2010/03/27 수업시간에 한 설교 원문 - 영문

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I Introduction:

Have you ever faced your enemies in your life? I did have a serious enemy in my life but I see many people in our churches setting is experiencing serious struggle with their enemies.

It is not uncommon in Korean Church to see the power game and conflict between pastors and elders. Pastors reject elders and elders discredit pastors. They do not even hesitate to curse other party in the name of God. Sometimes, different group in churches make trouble. Certain groups in churches are engaging in power game and they split and separate the whole churches. In these cases, the people who are engaged in conflict treat other parties as their enemies. This is an enemy issue.

The enemy issue is not only the problem inside of our churches. It is also related to our evangelism field. I have heard that a seminarian told in a public that there is no reference of loving unbeliever in the Bible. Often time unbelievers disturb believers and become like enemies of the believers.

Now the issue of enemy is all over inside of our churches and outside of our churches. This is a serious problem that should be accurately dealt with.

Many preachers said about the issue of enemy that we have to love our enemy quoting Mt. 5:43-44, but unfortunately I haven’t heard about Why We Have to Love our Enemy. Considering the heaviness of the issue, one must considerably suggest the sound reason why we have to love our enemy and I want to discuss on it today.

Transition: (When we talk about love, we always have to start from Jesus because Jesus is the source of love. If there is one who says love not from Jesus, his love would not Christian love. So I will start from Jesus in order to discuss loving enemy issue. )

Let me state this thing. The reason we have to love our enemy is because Jesus came to the world not to destroy His enemies but to save His enemies. Let me show you this more in detail.

II. We have to love our enemies because Jesus did the same way.

Let us see Matt. 5:43-44 “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”

In this verse, Jesus says that we have to love our enemy and when we love our enemy, we will be God’s people. Why we have to love our enemy in order to be sons of the Father? Is it conditional? We cannot be sons of God if we do not love our enemy? Well. Let’s see what Bible says about it.

Let me read two Bible passages. One is Psalm 110, and another one is Isa. 53. Those passages are considered as prophesying Jesus’ image. I will give you a tip to what you need to focus in. Focus in the relationship between Jesus and His enemies. There are different relationships presented in those passages.

In Psalm 110:1-2 and Dan. 7:14, Jesus conquers and rules the enemies. It is a kingly image. But In Isa. 53:7-9, Jesus was powerless and dies for His enemies. It is a sacrifice image. Now let me give you a question. What is the real image of Jesus? Is he a powerful Ruler as Psalm 110 portrays? Or He is just powerless and poor man as Isa. 53 portrays? Not Psalm 110 neither Isa. 53 can standalone for portraying Jesus’ image. When those two passages combine all together, then the image of Jesus comes to true for Jesus died for His enemies in order to rule over them.

Transition: (Then Why Jesus has to die? What is the connection between Jesus’ death and his ruling over His enemies?)

III. We have to love our enemies because Jesus came not to destroy but to save His enemy.

It is because Jesus did not come to destroy His enemies. He came to save His enemies. In John 3:17, Jesus says the Reason why God sent Him to world is not to judge the world but to save it. In Romans 5:10, Paul says that when we were His enemies, Jesus reconciled us with God through His death.

But there is a problem. According to Hebrews 9:22, no forgiveness with no blood shed. We are all sinners. In order to forgive our sin, somebody has to shed blood and die. This is the reason why Jesus has to die.

Then you may ask why God wanted to save the world even putting Jesus to death. It is because of His love. In John 3:16, God loved the world so much, that he gave the Only Son so that whoever believes in Jesus will be saved.

The reason why God wanted to save the world was because He loved the world and the death of Jesus was the demonstration of His love to the world. (Rom. 5:8) In this sense, through the death on the cross, Jesus had victory over His enemies. His death was His major tool and way to rule over His enemies, in other name saving His enemies.

Transition: (What kind of connection is there between Jesus’ sacrificial death and us?)

IV. We have to love our enemies because we are created as the image of God.

We are created in the image of God. It means we have to reflect God’s image over the world. This is the reason we are created and we have to exist in this world.

In John 14:10, Jesus answers to Philip that “The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” Jesus was God, but Jesus did not do anything by His own will. He said what the Father wanted to say, and He did what the Father wanted to do. It is because what Jesus was doing was not His own missions but His Father’s mission.

This is what image of God means. The Father planned something and He is doing something. But He is not doing directly but He is doing through His Son. The Son does not do anything by His own will but He does by the will of Father. Through this work, the will of the Father is demonstrating to the world through His Son.

The same principle is in the relation between Jesus and us. The salvafic work is not stopped. It is still on-going. But Jesus is not in world. Who does the work of salvafic work? It is You. Through you Jesus is doing His salvafic work. You are reflecting Jesus’ will.

Matthew 6:14-15, forgive others as I forgive you. Luke 6:36, Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. 1 Pet. 1:16, You shall be holy for I am holy. All those verses teach us that we are reflecting God’s character and nature for we are the image of God.

The subject of loving our enemies is not us. The subject of loving our enemies is Jesus. It is not we are loving our enemies with our love, but we are showing them what is like the love of Jesus. When we practice to love our enemies, through the love, Jesus shows Himself, reveals Himself to our enemies and He draws them to His presence. He works through our demonstration of Jesus’ love. It is not our own mission but we are participating on Jesus’ mission. Through our love, we are demonstrating the event of Jesus on the cross and God’s unlimited love.

V. Conclusion:

Regarding the illustration of Jesus’ love, I couldn’t find any other better story than the story of Jim Elliot and His fellow missionaries. They demonstrated Jesus’ ministry perfectly. The death of Jim Elliot and other missionaries perfected demonstrated the death of Jesus on the cross and the attitude of their wives and children demonstrated Jesus’ love perfectly.

Preaching good news is not mere speaking good words but it is demonstrating Jesus’ death on the cross and love through every aspect of our life. Paul says in 1 Cor. 2:4-5 that “my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” Mere speech does not have power. We have to show them Gospel.

Raising people of God is the same as raising a baby. A baby does not follow his parent’s teaching. A baby follows what his parents do. If we do not live out what we taught in the pulpit, our congregation wouldn’t transform. We have to transform first.

Let us love our enemies first. Through our loving and our death, let us show them the real gospel.

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Biblical References used for this sermon

* The bold are the main passage and others are all references.

(Mt. 5:43) "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

(Mt. 5:44) But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

(Dan. 7:14) And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

(Ps. 110:1) The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."

(Ps. 110:2) The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!

(Isa. 53:7) He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

(Isa. 53:8) By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

(Isa. 53:9) And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

(Jn. 3:17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

(Rom. 5:10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

(Heb. 9:22) Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

(Jn. 3:16) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

(Rom. 5:8) but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(Jn. 14:10) Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

(1Cor. 2:4) and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

(1Cor. 2:5) that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

(Lk. 6:27) "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

(Lk. 6:28) bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

(Lk. 6:29) To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.

(Lk. 6:30) Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.

(Lk. 6:31) And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

(Lk. 6:32) "If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

(Lk. 6:33) And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

(Lk. 6:34) And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.

(Lk. 6:35) But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

(Lk. 6:36) Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

(Mt. 6:14) For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

(Mt. 6:15) but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

(1Pet. 1:16) since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."