Genesis 16 – The Trees of the Covenant
God's word is from Genesis chapter 2, verses 15 through 17. Please listen attentively to God's word.
"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.'" Amen.
God's Purpose and Method: Towards Rest
Last time, we examined together the tree of life. We clearly learned then that this tree of life signifies the fact that our existence, that is, our life, is absolutely dependent on God. If you study the content of Genesis chapters 1 through 3 well when reading the Bible, you can understand the content of the entire Bible much more deeply. Through the ongoing sermons on Genesis, we discovered that when God created this entire universe, there was a clear purpose of creation for the whole world, including us. And that purpose was precisely the rest that existed at the end of creation. The Bible shows us the image of everything in the world running towards this final destination of rest. And through the content of chapter 2, we can know well that God uses two methods for proceeding to that destination. The first is the general and natural method. That is, through commands like 'Work the ground', 'Be fruitful and multiply', 'Rule the earth', He encourages Adam and Eve to move towards the rest God purposed. However, there is also a second, somewhat special method. That is precisely the method through the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which we will deal with through today's sermon. According to Genesis, we can know there were two trees in the center of the garden. The presence of these two trees in the process of achieving the purpose of creation holds very important meaning. Because these two trees were importantly used to achieve God's purpose of creation, which is rest.
Misunderstandings about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
In many cases, we view this tree of life very positively. Because the word says God gives us that life through the fruit of this tree. However, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil often comes across negatively to us. Because He said death comes from eating its fruit. So this tree always remains a problem for us, and we even attach the name 'the tree that would have been better if it hadn't existed,' thinking it would have been better if it wasn't made. Because we think if this tree didn't exist, or if its fruit wasn't eaten, how smoothly God's creation process would have proceeded. Adding to that, this tree also has a somewhat unique name. 'The tree of the knowledge of good and evil'! For these reasons, numerous interpretations of this content exist in the Bible. And many of those numerous interpretations are often incorrect. Sometimes, by viewing the Bible very partially or by highlighting one fact too much in interpretation, there have been not a few cases where the precise meaning hidden in the tree of knowledge and the tree of life was not properly understood. Of course, our interpretation is always on the path of finding God's perfect interpretation. Sometimes our interpretation might be somewhat lacking, but over a long period, the Holy Spirit God gives us wisdom so that we are gradually approaching a clearer understanding of the Bible's truth. Because God opens our hearts a little more today and gives you wisdom, so that even though the word is delivered through 부족한 (bujokhan: lacking, insufficient) me, by God's great grace, it is delivered abundantly to you. Isn't it amazing? The sermon is always lacking somewhere, but God's grace is always more abundant than we expect.
Interpretation Error 1: Sexual Knowledge and Heretical Claims
So today, I intend to examine some of the interpretations of this passage in more detail. And we will also look at many incorrect interpretations and think about the reasons such interpretations emerged. First, the fruit of this tree of the knowledge of good and evil, commonly known as the forbidden fruit, has often been interpreted in connection with some sexual knowledge. The reason is precisely the passage where Adam and Eve felt ashamed of their nakedness after eating the fruit of that tree. Moreover, the Hebrew word used for "know" in the phrase 'know good and evil' is the verb 'yada' (יָדָה, H3034), which you have often heard during Old Testament sermon times. This word does not simply mean knowing someone, but also includes the meaning of knowing each other intimately between spouses, that is, the meaning of physical intimacy. So, the phrase 'know good and evil' came to be thought of as knowledge including such sexual intimacy. Very many people have argued this, and there are still many people making such claims today.
However, this interpretation fundamentally has an intractable difficulty, which appears in Genesis 3:22. God speaks like this: "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil." Meaning, He said man became like one of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit God in knowing good and evil. So He is saying man came to possess knowledge like that God's. Therefore, understanding the meaning of this word "know" simply as sexual knowledge cannot help but be a very wrong interpretation. Because within the Triune God, we cannot find such sexual knowledge as we think of. Therefore, such interpretation of this passage is fundamentally wrong. Nevertheless, when interpreting this partially incorrect word interpretation within the sentence more broadly and holistically, eventually, the kind of completely distorted Bible interpretation often found in modern heresies emerges, and its beginning originates precisely from the error of interpreting human fall as sexual fall. That is, the claim emerged that Satan and Eve fell sexually, and as a result, their blood became dirty. And a heretical sect claimed that to cleanse that blood, a purification ritual called "blood separation" (pi gareum) must be performed. This was widely claimed and actually practiced in Korea by the Unification Church of Mr. Moon Sun-myung, or the Jundokwan of Mr. Park Tae-sun. Everyone, have you perhaps heard the story about the Unification Church's Moon Sun-myung rally held in Busan in 1953? During that wartime, amidst bombs flying, he held rallies without rest for over 20 days. Mr. Moon Sun-myung was that famous. Of course, Elder Park Tae-sun also became famous then. They are all people who became famous during wartime. And the interpretation claimed then was precisely this doctrine of blood separation. So what happened? This ritual required a holy person to cleanse the blood, and that person was precisely the leader of these two heresies. But this nonsensical claim worked. Many people were attracted to the claim then and believed that interpretation without doubt as the hidden secret of the Bible. And not long after, there was also a person named Park Yoon-sik at a place called Pyeonggang First Presbyterian Church in Korea. He too made similar claims, though not exactly the same as the previous two. This person interpreted the result of sin caused by the fall of Eve and Satan as Cain, and interpreted that Cain became a cursed being. However, as I explained earlier, understanding this passage simply as sexual fall does not align with many other passages of the Bible. Therefore, this is an interpretation we cannot accept.
Interpretation Error 2: Satan's Tree and Faulty Interpretation Principles
Another interpretation is the claim that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is precisely Satan. That is, the tree of life is God who gives life, and conversely, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is therefore Satan who gives death, its opposite. Famous for this interpretation is Witness Lee, the founder of the Local Church. So this person made dualistic claims, arguing that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ultimately resulted in death and brought curse, therefore it belongs to Satan. Although not identical, Shincheonji also interprets this tree of the knowledge of good and evil similarly to the Local Church. That is, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was planted by Satan, and the basis for this is the parable of the wheat and tares found in Matthew. The text mentions the enemy came and sowed tares over the wheat. So Shincheonji interprets this passage to mean the enemy devil also sowed the seed of this forbidden fruit. And Shincheonji frequently interprets the Bible using parables, one of which is likening a tree to a person. So they interpret this forbidden fruit as a person planted by Satan. Thus, in Jesus' time, they described the Pharisees as this forbidden fruit, and now they say false teachers, that is, pastors of established churches, are the forbidden fruit planted by Satan. Then, conversely, who becomes the tree of life? Yes, precisely the leader, Mr. Lee Man-hee, they say. So they claim he is the Paraclete who conveys true truth and the tree of life.
Similarly, many other cult leaders who preach doctrines claiming they are the tree of life or the Paraclete make similar claims. When you hear this now, you might wonder how people could easily fall for such flimsy logic, but when studying the content with people from these cults step by step from the beginning, many biblical contents seem to fit well, so many people were easily deceived by such doctrines. Because they didn't just gather people with nothing. They always showed at least one of two things. One was precisely miracles. They healed people's illnesses, and actually showed events that overturned the gathered people. If not that, they provided experiences where ambiguous biblical contents were heard explained in a way that seemed to fit perfectly. Let me tell you one thing today. If you meet someone who claims to teach the Bible, and hear them say, 'Only I interpret the Bible this way,' turn around and run away without looking back. Such people claim the New and Old Testaments fit perfectly while interpreting the Bible. And they also claim the Bible must be understood by finding pairs. If you hear such words, I recommend looking at that person with suspicious eyes. Meaning, you must be suspicious. Because the statement that one must find pairs of Bible content is found nowhere in the Bible. Interpreting the Bible with words coming from the Bible is natural. However, when interpreting the Bible with the Bible, if you think it fits perfectly because the words match by pairing verses like that, it's a wrong interpretation. Rather, we must understand the Bible within the overall context and flow the Bible possesses. Therefore, if you meet someone interpreting with such a wrong method, first be suspicious, and if you are suspicious but lack the skill to refute it, just run away unconditionally. Until your skill grows a little more.
Interpretation Error 3: Perfect Knowledge (Omniscience) and Human Limitation
It's true that such interpretations have become too rampant these days, and the main reason might be forgetting what kind of place the Garden of Eden was. What kind of place was Eden? It was a garden symbolizing God's temple. And the two trees God placed there were precisely the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I also mentioned they were sacramental trees. Therefore, saying this tree itself is Satan, or was planted by Satan, is content that cannot possibly emerge from Genesis, especially from chapters 1 through 3 before human fall. Such claims by heresies are merely forced arguments contrasting the tree of life, which the leader claims to be, by explaining the origin or existence of evil. Let's look at another case of heretical interpretation. It's the case of interpreting the knowledge of knowing good and evil as perfect knowledge. This came from attempts to make one's claims understandable using God's omnipotence and omniscience. Because good and evil signify the entirety of all knowledge, they interpret the knowledge of the forbidden fruit only in this way. However, as you know, humans are inherently incomplete beings unable to know or possess all knowledge. Even if you and I accept the Lord, become God's children, live following Him our whole lives in the Lord, meet the Lord with joy on the day He calls, and live eternally in God's kingdom, we are beings who do not know all the knowledge of the universe. This fact does not change even if we shed our bodies and go to heaven. There are things we don't know even in heaven. That's why there are things for us to constantly learn even in heaven. We will constantly get to know God. Because we are creatures. We do not possess omniscience and omnipotence like God. That fact does not change even when we go to heaven. The reason our life in heaven is not boring is because we eternally enjoy, learn, rejoice in, and fellowship with this vast and eternal God. Limits exist for everyone. It is said that the lifelong wish of all men is to know a woman's heart. We men often live a lifetime together yet mostly fail to fully understand our spouse's inner thoughts. Incomparably, we do not understand all of God's great will. And we cannot possess all the plans and knowledge God knows. However, walking together with God who possesses all those things, and eternally enjoying all those things, is precisely what we will do in heaven. Therefore, understanding the existence of the tree of knowledge of good and evil as giving omniscience is also an unacceptable interpretation.
Towards Correct Understanding: God's Standard of Good and Evil
A similar interpretation close to this would be that the knowledge of knowing good and evil does not simply mean knowledge of good and evil, but discerning and distinguishing between good and evil—this degree of interpretation would be the best we can derive from this word. Of course, this too needs to be considered a bit more carefully, and that is the fact that when the words 'good and evil' are used in the Bible, they often appear together with the word discernment. Let's look at the content of Solomon's prayer. "Who is able to govern this great people of yours? Give your servant, therefore, a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong." He is praying for knowledge to distinguish between good and evil. The phrase 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' is a phrase that never appears again after Genesis chapter 3. Not even once. However, the words good and evil were frequently used, and at this time, they were always used in close relation to the word "discernment." Therefore, if we think of this word as meaning discernment, this kind of approach would be possible. That is, if Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as a result, they become able to discern good and evil—it can be understood in this sense. However, the most important thing in this interpretation is precisely the subject of this sentence. Not the subject of the entire sentence, but the subject of the knowledge of knowing good and evil, that is, who is the subject? Let's examine a bit more. Before Adam and Eve ate the fruit of that tree, did they have no knowledge at all to discern good and evil? That wouldn't be the case, right? Clearly, even before that, they would have known what is good and what is evil. Especially what is good, they would have known particularly well. Because they heard God's good command and knew the fact that it was good. Keeping that fact in mind and reading this passage, the knowledge of knowing good and evil spoken of here is not Adam and Eve's subjective knowledge. Similar evidence is this: Then what is the subject of the fruit of the tree of life? Does the fruit of the tree of life refer to Adam's life, or God's life? When Adam and Eve obtain eternal life from the fruit of the tree of life, from whom does that eternal life come? It's not Adam's. Then whose is it? Yes, precisely life and eternal life originating from God. Likewise, the knowledge of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is also God's knowledge.
Meaning of the Prohibition: Trusting God
Understanding this passage this way clearly reveals the first characteristic of the fruit of this tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Just as the tree of life is God's tree of life, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil also speaks of God's knowledge regarding good and evil. Why is this fact so important? That is precisely the reason God forbade us from eating the fruit of this tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God does not want us to divide good and evil with the knowledge of discerning it ourselves, but wants us to live following the boundary of good and evil God has distinguished, pursuing what He has discerned as good. That was precisely God's command and its content to reach God's rest through the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, as you well know, Adam and Eve, who coveted the fruit upon seeing it, disobeyed God's word and eventually ate it. But at this time, how did Satan tempt Adam and Eve? He deceived Adam and Eve by saying if they eat the fruit, their eyes will be opened and they can become like God. That was the word Satan used to tempt humans, and even in that word of temptation, we can know this content, namely the fact that it is God's knowledge.
Summary of the Meaning of the Two Trees: Dependence and Obedience
If so, the interpretation of these two trees can be summarized like this. First, the tree of life tells us the fact that we exist depending on God's life. Only when we rely solely on God can we use the word eternal life. It's not that our existence itself is immortal, but it tells us we came to have eternal life because of God. That is, God is the basis of our eternal victory and the reason for existence. Then what does the tree of the knowledge of good and evil tell us? It precisely shows what the basis of our living is. That is, the fact that humans must live according to God's good discernment. We easily think we can reach rest simply by not eating the forbidden fruit God told us not to eat. However, this is not a simple proposition of command and obedience, but means we wholly follow the distinction of good and evil God informs us of through knowledge, and diligently strive to bear the fruit of living according to the good God declared right, until the end.
Essence of the Fall: Self-Centeredness and its Consequences
And for this to become possible, Jesus Christ came to us, and thereby the meaning became even clearer. Jesus, who is God, came to this earth. So we often think the Son God possessed all abilities, and performed all miracles on this earth with His ability. However, Jesus Himself did not speak like that. Jesus said He only spoke what the Father told Him to say, and only did what He told Him to do. He said He completely followed the Father God's will. He said He would follow only the will God declared good, and that was Jesus' entire life. However, if humans ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, whose intention was it to place at the center? It means they intended to occupy the center themselves, not God. That is, it's the intention to place oneself in the same position as God. It implies the intention to sit in God's seat with that strength and ability. Therefore, at the root of human problems lay his desire for power instead of God. It could also be expressed as greed or avarice. Humans did not desire God Himself, but desired the power to replace God. This was also precisely the content Satan tempted with. Then what happened to humans who desired that power? If this person desires power and another person simultaneously desires the same power, eventually the two will fight each other. It's not a difficult problem to understand. Because this is what happens in each of our homes now. The reason couples always fight is mostly for this reason. Because they only voice their own opinions and insist the other follow their words, quarrels never cease daily. This is precisely the problem arising from seeking only one's own power. Not only that. Because we try to seek only power, comparison arises among us. We constantly live comparing whose power is stronger, who has more, who enjoys more. And as a result of living by comparing, we cannot help but live one of two lives: becoming arrogant or becoming servile. Self-deprecation or low self-esteem is actually consistent with an incredibly high prideful heart. We often see people who firmly believe they are not this kind of person, so they absolutely cannot tolerate others looking down on them. If one acknowledges they are truly in a low position, they wouldn't be so upset by such belittling or ridicule from others. However, there is almost no one who doesn't get angry hearing such words. Because few people acknowledge or live satisfied with their appearance or position as it is. As long as humans pursue power, instead of having compassion for ourselves, we choose the method of slandering others. We substitute our reason for existence or solace with that. This is precisely the true nature of humans seeking only power.
The Ongoing Battle: Idols Within
However, there is one fact we must remember. When Adam intended to take God's knowledge as his own knowledge and sit in God's place, did Adam have faith in God then, or did he completely disbelieve God? The Bible never once tells a story of Adam denying or rejecting God at this time. He believed in God. Even after eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he wholly believed in God. Perhaps, he believed more certainly than we do. Because he was one who walked with God in the Garden of Eden, and heard God's voice. However, his faith degenerated into a faith where God was merely necessary for his own life, rather than a faith relying on God for his entire life and receiving all necessary things from God. He became a human centered on himself. He became a person believing in God only as a necessary existence to be happy and enjoy something on this earth. Shall we say it's like a pumpkin painted with watermelon patterns? Outwardly, we might not be able to tell. Honestly, even a pastor might not know. Because they live the Christian life adorned with all appearances of faithfulness. Such people attend church without fail and always worship. And they are very diligent in tithing and church service. They might even go on missions. However, perhaps those people might know their inner thoughts, or perhaps they live such diligent Christian lives deceiving even themselves, but ultimately, within that person's inner self, only God for me exists. This means they themselves sit in the judge's seat, which ultimately means they wish God would move only for themselves. To such people, no matter how much they worship and claim to praise God greatly, ultimately they think of God as their servant. So the stronger and higher God becomes, the higher they think they become. Because to them, God is nothing more than their servant. To them, God is not the Lord of life. So such humans eventually do truly foolish things. Such humans fear and are scared of beings associated with the word "god," including demons, yet ironically, they are beings who constantly create such idols. Why is that? Because they think the existence called god can give them something. Such 모습 (moseup: appearance, form) appears very often in us. We are people possessing very high potential to constantly mobilize God for ourselves. We are people who dislike God becoming my center and constantly reject it. That was the reason we left God. This is one of the problems we, who believe in Jesus Christ and have received forgiveness of sins, must continuously fight against in the Lord. The fact that our sins were forgiven and we live as God's children is clear, but simultaneously, we cannot help but constantly fight the temptation to become the center, to become the master of my own life. If we become even slightly negligent, we are beings who quickly drag ourselves down to the miserable place of sin, placing ourselves at the center of our lives. Let's examine this content a bit more deeply. Then what specifically is the knowledge we try to possess or enjoy by discerning with our own ability, sitting in the same seat as God? All God's knowledge is specified in the Word He recorded for us in the Bible. That is, God's Word is the knowledge that discerns all things, but we who have fallen into sin want to change it into our thoughts and words. This is the simplest expression of the sin we commit by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It's the sin of placing the highest authority not on God's Word but on my thoughts and my words.
True Faith: Enthroning God at the Center
Hearing this might not be difficult to understand, and it might be hard to think we believers possess such ugly 모습 (moseup: appearance), but because Satan incites us with such cunning methods, we often fall into temptation without realizing it. So we easily fall for the lie that our eyes will be opened. As a result, we often act like people who have become God. We often act like people who know everything. We ourselves become the basis of judgment, and use whether it profits us as the reason for judgment. The statement that we believe in Jesus is clearly a sign our sins have been forgiven. It's clear we received forgiveness for the sin of leaving God and living as we pleased. And we can rejoice because of that. However, there is more meaning contained here besides forgiveness of sins and pardon. That is precisely that by believing in Jesus, we must move beyond the previous self-centered life, the place where we placed ourselves in the position of discerning and judging everything, and enthrone God at the center of our lives. That is precisely the true meaning of believing in Jesus, and we must continuously pursue it. It's not a simple logic that we must always think centered on the Lord just to become church members. Because we know it's hard to shake off our sinful nature, we are aware that the ugly 모습 (moseup) of trying to become the master of our lives, placing ourselves at the center, remains, and we must constantly remember the fact that because of Jesus' atonement, we became people able to place God at our center. You must always remember this fact and live your lives as believers. And because it is never easy, we must constantly hold onto Jesus Christ. The misunderstanding we easily fall into is thinking someone with good faith in the church has a good personality or character. Well, in some ways, that could appear as a wonderful result of faith. However, a person's character often has a deep relationship with the environment they grew up in. Humans cannot help but show differences in character and disposition according to the environment they grow up in. And that difference appears in the words they use, and in their consideration for others. So although one tries to fix it, it's not easy, so we often see many people struggling. To put it somewhat extremely, saying someone has a good personality could mean they met good parents. Therefore, if you praise yourself for having a good personality, perhaps that could be somewhat arrogant. Therefore, we must learn from today's passage that although we always fall due to our weakness and sinfulness, feel frustrated, and sometimes are greatly misunderstood by people, nevertheless, we must never give up the resolve to always place God at the center of our lives, no matter what situation comes. That is precisely the life of a believer. Although I cannot help but fall and stumble, the direction I must live, the path I must walk is God, and God is always at the center of my life, so I resolve to live according to the Word He gives, and unchangingly taking one step forward at a time is the life of a believer.
Forbidden Fruit and Rest: The Path of Self-Denial
Then you and I will be able to know the meaning of what Jesus Christ did. When we realize through His grace that God is the Lord of all life and His word is everything in this world, just as Jesus showed us through the Word, we can finally rejoice. Finally, the characteristic of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to examine is as follows. Related to what I first mentioned, it is precisely that God's rest is completed through this tree. What does it mean that this tree completes God's rest? It means precisely that God gave that tree to help you, and only by keeping God's command concerning this tree can we enter into rest. Let's examine it more closely. By not eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God becomes the Lord of my life, and God's word comes to the center of me—we understood this. Then how does that complete the rest of creation?
Jesus' Obedience: Fulfillment of True Rest
Jesus said He lived not according to His own thoughts and will, but always by God's. This is from Philippians chapter 2. "emptied himself, by taking the form (image) of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." Jesus denied Himself. And He bore the cross. This is the most important principle of discipleship. This very word explains well how God's will comes to our center and achieves that rest. How did Jesus achieve rest? He says He achieved that rest by lowering and denying Himself. That word applies equally to us. The statement about not eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not a command that ended with Adam and Eve's failure in the Garden of Eden, but remains a command for us even now, precisely because this act is the act of denying ourselves. By denying Himself, Jesus, despite being the Judge who will judge the entire universe, showed us the 모습 (moseup: appearance) of living as the Lamb who would die for us, having come to this earth. Therefore, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil does not simply symbolize a forbidden tree. It's not a fruit of a tree that doesn't matter if not eaten. Rather, it is a tree that awakens us to the fact that we must live a life denying ourselves. Through this tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve become able to deny themselves, and become people able to enthrone God at their center. Unless you live such a life, you cannot live a life walking with God. There is absolutely no way to live possessing both God as my Lord, the center of my life, and simultaneously my undenied self within me. Yet we live showing the miracle of possessing both God and ourselves in our hearts simultaneously. We are beings who can confidently say we praise and glorify God, approaching Him whenever needed, while very naturally placing the undenied self at the center of our hearts. God forgives us like this, and still accepts us with that grace, but nevertheless, we must constantly fight. We must always fight so that the forgiveness received by grace is not taken for granted, nor the sin become natural. We are beings who can never serve two masters. The act of denying ourselves and placing God at the center of our lives must surely happen throughout our lives. Without denying ourselves, God cannot rule our lives, and God's word cannot take root at the center of our lives. In other words, unless you constantly break your own stubbornness, knowledge, and futile desires through God's word, we are weak sinners unable even to deny ourselves. Therefore, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is neither an evil Satan's tree, nor a tree made simply for the purpose of testing us. Rather, this very tree becomes the tree Jesus dealt with most importantly throughout His life. Because, due to this fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, we sinned and died, and the One who bore that death is precisely Jesus who came to this earth. Not only that, but because Jesus Christ completed through His life the desire God had to place that Word at the center of humans. So He denied His own will and lived only to accomplish God's will. That is precisely the meaning of living in Jesus Christ, and ourselves discovered in Christ. Thus, Jesus entered into rest. And He became our firstfruits.
Love: Essence and Lightness of Commandment Keeping
What does the Bible call the act of God's word becoming central and denying oneself? It's a two-syllable word. Yes. Precisely that, the Bible calls 'love'. God becoming the center of my life and myself being denied—this is the 'love' spoken of in the Bible. This is from 1 John. "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments." Hearing the words 'keep commandments', we are startled first. Because we know it's difficult to keep all God's words and commandments, hearing these words likely brings fear first. The reason this word feels difficult is because we simply think of keeping commandments as salvation of my life through perfect practice of the commandments. However, we must listen attentively to the words following this passage. "And his commandments are not burdensome." The Bible's words are different from our thoughts. In our thinking, this commandment is clearly a heavy burden. Jesus too clearly said so at first. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened." He clearly said it's a heavy and laborious burden. However, now the Apostle John says this commandment is not burdensome. Then when does that become possible? When we love God. Then this commandment is no longer burdensome to us. Because we love, we do not suffocate under the pressure of that commandment, He says. This commandment does not press us down. And we should not judge others or place ourselves in a position of comparative superiority by keeping that commandment. Moreover, this commandment should not approach us as a burden, nor should we go in the direction of condemning ourselves for being unable to live accordingly. We must go in the direction of resolving through this commandment, 'Although I am weak and in sin, because I love God, I will absolutely not give up that love of God.' This is from the Gospel of John. I hope you receive comfort through these words. "Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love, so you too, if you keep my commandments, will remain in my love." And He said keeping those commandments is not burdensome. Everyone, what does it truly mean to live in love within Christ? I mentioned the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brings rest. And, the most fundamental thing in that rest is precisely this life, and love.
Closing Prayer
Let us pray! Loving Lord, thank You for enabling us to look forward to Your rest. Thank You for promising us that we will enjoy that rest together with You. Therefore, Lord, enable us to understand correctly how important it is that we do not fall into the great error of trying to occupy God's seat ourselves. Let us realize that living trusting You, living depending on You, living receiving Your supply is precisely us living Your rest. May we not become people living by our own thinking, our own judgment, but let God's Word become the center of our lives. Let us become people who always resolve to walk the path of the Word. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!