The Heart of the Lord
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April 16, 2017 |
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 Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:4).
The Lord existed in the form of God, but He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but took the form of a bond-servant and was made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by dying on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8). In celebration of Easter, let's delve into the heart of the Lord who overcame death and was resurrected.
1. The Heart of Our Lord Is the Heart of Complete Obedience to the Will of God
Crucifixion is one of the cruelest methods of punishment given for a very heinous criminal. The one being crucified had to take the heavy cross to the crucifixion place, and after being nailed through his hands and feet, he was raised upright to receive such great pain until he breathed his last.
Because of the body weight, the wrist where the nail went through was torn. Insects that smelled the blood began to suck on him. But Jesus was flogged even before He was crucified, and His whole body was wounded. Jesus was scourged, that is, He was repeatedly flogged many times with a whip that had hooks at its edges. He wore the crown of thorns, which was made with strong thorns. His body was all covered with blood.
But rather than the pain that He felt with His body, He felt greater pain in His heart. He was pained because of the people whose hearts were corrupted and were stained with sins. Although God was opening the way of salvation for the sinners by sacrificing His only begotten Son, foolish people were still going the way of death. So, Jesus felt pain.
Obeying completely means that one obeys saying "Amen" as long as it is the will of God, even though it doesn't agree with one's own thought. In 2 Corinthians 1:19 it reads, "For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes in Him." Philippians 2:8 says, "Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
What kind of heart did the Lord have when He took the suffering of miserable crucifixion to save souls although He had no sin at all? He believed that God would lead numerous souls to the way of salvation. Namely, He looked forward to the time after He was to resurrect and ascend into heaven, when God would send the Holy Spirit and lead countless souls to salvation. Because He completely obeyed the will of God the way to salvation by faith was opened widely. Hallelujah!
God does not tell us to take such a miserable cross as the Lord's. He just tells us to keep His Word so that our souls prosper and we can receive blessings. In celebration of Easter, I urge you to check whether you obey the will of God. I hope that by meditating on the Word you will resemble the Lord (Philippians 2:5).
2. The Heart of the Lord Is the Heart of Sacrifice
'Sacrifice' is the heart not to seek one's own benefits but to be able to give out everything one has. Even though there is no guarantee of reward or compensation, you can calmly give everything again and again.
When you want to obey the will of God completely, there will be many things that you have to sacrifice in a physical sense. For example, Jesus told us to "give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back" (Luke 6:30). Then, just to obey this word, you have to give sometimes your wealth and at other times your time. But if you think it may result in your loss, you might not be able to obey it. In those situations, please think of Jesus who quietly gave up Himself as an atoning sacrifice.
When Jesus was suffering the pain of the cross as the atoning sacrifice for sinners, He didn't have any complaints or resentment. He never thought, "Why do I, the Son of God, have to suffer like this? Why do I have to put up with contempt and mockery from My own creatures? I healed the sick and did only good things, but why do they persecute Me for no reason?" He never felt that way and didn't have any resentment about those who did not realize His heart either. He just quietly offered Himself as the sacrifice of the cross with His love for God and the love for the souls who were suffering in sins.
Isaiah 53:7 reads, "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth." Do you complain and have some resentment when the things do not go as you want? In the beginning, you offered your time and money with thanks for the grace of the Lord, but when nobody really recognized your effort and hard work, did you then not have at least some regret or resentment?
The heart of sacrifice is to give yourself again and again even though there is no reward at all. Now, when you sacrifice yourself, if there are others who do not really sacrifice, do you complain saying, "Why do I alone have to sacrifice like this?" If you do your heart is different from the heart of the Lord. Jesus did not open His mouth even when He was in great suffering, and He quietly sacrificed Himself until He breathed His last.
3. The Heart of the Lord Is the Thankful Heart
After the crucifixion, the Lord shed all water and blood by a spear thrust into His side (John 19:33-34). He died and resurrected on the third day. Jesus could sacrifice Himself completely because He was thankful to God.
It was the kind of thanks for the countless souls that could be saved through His sacrifice. Jesus was thankful that God could gain many true children whom God wanted so much, and Jesus was also thankful that He could fulfill the providence for it to happen.
If you have the thankful heart for the things that will be accomplished through your sacrifice, you will not sacrifice with the sense of being coerced, but with joy. I hope you will be thankful looking up to the fruit that will be borne through your sacrifice.
Even though you may feel the way you are taking is narrow and rough, you can still be thankful because you will reach eternal life. Even though you may feel it is a little difficult to come to church and pray while the worldly people are taking a rest, you can still be thankful because your soul will prosper. And, through that you will receive blessings and you can go to the better heavenly dwelling places. You will be thankful for the duty given by God. You will be thankful for the fact that you have love for the souls. You will be thankful that you are going a way through which you can give glory to God and that God is giving you the strength to go this way and the strength and power to pray as well.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I hope the Lord's heart of the obedience, sacrifice, and thanksgiving will also be in your heart so that many fruits will be borne through your obedience and sacrifice. By leading countless souls to the way of salvation and bearing abundant fruit, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will pay back the love and grace of God and the Lord's love of the cross.
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