Do we know God?

 In the Book of Exodus, we see the story of the Israelites escaping from Egypt under the guidance of Moses. When the people saw the ten plagues on Egypt, they realized that God was protecting and guiding them, and they were trusting in God. And when they witnessed the parting of the Red Sea, they must have been truly shocked and moved by the power of God. Moses led the Israelites to Mount Sinai to receive the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments from God. However, when forty days passed without any news, they began to become anxious.

 

None of the Israelites had ever seen God, and they only believed in God through Moses and did not even know the God they believed in. So, what they created in the image of God was a golden calf-shaped statue. The Israelites did not create and worship idols other than God, but worshiped the golden calf, thinking it was God. This is because they wanted a God who appeared in form rather than an invisible God.

 

In many churches today, pastors talk about the need to meet God. Even though they have never seen God, we do not know how believers can meet God. Pastors ask, have you ever met God? How ridiculous is that? They probably haven't met God either, but they are forcing others to do so. For this question, we must go back and think before the Exodus.

 

Moses was once an Egyptian prince, but after killing an Egyptian soldier, he became a fugitive and fled to Midian, where he lived as a shepherd for nearly forty years. However, one day he saw an unquenchable fire in a bush and heard the voice of God. God said: God heard the cry of the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He must bring them out of Egypt, and Moses is to be their leader.

 

Moses thought that this was God through the voice he heard from the flame, but he could not believe it and asked to see two signs. The first sign was that the staff turned into a snake, and leprosy appeared on his hands. The second sign was that the snake was transformed back into a staff and the leprosy hand was restored to normal.

 

Through two signs, Moses came to believe that the one speaking in the flame was God, but he was worried about whether the people would believe that the one he had met was God. So, if the people do not believe, take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground. He said that the waters of the Nile River would turn into blood on the land, and when the people see this, they will believe.

 

Moses went to the people and explained what had happened so far and persuaded them that God would lead them out of Egypt, but they did not believe Moses. God eventually brought ten plagues on Egypt, so the people came to believe that God was with them. Then, after the Exodus, they experienced the splitting of the sea and reached Mount Sinai. However, the people did not see God, and they believed that God was with them after seeing the miracle that appeared through Moses.

 

This belief collapses in an instant. God promised that if the people entered Canaan, he would give them a land flowing with milk and honey. However, the people suggested sending twelve spies into Canaan to spy on them. So, God allows this through Moses, and the spies enter the land of Canaan. It is said that ten of the spies who returned after 40 days will die if they enter Canaan. They saw the Anakjason there, armed with iron chariots.

Only the two spies, Joshua and Caleb, reported to Moses, "If the people enter Canaan, God will give them the promised land." However, it is said that all the Israelites believed the words of the ten spies and wept bitterly all night.

 

God eventually made them wander in the wilderness for forty years and had them all die. Only the new people born in the wilderness, the children under the age of 19 at the time of the Exodus, and Joshua and Caleb entered Canaan. Among the Israelites, there were about 600,000 men, and the combined population of men and women may have been two to three times greater, but this means that none of the adults at the time entered Canaan except Joshua and Caleb. Although these two men had never seen or met God, they only believed in the words of Moses. The rest did not believe God's promise.

 

In today's churches, pastors talk too easily about meeting God. They vaguely say that we must meet God personally. What does it mean to be personable? We should not talk about meeting God as easily as meeting people. We can recall the scene of meeting God through the sanctuary. The Tent of Meeting is divided into the sanctuary yard and the sanctuary. Of course, there was no distinction between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies Place before Aaron's two sons offered sacrifices with different fires, but after that, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies were separated by a curtain.

 

The purpose of the people entering the sanctuary yard was to receive forgiveness of their sins from God. To have their sins forgiven, the people bring a lamb or other sacrifice, kill the sacrifice, transfer their sins to an animal, and give the animal's blood to the priest, who then sprinkles it on the altar and performs a ritual in which the sinner's sins are forgiven. did. Therefore, the people could not enter the sanctuary, and only the priests entered the sanctuary. The people cannot see or meet God. Only the high priest entered the Most Holy Holy Place once a year and met with God to atone for the sins of the people.

 

Those in today's church who think they must repent of their sins and receive forgiveness every day cannot meet God directly. These are the ones in the courtyard of the sanctuary. So, they need the blood of Jesus just as they kill sacrificial animals and give the blood to the priest. They are still not free from sin, and they seek the death of Jesus on the cross every day. They are not united with Jesus who died on the cross, and they only need the blood of Jesus. How can they meet God?

 

Just as the Israelites witnessed ten plagues during the Exodus and experienced amazing miracles such as the splitting of the Red Sea and the turning of bitter water into sweet water in the wilderness, Even in today's churches, there may be believers who have had mystical experiences and boast that they have met God based on those experiences. However, this was not an encounter with God, but only a brief witness to God's power. Sinners can never meet God.

 

So how can we meet God? In the Bible, Saints are said to be royal priests. A saint must be distinguished from a believer who joined the church to believe in Jesus. A believer can become a saint in an instant, but that is not easy. A Saint who becomes a royal priest and a believer who confesses their sins every day and needs the blood of Jesus are two different beings. Saints are those who enter the sanctuary as royal priests, but believers who believe that their sins must be forgiven every day are those who are in the courtyard of the sanctuary.

 

To become a Saint in the New Testament, believers must be baptized. Baptism includes water baptism and fire baptism. Baptism does not give a license through a ceremony. Baptism is the ritual of believing that one has died. Water baptism is an expression of dying in water. In other words, it represents death to sin. In Hebrews, the Israelites' Exodus from Egypt and crossing the Red Sea are expressed through water baptism. It means dying to the world (sin). This is explained well in Romans 6:3-7. It is expressed that the old man has died. The old man represents the first man, Adam, who came into the world with a body of sin.

 

What is baptism of fire? It is like a ritual of changing clothes. The believer takes off his previous clothes and changes into new clothes. The previous clothes are expressed as a physical body. The new clothes are called the spiritual body. This is explained in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The spiritual body is the garment of Christ. This is resurrection. Resurrection does not mean that the body received from parents comes back to life, but that it is a spiritual being born from heaven. It is an expression of becoming a spiritual being from a soulful being, and an expression of becoming a new creation.

 

Fire baptism is connected to the baptism of the Holy Spirit because it is accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. Those who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit believe that although they have a body, they are resurrected. In other words, they have become those who have changed into the clothes of Christ. Christ's clothes are represented as the clothes worn by priests in the Old Testament. In other words, it is the moment to become a royal priest. Believing in Jesus does not make one a royal priest, but a person who believes that he died with Jesus and was resurrected with Christ through baptism (baptism in water and fire) becomes a royal priest. So, a temple is built in the heart of the Saint. Since the temple was built, the Saint is called the church. The church is not the building, the Saint is the church.

 

Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heaven is Jesus himself. However, Jesus died on the cross, was resurrected three days later, ascended to heaven 40 days later, and sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

Here, believers are mistaken; they do not connect the coming of the Holy Spirit in the saint's heart with the second coming of Jesus. The coming of the Holy Spirit means the second coming of Jesus. Before the cross, Jesus told his disciples, “I will come again soon.” This is exactly what happened on the day of Pentecost. Because Christ came to the temple built in the hearts of the Saints, the Saints who became priests and Christ met in the temple.

 

When church people talk about the Trinity, they say God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. However, such words are unbiblical because there is only one God. In the eyes of humans, there is only one who works as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit who entered the saint's heart is God and Christ. So it becomes heaven. Heaven in the heart is established.

 

What is the difference between heaven and the kingdom of God? Heaven is called “He Basileia ton Uranon” (ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν) in Greek. Most pastors say that since Heavens is plural, there are three heavens; the first heaven is the atmosphere, the second heaven is the universe, and the third heaven is the kingdom of God. This is nonsense. The pastors said, “It is blasphemous for Jews to use the word God,” so they called it heaven. The expression heaven is concentrated in the Gospel of Matthew. However, heaven, “He Basileia ton Uranon,” means the kingdom of God in the heart. In other words, the second coming of Christ becomes the kingdom of God realized in the hearts of Saints. Dying on the cross with Jesus, resurrecting with Christ, building a temple in the heart, and only the temple where Christ returns becomes the kingdom of God.

 

Can we easily meet God? We can see that it is not easy to meet God. This means that believing in Jesus does not mean that you will meet God right away. To believe in Jesus means to believe in the faith of Jesus. What is Jesus' faith? It means the death and resurrection of the cross. For saints, the death of the cross and resurrection are achieved only through faith in Jesus. This is the faith that comes from heaven. Unless it is faith that comes from heaven, everyone is in the law. This means that they are still sinners in the sanctuary yard. This is explained well in Galatians 3:22-23.

 

In order to meet God, we must die to sin (water baptism), die to our physical body (change our clothes), be born as a spiritual body (resurrection), and enter into the faith of Christ. Death comes twice. These are water baptism and fire baptism. In Genesis 2:17, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (kjv)The English Bible says “.....thou shalt surely die”.

(וּמֵעֵ֗ץ הַדַּ֨עַת֙ טֹ֣וב וָרָ֔ע לֹ֥א תֹאכַ֖ל מִמֶּ֑נּוּ כִּ֗י בְּיֹ֛ום אֲכָלְךָ֥ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ מֹ֥ות תָּמֽוּת)However, the Hebrew Bible says die and you will die (מֹ֥ות תָּמֽוּת).

תָּמֽוּת (basic form Mut) מֹ֥ות (basic form Mut) “Mut” means to die. Because it says die twice, the emphasis was changed in the English Bible translation. Instead of saying 『die die』, it was changed to『surely die』.

So this becomes the second death. The first death is death in water, and the second death is death in the fire of the Holy Spirit. Then, God causes the twice dead to be born from heaven. In John 3:5, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

 

Although we say we believe in God, we must rethink whether we believe in Jehovah, the true God. Just as the Israelites made a visible golden calf and called it God during the Exodus, we must deeply examine whether believers also do this. We must consider whether he is a God who thinks in the image of a golden calf who gives blessings to the world, or whether he is a father waiting for the prodigal son.

 

God comes to those who cry out. All humans in the world must recognize the fact that they are prodigals who left God. It means being trapped in the world. They were spiritually dead and could not even understand God. Like the parable of the sower, there is no way to meet God unless we live in the world and struggle to become spiritually alive. God said to Moses: He said, “He has heard the cry of my people from their bondage to Pharaoh.” The world is ruled by Satan, like Pharaoh. Therefore, we can only meet God if we become people who struggle spiritually and cry out. When we recognize that all people are prodigals who deserve to die to God, we can live spiritually.