Ephesians 5：15∼21/NIV

God lives forever; He existed in the past, exists in the present and will exist in the future.

God is who creates everything in the world. Over all things He puts the human race that would rule over, reign and live on them. Among all He makes He puts ‘time’; it is the law for the world, for things in it and for human beings. And God sets limits in the ‘time’ for all living beings. Written in the words of God are the law that humans are to obey in their living days and that is just for every human in flesh and in spirit. God sets His law in order not to bind but to protect, love and take responsibility for humans; He makes the law of eternal grace from His kindness. Therefore everyone that strays from the law of God is the one that departs from God’s love and that brings the judgements upon him/herself.

So the words of Ephesians 5:15-21 warning that you shall be very careful how you live-not as unwise but as wise, not to make mistakes. The words of God are from His wisdom and His true love for us, whereas the mind of every human being is from sinful nature that is hostile to God and is to be put to the eternal death. So whoever lives according to the sinful mind of flesh is making him/herself hostile to God and treats him/herself in the worst way of eternal calamity. God makes it clear that we humans are not able to live only with our own wills :without His laws. Foolish are those who do not understand God’s will; they astray from God’s sincere concern to love them.

Our time on the earth is mostly 70 to 80 years. And everyone is to be judged by how he/she has lived his/her life for those years in this world, the in-body years. In the end of the years that mustn’t fail to come to us, we have to stand before God and to be judged by the law of God: by His words. No one under the heaven who lived or is living or will live would never be able to avoid the judgement for behaving in accordance with the sinful desire of his/her body. No one can avert the result of that judgement: the eternal perishment.

Jesus came to this world to save human beings who are far away from God according to the sinful nature.(John 3:16) We shall therefore be in wisdom. The greatest wisdom is to believe in Jesus Christ and His work of bleeding on the cross, in being delivered from the eternal death; and to live a life considering ‘the time of soul’, keeping the most faithfulness in Him. It is promised: "Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Revelation 2:10)

Paul said in Colossians 1:24, “ Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” And in Rome 8:18 he said, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

The years we live on earth can be God’s blessing for those who are faithful and live for the Lord but for those who turn from the faith, live according to their sinful nature of flesh can be woe. Now look into the world. What do they make such wretched struggles filling themselves with the most ambitious desire of their flesh for? Don’t they stand in the state of seeing themselves getting near and near to the hell of the eternal curse and pains coming promptly after their days of bodily lives? How pitiable!

Jesus, however, forgave our sins, sent His Spirit for us and declared that we are most blessed when we live in Spirit. Living in the Spirit is the wisest way of living.

Because the Spirit is the very God the Lord, by being and living and behaving in the Spirit we are honoured most highly and blessed to the extreme. So it is said, " be filled with Spirit." (Ephesians 5:18) This means ‘living in the Spirit.’ The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.(Romans 8:6/NASB)

Therefore Jesus never leave the spirits He saved to the sinful nature of man but to the holy Spirit so that we are united with the wisdom of God and that we are in the absolute preservation of His great love and grace. Living according to the sinful nature of flesh will inevitably call forth the corruption. Even a man whose life many people on earth would know and set up a monument for is merely living a life of debauchery, a useless life unless God the Lord remember. It is because he has no inheritance from God. Therefore if we live in the Spirit, we are always recognized by the Spirit, we are living together with the Spirit and we are living a life allowing no regret. Only by being filled with the Spirit we are making the most of every opportunity and by making the most of every opportunity we are living a life filled with the Spirit.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, let’s be in the Spirit; let’s give the greatest thanks to the Lord God who saved us; let’s praise Him. Let’s love one another in Christ Jesus; let’s be in fear of Him, only worship Him. Let’s fill our 'time' with a life God would remember; let’s make the most of every opportunity, until and for the day when we come to see our Lord Christ Jesus! (Amen)

위 글은 교회신문 <49호> 기사입니다.