We are the Messengers of the Will of God

Based on the book of Luke, Paul C. Jong`s book 49, We Are the Messengers of the Will of God, is a wonderful guide on how to humbly serve the Lord. The author uses the parable of Lazarus and the rich man from Luke 16 to illustrate the need for having the correct faith now because the next world is eternal. During his lifetime, Lazarus was a beggar and suffered greatly. On the other hand, the rich man led an opulent lifestyle, never having to worry about food or shelter. But once they both died, Lazarus went to Abraham`s bosom, and the rich man went to hell. The lesson is to prepare for the kingdom of God by having the correct faith today, as only this determines where we will spend eternity. Let us therefore have the faith of Abraham and Lazarus and let us not be concerned with living comfortably in our flesh.
In Luke chapter 18, a certain ruler asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life. God has already saved us by giving up His life on the Cross after taking on the sins of the world at His baptism(세례); there is nothing we can add to it. Rather, we only need to believe. The ruler believed he was good and able to meet the Lord and enter heaven with his deeds. But God gave us His Law to show us how incapable we are of keeping it, not to measure our goodness before Him. "For by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified" (Galatians 2:16).
Those who recognise themselves to be a mass of sin are humble before God and His Law. This is demonstrated by the example of the Pharisee and tax collector in Luke chapter 18. The Pharisee prayed to God with a heart full of ego and thanked Him for not making him like other men. He considered his actions to be holy and was proud of how he believed he followed God`s Law. But the tax collector would not so much as raise his eyes to Heaven but asked God to be merciful to him, a sinner. Inside the hearts of the haughty, there is no room for God and His salvation. Such people consider themselves to be doing just fine without God. They don`t want Him meddling in their lives, they don`t think they need God`s mercy, and they certainly don`t think they are sinners before the Law.
However, those who want to be embraced into Abraham`s bosom, the Kingdom of God, ask God to save them from their sins because they know they are unable to keep even one of His Holy Laws. This is the heart we need to have in order to become the messengers of the will of God: a heart that is not full but has plenty of room for Jesus to be seated as King. Zacchaeus was someone who longed to meet the Lord, and so Jesus went to meet him and said to him "Today I must stay at your house" (Luke 19:5). We must make room for Jesus to come inside our hearts, to reign as King and lead our lives.
Jesus came to this earth to serve us. He saved such wretched beings as ourselves by receiving our sins at His baptism(세례) by John the Baptist, carried our sins to the Cross and gave us His life because He loves us. Without God`s sacrifice, we would forever suffer in hell, tormented day and night in the fire that cannot be quenched (Mark 9:44). Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19 knew that his sins mounted up high before God, and so he longed to meet the Lord. Knowing this, Jesus who is God went to Jericho to meet Zacchaeus who mourned over his sins. When he heard Jesus was coming to Jericho, because he was short in stature and couldn`t see over the crowds, climbed up a sycamore tree to see Him. And Jesus, when He saw him, said, "Today I must stay at your house" (Luke 19:5). Jesus will meet and comfort everyone who mourns over their sins (Matthew 5:4).
God has bestowed salvation on the whole world. In John 1:29 it says, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Sadly, not everyone believes in the salvation that Jesus has accomplished for humanity. But for those who do believe, we must serve the gospel until He returns, preaching and sharing this truth with everyone around us. When He returns, He will reward those who served Him faithfully and cast into hell those who rejected Him. The author illustrates this using the parable of the ten minas in Luke chapter 19. A nobleman called ten of his servants to him and gave them one mina each and told them to do business until he returns. The nobleman is God. `Mina` means `ability`. God has given us the Holy Spirit and also many talents and abilities to serve Him in this world. Also, God has given the fullness of the Holy Spirit to each and every believer.
Those who serve the gospel reap many rewards and bear fruit and thus multiply their mina. However, there was a wicked servant who gave his master back only one mina that he originally received. God knows that we can’t serve Him perfectly because of our weaknesses. But we must set our hearts on Him and thus bear fruit so that when He returns, we will not be cast away like the wicked servant. To those who don`t want to serve the gospel after being born again, God says to them, "But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before Me" (Luke 19:27). These are for our example. Our earthly lives are so short that we should set our sights on the kingdom to come, living each day denying ourselves and our ego and instead serving our King.
The book concludes with the author praising the Lord, who is in charge of all of our blessings. God is in charge of the weather, our health, our finances; the more we serve Him, the more blessings we will receive. But in order to serve the Lord, we must break our egos. It is our own job to break our egos before God. No one can break our egos instead of us. We must do this if we want to serve the Lord. If we can`t be like the servant who returned five minas to the Lord, then we at least should try and be like the man who returned two. We can all do that when we break away our egos. As I said at the beginning, this book is a beautiful read and an example to all. We who have received our one mina from the Lord should live a worthwhile life and reap the rewards from our Master when He returns. May God bless your reading and grant you many blessings as you serve Him. "Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever" (Psalm 136:26).