Scripture: John 3:4~10
4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."
5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." 10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
God is the only righteous One. God helps us to find out our sins through His righteousness. God tells us that whatever ideology and behavior, anything that is opposite to His righteousness is sin and the price of sin is curse and death. God even gave His Son to be crucified when Jesus carried all sins of human being. We, the human race, become righteous by believing the fact that the Son of God paid the penalty back for us, and we are freed from sin and death (Romans 8:1~2).
Likewise, Jesus Christ, Son of God, carried all the sins of world, the human race and of our sins and he shed blood and died on the cross cruelly. This incidence shows us clearly that we cannot live if we commit sins which is opposite to God's righteousness.
But when we say, "Believe in Jesus," many people misunderstand as we want them to come to church and have a religious life together like other religions do. This is not life of faith believing in Jesus but it is just religious life like other religions are living for.
If you are real believer of Jesus, you should know and realize clearly that you are sinner who is opposite to God's righteousness. If no sin existed, you won't have any reason to believe in Jesus. However, there is no one who is without sin in the world (Romans 3:9~10). Why is there not even one righteous man?
The word of God itself is God and He, Himself, is the word. So if a man doesn't obey and believe the word of God, then he is the one having opposite ideology with God. Then, even if many others say that he is the righteous one or a saint, he is only a sinner who can never avoid the judgment of curse, death and hell from sin (Romans 5:12, 1 John 1:8~9). Jesus Christ, Son of God, is the only one incarnated and without sin in the world.
Therefore, He is Saviour who took our sins, died for us and saved us from sin. Jesus Christ declared, "Repent!" as the first voice when He started living a public life. He meant that people should acknowledge their sins and bring it to Him. Also He meant that they should hurry to lay down their sins and be saved before they reach curses, death and hell by the price of sin.When we lay down and repent of our sins, Jesus Christ gives life to us by carrying our sins, dying and paying the penalty back. So if we want to live, we should repent.
The gospel of Christianity insists on repentance. Admitting the fact that Jesus Christ has saved each one of us by carrying the sins of all mankind, Christianity is full of will for living through repentance. Repentance is more than sacrifice as broken heart means more than burnt offering. Worship is what the Father seeks and repentance is an immediate way for freedom, eternal life and the life which you can be free from sin, death and hell.
There are two kinds of repentance. One is one time repentance when you realize, through the word of God that you have sinned, original sin, opposite to God's righteousness. And you confess that you are sinner and you were doom to go to hell. The other is continuous repentance for your holiness and purity which you confess all the time for your sin when you couldn't live as what the word of God says while you are living in the world. Repentance never includes lies. This is the only one door you can go through that you can have and own the grace of salvation for which Jesus Christ carried sins, shedded blood and died on the cross. Repentance is the only way to be protected from ruin, curses, death and hell. Also it is absolute power that can make God's will of judgment for a sinner not be yours.
People in the time of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah were desperately perished by sins. However, people in Nineveh were protected from destruction by repentance. The prophet Jonah should have gone as fish bait because he was disobedient but survived by repentance. So Repentance lets us have freedom and liberation from all disaster and suffering.
Dear brothers and sisters, are you under curses? Are you suffering? What are your problems? Just repent!
This is voice of Jesus Christ who shed his blood for you. Sin is work of the devil, and freedom of redemption is the grace of Jesus Christ. Let's repent and be free by Jesus (Hebrews 2:14~15, 1 John 3:8).
2012.6.16
