2014년 5월 16일 금요일

The End of the Age and a Religious Life of Faith

The End of the Age and a Religious Life of Faith



The end of the age mentioned in the Bible does not refer to the end of the universe, the end of the earth, or even the end of humanity. It does, however, refer to the end of a generation of believers. There are even Buddhist and Confucian prophecies that point to the place of salvation being the cross of Christ. The Bible, too, points to the cross as both the place of salvation and the place where the work of overcoming is accomplished. Thus, all religious people—even Buddhists and Confucianists—must come to the cross of Christ, just as their teachers foretold. Amongst all Christian churches there is one place where the one who overcomes can be found. It is in finding this place that people can find, understand, and walk the truth path to salvation (refer to Rv 12:5, 10-11).

Most people—Buddhists, Confucianists, Christians, etc.—have closed their hearts to God's prophecies; they never even think about them. People are so immersed in their own thoughts that the scriptures have lost all meaning to them. Unfortunately, this is reality. No wonder the people of the world cannot understand our current situation.

God loves the people of the world so much that he gave up his one and only son to save us (Jn 3:16). Jesus, the son, laid down his life for sinners according to the will of the Father (Mt 26:28; Rom 6:6-11). After receiving this great love, we, too, must share the love of the Father and the love of Christ with others (Lk 10:27; Jn 13:34). If the teachings of Confucius or Siddhartha were capable of leading people to salvation, there would have been no reason for God to allow Jesus—the son who was without sin—to be crucified. Apparently, Confucius and Siddhartha did understand that salvation would come through God and the path of Jesus' cross because they proclaimed it future generations through their own scriptures. This means neither Confucius nor Siddhartha could atone for the sins of humanity or grant anyone salvation.

The end of the age refers to the end of a particular religious world. It means that religious people will no longer carry out their spiritual lives in the same way. It means that the lives of faith we carry out now will come to an end when the prophecies are completely fulfilled (Rv 21:6, Rv 22:13).

The origin of Jesus is different from the origin of Confucius and Siddhartha. Confucius and Siddhartha were both born with original and hereditary sins; they were sinners. Jesus, however, was a righteous person without sin (1 Pt 3:18; 1 Jn 3:5) because he was born of the seed of God (Mt 1:18-23). Both Confucius and Siddhartha were princes of noble birth, but Jesus was a prince of heaven. This is why the origin of Jesus was different; he was a person who was united with God (Jn 10:30).

It is easy for believers to say, "We will go to heaven and attain salvation." Just mentioning heaven and salvation, however, does not guarantee that we will attain them. How can a person born of the seed of man become a son of God? Can a mere human being call God "Father" and go to heaven without being born again? We must be redeemed from our sins through Jesus' blood (Mt 26:28; Rom 6:6-11) and be born again of God's seed just as Jesus was (refer to Jn 3:5-6; Jas 1:18; 1 Pt 1:23). It is only in doing so that we can call God "Father" and be qualified to go to heaven, the Father’s kingdom.

About 2,000 years ago, of all the people in the world, it was the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, who were God's only chosen people. They were the only people who believed in and served God. They also believed that God would return to them according to the Old Testament prophecies. They prayed to God by touching their foreheads to the ground three times a day. In fulfillment of their hope, God did finally come to the Israelites. When he came, did they believe in him by believing in his son Jesus? The elders and priests gathered the Sanhedrin and conspired to kill Jesus, in whom God was dwelling (Mt 26 ~ 27). Ultimately, they succeeded in crucifying Jesus. How is it that God’s one and only chosen people, who were longing to see their savior, killed Jesus (God) instead of accepting him? We must think about this before boasting about our own righteousness as believers. God, who had united with Jesus, said, "You people [the Israelites] are from your father the devil," (Jn 8:44).

The god the Israelites were serving and bowing down to three times a day was actually the devil. The Bible distinguishes the one true God from false gods (refer to Jn 15:1, Jn 17:3). The Physical Israelites served a false god as the true God. That false god, in fact, was the devil pretending to be the true God. The Physical Israelites were born of the physical bloodline of Abraham, but their spirits were born of the seed of the devil. This is why Jesus told them their father was the devil—they had become children of the devil. They were in error and bowed down to the devil thinking he was God

The Physical Israelites worshiped gentile gods during the reign of King Solomon, and as a result they were cursed. The eleven northern tribes eventually came to be known as gentile Samaria. Only one tribe—Judah—remained in Jerusalem (1 Kgs 11 ~ 12). That one last tribe, however, was also devoured by gentiles according to the prophecies of Is 1. All of Physical Israel worshiped gentile gods sometimes even thinking they were worshiping the true God. Since the whole world had been conquered by Satan and its people were living in darkness (Mt 4), John the Baptist—who was supposed to prepare the way—declared, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near … You offspring of vipers (the devil)!" (Mt 3:1-7). Even Jesus himself proclaimed, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!" (Mt 4:17).

In Jn 4:20-24, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem … But a time is coming—and now is here—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers (refer to Jn 4:20-24)." Why did Jesus tell the woman not to worship on either the mountain in Samaria or in Jerusalem? At that time, both Samaria and Jerusalem had become possessions of Satan.

At the time of the second coming—the time of Revelation’s fulfillment and of the end of the religious world—just like at the time of the first coming, all nations have become possessions of of Satan. Revelation 17 and 18 explain how the chosen people (i.e. Spiritual Israel) have been intoxicated with Satan's wine—the wine of adulteries. They have committed adultery with Satan and have collapsed because of his maddening wine of adulteries. The people of all nations have bought and sold the doctrines of Satan. Since all nations have married the devil, isn’t it obvious that the religious world has come to an end?

Physical Israel faced its end at the time of the first coming. Similarly, Spiritual Israel comes to an end at the time of the second coming. In other words, the world of Jesus' first heaven is brought to an end. Then, the world of the new heaven and new earth (Shincheonji) begins. The book of Revelation explains how the first heaven comes to an end. It explains how it is only after the world of the first heaven disappears that the world of the new heaven can exist. In short, God gave us the Bible so we can understand and believe that a promised pastor comes and creates the world of the new heaven after the previous generation is destroyed because of its sins.

Shincheonji Church of Jesus has mastered the Bible by receiving the revelation of heaven. Shincheonji is testifying about the prophecies of the Bible and their physical fulfillment. Shincheonji is the place the highest biblical knowledge and the true faith can be found. People can only attain salvation in Shincheonji because God, Jesus, the holy spirit, and the word can only be found in Shincheonji. Shincheonji is the only place God's kingdom is being created. People who truly believe in the one and only true God and in his words (the Bible) will follow the path of the promises in the word.





SHINCHEONJI: Healing All Nations


http://cafe.daum.net/scjschool/E3qZ/167

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