Receive Jesus Your Restorer into Your Heart-2

⁷ 그러므로 예수께서 다시 이르시되 내가 진실로 진실로 너희에게 말하노니 나는 양의 문이라 ⁸ 나보다 먼저 온 자는 다 절도요 강도니 양들이 듣지 아니하였느니라 ⁹ 내가 문이니 누구든지 나로 말미암아 들어가면 구원을 얻고 또는 들어가며 나오며 꼴을 얻으리라 ¹⁰ 도적이 오는 것은 도적질하고 죽이고 멸망시키려는 것뿐이요 내가 온 것은 양으로 생명을 얻게 하고 더 풍성히 얻게 하려는 것이라. ⁷ So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

 ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (Jn. 10:7-10)

²⁸ 또 예수께서 건너편 가다라 지방에 가시매 귀신 들린 자 둘이 무덤 사이에서 나와 예수를 만나니 저희는 심히 사나와 아무도 그 길로 지나갈 수 없을만하더라 ²⁹ 이에 저희가 소리질러 가로되 하나님의 아들이여 우리와 당신과 무슨 상관이 있나이까 때가 이르기 전에 우리를 괴롭게 하려고 여기 오셨나이까 하더니 ³⁰ 마침 멀리서 많은 돼지 떼가 먹고 있는지라

 ³¹ 귀신들이 예수께 간구하여 가로되 만일 우리를 쫓아 내실찐대 돼지떼에 들여 보내소서 한대 ³² 저희더러 가라 하시니 귀신들이 나와서 돼지에게로 들어가는지라 온 떼가 비탈로 내리달아 바다에 들어가서 물에서 몰사하거늘 ³³ 치던 자들이 달아나 시내에 들어가 이 모든 일과 귀신들린 자의 일을 고하니 ³⁴ 온 시내가 예수를 만나려고 나가서 보고 그 지방에서 떠나시기를 간구하더라. ²⁸ And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" ³⁰ Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹ And the demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs." ³² And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. ³³ The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴ And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. (Matt. 8:28-34)

FCF: We may want Jesus to leave us alone.

주제: 예수님은 우리를 풍성한 삶으로 회복하시기에 그분을 마음과 삶에 맞이해 들여야 합니다.

Theme: Because Jesus restores us to an abundant life, we must receive Him into our hearts and lives.

Introduction: In one or another way, we are living under someone’s rule. In the United Sates, we are living under the reign of a Republican president or a Democratic president. Spiritually speaking, we are living under the control of Jesus or Satan. Depending on whom we let reign over us, we can live a free and decent life or a life of bondage and devastation. If we are living under the oppression of a dictator, we will suffer much, like it or not. For example, Stalin called together his closest comrades-in-arms: “I understand how I govern the people so that every last one of them…thinks of me as a living god. Now I’ll teach you the right attitude toward the people.” And he ordered a chicken brought in. He plucked it live, in front of them all, down to the last feather, until only the comb was left on its head. “And now watch,” he said, and let the chicken go. I could have gone off where it wished, but it went nowhere. It was too hot in the shade. The poor bird could only press itself against Stalin’s boots. And then he tossed it a crumb of grain, and the bird followed him wherever he went. Otherwise, it would have fallen over from hunger. “That,” he told his pupils, “is how you govern our people.”

You see here the depravity and crooked heart of Stalin. He was thirsty for power. To maintain his communist regime, he murdered tens of millions of people. Millions of people were exiled to Siberia. And many were banished from their hometowns. They migrated into other countries. Chinese dictator Mao killed more people than Stalin. Pol Pot, a Cambodian dictator, killed millions of his own people. For what? Do their communist ideologies more important than people’s lives? We often hear from the North Korean refugees about the Kim’s cruelty no matter how virtuously or nobly the North Korean government and media portray Dictator Kim. These dictators are an embodiment of the Devil. How atrociously they destroy their own people under the guise of freedom and revolution! They are working for Satan’s plot to destroy God’s image in humans.

            We find an incontestable example of Satan’s notorious and terrorizing reign over the man possessed by the legion of demons. Though he was born as a lovely baby to his parents, this man under the total possession of demons was nothing like a man made in the image of God. He reflected the image of the devil, violent, shameless, crazy, vociferous, etc. He was ostracized from his community. He was living among spooky tombs. He had no friends. He was living in total isolation and desolation. His humanity was marred almost irreparably. However, Jesus set him free from the bondage of demons. He restored him to a normal and abundant life with God. Let me remind you that the narrative teaches we must receive Jesus into our hearts and lives because Jesus restores us to an abundant life. If we welcome evil spirits into our hearts, we are like the foolish people who knowingly open the gate of their city to their enemies and welcome their own destruction. Unquestionably, we must welcome Jesus Christ, not evil ones, into our hearts and lives. Last Lord’s Day, we covered the first point: we must receive Jesus who comes to meet with us by His providence. Today, I shall turn your attention to the second major point, which is…

I.               섭리를 따라 우리를 만나러 오시는 예수님을 맞이해야 합니다.

We must receive Jesus who comes to meet with us by His providence.

II.             능력으로 우리 안에 있는 하나님의 형상을 회복하시는 예수님을 맞이해야 합니다.

We must receive Jesus who restores God’s image within us by His power.

            That which separates man from animals is that man is created according to the image of God and His likeness. Throughout the ages, the key phrase “the image of God and His likeness” has been the subject of interpretation. Jews, Christians, or philosophers have attempted to interpret it according to their preconceived theologies or sociologies. However, it should be interpreted in the immediate context of creation. God created man at the sixth day, the last day of the creation week, which implies man is the climax of His creation. Moses records it this way: ²⁷ 하나님이 자기 형상 곧 하나님의 형상대로 사람을 창조하시되 남자와 여자를 창조하시고 ²⁸ 하나님이 그들에게 복을 주시며 그들에게 이르시되 생육하고 번성하여 땅에 충만하라, 땅을 정복하라, 바다의 고기와 공중의 새와 땅에 움직이는 모든 생물을 다스리라 하시니라. ²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth"

 (Gen. 1:27-28). Every human being, regardless of gender, race, or culture, is God-image bearer.

            However, Adam and Eve fell and rebelled against God, trying to establish their own independence from God. They hid themselves from God. God granted them grace by clothing them on with the garments of skin. Even after the fall, they still kept the image of God, though it may have been marred. Moses shows it this way: ⁶ 무릇 사람의 피를 흘리면 사람이 그 피를 흘릴 것이니 이는 하나님이 자기 형상대로 사람을 지었음이니라 ⁷ 너희는 생육하고 번성하며 땅에 편만하여 그 중에서 번성하라 하셨더라. ⁶ "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. ⁷ And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it." ⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him (Gen. 9:6-8). Capital punishment was allowed in that murdering a person was equal to destroying the image of God in him or her. God reaffirmed the same cultural mandate to Noah and his offspring after him. This fact tells some things about the image of God.

            First, the image and likeness of God are something that is similar to God. We don’t know what that is. It is not His infinity because we are finite. God’s mandate is concerned with being fruitful and multiply, which is related to ruling over the world by God’s vice-regent. Here, man’s characteristics of work, creativity, expansion, or ruling may be included in the image of God. As God is creative, so man is creative. As God works, so man works, As God rules, so man rules. Man is God’s image-bearer, representing God to the natural world. To carry out this mission, man is to use his intellect, knowledge, reason, etc. Also, man is the only existence that imitate God’s moral character and worship Him, which separates man from all other beings in the universe. So, people deserve to be called God’s image bearers.

            However, they are sinners who still attempt to drive God from their lives and establish their own mini-kingdoms. They are using the abilities endowed by God to rebel against God. Satan stirs up their desires to commit rebellion against God. His allies-demons work around the world to carry out the mission of Satan to destroy the pinnacle of God’s creation, that is, human beings. He desires to make them his servants far away from God. Much of what we are observing in the world is under the evil influence or control of Satan and his servants. Violence, hatred, bloody war, or revolutionary attempts to gain power are some examples of Satan’s attempt to destroy God’s image in man. Not realizing all this, some people are driven by evil ambitions, like that of Satan, that attempt to rob God of His throne. When people act against the image of God in them, they will be like vicious beasts of Satan, not lovely creatures of God. What God still does is restore His image in people.

            We find such an example in the text today. The man possessed by the legion of demons has been thinking, acting, or living like a beast among the ominous, spooky tombs. He was wholly controlled by unclean spirits. God’s image in him was so mangled and marred that people no longer recognized him as a man, but a monster. However, Jesus came to meet with him to restore God’s image in him and restore him to a normal and abundant life with God. He cast out the legion of demons and give him a new heart whereby he became a new man. Surely, he was restored to his normal life. The difference is that he now knew the Lord Jesus Christ and served Him. So, he was restored to a God-intended life. He no longer was living for himself, but living for God. He was living to show the greatness and love of Jesus to the world, which is evangelism or witnessing. He was restored as Jesus’ representative to the world. That was a fruit of the restoration of God’s image in him by grace.

            How did the Lord Jesus restore this man devasted by the demons for years? What did He restore in him? I see at least the three things restored in man. First, Jesus restored his heart savaged by the demons. His heart was occupied by the enemies of God. It was a camp set up by the demons. Rather than God controlling his heart, Satan controlled his heart. So, he obeyed what he said. He was deprived of a right mind. His feelings are so negative. They were full of anger and violence. He was angry, speaking out loudly. He was threatening others. He showed forth monstrous power. He was chained by people, which implies that he was attacking people. He was deemed as a dangerous person to the community. So, he was banished to the tombs, living by himself without having any friends or families. His entire life was gloomy. His life was destroyed by Satan. God didn’t intend him to live such a desolate life. God wanted him to live an abundant life with Him when he sent him out to this world. However, his life was taken away by Satan when he surrendered his heart to Satan.

            We don’t know how he was possessed by demons. He may have been interested in such demonic activities. He may have been exposed to demonic influences. We can’t say anything exactly. Unfortunately, however, his heart was possessed by demons. For this reason, his heart was filled with anger, violence, or irrationality. Since the heart is the control center of one’s behaviors and life, his behaviors and life were controlled by Satan. Thus, to set him free, the Lord Jesus had to cast out the demons from his heart. He rebuked them with His power and they left him. His heart now had the new lord, that was the Lord Jesus Christ. He surrendered his heart to the Lord. That was why he became a new man. When God restores us to an abundant life with God, God gives a new heart. He regenerates us through the Holy Spirit. He gives a new heart, disposition, so that we may see our sinfulness and a need of Jesus Christ, which leads to repentance and faith. The demon-possessed man met with the Lord Jesus. His case provides a vivid example of a renewal of the heart in man, which only God does for us. Today, people are angry and violent. These two are demonic characters. They are destructive. It is all because of demonic influences. We must never surrender our hearts to demonic influences. We must open our hearts only to Christ alone, so that we can enjoy an abundant life with God.

            Second, Jesus restores his behaviors. Since his heart was filled with anger and violence, his behaviors are destructive and violent. No one wanted to get close to him, worrying about their safety. Instead of living in the community, he was driven out to the tombs, an unclean place. He was harming himself. Self-infliction is a sign of demon possession. Satan and his allies never have a good intention for us. Their only goal is to destroy us. So, they make us depressed so that we may take our lives. Some attempt suicide repeatedly. It is because they feel sad and empty. However, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are filled with holy energy and zest for life. We may feel sad and depressed, but we try to kick it out of our hearts so that we can carry on our meaningful lives. This demon-possessed man inflicted self-harms on himself, without knowing the fact that he was killing himself. He may not have known he was possessed by demons. He may have thought he was normal, but people tried to make him demon-possessed. So, he was resisting what people were saying about him. At any rate, his behaviors were like those of a monster. Not only did he harm himself, but also he attempted to harm others.

            He cried loudly day and night. He had no rest in his mind and body. People recognized him as a crazy monster. So, he had no meaningful life at all. That was why he was so sad. He was a maniac. People couldn’t solve his problem because they had no power and concern for him. However, Jesus knew how he was suffering and took pity on him. He came to see him. He delivered him from demon possession. He was sitting down among Jesus and His disciples. This tells us that he came back to a right mind. He couldn’t sit quietly before. Now, he was sitting with people, carrying on a meaningful conversation. What a transformation Jesus wrought in him! He became a new man. In the past, he had had no shame. He was dwelling among the tombs without having any clothes. He didn’t warm himself with clothes. He was divested of proper clothes. He had no status among people. He was like a poor animal, without feeling any shame. People today have lost a sense of shame for their wrong behaviors. Rather, they brag about their evil behaviors. This means that they consciences are seared.

Like this maniac, people act like brutes only for themselves. They don’t respect others. They don’t act with dignity. Though they were created as God’s image-bearers, they are living like less than humans. They commit things evil shamelessly. This fact tells us that they need Jesus Christ the Restorer. The Lord Jesus restored the maniac. So, he put on proper clothes, which means he was restored to a normal life. Surely, we should feel shame for our wrong behaviors. However, evil spirits may make us courageous enough to act shamelessly. Again, the Lord Jesus makes our consciences work properly, so that we may live a normal life among people. By the Lord’s grace and power, the demon-possessed man was given a calm, peaceful heart. He left the tombs and lived with dignity among people as a normal person, which is evidence of the Lord’s abundant grace.

Third, Jesus restores his relationships. He was banished from the society. He was regarded as a man unfit for the society. His family couldn’t keep him at home. They had to let him choose whatever he desired to do. So, he ended up among the tombs. He was regarded unclean by people. He was shunned by them. He had no meaningful social interactions. He was completely left alone. We see here a sad reality of demon-possession and man’s choice of demonic influences. He saw people trying to constrain him with the force of chains. He assumed that his family had abandoned him. He had no friends to whom he could confide things in the deepest part of his heart. All people were uncompassionate enemies to him. However, the Lord Jesus came to him as a compassionate Person. He knew exactly what he was going through. He had compassion on this unclean person no one wanted to draw close to give him a new life.

The Lord Jesus restored his relationships. Now, he was in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. That was the greatest change in his life. There was nothing he did to make that change. It was all by God’s grace. The shepherds saw what Jesus did for him. They knew the demon-possessed man was set free and became a normal man. They spread the news to their townspeople. So, he didn’t need to suffer social banishment. He was admitted as a normal member of the community. Also, he was about to return to his family to tell them what the Lord did for him. He was restored to a life of meaning, dignity, and purpose. He was restored to God’s image in him. He was given freedom to choose, no longer chained among the tombs. He was given the destiny in God. The townspeople were afraid about him, but would respect him, no longer regarding him as a demon-possessed man. His family would love to have him back. What a wonderful change he experienced by the Lord’s grace!    

Do you have anything you can’t control for yourself? Is there anything that makes you constantly angry, violent, or shameless? Have you surrendered your heart to demonic influences? It is time to come to Jesus the Restorer, who makes God’s image works in you. Ask Him to set you free from the bondage of a specific, addictive sin. He is mighty to help you out. He is good to deliver you from demonic activities in your life. I often hear people testifying to the enabling grace of God and their transformed lives. A former alcoholic used to beat his wife and children once he got drunken. He destroyed things at home. He cried loudly as a madman. He unclothed himself and laid down on the floor. He got to sleep without knowing what he had done against his family. Once he woke up in the morning, he saw the debris and pandemonium in his house. He was a dictator, refusing to say “Sorry” to his family. He persecuted his Christian wife. He threatened her not to go to church. His wife kept praying for his salvation. In God’s timing, he met with the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw his own sinfulness and depravity. He realized there was only one Savior Jesus Christ. As soon as he got saved, he became a totally new person. He knelt down before his wife and children, asking for forgiveness. They embraced him in love. Reconciliation was made. Restoration was made. He began to live a life of newness according to God’s image. This is what Jesus does in us. What a wonderful grace of God!  

Conclusion: The heart is the control center of one’s life. It is the seat of all inner activities such as thinking, feeling, and deciding. Also, it is the seat of spiritual activities such as praying, worshiping, and serving. Even though it is invisible and intangible, the heart is real, interacting with and reacting to both the physical world and the spiritual world. It is constantly influenced by circumstances, actions, people, news, ideologies, philosophies, etc. The visible world is not everything that makes impact on how one lives. The invisible world affects us, too. One’s emotions, decisions, and actions in life are the outcomes of one’s interactions with both worlds. But some assume the physical world is everything they have, denying the existence of the supernatural world. Others believe that the physical world is controlled by invisible beings in the supernatural world. So, they try to control fear of diseases or disasters by worshiping stars, rocks, ancestors, angels, or supernatural beings. They do not believe there is only one God who created all things, both natural and supernatural. God is the Ruler of all things. Jesus rebuked the tempest and the waves to calm them. Also, He rebuked the legion of demons and cast them out into the pigs.

These facts demonstrate the truth that He is the Ruler over both the natural and the supernatural worlds. We must open our hearts and receive Him into our hearts so that we can live an abundant life with Him. To which one we open our hearts, Jesus or Satan, determines our destinies. There is nothing more important and urgent than to welcome Jesus into our hearts and lives. We can’t emphasize enough the importance of spiritual conditions of our hears. However, we often overlook or neglect the spiritual conditions of our hearts. Only a few examine their hearts daily to see whether or not their hearts are in a right condition. Biblically speaking, a right condition of one’s heart refers to the state that Jesus sits on the throne of one’s heart and guides his or her life. Our heart is a spiritual battlefield between the Holy Spirit and the devil. By God’s enabling grace, we have to choose the good rather than the evil. If we surrender our hearts to the evil one, we will be seized and controlled by the evil one. Then, our lives will be plundered and devasted.

The narrative of the demon-possessed man in Gerasa illustrates the point well. We must never welcome evil spirits into our hearts and lives. Evil spirits may masquerade themselves as the angels of light. Promising us freedom and happiness, they indeed try to take away our freedom, right mind, and abundant life in Christ. We should never give them a foothold in our hearts. Rather, we must fill our hearts with the Lord Jesus Christ while resolutely rejecting evil things. Indeed, Jesus is the Lord who restores us into an abundant life with God. He is the One who restores God’s image in us. As seen in the story, He reversed a maniac’s mind to a right mind, a calm and peaceful mind. He revered his destructive behaviors into right behaviors. Also, he reversed his broken relationships into right relationships with himself, others, and God. He was no longer harming himself, attacking others, or cursing God. His life would be a time to tell the grace and love of Jesus Christ to the world. He was once suffering social banishment, enslavement, and shamelessness. Now, he was chosen as Jesus’ representative who would proclaim the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ.

            People today are still angry and violent. The Lord calls anger in the heart as spiritual murder. Anger, if uncontrolled, may lead one to kill people. The demon-possessed man was angry, violent, and shameless under the demonic influence and possession. We must stand up against the demons with the power of Jesus Christ. Paul says, ¹¹ 마귀의 궤계를 능히 대적하기 위하여 하나님의 전신갑주를 입으라 ¹² 우리의 씨름은 혈과 육에 대한 것이 아니요 정사와 권세와 이 어두움의 세상 주관자들과 하늘에 있는 악의 영들에게 대함이라. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:11-12). Indeed, the Lord is greater in us than the one in the world. The apostle John says, 자녀들아 너희는 하나님께 속하였고 또 저희를 이기었나니 이는 너희 안에 계신 이가 세상에 있는 이보다 크심이라. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 Jn. 4:4). Do you have the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart now? Jesus loves so much that He died on the cross for your sin and eternal condemnation. Instead of letting demonic influences into your heart, please, give the Lord Jesus Christ the throne of your heart, so that he may continue to experience the restoration of God’s image in you. By His enabling grace, you will enjoy freedom, fullness of life, and dignity in Christ for God’s glory.

Benediction: ²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. 능히 너희를 보호하사 거침이 없게 하시고 너희로 그 영광 앞에 흠이 없이 즐거움으로 서게 하실자 ²⁵ 곧 우리 구주 홀로 하나이신 하나님께 우리 주 예수 그리스도로 말미암아 영광과 위엄과 권력과 권세가 만고 전부터 이제와 세세에 있을지어다 아멘 (Jud 1:24-25)