Return to the bosom of God’s love-3

하늘이여 노래하라 땅이여 기뻐하라 산들이여 즐거이 노래하라 여호와가 그 백성을 위로 하였은즉 그 고난 당한 자를 긍휼히 여길 것임이니라 ¹⁴ 오직 시온이 이르기를 여호와께서 나를 버리시며 주께서 나를 잊으셨다 하였거니와 ¹⁵ 여인이 어찌 그 젖먹는 자식을 잊겠으며 자기 태에서 난 아들을 긍휼히 여기지 않겠느냐 그들은 혹시 잊을지라도 나는 너를 잊지 아니할 것이라 ¹⁶ 내가 너를 내 손바닥에 새겼고 너의 성벽이 항상 내 앞에 있느니라. ¹³ Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. ¹⁴ But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me." ¹⁵ "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. ¹⁶ Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. (Isa. 49:13-16)

¹³ 저가 귀고리와 패물로 장식하고 그 연애하는 자를 따라가서 나를 잊어버리고 향을 살라 바알 들을 섬긴 시일을 따라 내가 저에게 벌을 주리라 나 여호와의 말이니라 ¹⁴ 그러므로 내가 저를 개유하여 거친 들로 데리고 가서 말로 위로하고

 ¹⁵ 거기서 비로소 저의 포도원을 저에게 주고 아골 골짜기로 소망의 문을 삼아 주리니 저가 거기서 응대하기를 어렸을 때와 애굽 땅에서 올라 오던 날과 같이 하리라 ¹⁶ 여호와께서 이르시되 그 날에 네가 나를 내 남편이라 일컫고 다시는 내 바알 이라 일컫지 아니하리라 ¹⁷ 내가 바알 들의 이름을 저의 입에서 제하여 다시는 그 이름을 기억하여 일컬음이 없게 하리라 ¹⁸ 그 날에는 내가 저희를 위하여 들짐승과 공중의 새와 땅의 곤충으로 더불어 언약을 세우며 또 이 땅에서 활과 칼을 꺾어 전쟁을 없이 하고 저희로 평안히 눕게 하리라 ¹⁹ 내가 네게 장가들어 영원히 살되 의와 공변됨과 은총과 긍휼히 여김으로 네게 장가들며 ²⁰ 진실함으로 네게 장가들리니 네가 여호와를 알리라 ²¹ 여호와께서 가라사대 그 날에 내가 응하리라 나는 하늘에 응하고 하늘은 땅에 응하고 ²² 땅은 곡식과 포도주와 기름에 응하고 또 이것들은 이스르엘에 응하리라 ²³ 내가 나를 위하여 저를 이 땅에 심고 긍휼히 여김을 받지 못하였던 자를 긍휼히 여기며 내 백성 아니었던 자에게 향하여 이르기를 너는 내 백성이라 하리니 저희는 이르기를 주는 내 하나님이시라 하리라. And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD. ¹⁴ "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. ¹⁵ And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ "And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me 'My Husband,' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal.' ¹⁷ For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. ¹⁸ And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. ¹⁹ And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. ²⁰ I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD. ²¹ "And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, ²² and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, ²³ and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, 'You are my people'; and he shall say, 'You are my God.'" (Hos. 2:13-23)

FCF: We may betray God by idolatry and commit spiritual adultery.

주제: 하나님의 사랑은 변치 않기에 그분 사랑의 품으로 돌아와야 합니다.

Theme: Since God’s love is unchanging, we must return to the bosom of His love.

Introduction: Humbly admitting one’s faults and asking for forgiveness is one of the most touching moments. Runway teenagers, having realized their mistakes and coming back home, confess with their tears falling down their cheeks, “Mom and Dad, I am so sorry for having hurt you. I was wrong. Please, forgive me for all my wrongdoings and accept me back as your child.” Parents embrace them with tears of love and gratitude. Such a scene gives forth an aura of sacredness. Erring spouses kneel before their spouses, asking for forgiveness and acceptance with tears. They hug each other and reaffirm unchanging love for each other. When we watch such a scene, we feel like crying. We sense sort of a divine presence. Regardless of culture, nationality, or religion, people feel sort of joy of victory over divisions or hurts. Why is it so? It may be because forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration are divine gifts and blessings. I remember a story of a man who was too stubborn to confess the sin of his multiple adulteries to his wife. His wife had waited long for his return, still loving him, even though her friends exhorted her to forget about him and remarry. She refused to do so because he was her only love. Finally, he realized her unchanging love and came back to her. While shedding his tears, he sincerely asked her for forgiveness. They were reconciled. It was a moment of restoration and reunion. Can you imagine how touching a moment it was for them? We can feel their thrills at their reunion.  

However, pride prevents estranged kids or couples from acknowledging our faults and asking for forgiveness. Due to pride, many still refuse to be reconciled to their parents, spouses, or friends, who are also unwilling to take them back. This is true of people of the world and some erring God’s children. They are called to admit their faults to God and plead with Him for pardon. Many still believe they are not sinners before God. The unrepentant still wander through the world, looking for happiness. They are relentlessly looking for something they rely on and worship for their happiness. They are frantic about doing anything to please themselves. They are ready to secure their future by amassing more and more without realizing all is under God’s control. They are still digging, accumulating, running to find something to make them prosperous and happy. All their efforts are idolatrous because they rely on things or people other than God the Creator and Redeemer. This is the primary sin of this world.

Such sin runs through the blood of all humanity. Even the Israelites, the northern kingdom of Israel, were frantically working to secure their fertility. They resorted to Baal worship, abandoning Yahweh their covenantal God. The prophet Hosea indicted Israel of idolatry, that is, spiritual adultery. He describes God’s covenantal faithfulness to Israel. He calls on His people to come back to God. Even though He had to punish Israel for idolatry, God still loved Israel by keeping His faithfulness. Like the unfaithful Israelites, we may love things or people more than God and pursue them for our happiness. Or we may call upon the names of strange gods to grant us our desires. Idolatry breaks the trust and heart of God. Despite all our efforts to please inanimate idols or false spirits, we may suffer dissatisfaction, emptiness, disasters, or diseases. Today, Hosea calls on us to return to the bosom of God’s love because His love is unchanging. We have already dealt with the first two of four characteristics of God’s love, that is, God’s love that disciplines us and never gives on us. Today, I will discuss the third characteristic of God’s unchanging love, so that we may come back to the love of God. My third exhortation is we should…

I.               징계하시는 하나님 사랑의 품으로 돌아오라.

Return to the bosom of God’s love that disciplines us.

II.             포기하지 않으시는 하나님 사랑의 품으로 돌아오라.

Return to the bosom of God’s love that never gives up on us.

III.           회복시키는 하나님 사랑의 품으로 돌아오라.

Return to the bosom of God’s love that restores us.

By God’s restorative love, we experience the depth of God’s wisdom and the power of God to reverse. Though He has punished the people of the northern kingdom for their spiritual adultery, Yahweh takes action to bring them back to His covenantal love. Notice how tenderly He approaches His covenantal spouse. He allures her, keeps talking her into returning to His tender love, and tries to speak not to her heads, but to her heart. He knows her pain because of God's disciplinary action, which has sold her into the cruel hands of the Assyrian army. He makes her realize His discipline was necessary for her repentance and reformation. He explains how tenderly He cares for her. His repeated admonitions and exhortations have moved her heart back to His covenantal love. In particular, God uses the historical metaphors related to the Exodus event, the wilderness wanderings, the valley of Achor, etc., to stir up Israel’s faith in Yahweh, and lead her to repentance and restoration. Israel understood such historical metaphors because she heard the stories of her forefathers.

Here, we see her repentance, that is, turning back to God's love, relies on God’s sovereign grace and love. Indeed, repentance is a work of God through His Spirit in the hearts of His children. Notice the use of the first person "I" that Yahweh uses in the process of bringing His covenantal spouse back. The divine will is expressed by the first person "I." Yahweh is saying, "I will do this or that, and indeed everything I can do to secure Israel's repentance, that is, her full restoration. Who can oppose God's definitive will? Who can be against God's elect? Who can fathom the depth of God's unsearchable wisdom? Paul says of the true Israel's restoration in the last days as follows: ³¹ 이와 같이 이 사람들이 순종치 아니하니 이는 너희에게 베푸시는 긍휼로 이제 저희도 긍휼을 얻게 하려 하심이니라 ³² 하나님이 모든 사람을 순종치 아니하는 가운데 가두어 두심은 모든 사람에게 긍휼을 베풀려 하심이로다 ³³ 깊도다 하나님의 지혜와 지식의 부요함이여, 그의 판단은 측량치 못할 것이며 그의 길은 찾지 못할 것이로다. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. ³² For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. ³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Rom. 11:29-33). No one can stop the plan of God. God is certainly with His covenant people even though they are sold into spiritual adultery.

Notice the place where Yahweh will lead Israel back to, that is, "the wilderness." What is Yahweh referring to here? The wilderness was the place Yahweh had led the people of Israel after the deliverance from Egypt. It was the place where the people of Israel made a covenant with Yahweh through the mediation of Moses. It was the place they were given the law of God. It was the place they promised to love Yahweh with their hearts. It was the place they experienced Yahweh's guidance, provision, and protection. It was the place where they often complained about food and experienced God's discipline. It was the place they couldn't survive without Yahweh's intervention. It was the place where they learned to rely on Yahweh alone. It was the place where they had experienced God's unchanging love, forgiveness, and training.

The wilderness was a place of scantiness, insecurity, and hardship. The Israelites were vulnerable to natural elements, hot sun, aridity, coldness, and dusty storms. They were vulnerable to fierce enemies. They were vulnerable to hunger, thirst, loneliness, anxiety, and fear. Certainly, the wilderness wouldn't be Israel's first choice to settle when she came back to Yahweh. However, Yahweh has chosen it to be the place where He would welcome His people back. Why? The people of Israel defiled the Promised Land with their idolatry. The Lord would make the land rest from the heinous sins of His people. He would send them into the Assyrian captivity. During this captivity, the Promised Land would be purged out of idolatry. So, Yahweh would lead them back to the wilderness.

During the wilderness wanderings, Israel's ancestors had had to de-habituate the idolatrous culture and custom of the Egyptian empire. Likewise, Yahweh would wean His people from the corruptions of spiritual adultery so that He would renew them in the wilderness. As He was with Israel's forefathers in the wilderness, Yahweh would be with His returning people through the wilderness experiences. The wilderness was God's choice for Israel's restoration because He would make them realize their sinfulness and frailties in the wilderness and at the same time greatness of God's unfailing love. Yahweh would be in their midst. He would be traveling with them. He would be fighting for them. He would be their Helper, Divine-Warrior, and Provider. In short, Yahweh would be their Good Shepherd and they would be His sheep.

Isaiah prophesied of Yahweh's guidance for the people of Judah the southern kingdom who would return from the Babylonian captivity. He tried to encourage their faith in Yahweh's unfailing presence, protection, and guidance on their way back to the Promised Land: But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: 야곱아 너를 창조하신 여호와께서 이제 말씀하시느니라 이스라엘아 너를 조성하신 자가 이제 말씀하시느니라 너는 두려워 말라 내가 너를 구속하였고 내가 너를 지명하여 불렀나니 너는 내 것이라 ² 네가 물 가운데로 지날 때에 내가 함께할 것이라 강을 건널 때에 물이 너를 침몰치 못할 것이며 네가 불 가운데로 행할 때에 타지도 아니할 것이요 불꽃이 너를 사르지도 못하리니 ³ 대저 나는 여호와 네 하나님이요 이스라엘의 거룩한 자요 네 구원자임이라 내가 애굽을 너의 속량물로, 구스와 스바를 너의 대신으로 주었노라 ⁴ 내가 너를 보배롭고 존귀하게 여기고 너를 사랑하였은즉 내가 사람들을 주어 너를 바꾸며 백성들로 네 생명을 대신하리니. "Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give them in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life (Isa. 43:1-4). 

The same principle of God’s sovereign power and love works for His people returning from sin to God. In bringing His people back, God makes a straight path through the wilderness. In fact, God tenderly speak to the hearts of His people. The fact that God brings them out to the wilderness conveys many precious thoughts on God’s wisdom. We won’t stop our pursuit of fertility and prosperity unless we are thrown out into a place of nowhere, that is, the wilderness. The people of Israel, when they were in their own land while seeking a god of fertility, were preoccupied with dreams of success, security, significance, or happiness. So, they had to drive them out of their preoccupation with idolatry, that is, covetousness. The best place they could awake out of their pipe dreams is a desert where nothing is taken for granted. The wilderness is a place of scarcity. We can’t survive in the wilderness without help. I read a news article in which a man was taking a road trip but didn’t return. He was found dead in a desert somewhere in Arizona. He was dehydrated, while wandering to seek help.

The reason God places us in such a place is that He breaks up our preoccupations with the world. He holds our entire attention to Himself. We realize how short and feeble our life is. We realize our covetousness won’t make us happy. We realize the wilderness is a place we begin to have a serious dialogue with God. We begin to see there is God out there in the wilderness waiting for us. We turn our attention from temporary things of the world to eternal things of God. We learn to listen to God’s still voice in the vastness of lifeless land. We couldn’t hear in the past what God was shouting to us through His servants. We couldn’t hear what God was telling us through the Holy Spirit when we were pursuing our prosperity. But only when we lose everything and end up in a dead end, we begin to think of God our Maker and Savior. In the wilderness, we begin to appreciate the presence of God. We begin to call upon His lovely Name. We begin to seek Him with all our hearts. We have Him though we have lost everything. We turn to Him for all our needs such as necessities, relationship, companionship, meaning, significance, or happiness. We begin to realize God is everything we need. We begin to trust God as our eternal Security and Inheritance. We begin to truly love God more than anything else.

For this reason, God brings us out to the wilderness. If you feel as if you were going through the hot, dry, and lifeless wilderness, you may see it as God’s calling you back to His love. God may make your heart, your home, or your life like the wilderness. Do not see it as a sign of God’s hatred and displeasure against you. Please, take it as God’s restorative love whereby you will be brought back to the bosom of His love. God may drive you into a dead-end corner so that He may grab your whole attention to speak to your heart. Even though you feel you are in the wilderness, please, be assured that God is with you, protecting, guiding, and providing for you. The wilderness will be a place of restoration, in which you come to your right mind and reestablish your relationship with God. In fact, you will deepen and enrich your fellowship with God through your wilderness journey with God. You will fear the LORD and enjoy His companionship with you. You will have the whole attention of God while enjoying intimacy with Him. Therefore, you will regret over your previous following of false idols and be will satisfied with God alone. God will be your daily Bread, Living Water, Rock, Fortress, Hope, and Happiness to your soul. You won’t go back to your empty idolatry and covetousness because God is your true Contentment. 

Without knowing this secret in Christ, modern people today flock toward big cities. They are running toward success and happiness with all their power. However, they do not know where they are going. They are running to and fro without knowing their directions. A Japanese entertainment show did an experiment to see how people would react and set up a hidden camera to record their reactions. People were leisurely walking forward. All of a sudden, some behind were running with their speed, shouting, “Run, run, and run.” So, all the people there began to run together with them. They didn’t know what’s going on. But they ran without stopping. Later, the race stopped. They were asked why they ran. They said, “I don’t know. I heard people saying, ‘Run, run!’ I ran.” Modern people are running without knowing why to run and where to run. They vaguely think they should run to keep up with the flow. They believe they should run for happiness. But they don’t know the true reason they should run. Running in the right direction is a key to a meaningful life. People chase after things that won’t give them true contentment.    

Moderns run toward big cities for success. They presume that there is no life in the wilderness and that there is no life in God. They are mesmerized with flamboyancies of cities. They pursue job security, prosperity, and success. They make all efforts to achieve self-aggrandizement and self-fulfillment. In short, they want more money for their future and happiness. But they still feel empty. They still feel unfulfilled. They suffer a sense of running around in circles in life. Idolatrous modern pursuit ends in disappointment and despair. Only God can fulfill their inner longings. They keep roaming without knowing what they truly need. When they lose everything that we desire, trust, and love, they feel like being in an abandoned land. They begin to sense futility in life. They begin to realize they have pursuing something wrong. They still don’t know what is missing in their souls. Well, the author of Ecclesiastes describes vanity of life as follows: 눈은 보아도 족함이 없고 귀는 들어도 차지 아니하는도다 ⁹ 이미 있던 것이 후에 다시 있겠고 이미 한 일을 후에 다시 할찌라 해 아래는 새 것이 없나니 ¹⁰ 무엇을 가리켜 이르기를 보라 이것이 새 것이라 할 것이 있으랴… ¹⁴ 내가 해 아래서 행하는 모든 일을 본즉 다 헛되어 바람을 잡으려는 것이로다. ⁸…the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. ⁹ What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. ¹⁰ Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already in the ages before us….¹⁴ I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind (Eccl. 1:8-10, 14).

We had better listen to His words because King Solomon was a man of wisdom, a great philosopher who attempted to do many things to please himself. But he still felt vanity of life. Why? Solomon answers it this way: ¹⁰ 하나님이 인생들에게 노고를 주사 애쓰게 하신 것을 내가 보았노라 ¹¹ 하나님이 모든 것을 지으시되 때를 따라 아름답게 하셨고 또 사람에게 영원을 사모하는 마음을 주셨느니라 그러나 하나님의 하시는 일의 시종을 사람으로 측량할 수 없게 하셨도다. ¹⁰ I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end (Eccl. 3:10-11). In the midst of all our efforts and busyness in life, we still feel unfulfilled by things of this world because God has put eternity into our hearts. We were created to have a yearning for eternity, which is only fulfilled by God. So, without having a right relation to God, we can’t live a meaningful life. If we serve idols such as money, pleasures, entertainment, celebrities, or religions, we won’t find fulfillment in the recesses of our souls. When we return to the bosom of God’s love, we will find true restoration of our souls with God and then find true contentment in Christ.

So, we should pay attention to the conclusion of King Solomon: 일의 결국을 다 들었으니 하나님을 경외하고 그 명령을 지킬찌어다 이것이 사람의 본분이니라. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man (Eccl. 12:13). Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and understanding. Idolatry is antithetical to this way of life in God. Idolatry never makes us happy. It makes us be like idols. In contrast, loving God makes us truly happy. The Israelites were called to come back to the bosom of Yahweh’s unfailing love. Indeed, Yahweh’s power and love would bring His people back to His bosom, which they would truly appreciate in the wilderness, not in the sin city of Samaria, the capital of Ephraim. Some of us may think God won’t welcome us back because we have betrayed Him. But God is unlike those who reject their repentant spouses. Some of them are still angry against their spouses who betrayed them. So, they are determined to divorce them. However, God is willing to receive the repentant again into His bosom. He never gives up on them. Indeed, He work relentlessly behinds the scenes to bring His people back.

Conclusion: One of the touching stories in the Bible is the return of the prodigal son to the father. Even some unbelievers love this story because the story describes a restoration of an errant son to his father and the unconditional love of the father. People covet such unconditional love. They have a constant longing for perfect love. They can’t find anywhere in the world but Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is incontestable evidence of God’s infinite love. The apostle John says, 하나님이 세상을 이처럼 사랑하사 독생자를 주셨으니 이는 저를 믿는 자마다 멸망치 않고 영생을 얻게 하려 하심이니라. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16). Paul preaches the love of God for sinners deconstrued in His Son’s death: 우리가 아직 죄인 되었을 때에 그리스도께서 우리를 위하여 죽으심으로 하나님께서 우리에게 대한 자기의 사랑을 확증하셨느니라. but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). Peter preached the way of salvation this way: 회개하여 각각 예수 그리스도의 이름으로 세례를 받고 죄 사함을 얻으라 그리하면 성령을 선물로 받으리니. "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). The way back to the bosom of God’s unchanging love is Jesus Christ. We must repent of our sins and receive Christ into our hearts. We will enjoy God’s restorative love which brings us into the household of faith. If you are already saved and away from God’s love, please come back to the love of God which is calling you back. God’s unfailing love is the ground for strength. It is our hope of restoration.

            A host of people in the world still refuse to have God in their hearts. They refuse to come back to the bosom of God’s love. Jean-Paul Sartre was a humanistic existentialist who envisioned a brave, new, and godless world. Early in 1980 Jean-Paul Sartre: “They (world problems and a sense of personal purposelessness) tempt you incessantly, especially if you’re old and can think, ‘Oh, well, anyway, I shall die in five years at the most.’ In fact I think ten, but it might well be five. In any case the world seems ugly, bad and without hope. There, that’s the cry of despair of an old man who’ll die in despair. But that’s exactly what I resist, and I know I shall die in hope. But that hope needs a foundation.” Within a month he was dead, apparently without having found the foundation for which he searched. What is the foundation of unfailing hope? It is God’s unchanging love revealed in the cross of Christ. The world needs to come back to it, like the prodigal son.

Indeed, the prodigal son came back to the father because he remembered his father’s goodness, that is, grace and love. When he returned, his father restored everything to him. They were happily reunited, enjoying each other in the festival. Luke describes the touching reunion of the two this way, ²⁰ 이에 일어나서 아버지께로 돌아가니라 아직도 상거가 먼데 아버지가 저를 보고 측은히 여겨 달려가 목을 안고 입을 맞추니 ²¹ 아들이 가로되 아버지여 내가 하늘과 아버지께 죄를 얻었사오니 지금부터는 아버지의 아들이라 일컬음을 감당치 못하겠나이다 하나 ²² 아버지는 종들에게 이르되 제일 좋은 옷을 내어다가 입히고 손에 가락지를 끼우고 발에 신을 신기라 ²³ 그리고 살진 송아지를 끌어다가 잡으라 우리가 먹고 즐기자 ²⁴ 이 내 아들은 죽었다가 다시 살아났으며 내가 잃었다가 다시 얻었노라 하니 저희가 즐거워하더라. ²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' ²² But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. ²³ And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴ For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate (Lk. 15:20-24).

I remember my parents saying, “Leave the frontal door open for your brother.” My brother ran away from home when he was young. My parents were so concerned about his whereabouts. They were so worried how he was doing. Though they rebuked him for his wrongdoing severely, they waited, waited for his return. So, they told me to open the door open. How much more shall the heavenly Father be waiting for the return of His own people? Please, respond to God’s restorative love by humble faith. Then, enjoy a happy reunion with the Father in Christ.

Benediction: ²⁴ 여호와는 네게 복을 주시고 너를 지키시기를 원하며 ²⁵ 여호와는 그 얼굴로 네게 비취사 은혜 베푸시기를 원하며 ²⁶ 여호와는 그 얼굴을 네게로 향하여 드사 평강 주시기를 원하노라. ²⁴ The LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵ the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace (Num. 6:24-26).