Genesis-162 – The Final Blessing

Genesis 49:29–33

"Then he gave them these instructions: 'I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.' When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people." Amen.

 

Jacob's Last Will and the Final Blessing

Until last week, we explored how Jacob blessed each of his twelve sons. With Benjamin, the youngest, the journey of blessing his children reached its conclusion. Today’s passage reveals how Jacob, facing the threshold of death, prepares for his final moments. On the surface, his instructions regarding burial procedures may seem no different from any ordinary last will and testament.

 

However, a deeper look into these verses reveals a profound message that transcends a mere personal request. This may, in fact, be more fundamental than any of the blessings declared over his twelve sons, serving as a private eschatological declaration of blessing delivered at the end of his life. Jacob is not merely concerned with the disposal of his physical body; he is proclaiming the ultimate blessing that he and his descendants will eventually attain. He begins his majestic testament with the words, "I am about to be gathered to my people."

 

Eternal Union with the Family of God

Sometimes, a fluent translation can obscure the original depth of meaning. It is easy to understand Jacob’s confession simply as "returning to the place where my grandfather Abraham and father Isaac sleep," or as the common notion of "returning to heaven."

 

To grasp the meaning more clearly, we must focus on the expression in verse 33: "was gathered to his people." The Hebrew word translated here as "people" aligns with the word "fathers" (ancestors) mentioned earlier. While translated as 'ancestors' or 'people' depending on the context, most English Bibles render this as "people." Originally, this term carries the nuance of "kinsman," referring to blood relatives or very close family. I believe its essence becomes much clearer to us when we translate this word as "family" rather than the conceptual terms of ancestors or people.

 

This is due to the unique character of the Hebrew word asaph, translated as "return" or "gathered." This word goes beyond the active sense of turning one's steps or ascending to heaven; it can be interpreted in a passive sense as "God has gathered." In other words, it means being called and gathered to someone—specifically, that he was gathered to the "Family of God."

 

Therefore, the deepest translation of Jacob’s confession would be: "I am now about to unite with the Family of God." This is the first blessing Jacob proclaims. Death is truly a lonely path. Because it is a journey no one can take for us and must be faced alone, humans feel a fundamental dread before it. We may forget it in our daily lives, but when its shadow falls, everyone faces loneliness and terror.

 

However, the Bible declares that the death of a saint is never a lonely end. While the fact that heavenly hosts welcome us is precious, it is, above all, a mysterious event where God calls and gathers us into His holy family community, uniting us with Him eternally.

 

The Death of a Saint within the Covenant

The core emphasis of this text is not that I am arbitrarily going somewhere, but that the Family of God welcomes me and gathers me into His embrace. It is a hospitable welcome saying, "You have now truly become one who belongs to us."

 

Ultimately, this confession can be understood as a declaration of victory: "I have now become completely one with the family of the covenant." This is the reality of the true blessing saints enjoy, which we must remember whenever we meditate on death. We do not face death alone, nor are we abandoned in silent demise or discarded into a dark pit. We enter into God’s eternal covenant and become one body eternally with the family of that covenant.

 

The moment we reach that place, we will face our true brothers and sisters. We will see God, our eternal Parent, and participate in a holy community that the finite thoughts of this world could never fathom, enjoying a whole and perfect union.

 

The Significance of the Cave of Machpelah in the Promised Land

The Bible testifies to this as the first blessing Jacob enjoys. Jacob is not being pushed along by an irresistible fate called death. Rather, he is walking the path of becoming fully one with the people of the covenant by entering into God’s faithful covenant.

 

The specific implications of this confession become even clearer in the second blessing Jacob delivers. It is his earnest request to be buried with his fathers. The "fathers" mentioned here refer to Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob emphasizes that his wife Leah also sleeps there and insists that he must be buried in that same place. In the text, the words "fathers" and "bury" are key terms that appear repeatedly from Genesis 49 through chapter 50.

 

However, more fundamental than these keywords is the issue of the "location" where he is to be buried with his ancestors. That place is the Cave of Machpelah, which Abraham had rightfully purchased in the land of Canaan. Jacob is requesting to be laid to rest not in the land of Egypt where he lived, but surely in Canaan, the Promised Land.

 

Through this scene, we once again realize the weight that the land of Canaan held for Jacob. However, we must guard against a certain misunderstanding. He did not insist on this because the land itself was holier than any other terrain, or because it possessed a mystical power to increase the probability of salvation. It was by no means due to some physical or superstitious mystery of it being a land set apart by God.

 

God's Promise and the Eternal Inheritance

The reason that land holds such significant value is solely because it is connected to God’s promise. From a human perspective, there was no reason to transport a body all the way to Canaan. Jacob drew his last breath in Egypt, not Canaan. After death, what does the location of the physical body’s dwelling fundamentally matter?

 

Jacob was already certain. He knew clearly where he would stay after death and with whom he would be. He was confident that he would enter eternal rest with the family of the covenant. If so, whether the body is buried in the earth or cast into the sea is a secondary issue, for he would already be with the Lord.

 

Nevertheless, the reason Jacob emphasized the burial site so strongly is that it was the land God had promised. Within his request, the covenant God made with Abraham is perfectly reflected. In Genesis 17, God said to Abraham: "I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come."

 

The Hope of the Completed Kingdom of God

By making a covenant with Abraham, God proclaimed, "I will establish an eternal covenant and be the God of you and your descendants." Furthermore, He promised, "The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you."

 

For those well-versed in Old Testament history, this part should evoke a sense of discrepancy. While it is true that the people of Israel later entered Canaan with Joshua, look at the history that followed. After the golden age of David and Solomon, the kingdom was divided, and eventually, the people were taken into exile.

 

Was that land, then, truly an 'eternal inheritance'? Reality suggested otherwise. Even after the return from exile, Israel could not fully restore the glory of the Davidic dynasty. Even when Jesus was born, the land of Judea appeared to be ruled by Herod, but in reality, it was under Roman colonial rule.

 

From a historical perspective, the period during which Israel fully possessed the land of Canaan as a sovereign nation was not very long. It was not until 1948 that they reclaimed the land under international recognition, yet as the daily news of war suggests, that place remains a continuation of chaos and conflict. Practically speaking, it is difficult to see that the entire land has been peacefully recovered.

 

Yet, the Bible clearly specifies it as an "everlasting possession." Through this Word, we must realize that there is another spiritual meaning embedded here that transcends visible history. While the earthly land of Canaan we know was finite, the true inheritance promised by God certainly hides a deeper and eternal purpose.

 

Faith Longing for a Heavenly Homeland

The Exodus occurred around 1500 BC, and it was not until around 1000 BC that the monarchical era through Saul, David, and Solomon began. Prior to that, it is difficult to say they possessed the full framework of a territorial nation-state.

 

Even if we calculate the history of the Davidic dynasty from 1000 BC, its prosperity came to an end with the fall of Judah to Babylon in 586 BC. Since then, there has never been a time in history when Israel fully enjoyed independent sovereignty or when the Davidic dynasty was completely restored.

 

Therefore, we must now be certain that the declaration of an "eternal inheritance" spoken by God contained a majestic meaning beyond geographical territory. This is not our own arbitrary guess. The book of Hebrews testifies even more clearly to the reality of this promise.

 

The Inheritance Enjoyed in Jesus Christ

Despite Joshua’s conquest of Canaan and Israel’s entry into the land, the Bible testifies that they did not enter into true rest. David also mentioned that they had not yet attained true rest. This means there is a separate, ultimate rest remaining for us. The "eternal inheritance" that Moses, Joshua, and David so longed for was ultimately the reality of the promise to be fully realized at the end of time.

 

The one who would fulfill that promise is Jesus Christ. By Jesus' coming to this earth, that eternal inheritance was finally completed. Therefore, the eternal inheritance God spoke of is not limited to the geographical land of Canaan. I wish to meditate once more on the essential meaning proclaimed by the author of Hebrews, encompassing all the forefathers of faith from Abraham to Moses.

 

The Journey Toward a Better Homeland

Hebrews 11, the so-called "Faith Chapter," records that the ancestors of faith died in faith without having received the things promised. Here, "not having received the things promised" does not mean God did not give them a promise. He gave the promise to Abraham, and even to Adam, but it means they did not personally encounter the reality of that promise—the Messiah, Jesus Christ—in their own time. They only saw the promise from a distance and welcomed it, calling themselves foreigners and strangers in the land of Canaan. Such a confession manifested that they were seekers of the homeland to which they truly belonged.

 

For Abraham, Canaan was certainly the promised land and his home, but it was not the final destination. If they had been thinking of the physical homeland they had left, they would have had opportunity to return, but they longed for a better country—a heavenly one. Ultimately, the land of Canaan and the eternal inheritance Jacob spoke of were models symbolizing the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in heaven.

 

Here, the reality of the second blessing Jacob proclaims is revealed. Jacob is now majestically declaring, "I am now going to receive the eternal inheritance." Though his physical body is leaving this world, it is the assurance that he is now entering the embrace of the eternal inheritance. Within this testament to be buried in the Cave of Machpelah in the land of Canaan, there is a truly amazing message.

 

If the goal were simply to be buried under the soil of Canaan, what use would that be to the deceased Jacob? Being laid in a corner of that small field Abraham bought is not the essence. Through his funeral, Jacob is presenting a very important spiritual landmark to his descendants and to us today.

 

The Blessing of Leaving Sin and Ascending to Glory

Jacob is proclaiming that, beyond simply being buried in the land of Canaan, he has finally come to inherit the eternal possession promised by God. The final, third blessing contained in Jacob's testament is deeply connected to the verb "to go up." In fact, this expression is not in Jacob's direct speech, but appears repeatedly in the early part of the following chapter 50. Originally, Genesis 49:29 through 50:14 forms a single meaningful unit, and the Bible focuses on the process of him "going up" from the land of Egypt to the land of Canaan after his death.

 

The Hebrew word alah, meaning "to go up," is an interesting word. Among the Old Testament sacrifices, the "burnt offering," where the sacrifice is burned and the smoke is sent up to heaven, is also called olah in Hebrew. Just as the sacrifice burns and heads toward heaven, Jacob’s final journey also contains the meaning of a holy ascent from a low place to a high place—from the secular land of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan.

 

The Glory of God Dwelling Within Us

Saints, you are now facing a truly deep spiritual meaning through the word alah. The core of the final blessing Jacob enjoys is "Exodus." Jacob proclaims to his descendants, "I am making my Exodus before you," and confesses this as the blessing he enjoys.

 

Spiritually, Egypt symbolizes that which belongs to this world or a state of being enslaved by sin. Jacob now intends to cast off and leave behind a life marked by sin and all the shackles of a past where he tried to live by his own strength alone. The Bible describes our final day as "reaching from glory to glory."

 

You who believe in Jesus Christ are already people who possess this glory. When I see the weary expressions of saints, I sometimes worry that the adjective "glory" might feel awkward, but this is a clear fact. C.S. Lewis said that God comes into us to build a dwelling. We think a modest, livable house would suffice, but God, contrary to our expectations, builds a grand palace. This is because it is the dwelling where God Himself will reside. Because God dwells within us, we are already glorious beings. And that glory is completed in perfect glory the moment we enter the Kingdom of God—the very instant we finish our lives.

 

Jacob is confessing this blessing with certainty right now. "I am now becoming one with the people of the covenant. I am receiving the eternal inheritance." This assurance Jacob enjoyed is also the hope of eternal victory we will enjoy in Christ.

 

The Joy of Salvation Enjoyed while Living

Jacob proclaims, "I am now advancing toward the seat of glory. I am leaving Egypt and entering the eternal kingdom of God." We easily think of this confession as Jacob’s personal blessing, but there is a deeper redemptive providence embedded here. Jacob entered Canaan as a corpse after death, but how were his descendants later? The Israelites who left Egypt under Moses' guidance walked that path while alive.

 

Of course, Moses ended his life in the wilderness, but many of the people stepped onto the Promised Land alive with Joshua. Jacob reached Canaan through death, but the Israelites experienced the glory of the Exodus while alive. This difference suggests a very significant spiritual truth to us.

 

The blessing of salvation we enjoy is not merely a reward given after death. Just as Jacob's remains headed for Canaan, we too will one day reach our eternal home, but God wants us to enjoy the "joy of the Exodus" even while we live on this earth. Being liberated from a life enslaved to sin and walking toward the Promised Land under God’s guidance today is a vivid blessing the saint enjoys. We are not beings who only reach glory through death like Jacob; we are those who live even at this moment by the power of God’s glory dwelling within us. I hope that not only the hope beyond death but also the thrill of salvation enjoyed while living will be full in your lives.

 

The Church Established in Jesus Christ

Jacob sang of his blessing before his death, but for us who believe in Jesus Christ, all these things have become a reality experienced while living. You are already people who have escaped spiritual Egypt. You have passed over the plague of death by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Passover Lamb, and you are those who have crossed the Red Sea with the Lord, been baptized, and come to dwell in Him. Even in a world like a wilderness, we eat and drink the Lord, who becomes our spiritual drink and manna, living today with gratitude and joy. The blessing Jacob saw from afar has now become a present blessing enjoyed here and now because of Christ’s coming.

 

As a result of that grace, what was established on this earth is the "Church." God has called the people of the covenant and made each one of you a member of the Church. What an amazing mystery! Jacob confessed that he would be incorporated as one of the people of the covenant only after death, but you and I have been called to the Church as God’s people while we are alive now.

 

The position the Church holds in the Bible is much more solemn than we might guess. We often look at the Church through eyes swept up by the storms of the world. Commonly, when discussing the secularization of the Church, we think of the fall of leaders, financial corruption, or a prosperity-gospel attitude. While those are certainly facets of secularization, from a pastoral perspective, the most serious secularization is when our "perspective" and "interest" regarding the Church become secularized. Failing to see the Church as a glorious covenant community of God and regarding it merely as any other institution or social gathering of the world is the beginning of the secularization we must guard against most.

 

Church Relationships Beyond the Ways of the World

We often naturally accept the ways of human relationships learned in the world even within the Church. We think that in the Church, if someone is disagreeable, we can just stop seeing them, and that we can sever relationships whenever we don't feel like it. we try to spend time only with people whose temperaments match ours or those who make us happy. While I understand this is a heart we can have because we are weak humans, it is by no means the image the Lord expects of us.

 

The Lord commanded us to generously handle all relationships within the Church and promised to lead us, giving us the strength to perform that task. The Apostle Paul personally confessed how heavy the weight of these relationships is. He wept with the saints in their sorrow and regarded their pain as his own. He formed such passionate relationships of love that he was confident the saints would even have plucked out their eyes for him.

 

However, in 2 Timothy, which records the final years of Paul’s life, a heartbreaking lament appears. "So-and-so has left me, and another has also left me. Now no one is by my side," he says, asking for his cloak and scrolls before the cold winter comes. I do not say this to pity Paul’s situation. It means that the task of guarding the unity of the Church is a long and fierce spiritual battle.

 

Nevertheless, Paul never gave up. He called back Mark, with whom he had once parted ways, and restored the joy of partnering in God. Though wounded and lonely, he valued the saints as "one family" until the end. This was because Paul saw so accurately the truth that what God has joined together, no man can separate.

 

Christ's Remaining Afflictions and the True Marks of the Church

In 2 Corinthians, Paul speaks of how much pain saints can cause one another and how difficult the Church can be when it becomes a thorn that pierces one another. At that time, the Corinthian church had deep rifts of division. To use a modern analogy, factions were divided according to ecclesiastical power or temperament, and they even formed parties under the name of "the Jesus faction." But Paul flatly declares, "That cannot be."

 

Even if there are times of pain and tears within the Church because of each other's weaknesses, Paul paradoxically calls that "the remaining afflictions of Jesus Christ." It means the suffering that Christ is still undergoing with us for His body, the Church. Paul wanted the saints to discover the mysterious meaning of that suffering and to silently handle all situations within the Word of God. And he confesses that he too is racing to the end for that path.

 

How could there not be difficult and upsetting things? However, the saint does not follow physical emotions in that pain but seeks God’s wisdom and will. The Reformers taught that the true marks of the Church are "the right preaching of the Word," "the right administration of the sacraments," and "the right exercise of discipline." The standard for judging whether a church is on the right path should not be the satisfaction of my emotions, but only the Word of God.

 

Even if the community seems to be shaking due to the weaknesses of the church or the shortcomings of its members, if that church is still struggling to hold onto the Word of the Lord, it is a living church. Conversely, if a church has completely departed from the Word of God, we no longer have a reason to stay there. This is because the marks of the church no longer exist there. If it is a place that does not correctly proclaim the Word of God, then it is proper to resolutely go out and find a true church of God.

 

Discipline that Corrects and Builds One Another through the Word

If the Church stands firm on the foundation of the Word, we must labor together so that God’s law is fully implemented within the community. Commonly, when we hear "discipline," we think only of strict administrative procedures such as the session punishing a specific person or suspending participation in Holy Communion. However, looking at the reality of the discipline that the Reformer Calvin implemented in Geneva, we find that its core lies in a place completely different from what we might guess.

 

The most essential value of discipline lies in the process of "self-correction"—humbly listening to God’s Word and turning one's path in light of that Word. Trimming the jagged parts of my life with God’s Word is the beginning of discipline. Such history can occur within the fellowship of saints or even between the closest of couples. The entire process of confessing while meditating on the Word together, "I misunderstood this Word. I must love and forgive you like this," and accepting one another, and gently exhorting the other, "That's right, this Word is the right path we must go," forms the backbone of discipline.

 

In the constitutions of all sound denominations that confess a correct faith, including the PCA denomination to which I belong, this principle is clearly stated. Unless a process of God's children personally and privately exhorting and accepting one another through the Word precedes it, the session can never implement official exhortation. This is the legitimate procedure and order prescribed by the Bible.

 

The reason for this is that it is the Lord’s principle revealed in Matthew 18. Jesus taught that when a brother sins, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back who was almost lost. That is enough. Establishing each other correctly with the Word within such a law of love is the true meaning of discipline and governing as spoken of in the Bible.

 

Exhortation of Love to Win a Brother

Nevertheless, if he does not listen to the exhortation and does not realize his sin, you must take witnesses with you. If he still does not bend his resolve, be with someone who can mediate, and only when he does not turn back despite all those efforts should it be made known to the church—that is, a governing body like the session. The Church must follow this procedure when governing God’s people. This is because unless the previous stage of loving exhortation is presupposed, it can never move to the next stage.

 

Therefore, the saint must, above all, become humble before the Word of God. Even though the Word has been proclaimed and the truth learned, if you feel unspeakable pain because your heart cannot fully obey, you must fall down and pray before God and wait. Confessing, "Lord, govern my heart with Your Word. My emotions and greed still come before God’s Word," you must humbly accept that Word.

 

Of course, the Church must strive tirelessly to correctly implement these principles. However, the most fundamental exhortation and discipline begin at the point where saints voluntarily change before God’s Word. If such restoration does not occur, then the Church must reveal and correct what is wrong through the governing body established to purify the saints and the community. The session is the place that performs that holy duty.

 

Therefore, the attitude of "someone did something wrong, so they must be punished unconditionally" is not the principle of discipline taught by the Bible. The ultimate goal of biblical discipline is to somehow win even one more brother. The goal is to make his heart truly repent and return to the Lord, and to make him aware of his own fault. It is not about exposing and pursuing the flaws of others to the end, but the heart that earnestly desires for him to cast off all errors and return to God must come first. Discipline lacking such a heart of love and mercy can never hold true meaning.

 

In God’s Church, the Lord has bound us as one and led us here through that holy calling. Even if we face heart-stifling and weary situations in reality, we must remember "the remaining afflictions of Christ." We must not forget how the Lord endured to the end for us, how He is still weeping and interceding for us, and how dearly He loves this Church. Remembering that love, we too must not stop our love and prayers for the Church.

 

Today we are going on a picnic together. This fellowship is a precious evidence that God has called us as the church of this region and made us one body.

 

Various Members Forming the Body of Christ

We are one body with Jesus Christ as the head, and each of you is a variety of members forming that body. Some become eyes, some ears, and others perform roles like legs, arms, fingers, or fingernails. Occasionally, you might think, "I don't want to be a member as small as a fingernail; I want to hold a pivotal office like at least the neck." I won't necessarily rebuke that heart, but you must remember that the position of the neck is a truly arduous one that must support the heaviest head all day long.

 

We are all members of Christ, but sometimes we may be in a truly weak state. A hand may be a hand that does not listen well, and a foot may be a foot that is deeply wounded and hurt. Everyone, even so, can you cut that member off from our body? You can never do that. As long as you realize that it is a part of your body, how could you recklessly cut it off? Naturally, the providence of the body is to wrap bandages around the wound to protect it, and even if you have to put a cast on the leg, you must limp along together.

 

The Church is a place qualitatively different from any other community existing in this world. Because principles of love and patience that are completely incomprehensible by the logic of the world are at work, it sometimes feels difficult and painful. But we are a single body that must go forward together until the end, wrapping each other's shortcomings with bandages.

 

Saints Beautiful like Heavenly Jewels

The reason the Church is so distinguished from the world is that we follow heavenly principles that are completely different from the way we live. However, the Bible testifies that the Church is beautiful precisely because of that difference. Showing us the city of Heavenly Jerusalem, it says that the glorious image, studded with all jewels and made of paths of pure gold, is precisely you, the saints. This is because you have walked the path of suffering, embraced painful wounds, and achieved victory with patience in the Lord through those difficult moments. Because you offered praise and worship to the Lord even in that valley of tears, God calls you truly beautiful ones and establishes you as the protagonists who will complete God’s kingdom and will.

 

You are those who have received this holy call and are those standing in a truly deep place of faith. Let me say it again: Jacob only viewed that blessing from afar after death and never once attended church in his life. Abraham also never experienced a community of one body bound by the cross of Jesus Christ as we have. Yet, God protected and loved even that weak Israel to the end. How much more will He not love you, whom He bought with the blood of Christ? How will He not protect you, and how will He let go of your hand?

 

You are already God's people who have experienced the spiritual Exodus and are those who enjoy the fulfillment of the promise. Therefore, let us now value, build up, and love one another, and cover each other's faults. At the same time, let us purify each other with the Word of the Lord. Only the Word of the Lord can make us clean.

 

Saints, become infinitely humble before the Word. Do not stand before people and compare yourselves to one another, and do not let your hearts be taken by who is superior. I earnestly hope that you will become beautiful "heavenly jewels" who stand as individuals before the Word of God and follow His guidance.

 

Peace Enjoyed under the Rule of the Word

Let that Word rule you, let your spirits become rich because of God’s Word, and remember once again that I am living solely because of that Word. When you cover a brother's fault relying on the Word, you yourself become purified first, and you realize, "Ah, through this process of refinement, I am growing this much." This is not only a principle of the Bible, but also a principle that penetrates the lives of countless saints who walked the path of faith before us.

 

If you only stay at the confession, "I like coming to our church because it makes my heart feel at ease," you must not settle there. If coming to church is just enjoyable because there are no difficult things and no one who makes it hard for you, then perhaps we are walking a path somewhat distant from the teachings of the Bible. This is because that is no different from a social club where only like-minded people gather to share benefits.

 

Within the true Church, there is pain and there are tears. There are topics for which we must pray earnestly, and there are burdens we must willingly bear. Fierce agonizing and spiritual conflict such as "How should I love that member?" must be accompanied. Rather than just saying "it's good without any problems," each of us must have our own cross to bear following the Lord.

 

I am speaking somewhat heavy words, but this is the truth. A true believer is bound to face suffering in this world. There is no need to pray for suffering on purpose, but if there are no collisions in life, one must look deep within. "Am I walking the correct path of faith now? How is it that I only receive praise while living in the world? How is it that I am only joyful without conflict while staying with saints in the church?" You must ask yourself if perhaps there are no problems because you are selectively meeting only the people you want to see and those you feel an affinity for.

 

Living as God's Glorious People

Around you are "the remaining afflictions of Christ" that God has entrusted to you. We must not turn away from that suffering but willingly bear it together. You are already people who have been liberated from the power of sin and entered into God’s holiness. So now, do not long for the life of Egypt anymore. You cannot live craving only the greed, success, and fleeting praise that the world throws at you.

 

The glorious people of the Kingdom of God are no longer buried in the task of increasing visible possessions on this earth. Rather, in this place of life that God has allowed, they serve their neighbors and live revealing the fragrance of Jesus Christ through that devotion. Jacob’s life was completely changed because he looked toward the Kingdom of God and the Messiah to come. One who cared only for himself and relied only on his own strength was transformed into a person of the covenant.

 

If Jacob was changed by looking at the coming Messiah, you who live with Jesus Christ already come are beings who cannot help but be even more different. Because you already know that truth, I believe you are constantly learning the way of maturity through the Word of God.

 

The Reality of a Christian Proved through Service and Sacrifice

We are not those who live with greed to possess more on this earth, but rather, we were called to serve. We were called not to win by comparing ourselves with others, but actually to fight against the temptations of the world and the power of sin. I know you understand this principle well. But inside, you might think: "Pastor, if I live like that, I will fall behind. How can I live always losing, being deprived, and only giving to others?" That's right. Living like that, enduring the world will be truly weary and difficult.

 

The reality you face always asks such questions. What you eat, what you possess, what kind of house you live in, what kind of titles and positions you hold, and what kind of car you drive will be the most practical questions for you. However, the realistic questions the Bible asks us are completely different. The Bible asks us, "Whose child are you? Whose people are you?" To be a bit more precise, "Who are you and what are you moving toward now? What is your true joy?" is the most fundamental and realistic question the Bible speaks of.

 

If it is difficult to readily answer this question, we must think again. Dear saints, you are children of God and members of the Church whom God has personally called. Someone is a hand and a foot, and someone else is an eye and an ear. In life, members may speak words mixed with resentment toward each other. "Eye, are you really not going to look properly? My toenail fell out because of you." Or "Ear, don't you listen properly? Because you didn't listen, the situation became like this."

 

But even so, if the ear gets angry and really decides not to listen, or if the eye gets mad and says, "I'm going to live with my eyes closed now," what would happen? Then it doesn't just end with one toenail being hurt. The moment members turn away from each other and stop functioning, they eventually enter a path of mutual destruction, harming each other.

 

The Love of Members who Embrace and Cleanse One Another

Even if it seems the ear doesn't hear, it eventually hears all it needs to hear and goes on; and even if you thought the eyes were closed, before you know it, they are looking ahead with even a squint. Even if the heart seems to have stopped, if you check the pulse, it is still beating blood diligently. There is nothing useless in our body, and we must realize that all those members gather to form 'us'. Therefore, we must embrace each other and establish each other purely with the Word of God.

 

This is not simply an instruction to teach the other. It is an exhortation to prove with your life how precious the Word of God is to you and how your life has been changed because of that Word. Of course, if you try to do it by force, you will hit a limit. This is because this change is a fruit that flows naturally only when you deeply enjoy God’s grace. If there is no change in us, is that not evidence of being estranged from grace? If we walk with Jesus Christ and live accompanying Him, there is no way we can live the same as before without receiving any influence from the Lord.

 

You are precious members that cannot be exchanged for anything in the world, and at the same time, you are heirs promised an eternal inheritance. You are the most successful wealthy person among any who have passed through this earth in human history. Because you possess eternal life, there is no one wealthier than you. Also, you are the happiest people who possess a peace that the world cannot give.

 

You are people who have the strength to fight against sin until the end amidst any temptation, and people who can rise again through true repentance even if you stumble. You are beings who can stand differently without being tainted in this perishing world, and holy people of God who have finally been saved from that world.

 

Let us pray.

Lord of love, thank You for making us look back on our lives through today’s Word and for letting us realize once again that we are those who live by faith.

 

We are not people with only conceptual faith, but those who have received God’s actual promises. We are those who know who Jesus Christ is and confess with faith the truth that He is with us as the Holy Spirit. Also, we are those who boldly declare the fact that Christ has become the true Master of our lives.

 

Lord, let us think deeply once again about the reality that governs our lives. Whenever our hearts shake and our thoughts wander, may the Lord straighten our center and let us realize what an amazing blessing we are enjoying in Christ.

 

We are children of God and members who have formed one body with the people of His covenant. We are those who already inherit and enjoy an eternal possession and those who walk within the eternal Kingdom of God, having escaped from the power of sin.

 

Lord, let this glorious truth be deeply engraved in our hearts and let us live powerfully only within that truth. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.