.
Some kids don’t wash their hair and cut their nails because they were in that state when they passed the test. This is the same thing that demon-possessed fortune tellers do. “This item is bad luck; don’t bring it.” That’s a channel for being seized by the devil. Do you have things like that? “When I have this, things go well for me.” What is that? Let’s say one day you don’t see the number seven but you still win, then what? “I was wearing this color underwear that day,” so they do crazy things, or they have a lucky charm necklace and always have to wear it.
Humans have no other choice, so we rely on idols and gods. We have no choice but to have mental problems and diseases. Athletes have constant pressure to win every competition. You have midterms and finals every few months, but if athletes don’t win, they fall from the major leagues, so their entire season, they must stake their life, because if they go from the major league to the minor leagues, they lose money and reputation. It’s the same for artists, they sell their soul to make music because they want to keep their money and fame. It’s in the Bible.
The devil goes to Jesus Christ Himself and says, “Worship me and I’ll give you all this world.” Musicians receive musical inspiration to bow down to Satan. It’s the same as going to worship, because the inside is the same, and that’s why the Israelites failed. It’s idol worship, the thing that Satan hates the most, and that’s why idolatry means you hate God. God is saying, “I will curse three to four generations of those who hate Me.” That’s how much God hates it, but we live for God according to God’s method and time schedule. That’s the path to victory, to win in the long term.
We live today diligently, not even knowing what will happen tomorrow, and that’s a failed life. We do not fail in this life due to a lack of diligence; elites do not commit suicide because they lack diligence. See this and quickly come to your senses. Without overcoming the darkness, the curses and disasters, you have to commit suicide, but deep within you, if you hold onto the gospel, you will enjoy and relay it.
Life – God
In John 5:21, it says we have received life. What is this life? It means you live according to God. What is death? It means you are dead, having no communication with God. Christ comes into us, and through this life, I become a son of God, so the blessings of God come upon me through His Word. God is His Word. God doesn’t give you money; He gives you His Word, and everything follows in the fulfillment of God’s Word, but if you don’t get that, you’ll be confused and get mental problems, and if you change your priorities, it will be difficult. When you leave in the morning you have to change your clothes, then what will happen? You’ll have to go back home and change your clothes, regardless of how hurriedly you leave your house. You must start correctly according to the Word of God. If you live diligently irrespective of God’s Word, you have to start from the beginning. You must hold onto God’s Word for things to work out properly.
This is the history of Israel and it’s the same for today’s churches, and it repeats continuously. So, from the beginning, be with God Who is His Word. When the Word tells you to go, you go. If the Word tells you to go somewhere and you’ll take a loss, just take the loss. If the Word doesn’t move but you want to move, you must endure, but you can’t so you jump out anyway. That’s a mental problem. When the Israelites traversed the wilderness, they followed the pillar of cloud and fire. Only when they followed the cloud would the sun be blocked out during the day, and at night, they could only survive the desert cold in the warmth of the pillar of fire.
“But I’m a strong person,” then you will die of thirst in the wilderness. Look what happens if you just try to survive in the desert. You think you can live diligently, but God’s Word moves us. If the Word moves fast, then I go fast, and that’s what it means to challenge. If the Word of God moves slowly, I follow. You know horses, right? They run around in the wilderness however they want, and one day, they’ll get shot and become horse meat. But let’s say there’s a horse, captured by someone and trained. How do they train a horse? They put the horse between two pieces of wood so they can’t move, and the horse goes crazy because they’re so used to running around wildly, but there are now these posts. Ultimately, the horse must give up and stay still.
Then they put a ring around the nose and a person gets on the horse. Even then, the horse doesn’t listen, because of everything that has happened until now. But the owner pull the nose ring so the horse can’t do whatever he wants. Later on, what does he do? If the owner says, “Go faster,” it will go faster. If the owner says, “Slow down,” then it will slow down. This is a well-trained horse that the trainer can use however they want.
Then if you go into a battle, you can’t do whatever you want; you’ll get shot and die. The trainers trust the well-trained horse and goes into a battle of arrows because the horses must follow. Mongolian horses are small, so the riders can do whatever they want, sliding underneath or going over the horse, and the horse reacts accordingly. Then, if an enemy approaches, the trainer tells the horse to lay low and quiet. That’s the Mongolian horse.
How were they trained? If the trainer says sit, they sit quietly. If the horse makes a noise, they bring out the horse in front and decapitate it, so the horses all realize, “If I make a noise, I die.” Horses aren’t dumb. If a horse is dumb, they can’t avoid arrows on the battlefield. Even if you look at a dog, they can see with their senses whether their owner is happy or not. That well-trained horse is a steed that goes into the battlefield, but we are the ones who are used to following God’s Word.
It is one of the eight fruits of the Holy Spirit, but if you don’t listen to your parents and you don’t listen to God’s Word, what will happen? That person will die, they won’t be used. You need to be very well trained. Listen to your parents, you have to listen because you have to be trained well, and you have to be very well trained in listening to God. If God’s Word is proclaimed this way this week, you apply it in the way it is relayed, then you are a priceless steed. That is how, when you go out into the battlefield of the world, you must move in the way that the Lord, the Creator Who controls the battle, will lead you to victory.
That’s the blessing and life we have. If this is painful for you, then you don’t know pain. You wanting to live your own life is pain, but you’re under the misconception that freedom is better. You cannot walk to Korea, you cannot live your life by walking; you have to take a plane. That’s how you can even fly to the greatest heights with the Word of God within the gospel. Then, you’ll be able to go according to His time schedule towards this goal. Enjoy this blessing of the gospel, hold onto it and apply it, and testify of it.
Prayer
God, we thank You. Please allow the remnants to remain within the precious flow and time schedule that You control. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, amen.