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Sermons

Subject 16 : The Gospel According to JOHN

[Chapter 6-14] Jesus Has Given Us The True Everlasting Life! (John 6:47-51)

(John 6:47-51)
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
 
 
Have you been in peace? Time flies by so fast, but with the passing time, the world has really undergone many changes. The people who are translating our books into English haven’t been keeping the deadline, so we are suffering many setbacks in the works of the literature ministry. I have the wish for them to be committed to the work just as if it were their own work. That is why we must pray for the co-workers of the gospel and our workers to be healthy and faithful. Also, we must pray to God to safeguard international and domestic political situations, as well as the socio-economic environment of our country. When we are faced with difficulties, we must pray, and when we do gain strength, we must work diligently. 
In today’s Scripture passage, the Lord said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). God wants to give us everlasting life. And, God the Father has given everlasting life to those who believe in the true salvation His Son, Jesus, has accomplished. By believing in the God-given everlasting life, we have gained that everlasting life. 
For us, everlasting life is something truly great. Qin Shi Huang (259 BC - 210 BC), the First Emperor of China, wanted to live forever, not wanting to die, so he sent his subjects all over to bring him the elixir of life. What this means is that he had tried everything he could possibly do to avoid death. Nevertheless, he died in the end. As he died, he made a wish to be buried along with his subjects, wives, concubines, and material riches. Thus, many people were buried along with him. According to the most recent excavations, he had built a 4 stories deep underground city in preparation for his death, and that royal tomb is said to be almost 2㎢ in size. He had many soldiers shaped out of clay, and had them to be on guard. From his underground city, 7,000 of these 6 feet tall ‘clay figures’ were discovered, but the surprising part was that all these numerous clay soldier figures had facial expressions and clothes different from one another. Can you imagine how earnestly he had wished to be king even after death for all eternity, so much so that he did such things? However, he died merely at the age of 51. 
Do you think only the First Emperor of China yearned for everlasting life? All human beings want to live forever. Do you know just how many people have tried to gain everlasting life? Everyone dreams of everlasting life, but it is something impossible. Human beings by themselves can never live eternally. Therefore, it’s no exaggeration to say that the ultimate quest for all humankind is how to acquire everlasting life.
However, God gave everlasting life to those who believe in the Lord. We are those who have acquired the everlasting life by faith. It means that, by faith, we have acquired the life in which we will never die. No matter how much we want to live forever, it is something impossible, but for God loved us so much and wanted to live with us forever, He has given us everlasting life through the propitiation of His Son. How wonderful is this blessing? I am so thankful that we have gained such everlasting life. God granted us everlasting life, and we have become its recipients. Truly, it is the case we have come to possess everlasting life. Of course, our flesh dies once, but later on, even our flesh will live again. And, the fact is that we will live together with God as His children, never having to die. The fact is that we have received this everlasting life before God. It is such a marvelous grace, as well as a great blessing. 
 
 

How Can We Become Beings That Do Not Die? 

 
Then, by doing what could we become beings that do not die? We acquire the everlasting life neither by sanctifying ourselves nor by obtaining certain abilities. We have come to receive and enjoy it because of God the Father. What a marvelous love and blessing is this? What is marvelous is the fact that God has the wish to live together with us forever. Through His Son, Jesus, God has blotted out all our sins. Not only has He given us the remission of sin, but also, He has granted us eternal life. This is truly a marvelous blessing. For God has given us this unilaterally, despite the fact that we are not worthy, it is such a marvelous and great grace. 
We are beings that do not die. We are those who have the everlasting life. If we were to think about ourselves, we are not worthy enough to have everlasting life. There are times when we wish in our hearts to return to being a pile of dirt as soon as possible for living seems tedious and when we hope that there is no afterlife. Nevertheless, it isn’t the case that there is no afterlife, no judgment, no resurrection, as we hope. Also, it isn’t the case that there is no prize of the Millennial Kingdom. God said, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27), and the fact remains that everything will happen according to God’s decision. 
He wanted to give us the everlasting life. So, He sent down Jesus and gave everlasting life to those who have received the remission of sin by believing in Jesus as the Savior. Thus, we who believe have gained the everlasting life. It means that God has made us into beings of everlasting life. And therefore, we have become somewhat different beings. We became self-conscious of the value of our existence. Sometimes, we could consider ourselves to be a weak and worthless being. However, the fact is that you and I are no longer a worthless and weak being, but rather, a being that has acquired the everlasting life. It is tremendously important for us to live in recognition of this fact. 
From time to time, I also underestimate myself. Prior to being born again, there was a time when I had lamented, saying, “Why did God make me be born and go on living in such hardship? All that I have is this body of mine.” Although it was when I was young, I used to sit on top of a grave and fall into nihilism, saying, “If I die, I will be buried like this. In any case, this will be my final destination, so what meaning is there for me to go on living?” And so, I tried very hard to find out the reason for my being on this earth. Still, I wasn’t able to find a meaning in my life, but then, I started to believe in Christianity, trying to live virtuously. But, as I entered into this religion, called Christianity, I came to realize that living virtuously wasn’t easy and saw my sins getting revealed more and more. 
And then, I came to be enlightened of the gospel of the water and the Spirit by the grace of God. When I first perceived the gospel of the water and the Spirit, I was so elated by the fact that there was no sin inside my heart. The Holy Spirit within me was so moved that I could not stay still, and so I started preaching this gospel of the water and the Spirit, hoping that everyone else would be without sin, just as my heart is without sin. As I preached this genuine gospel, one thing became more certain and that is the fact that people in this day and age do not know the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. That is why I have been dedicating myself to the spreading this gospel all over the world thus far. 
To give us everlasting life, God the Father had us be born into this world, and, on the other hand, sent His Son to receive the baptism, die on the Cross, and be resurrected from the dead. Also, by recording the Word of the Truth, He had us become aware of the fact that we are beings that live eternally. It means that God has turned you and me into beings that never die. The fact is that God has turned us into His children who will live along with Him, enjoying everlasting joy with divine authority. We must know that God had made plans to give us everlasting life. That is why God forgave our sins and took those of us who believe in Him as His children. I give thanks to God, who has allowed us to live for all eternity. 
We must properly realize what kind of a being we have become. Neither overestimating too much nor underestimating too much, all we have to do is to properly know and believe in accordance with what the Word that God has told us. You and I who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have come to possess the everlasting life. 
The Lord said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:48). By sending His only begotten Son down to this earth, God the Father had us receive the remission of sin. We have come to acquire the everlasting life by believing in Jesus’ baptism and His blood of the Cross, which were carried out by Jesus with His flesh. Because God had the desire to turn us into beings that live forever, He has clothed us with such enormous grace. 
It is said that those who believe in the Son have the everlasting life. Jesus came down to this earth from Heaven in human flesh and took on our sins with His body. And then, by bearing our sins and receiving the punishment for them and by being resurrected from the dead, He saved us. It means that Jesus had given Himself as the bread of life for us in order to save us when our spirits were in want, unable to avoid death and curse due to our sins. The fact is that it was made so for us to gain eternal life if we were to eat the flesh and blood of Jesus, who is the bread of life. By believing in the works carried out by Jesus, we have eaten the flesh and blood of Jesus, and thus, we have gained the true life. This is why Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:48). We are able to gain eternal life by having eaten the flesh and blood of Jesus by faith. 
For us to gain new life and to maintain that true life is possible only by believing in our hearts that Jesus has become the bread of life. One does not live forever by eating some elixir of life. Not considering Jesus, let us say that one gets to live forever by eating the elixir of life, but wouldn’t this be very unfair since the rich and the powerful would consume all of it first? 
God the Father had us humankind acquire new life by giving His Son, Jesus. The fact is that He has given us the bread of life through Jesus. The true road to gaining new life and living forever is having faith in the works done by Jesus who has become our Savior. The pathway to everlasting life is the faith of believing in Jesus’ works in which He received the baptism, died on the Cross, and was resurrected. If we were to have faith in Him in our hearts and to believe in His baptism, His death on the Cross, and His resurrection, we would be eating the bread of life and acquiring life without death. It is said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). It was made so that one would only be able to receive salvation from death by believing in Jesus. Only when one eats the Son of God who is the bread of life does that person receive the everlasting life. The Lord allowed anyone who eats this bread to live an eternal life. 
We must remember that Jesus came to this earth so as to become the bread of life. And, we must have faith in it. Jesus, who had received the baptism on His flesh as the bread of life, taken on all our sins, received the punishment on the Cross on our behalf, and suffered death instead of us, granted everlasting life to those who believe in Him as the true Savior. You must know God’s intention to give us everlasting life, and believe in Jesus, who has become the bread of life, as your true Savior. By having faith, you must eat the bread of life, and be in the blessings of gaining everlasting life. It is because if you believe, you will gain everlasting life, but if you do not, you will receive everlasting damnation. 
The true bread that gives humankind the everlasting life is Jesus. Except for Jesus, we mustn’t have faith in anyone else, and we mustn’t rely on anyone else. We must remember and believe that there is only the Holy Trinity, that is, God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, who can solve the problems of sins of people, as well as their problem of life and death.
Jesus became our true bread of life. He became our true bread of life so that we will be without sins and thus, we may live along with God for all eternity as the children of God without sins in our hearts. Do you believe in Jesus who had become our true bread by receiving the baptism, dying on the Cross, and being resurrected? I believe so, also. Thus, the fact is that you and I have acquired the everlasting life. Therefore, we are not afraid of death. And so, we neither overestimate nor underestimate ourselves. The only thing is that we must give all the glory back to God by becoming aware of the everlasting life that God has granted us and believing in it. We must become conscious of that. We have gained a life of eternal living through having faith in Jesus who has become the bread of life. 
It is customary in Korea to give greetings by sharing steamed rice cakes with those near by, whenever one moves to a new neighborhood or opens up a new store. One shares steamed rice cakes in order to establish a good relationship, along with the intention of making a request for much guidance. We who are born-again are those who share the bread of life. We are currently doing the work of spreading throughout the world the way to an everlasting life. The current work of spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the work of sharing the bread of life. Inside your hearts and mine, there is the bread of life. For we are those with the bread of everlasting life, we are sharing that bread through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The fact is that spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit is doing the work of sharing the bread of life with people. 
Therefore, we are those who have the key to remit the sins of people (Matthew 16:19). You and I have acquired eternal life by eating by faith the bread of life that Jesus has given us, and now, we have become delivering messengers of the bread of life. When people listen and believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit, they gain everlasting life. They have gained the most precious gift. Isn’t gaining the everlasting life such a marvelous blessing? This gospel we are spreading is something great, and therefore, the mission of spreading this gospel is a work that’s so very precious. 
The Lord said, “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:49-51). For the people of Israel, the event in which their ancestors had eaten the manna was something that had happened such a long time ago. And so, they thought of it as just a tale, and considered it be just some religiously mysterious experience that their long ago ancestors had gone through. But, in the Gospel of John chapter 6 verse 50, our Lord says, “This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.” God truly wanted to send down from heaven the bread of life by which we would live, and He actually did send it down. He wanted to feed us the bread of life by giving us His flesh, and He had us become those who live eternally by feeding us the flesh of Jesus, which we ate by faith. 
In earnest, Jesus now tells us to eat His flesh. It meant that He would give us life by granting us His flesh. What does it refer to? He was referring to the gospel of the water and the Spirit, in which you and I believe. By being born on this earth in human flesh, Jesus wanted to blot our sins. And so, in order to give us the blessing of everlasting life, He took on all the sins of all humankind by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, carried His flesh to the Cross, got crucified, and resurrected from the midst of death. Then, He gave those who believe in Jesus, who has become the living bread that came down from Heaven, the remission of sin, the power to become children of God, and the blessing of everlasting life. 
Jesus was born on this earth through the body of the Virgin Mary. And He had accomplished our salvation with the righteous work that He had done throughout His 33 years of life; He has saved us by His receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, going to the Cross bearing the sins of the world, getting crucified, shedding blood, dying, being resurrected from the dead, and rising up to Heaven. Truly, our Lord gave us His flesh in order to give us the everlasting life. 
It isn’t the case that Jesus came to this earth and said, “Believe in Me unconditionally. I am the Son of God. Just believe in Me blindly.” The fact is that He took on all the sins of humankind by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist onto His flesh so as to actually become the bread of life. By having done so, it is the case that He had cleansed our sins completely, and had ended the punishment set out for us by going to the Cross bearing our sins and receiving the judgment on our behalf. Then, by being resurrected from the dead, He had given everlasting life to those who believe in Him, the bread of life which came down from Heaven. This is how Jesus has given us the eternal remission of sins. 
Thus, we must know and believe in the righteousness of Jesus, and that it is within the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Jesus identified Himself as the bread of life which came down from Heaven, and it is the case that we are able to acquire everlasting life by eating this living bread by faith. We must eat the bread of life of salvation by knowing God’s intention to give us the remission of sins and the eternal life and by having faith in the work of Jesus having blotted out our sins perfectly through the baptism He had received, the blood of the Cross, and His death and resurrection. Only by doing so, do we get to receive true salvation and the everlasting life. 
I am sure that it is never enough, no matter how much I preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit repeatedly. Fundamentally speaking, something important must be emphasized for all eternity. In order to give us the bread of life, God sent His only begotten Son to this earth, had Him take on the sins of the world by having His flesh receive the baptism, had Him go to the Cross and die by being crucified, resurrected Him, and had Him sit next to the throne of God, even now. And thus, when we eat the bread of life by having faith in that Jesus, we are able to acquire the everlasting life. 
Yet, can we believe selectively in some of the things and not in others among the works that the Lord has done? To give us life, Jesus came to this earth, received the baptism, and saved us by dying on the Cross. Yet, can we slight some of the works that Jesus had done but consider others to be important? All the works that He had done were for us. They are all essential. To give us everlasting life, the Lord remitted our sins and took us in as God’s children. I believe the Lord gave us the gospel of the water and the Spirit in order to give us eternal blessings. Do you believe as I do? 
The Lord said, “The bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). What does the flesh of the Lord mean? What was the reason behind Him being born on this earth in human flesh? Wasn’t it to save us by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, dying nailed to the Cross bearing the sins of the world, and being resurrected? Did He just come and got hung on the Cross? “I am the Son of God. Did I not raise the dead? I am going to die on the Cross for you. Thus, believe in Me.” Is that it? That’s not the case. The fact is that people are dying because of sins, and so in order to become children of God and to acquire the everlasting life, we must eat the flesh of Jesus by faith. The baptism Jesus had received after being born on this earth, the work of Him getting nailed to the Cross, the work of Him being resurrected from the dead—we must eat all those works by faith. We must engrave in our hearts that we were able to gain everlasting life because He had given us His flesh. We must believe that. 
He came to this world so as to blot out our sins and to destroy the work of the devil. Who is the devil? He is someone who makes people servants of sin by having them commit sins and in the end, temps people with the purpose of having them fall into destruction with him. But, the Lord came to have humankind be freed from being servants of the devil by blotting out all the sins of humankind and destroying the work that the devil does. We must know and have faith in the will of God. Also, we must accept the works that God has done and believe in them as they are. 
It isn’t the case that we get saved by believing in doctrines that came out from human thoughts, such as the doctrine of salvation, the doctrine of sanctification, the doctrine of repentance, and so on. Rather, we must believe in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, by which God has saved us from sins by sending His only begotten Son to this earth. Only by having faith in all the works that He has done according to such plan, do we get saved. The fact is that we get to acquire the everlasting life by listening, knowing, and believing in that gospel Word of salvation. By giving us His flesh, the Lord gave life to those of us who believe in the Truth. Were you able to acquire life by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Did you gain the everlasting life? If so, you will never die. 
In the last hour, when tribulations should come, my flesh will die instantly. I have an impatient character, so when the subordinates of the antichrist try to put me into a boiling caldron to kill me, I will probably have stopped breathing even before getting thrown into the caldron. But, later when the Lord comes, He will have me live again. At that moment, even our fleshes will be made to live. Our spirits have already acquired resurrection and everlasting life. They have become spirits that were moved from death to new life, and now, we are waiting for our weak flesh to resurrect so that we will be in a body that never dies. The Lord said that He would even make our flesh to live again. Just as He had resurrected, He said that our flesh would resurrect, also. We must become those who will live enjoying the everlasting life. 
In truth, if we were to think ourselves about the fleshly aspects, we are really nothing of worth. It is because we are beings that always commit sins and are selfish. Yet, I actually did gain the everlasting life. This was possible not because of me but because of God. Just as Abraham was accounted for righteousness by having faith in the Word of God, we have gained the everlasting life also through having faith in the Word that tells us God has given us everlasting life. Thus, we mustn’t think of ourselves with contempt. Truly, we must honor ourselves just as God thinks of us as honorable, and we must go on living with a faith and heart like that of Abraham. How could I express the blessing of everlasting life into words? 
I am so thankful to God for giving us the everlasting life. And I think of you as the honorable. Also, I don’t think you are more lacking than I. You are not bound by the world. Rather, you are God’s workers, His disciples, His children, and those who will enjoy the everlasting life with Him. I do believe so. Thus, we must respect each other. We cannot but ignore those who do not believe this gospel despite being aware of it because God ignores them also. But as for those of us who believe, we must respect each other because we are the honorable. As for those who do not believe, we hope that they will believe, and as for those who believe, we consider them to be honorable. We must remind ourselves of the fact that God has made us into beings that live forever, and think about the everlasting life we will be enjoying for all eternity. Also, we must treat each other honorably. 
When the time comes for our flesh to change, we probably won’t recognize each other. For a flesh that has been resurrected, there is no gender distinction (Matthew 22:30). If the memory of life on earth would come back then, perhaps that itself would be hell. It is because we might grind our teeth, saying, “That jerk did such and such to me,” and say curse words. For those who are headed for hell, such hatred and the desire to imprecate may remain, but for those who will be living eternally in Heaven, there is no such heart. 
We are all so fortunate to have gained everlasting life in this last days. The fact that we have acquired the everlasting life by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is a blessing worthy for us to dance with joy all throughout our lives. It doesn’t matter how we are living on this earth. It doesn’t matter even if we lose everything. It is because we have acquired the everlasting life in Heaven and because we have become those who have received the blessing of being able to live the rest of our life together with the gospel. God gave us the everlasting life through Jesus. And thus, nothing damaging can ever happen even if we aren’t able to do the things that we want while on this earth and there would be nothing to resent in our hearts. 
When I first preached the gospel of the water and the Spirit after having received the remission of sin, it felt so good. However, though I felt good, there was a time when I had thought, “If I live like this, isn’t my life going to suffer losses? Shouldn’t I also live for something for me?” But as I got to know the Lord and served Him more and more, I discovered that He was serving me rather than me serving Him. Like so, the Lord stood by me and guided, and thus, I was able to follow and serve the Lord without having lost the everlasting life, even now. 
The Lord gave me the everlasting life, so what could I possibly lack? There is a feeling of satisfaction in my heart. As it is said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:3, 6), I am truly filled in my heart. It is because my spirit is filled with the Holy Spirit. For the Word of God has become the food of life, my spirit is truly filled. I am so very thankful for that.
I am very well aware that it’s not easy for you to lead a social life, and also a life at work places. Even so, all such hardships can be offset because there is the blessing of God where He has blotted out all our sins, taken us in as His children, given us everlasting life, and bestowed us with eternal riches and glory. It is written, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). Therefore, such hardships can be overcome, and although we may be lacking, we are thankful for entrusting us with God’s work. Also, even if it were not the case, we are still thankful. We are thankful for saving us and giving us the everlasting life. We are thankful for entrusting us the work of spreading this gospel of the water and the Spirit. We are thankful for allowing us to live together with God. For we have received such great grace from the Lord, there would no exhausting of this grace even if we were to share it over and over.
For God is supplying us this grace for all eternity, we get to praise God, give back the glory before God, and thank God, always. By the strength He has given us and by the grace He has shown us, we are thankful before Him, and thus, we are able to do His work with zeal. 
For all these grace, we are thankful. Most of all, we are thankful for giving all of us the everlasting life.
 
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