The Highest Gift of God: BES Sermon (20130602)
Acts 2:1-4 1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
About the Pentecost, we can think of two things. 1) The power of the Holy Spirit. With this power, the gospel of God for the salvation of everyone who believes can reach every corner of the world. 2) the Holy Spirit as the highest gift of God. With the Holy Spirit, we are given God himself. Today’s sermon deals with the second. My conclusion is this: our highest or greatest gift given by God is God himself. The event happened at the Pentecost day have many meanings. But today I want to talk about God as our highest gift.
We are different from each other but all of us here belong to the same faith of Abraham. Abraham is the father of us all in terms of faith and living in faith. This means that blessings promised and given to Abraham are also promised and given to us. It is very important to know what was given to Abraham as the highest gift from God among many divine gifts. Genesis 15:1 tells us an answer (God says to Abraham): “I am your shield, your great reward in the highest degree.” God wants to be given to us as our great reward in the highest degree. But Abraham did not understand what this meant. He asked God to give a son instead of having God himself. God knew what Abraham wanted and God respected Abraham’s earthly desire, giving him a son Isaac. But Isaac is a sign of what God really wants to give us, namely, a sign or figure of God giving himself through His Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
The way in which God gave himself to us is this: Jesus Christ became flesh, the Son of God became like us. God gave himself to us as our great reward in the highest degree by Christ becoming flesh like us and dying for us on the cross. Christ who himself is God was the highest gift of God for us.
This gift is not just temporal but eternal. Jesus Christ is not our temporal gift but eternal one. We eternally have God as our highest gift in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ says when he was ascending that “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This is the last words, or the final testament, of Jesus, before leaving. It means this is the most important message that Jesus wants us to hold and remember in our whole life. I want to ask you how Jesus Christ is always with us. As we confess on every Sunday, he ascended into heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. We cannot have Jesus bodily. We cannot possess God in our pocket or bank account, but in a different way of possession. How can we have Christ as our highest gift? His body is not here with us. Still, we have him, don’t we? We have God not in a bodily way but spiritually because the Spirit of Christ was given to us, dwelling within us.
Let me explain a little bit about today’s Scripture reading for today. In the Old Testament, the fiftieth day after God’s people became free from Egypt or free from sin was the time when the law of God was given to His people. In the New Testament, the fiftieth day after Jesus rose again was the day, called Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured forth upon the disciples. The Pentecost day is the time when God gave his Word to his people, and also the time when after the Word became flesh God gave his Spirit to his people. To give the word of God means to give Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God. To give the Holy Spirit means to give Jesus Christ, whose spirit is the Holy Spirit. These are the ways in which God is given to us. God himself is the gift: This is what we did not know, expect, ask, or desire. In this sense, God is truly gracious.
Without the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we cannot be with God, we cannot have God, we cannot be like God, and therefore we cannot bear witness of God. Only with the Holy Spirit, we can be always with Christ, be like him, and bear witness of him. It is true that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we became Christians. And it is very important. We are different from each other in nationality, race, language, culture, and living condition but we become one family in Christ through the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. This is the result of the Pentecost event and very important.
The Holy Spirit actually helps us in many ways: he comforts, teaches, helps us grow in our relationship with God and gives us strength to get rid of the bad habits in our lives. Like fire, the Holy Spirit makes us holy, pure, and free us from the dross of sin and error; and enlightens our minds and gives us knowledge of divine and spiritual things; and fills us with zeal for the glory of God and the good of his church; as well as makes us strong against their enemies. These are indeed great and very important.
What is more, the Holy Spirit makes us full of divine fruits like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are truly the works and effects of the Holy Spirit. But we have to think about this: The ultimate and highest gift of God is not these effects or fruits but God himself. And God as our gift or reward cannot be compared to any other good things. This does not mean that the works and fruits of the Holy Spirit are not important. They are truly important and necessary for our living in faith and fruits that we have to bear by living in the Holy Spirit. But the most important point I want to make here is that God alone is our highest gift.
As you know, when I was seven or eight years old, I lost my parents, I was not given their unconditional love, I was not given any good things necessary for living, knowledge, money, and even a house. There was no home for me. I was like an orphan and beggar. At that time, I was always complaining by saying to myself: God is not love, God is not kind, God is not just, and God is not equal. But when I was twenty years old, I met God personally. And I realized God was all in all. He was everything to me. If I have nothing but God, I have everything. God was the highest gift already given to me. I was extremely glad to know that. There was no external change in my life. But I could be satisfied just by being with God alone, even still remaining in great need.
God is always with us to the very end of the age by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We have in life many troubles, and troubles are of many kinds. But don’t worry. Don’t be afraid. Listen to the confession of a worshiper in Psalm 73 and use it: Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides you, I desire nothing on earth. God always be with us as our highest gift and greatest reward. The Holy Spirit who eternally dwells in us is the eternal seal of Immanuel, God with us as our highest gift which nobody can take away from us, in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Acts 2:1-4 1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
About the Pentecost, we can think of two things. 1) The power of the Holy Spirit. With this power, the gospel of God for the salvation of everyone who believes can reach every corner of the world. 2) the Holy Spirit as the highest gift of God. With the Holy Spirit, we are given God himself. Today’s sermon deals with the second. My conclusion is this: our highest or greatest gift given by God is God himself. The event happened at the Pentecost day have many meanings. But today I want to talk about God as our highest gift.
We are different from each other but all of us here belong to the same faith of Abraham. Abraham is the father of us all in terms of faith and living in faith. This means that blessings promised and given to Abraham are also promised and given to us. It is very important to know what was given to Abraham as the highest gift from God among many divine gifts. Genesis 15:1 tells us an answer (God says to Abraham): “I am your shield, your great reward in the highest degree.” God wants to be given to us as our great reward in the highest degree. But Abraham did not understand what this meant. He asked God to give a son instead of having God himself. God knew what Abraham wanted and God respected Abraham’s earthly desire, giving him a son Isaac. But Isaac is a sign of what God really wants to give us, namely, a sign or figure of God giving himself through His Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
The way in which God gave himself to us is this: Jesus Christ became flesh, the Son of God became like us. God gave himself to us as our great reward in the highest degree by Christ becoming flesh like us and dying for us on the cross. Christ who himself is God was the highest gift of God for us.
This gift is not just temporal but eternal. Jesus Christ is not our temporal gift but eternal one. We eternally have God as our highest gift in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ says when he was ascending that “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This is the last words, or the final testament, of Jesus, before leaving. It means this is the most important message that Jesus wants us to hold and remember in our whole life. I want to ask you how Jesus Christ is always with us. As we confess on every Sunday, he ascended into heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. We cannot have Jesus bodily. We cannot possess God in our pocket or bank account, but in a different way of possession. How can we have Christ as our highest gift? His body is not here with us. Still, we have him, don’t we? We have God not in a bodily way but spiritually because the Spirit of Christ was given to us, dwelling within us.
Let me explain a little bit about today’s Scripture reading for today. In the Old Testament, the fiftieth day after God’s people became free from Egypt or free from sin was the time when the law of God was given to His people. In the New Testament, the fiftieth day after Jesus rose again was the day, called Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured forth upon the disciples. The Pentecost day is the time when God gave his Word to his people, and also the time when after the Word became flesh God gave his Spirit to his people. To give the word of God means to give Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God. To give the Holy Spirit means to give Jesus Christ, whose spirit is the Holy Spirit. These are the ways in which God is given to us. God himself is the gift: This is what we did not know, expect, ask, or desire. In this sense, God is truly gracious.
Without the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we cannot be with God, we cannot have God, we cannot be like God, and therefore we cannot bear witness of God. Only with the Holy Spirit, we can be always with Christ, be like him, and bear witness of him. It is true that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we became Christians. And it is very important. We are different from each other in nationality, race, language, culture, and living condition but we become one family in Christ through the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. This is the result of the Pentecost event and very important.
The Holy Spirit actually helps us in many ways: he comforts, teaches, helps us grow in our relationship with God and gives us strength to get rid of the bad habits in our lives. Like fire, the Holy Spirit makes us holy, pure, and free us from the dross of sin and error; and enlightens our minds and gives us knowledge of divine and spiritual things; and fills us with zeal for the glory of God and the good of his church; as well as makes us strong against their enemies. These are indeed great and very important.
What is more, the Holy Spirit makes us full of divine fruits like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are truly the works and effects of the Holy Spirit. But we have to think about this: The ultimate and highest gift of God is not these effects or fruits but God himself. And God as our gift or reward cannot be compared to any other good things. This does not mean that the works and fruits of the Holy Spirit are not important. They are truly important and necessary for our living in faith and fruits that we have to bear by living in the Holy Spirit. But the most important point I want to make here is that God alone is our highest gift.
As you know, when I was seven or eight years old, I lost my parents, I was not given their unconditional love, I was not given any good things necessary for living, knowledge, money, and even a house. There was no home for me. I was like an orphan and beggar. At that time, I was always complaining by saying to myself: God is not love, God is not kind, God is not just, and God is not equal. But when I was twenty years old, I met God personally. And I realized God was all in all. He was everything to me. If I have nothing but God, I have everything. God was the highest gift already given to me. I was extremely glad to know that. There was no external change in my life. But I could be satisfied just by being with God alone, even still remaining in great need.
God is always with us to the very end of the age by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We have in life many troubles, and troubles are of many kinds. But don’t worry. Don’t be afraid. Listen to the confession of a worshiper in Psalm 73 and use it: Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides you, I desire nothing on earth. God always be with us as our highest gift and greatest reward. The Holy Spirit who eternally dwells in us is the eternal seal of Immanuel, God with us as our highest gift which nobody can take away from us, in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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