Genesis 53-Blazing torch

God's Word: Genesis Chapter 15, verses 7 to 21. Please listen carefully to the Word of God.

 

“Then he said to him, ‘I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.’ And he said, ‘O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?’ He said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ And Abram brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.’ When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.’”

Amen.

 

The Kingdom of God: A Deeper Understanding of Faith

Last week, we looked at the scene where God promised Abraham that He would be his shield and his great reward. After hearing God's words about how great the reward would be, Abraham immediately asked this question: "Lord, what will you give me?" And his concern, as we saw, was about his offspring, that is, the seed that God had promised. Of course, Abraham at that time did not clearly see that the seed was Jesus Christ, and that Christ would come through him. It probably took his entire lifetime for him to fully understand this fact.

 

However, God did not answer his question immediately but led Abraham outside and showed him the night sky. Then, pointing to the stars twinkling as if about to pour down from the midnight sky, He said: "Can you count all these stars? Your offspring will be as numerous as these." The Bible says that Abraham believed this. You might find it easy to understand this verse literally, but in fact, the word "faith" that Abraham confesses must be a much deeper word. For him, this word "faith" can encompass all the stories of his journey with God, who led him from Ur, through Haran, to Canaan. It also deeply contains God's care and love during the countless difficult times he experienced in Egypt, and all the events where God was with him when he returned to Canaan, heard news of war, participated, and triumphed.

 

All of us are people who confess the same faith as Abraham. If you have said through your mouth, "I believe that Jesus died for me," then in fact, your whole life is completely contained within that confession of faith. Up until that confession, God led us, upheld us, never let go of us for a single moment, and the Lord's hand that was always stretched out towards us is contained in that word "faith." Sometimes we may not have known everything, and sometimes we may have looked at all of God's providence superficially, but when God heard your confession of faith, the Lord always looks at our entire lives. And eventually, through our entire lives, we too make a confession of love to God.

 

If Abraham's faith we examined last week was about his descendants, his faith we will examine in today's passage is all about the land. Talking about descendants and suddenly shifting to the land might seem a bit strange. This story of the land contains important content that you should consider more deeply. When we think about Abraham's descendants and the land they would inhabit in this passage today, what comes to your mind? Does anyone think of the Kingdom of God?

The Kingdom of God, of course, includes many more elements, but among them, the three most important elements are: first, there needs to be a ruler who governs that kingdom; second, there are the people who live in that kingdom; and finally, the land where they reside is necessary. Therefore, what we must see through today's passage is that Genesis is not a heroic narrative about how God spectacularly blossomed the life of Abraham, a prominent man of faith. Genesis is not a story showing how Abraham, a pioneer of faith, received blessings. This is a story showing how God establishes His kingdom. This is the most important purpose of God's work that God wants to show us throughout the entire Bible.

 

Redefining Spiritual Purpose: From Earthly Blessings to Divine Will

If we consider the Kingdom of God, we tend to learn about the existence of God as a deity in that land, and easily focus all our attention on how much that deity will help us in our lives. However, such common thinking is, in fact, vastly different from God's idea of the Kingdom of God. The Bible constantly asks us if we know the direction toward which the Kingdom of God is heading. As citizens of God's kingdom, where exactly are we going? This is important because the purpose of a believer's life changes completely depending on that direction.

 

When I was young, the most important thing in my spiritual life was revival meetings. And the most important topic at revival meetings was 'how believers would receive blessings.' The blessing believers desired, along with salvation, was of utmost importance to them. I don't think there was anything wrong with this at all. Because it is God's promise that we believe in God and become children of God and enjoy blessings. However, at that time, our country was just beginning to grow economically through the Five-Year Economic Development Plan, and we were truly living in extreme poverty. It was so poor and difficult that we even peeled tree bark from the mountains to boil it into gruel and eat it. At that time, it was truly a thankful thing that God knew the pain and suffering of many Christians of that era, had mercy on our country, and allowed much economic growth, leading the nation to prosperity.

 

However, instead of truly being grateful for it, we became more interested in something we felt we could extract from God through prayer. This was probably due to the inevitable sinfulness of human beings. Naturally, things that would make us rich by receiving from God took a much larger place in our spiritual lives. Therefore, the most important part of faith inevitably focused on how our prayers of faith would be answered by God. And that, little by little, naturally led to unfavorable results in our faith. It became like loving someone and getting married, but only considering their conditions or the benefits I would gain from marrying them. The person I should love was no longer visible. God and Jesus Christ were no longer important, and we only looked at what we could enjoy on this earth. "How healthy I will be and how much I will enjoy and possess" inevitably became the most important element of heaven in our thoughts.

 

Understanding God's Purpose: Building His Kingdom Through Descendants and Land

Because we are like this, even when reading the blessed words God promised Abraham in today's passage, we tend to reduce it to the question of "how Abraham became the father of faith, and what acts of faith he performed to receive so many blessings from God." However, what I clearly state is that the lesson the Bible truly wants to convey to us through today's passage is how God is building His kingdom through His descendants and the land.

 

What does the Bible say about the Kingdom of God? It is the word of Romans. "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Here, righteousness, peace, and joy are, as we well know, referring to the "fruit of the Holy Spirit." The ultimate purpose of our faith and God's purpose in establishing His kingdom is not in eating and drinking and living our lives, but in enjoying righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This word completely changes our conventional thinking about the goal of our lives in this world, how we should live, and what we should leave behind in life. If we only pursue eating and drinking and what we can boast about in this world, it means that you and I may not be living for the Kingdom of God.

 

The Nature of Prayer and Patience in God's Kingdom

Jesus also spoke to us about this. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness." What have you been so diligently striving for by believing in Jesus? Where do you think you are going? If we had no hope for the Kingdom of God, we would inevitably be frustrated when our prayers are not answered. When things don't go our way, when we are still upset and struggling with difficult problems, when despair washes over us due to anxiety in our hearts, we would naturally have no choice but to lay our situation before God. "God, your child is suffering like this from all the problems of the world. Please help me!"

 

But what if you could first think about the Kingdom of God? How would our prayers change? Jesus also said this: "And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." This verse shows that many things will make us lose heart when we pray. This is because there are so many cases where our prayers are not answered quickly as we desire. It seems that if we believe and pray as we wish, everything will be fulfilled, but in reality, the Lord Himself is telling us that there will be many more times when it is not so in our lives.

 

Then why are our prayers not answered quickly like this? Is it because our prayers are wrong or not enough? No, that's not it. When we pray to seek God's will, we experience much conflict and pain when our prayers are not answered quickly. And when God answers our prayers in a completely different way than we desired, we are sometimes seized with surprise. When we pray persistently, we constantly repeat the thought in our hearts that God must have some great purpose. And as this time passes, the fruit of 'waiting' is finally borne in your life. We call this 'patience.' And this patience is the fruit of the Spirit. At last, the Kingdom of God has begun to appear within us.

 

When we pray earnestly but easily become discouraged when our prayers are not readily answered. However, the Bible says that God does not miss a single one of our seemingly unanswered prayers, and you and I are actually experiencing the Kingdom of God in the process of such prayer. This is because in this process, we are learning patience and bearing its fruit. And all our prayers bear not only the fruit of patience, but also the fruit of joy, the fruit of gladness, and the fruit of love. Therefore, through our prayers, we need to accurately know what we should truly pursue.

 

God's Unwavering Love and the Covenant of Works

If your testimony merely ends with your prayers being answered and everything going your way, then our life of faith might not be heading towards the Kingdom of God, but rather using God as a deity to build our own kingdom on this earth. If you are truly living a life heading towards the Kingdom of God, then we can only pray like this: "God! You are truly my Father. You have not abandoned me, but remembered me and always thought of me, caring for me in this way. You are my Shepherd, and You are my everything!"

 

When we are sick or seriously ill, our prayers become simple. "Please make me hurt less, and heal me quickly!" Yet, the Lord has mercy on us and hears our prayers and restores us. Whether our prayers are simple or complex and careful, through these prayers we can learn who God is. We come to realize and learn how God leads and loves us. We all know that every life has an end. As believers, we will all awaken before Jesus Christ. How can a person who knows this, a person who knows that they are a citizen of God's kingdom, live the same way as ordinary people of the world? If we have realized that, our lives are bound to change.

 

Therefore, it will be a very precious thing for us to examine through today's passage what kind of appearance Abraham, who understood the Kingdom of God, showed. This is because we, too, experiencing the great grace and love of God and His kingdom, cannot help but ask the same question Abraham asked God.

 

Abraham, who received the land and the Kingdom of God as a promise, asks God this question: "You mean God will give me this land and establish His kingdom there? Then how will I know that?" This question is not Abraham throwing a tantrum, asking for proof because his faith is small and he doesn't believe this promise. This is because the Bible says that God had already seen Abraham's faith and credited it to him as righteousness. So, what is the meaning of Abraham's question? Abraham wants to know the detailed contents of God's promise—how God's promise to establish His kingdom through him and his descendants will be fulfilled. Simply put, he is asking God what kind of contract God will sign.

 

The Visible Seal of an Invisible Promise: Sacraments and the Cross

The way God works is first to promise us through His word and then to seal it with us through a covenant. He gives us confirmation. This concept is not easy to understand accurately, so I will explain it with a simpler example. When we believe in Jesus and are converted, we hear these words: "Now the Holy Spirit has worked in your heart and baptized you, and receiving the baptism of the Spirit means that God has put His seal on you." And when we believe in Jesus and confess that we are now children of God, the church encourages us to receive water baptism. But if we have already been baptized by the Spirit, why do we need to be baptized with water again? The teaching of the Bible on this is as follows: "Just as you and I have been baptized by the Holy Spirit with the invisible Word, God now delights in sealing what kind of salvation you have received, visibly in your life through the form of the covenant of baptism. And this is precisely God's way of sealing His Word to you."

 

You know well Jesus' promise, "I will be with you always." And all of us live firmly believing this word of Jesus. But there are moments when we can actually experience that promise. That is the Lord's Supper we partake in during worship service. Regarding this Holy Communion, Jesus says, "My body is your food, and I give you my blood as a cup." In other words, we who believe in Jesus eat and drink Jesus' flesh and blood together. And Jesus says that through this Holy Communion, He dwells within us. And through this ritual, we finally come to know the promise God made. We realize the meaning of the promise Jesus Himself made to us. The phrase "I will be with you always" does not just symbolically mean that Jesus and we are together; rather, it means that He becomes food and blood, like the daily bread and water we consume, always being one body with us in our bodies and in our veins. That is why we call this Holy Communion a sacrament, and we know that this sacrament is God sealing us. This is God sending us a visible sign. God is sealing His promise to us: "I have saved you." Therefore, a proper sacrament is a precious ritual for believers and a mark of a true church. Therefore, if a church does not administer the sacrament properly, it loses its mark as a church. This Holy Communion was not simply given to us by the Lord as a beautiful religious act, but the Lord Himself is sealing to us His promise that He will be with us forever. Therefore, the event of God sealing Abraham in today's passage is the same event where God seals His precious promise to us.

 

The Sole Sacrifice: God's Fulfillment of the Covenant

Now let's look closely at how this happens. God's first command to Abraham was to gather clean animals: a three-year-old heifer, a female goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. Then He commanded Abraham to cut them in half. Although it may be hard for us to imagine just by reading the biblical text, what actually happened that day must have been truly gruesome. He killed these animals and cut them in half. Then he placed the halves of the split cows, goats, and rams opposite each other, excluding the doves. The surroundings must have been drenched in the animals' blood. This scene is unfolding before Abraham. After finishing the task, Abraham is waiting for God before the carcasses of the animals. We can clearly see how gruesome this death scene was by the flocks of vultures circling over the carcasses, eyeing them. We know that the vulture, in the Bible, belongs to the unclean birds, including eagles and ospreys. As it says in Job, the eagle always appears where there is a corpse, and therefore it is a bird that symbolizes death. This is because they are all animals that live by tearing at dead bodies. Therefore, these flocks of vultures appearing in today's passage are a device symbolizing death. In other words, God's covenant is beginning, but the story of death appears first.

 

Some biblical scholars interpret this passage today as symbolizing Egypt, which tormented Israel when they went to Egypt as slaves and suffered. They compare Egypt to the vultures, and Abraham symbolizing the prevention of Egypt, like the vultures, from harming the Israelites, who are like the divided meat. While this interpretation cannot be definitively said to be wrong, a closer look reveals that this event is connected not only to the future Exodus but also to some events that occurred before it.

 

First, let's look at verse 12 of today's passage again. "As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him." After Abraham drove away the vultures, the sun set. And Abraham fell into a deep sleep. This phrase "deep sleep" appears exactly seven times in the Old Testament. However, this word always appears in relation to prophets who see dreams or visions, or it is used to describe a situation where something happens while someone is unaware. For example, God once caused Saul to fall into a deep sleep so that he would not know that David had visited. But a more famous event appeared in the creation account before this passage. It is the story of Adam falling into a deep sleep so that God could create Eve. Therefore, this "deep sleep" in Genesis clearly carries the nuance of creation. Not only this, but a more definite creative term, "great darkness," appears in today's passage. And the same term appears in the creation account of Genesis 1: "darkness was over the face of the deep." The same word "darkness" is used when God's creation begins. Therefore, the use of this word "darkness" has a very great significance.

 

The time when the event in the passage occurred was at sunset. It was almost dark. But the Bible describes this darkness as 'deep darkness.' In Genesis 15:5, night also appears. And at that time, 'night' was not used as the word 'deep darkness.' Nor was it a word with a negative nuance at all. Because in verse 5, God led Abraham out in the middle of the night and showed him bright stars. But now it was not a night filled with countless shining stars. The dark night now had no stars, and only pure 'deep darkness' existed. This was because God intended to use the darkness, that is, 'deep darkness,' as the language of creation. Now God wants to tell the story of creation with Abraham, using creative words like 'deep sleep' and 'deep darkness.'

 

However, in today's passage, a word completely unrelated to creation also appears: 'fear.' The word 'fear' does not appear in the creation account of Genesis. God always saw that it was good. But in today's passage, the word 'fear' is used. And in the background, the phrase 'cut pieces of meat,' that is, 'death,' appears. Death and fear became the background of creation. This kind of creation, which begins from death and fear, we call 'salvation.' To create anew from death, that is salvation. God is now bringing about the creation of salvation for Abraham. Therefore, this is not merely a story of God creating something new, but it means that God is showing Abraham that the work of creation is proceeding within him, who is in death and gripped by fear.

 

The Darkness Culminates in Christ's Crucifixion

So, will this story of darkness end with Abraham's story today? In fact, we know the end of this darkness very well. Where does the story of this darkness that the Bible shows us end? It is at the very moment Jesus was crucified. The Gospel writer Matthew says, "From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land." What happened then? There was darkness. Deep darkness covered the whole world. And that darkness continued until 9 o'clock, when Jesus died on the cross. So now we know where our salvation is heading. And from now on, the word of promise God will make to Abraham is the history of God's salvation, and the declaration of creation for the people in darkness.

 

First, God tells Abraham the story of his next four hundred years. "Your descendants will serve a nation for 400 years, and they will become their slaves." This is a story about the time of darkness and fear that Abraham and his descendants will experience. And then God promises to directly punish the nation that Abraham's descendants are serving and to bring them out with much wealth. This is a story of salvation. He then explains that the reason this salvation takes so long is that the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full enough for God to destroy them and safely rescue Abraham's descendants to Canaan. This word shows us that God's judgment and righteousness will be fulfilled simultaneously. Therefore, this story of salvation includes three important elements: first, the darkness caused by our sins; second, that God will nevertheless save us; and finally, that this establishes God's righteousness. This is because God not only loves us but also acts righteously. Therefore, when anyone stands before that judgment, no one will be treated unfairly. All humanity, including you and me, cannot complain when we stand before God. This is because God's righteousness is perfectly fulfilled. No one is wronged. This is because we will all know that God's righteousness will be perfectly fulfilled. That is the story of salvation that today's passage tells us, which God prepared for Abraham.

 

God's Righteousness and the Covenant of Works

Now, having concluded this story of salvation, I will now share the most important story I wish to convey to you. It is about the method God used to make that covenant. We can see that God revealed the contents of the covenant He made with Abraham through a very special ritual. I would like to examine this in detail. First, darkness fell. Imagine this scene. It was a pitch-black night, without even starlight. The Bible describes this darkness as 'deep darkness.' But in this darkness, a light suddenly shone. A burning torch appeared. A bright light, from an unknown source, suddenly illuminated this darkness. Imagine how bright it must have been. In the pitch-black night, a flaming torch suddenly blazed up over an empty brazier. It suddenly illuminated the entire surroundings. What scene comes to your mind from this? It is the very scene of light shining in darkness. That's right, the Bible is now showing a scene where the event of creation is reenacted. In the deep darkness, God's light shines, and then smoke rises from it.

 

We know that smoke and fire are often used in the Bible to indicate God's presence. Just like the passage in Exodus, "Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly," smoke and fire always appear when God descends or is present. In today's passage, God appears in smoke and fire and shines light, and before Him are the cut pieces of meat. This is an uncommon ritual nowadays, and the Bible does not explain in detail why the meat is cut, so it may be difficult for people encountering this story for the first time to understand the reason. However, the Israelites who first encountered Genesis, written by Moses, would have known the reason precisely. The explanation for this ritual is well-described in the book of Jeremiah, and it was a common ritual in the ancient Near East at that time. This ritual was not a sacrificial act but was performed when two parties made a covenant. Nowadays, if two parties make a promise, they draw up a contract and sign it. And they promise to accept any disadvantages specified in the contract if they fail to fulfill the promises in the contract.

 

However, in Abraham's time, the parties to the covenant placed animals before them and cut them in half. And the covenanting parties walked together between the split pieces of meat. The meaning of that ritual was that if anyone broke the promise, they would be cut in half and die like the split animal. It was an act showing their determination to keep that promise at the cost of their lives. Abraham also cut the animals and laid them before him. The next thing Abraham had to do was walk between them. So, if he made a covenant with God and lived according to that covenant, he would receive God's blessings, but if he failed to keep the covenant, he would die like the split animal. If you keep the terms of the promise, you live; if you don't keep them, you die. What does this resemble? Yes, it is the spirit of the Law. Thus, earlier theologians called such a covenant, where keeping it leads to life and failing to keep it leads to death, the "covenant of works," though it is not explicitly expressed as such in the Bible. This is because this covenant is ultimately determined by our actions. In other words, the way this covenant is being made before Abraham right now is a "covenant of works." Abraham would walk with God between these split pieces of meat, and thereafter, if the terms of the covenant were kept, he would live, and if not, he would die.

 

So, what were the terms to be kept? From God's perspective, it was the promise to make Abraham fruitful and to give him these lands. God is fully capable of fulfilling that promise. On the other hand, what were the terms Abraham had to keep? If we are talking about the story of creation now, it is God's creation command to Adam and Eve. Do you remember? "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it." This was the promise Abraham had to keep. But Abraham wants to be fruitful and multiply, but he has no heir. So he could not keep this promise. He wants to conquer the land, but he does not own even a small plot of land to lay his head. Except for the Cave of Machpelah, which he bought for Sarah's burial when she died, Abraham never owned even a handbreadth of land until his death. So, what should be the outcome of this covenant? Abraham, by his own power, cannot fulfill this covenant. He was a powerless man before God, without even a small plot of land or a single child. He could not keep the promise by the law, the covenant of works. According to the spirit of the covenant, God should have held Abraham accountable for the non-fulfillment of the covenant.

 

But God, as smoke and a flaming torch, passed alone between the cut pieces of meat. That light passed alone through the split meat, through that death, without Abraham. God Himself entered into death. Abraham could do nothing for this covenant. As we can see through the Bible, his descendants were constantly driven out of the land of Canaan. God would let them in, and then they would be driven out again, repeating these events countless times throughout history. But God, by taking sole responsibility for the non-fulfillment of this covenant, did not leave them alone when they were repeatedly driven out, but actively sought them out and pursued them. He always went with them. And He made sure they did not forget the land. This is because God would give them the land again. For us, who cannot keep the promise, God alone bears the responsibility of becoming the cut pieces of meat. Thinking of that promise, which was clearly bound to be broken, He tells us that He Himself will pay the price for the unfulfilled promise with His death. Therefore, God Himself came to this earth in pursuit of our sins, and because of that, He was bruised, torn, and bled, and ultimately died. He Himself became the cut pieces of meat. And that, we call the "cross."

 

Abraham's Vision and Our Choice: Responding to the Crucified Christ

The Messiah, Jesus Christ, walked the path leading to death that Abraham should have walked, on Abraham's behalf. At first, Abraham did not know all these facts. But through his entire life, Abraham came to understand the meaning of the death of this Lamb, one by one. The Bible clearly testifies that Abraham saw and understood the fulfillment of the covenant's contents, not only during his lifetime but also after his death, and he longed for the fulfillment of that covenant.

These are the words of Jesus in John chapter 8. “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” Where did Abraham see Jesus Christ coming? Yes, he saw it from heaven and rejoiced. But the next phrase, "I am," is translated into Greek as "ἐγώ εἰμι (ego eimi)." Literally, it means "I exist." This phrase "ego eimi" has been used in the Old Testament before. Where? There is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible called the Septuagint, and in it, the same phrase "ego eimi" is used in the Old Testament. It is the same phrase as in Exodus chapter 3, where God appeared to Moses and said, "I am who I am." The Israelites who heard that story immediately understood what Jesus meant by these words, and that is why they picked up stones to stone Him. Jesus was telling the people gathered there that He was God, the self-existent One, even before Abraham existed. And Jesus says that Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus. Abraham saw Jesus during his lifetime and rejoiced in Him even after his death. What about you?

 

The Lord, who seeks to establish the Kingdom of God, promises to certainly accomplish that work by Himself passing through the split pieces of meat for the sake of that kingdom. Before that Lord, we have only two possible reactions. One is to pick up stones. "Jesus? He's crazy. He says he's God? That's just nonsense!" This is the choice of shouting and picking up stones to throw at Jesus. Some people might think that Jesus was a great person, so they might acknowledge him as one of the great saints. However, Jesus never considered or spoke of himself as a great person. We are the ones who made him a saint. Jesus said that he did not come to be served, but to give his life as a ransom for us, that is, to die. When the disciples said that Jesus was the Christ and the Son of the living God, he did not teach them to imitate and follow him, but he finally taught them that he would die for them and then rise again. Therefore, if you think of Jesus as just a great teacher, you are not describing Jesus correctly. Some people might simply say that Jesus was not in his right mind, or like the Pharisees in the Bible, that he was demon-possessed.

 

However, if you accurately understand His life and deeply consider how He, who was without any sin or fault, had to die on the cross, and why He said He died for us, then those people cannot help but show the second reaction. If we truly understand Him—the One who explains Himself as the Son of God, who dies for all our sins, and who prays for forgiveness for those who try to stone Him and mock and ridicule Him even at the moment of His death on the cross—then we cannot help but come before Jesus, who was crucified alone, and bow our heads. And it would be natural for us to confess to Him, "Please help us live a life heading towards the Kingdom of God, to walk that path with You, and to follow the path You walked." Will you come to Him who was crucified alone? Or will you pick up stones and shout, "Crucify Jesus!" and sadly return to the path of sin and death, still burdened by your own problems? Jesus said this: "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'" Come to Christ!

 

Prayer: Confession, Renewal, and the Power of Salvation

Let us pray! We come before that Lord. We often speak and act as if we are believers in Jesus, and therefore we believe well, but are merely striving to believe even better. Lord, we confess, we are truly chief among sinners. We are people who cannot abandon our desires even at the moment of worshiping God, and we are people who wallow in sin yet come before God seeking blessings. We are so arrogant that we do not even realize how great our sins are, and we are great sinners who live on our own perceived merits. Lord, we confess. We are sinners among sinners. Yet, the voice of the Lord who calls us back is so sweet to us. The Lord calls us back, who must drink the bitter cup, and promises that He will never abandon us, that He will pass between the cut pieces of meat for us, and ultimately be crucified and die, pursuing us to the very end and holding onto us. Lord, following that love, help us also to lift our eyes and see the Kingdom of God, and to live as those called for that kingdom, and to realize again who the people of God's kingdom are and what we are living for, and to renew our salvation so that we may know new joy and the astonishing power of new salvation. Lord, do not let us be deprived of the joy of salvation, and enable us to walk in the power of salvation. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!