[English Sermon 영어 설교]
Sunday, March 30, 2025 - Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn
Heavenly Spiritual Blessings 2 - Predestination (Ephesians 1:3-6)
2025. 3. 30. 주일예배 설교- 에베소서 강해 3
본문: 에베소서 1:3-6
제목: 하늘에 속한 신령한 복2-예정
설교자: 손진국 목사
Hallelujah! Nice to see you. First, I want us to declare our faith. When I speak, please say "Amen." The Lord is the King of kings. The Lord is the head of our church. He is here with us now, receiving our worship. I bless you that the grace and peace of the Lord may fully dwell in the hearts of our congregation at this time.
Two weeks ago, we talked about heavenly spiritual blessings and shared about the first blessing, being chosen before creation. God chose us even before our form was made. He did not choose us based on our appearance. We are not people who act to be chosen, but we act because we have already been chosen. We are not living a tiring life, running to gain recognition. Instead, we have already been acknowledged as God's children through Jesus Christ and respond with gratitude for that grace.
Remember that our honor does not come from how much we own or how great our character is, but from the fact that God chose us before the creation of the world and confirmed His love through the cross of Jesus. We realize how precious we are because God loves us so much that He did not even spare the life of His only Son. Turn to the person next to you and say, "You are truly precious." Why is that? Tell them, "Because God chose you before the creation of the world." This was the message from two weeks ago.
Today, we will talk about the second heavenly spiritual blessing. [Ephesians 1:5] "He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will." The second heavenly spiritual blessing is God's predestination. He has already predestined us to be His children. Is being chosen the same as being predestined? They are a little different. Predestination means pre-planning or designing. It means that God designed each of us before the creation of the world.
God did not create this world by saying, "I'm bored; let me make something for fun." Nor did He say, "I have nothing better to do, so let me make some humans who look like us." He did not create us impulsively but with a plan and design.
We must believe that everything happening in our lives is within God's predestination. This is actually a topic that has caused much debate within the church, and it is not easy to interpret. If we misunderstand this, it can lead to fatalism. Fatalism says, "Everything happens according to God's plan, so we just need to stay still." However, this is not what the Bible teaches.
A representative religion that believes in fatalism is Hinduism. They say, "If I am poor, it is God's providence, so I do not need to try to become rich or work hard. It is all God's providence, so I must accept it and willingly follow it."
Some Christians also have a fatalistic belief, but this is incorrect faith. Instead, we should say, "God has chosen me and determined to save me, so according to His plan and providence, I will use all the talents, knowledge, and passion God has given me to live a life that glorifies Him."
Look carefully. God's predestination is not the only factor here. Human free will is also included. We live according to God's plan and providence, His predestination, through the free will He has granted us. This raises a question: What happens if I live against God's plan and providence? God's predestination includes all of that. God's predestination, plan, and design encompass vast areas that we cannot see, hear, or even imagine. We cannot fully understand it.
(Example - Have you heard of the genome map? The pronunciation is a bit tricky. Genome map. Genome (Gene + Chromosome - Picture 1) refers to the complete sequence of genes contained in a living organism. In simpler terms, it is the blueprint of the human body. From 1990, a joint research team from six countries spent ten years and $3 billion to study this and announced their findings in 2003. This result is what we call the genome map. They identified the DNA sequence structure of 3.2 billion base pairs. Then, in October 2018, a Korean research team announced in Nature that they had solved 93% of the unresolved parts of the previous genome map, making it the most complete genome map to date (Picture 2). In 2021, the U.S. announced the completion of the human genome map, but the Y chromosome was missing. In 2022, they decoded an additional 200 million bases, and in August 2023, the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute announced in Nature that they had fully decoded the Y chromosome. Among the leading researchers, two key figures—Lee Jang-chul (lead author) and Dr. Lee Ah-rang (first author)—are Korean. The result: it will become possible to cure all human physical diseases.)
Did you understand what I just said? It would take hundreds of pages of books to explain this to ordinary people like us, yet we still might not fully understand. That is how profound design is. But does that mean they have really figured everything out? Let’s assume they have. If the design of the human body is so complex, what about God’s plan for our souls? What about God’s design for our souls (thoughts, emotions, choices, spiritual flow, etc.)? People have analyzed the human body and studied DNA, but even now, they say they only know the precise function of a small fraction of the 30,000 to 40,000 human genes. God’s design of our bodies is this deep, intricate, and beautiful. If God has designed our bodies so wonderfully, how much more amazingly must He have designed our souls? From this, we come to realize one important truth.
Our current state did not suddenly come into existence one day. Whether we are in pain, despair, or suffering in ways we cannot understand, we must believe that it is within God’s will. We must trust that when God’s time comes, all of this will leave us. Therefore, we must confess and declare, "I will pray for the Lord’s timing, I will stand firm for the Lord’s timing, and I will believe in the promises of the Lord and walk according to His word."
We did not come to believe in Jesus and become children of God simply by chance. God designed and planned for us to become His children before the creation of the world. The security of our salvation lies in this very fact—in God’s predestination. As I have mentioned before, our status as God’s children is not based on our deeds or merits. What if becoming a son of God depended on reading the Bible a lot, praying for long hours, helping many people in need, or doing many good deeds? If that were the case, we would never be able to live in peace, constantly fearing when our salvation might be lost.
Have you received salvation? Are you afraid that your salvation might be revoked? Do you feel anxious that you might be abandoned by the Lord because of the way you live? If the standard for salvation were based on our present way of life, we would have to live in constant fear. However, our salvation and status as God’s children do not depend on our lifestyle but on God’s grace and His unilateral love, predetermined before the creation of the world. The assurance of our salvation is found in this truth.
Many people feel uncomfortable with the concept of God’s predestination. They question how a just and loving God could choose some people for salvation while not choosing others. I used to think the same way. Although I believed in Jesus, my heart was troubled. One day, I asked myself, "If God’s choice and predestination, which seem unjust and unfair to me, did not exist, what would happen to me?" The answer was simple and clear. As a sinner, I would ultimately be condemned to hell. This realization helped me understand that God’s choice and predestination are truly acts of grace.
In reality, we do not have the right to question whether God’s election and predestination are just or fair. These matters belong entirely to God’s sovereignty. If we are God’s children, instead of complaining about God’s perceived unfairness, we should be grateful for His grace in saving us and making us His children.
The Apostle Paul, in Romans 9, uses the analogy of a potter and clay. He explains that a potter has the right to make one vessel for honorable use and another for common use. Likewise, God’s election and predestination are matters of His sovereignty and His mercy toward perishing humanity.
[Romans 9:20-21] But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
We are like clay. In fact, we were made from dust. Without intervention, dust remains on the ground, trampled by people and animals. For the clay to question its maker is an overreach and a misunderstanding of its own existence.
Many misunderstand predestination, believing that if God had left them alone, they would have ended up in a good place, but instead, He has destined some for heaven and others for hell. When I lived in Korea and did not believe, I strongly disliked the street preachers at subway stations who shouted, "Jesus means heaven; unbelief means hell." To me, it seemed like Jesus was an authoritarian figure forcing people to believe in Him to avoid hell. However, I later realized that this was a misconception. We are not naturally destined for a good place; rather, we are sinners bound for hell. We mistakenly assumed we had another option. Jesus came to bear our sins and paid the price through His crucifixion. Whoever believes in Him and receives Him is given the right to become a child of God. Even our faith and acceptance of Jesus are within God’s predestination. After receiving salvation, we come to understand, "I did not believe by my own effort; even my faith was a gift from God."
[Hebrews 12:2] Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Understanding predestination brings immense gratitude and awe. Moreover, we must remember that within election and predestination, God continues to intervene and work in human life. He leads and guides people to act willingly according to His plan.
Imagine a newborn baby drinking milk in its mother’s arms. The mother has plans for the baby, but the baby is unaware of them. Who drinks the milk? The baby does. Who enables the baby to grow? The mother feeds the baby, but the baby also grows by drinking. Both statements are true. However, when the child grows up, can he claim, "I grew up entirely by my own effort because I chose to drink milk"? In a sense, it is true, but the mother played a far greater role in helping the child drink at the right time. This is why a normal child eventually acknowledges, "I grew because of my mother."
This analogy is merely an aid to understanding. Predestination and election are mysteries beyond human comprehension because they exist on a different level. We cannot fully grasp them, but God revealed these truths through the Apostle Paul to help us understand.
Many try to explain their suffering and hardships through the lens of predestination, saying, "I am suffering because God predestined it." While this is not entirely incorrect, we should not respond to it with a fatalistic attitude, thinking, "There is nothing I can do about it." We must remember this: Predestination is not a concept that brings pain to our lives but a message of blessing. It means that our reality is within God’s design. Are you discouraged by events in your life? Are you grieving? Have you lost a loved one? Have you lost your job? Are you filled with anxiety about the future? In every situation, remember this: God, in His mercy, has chosen you, who were destined for hell, and predestined you to be His child. This is His great love.
What was the destiny of our lives? Eternal condemnation in hell. Instead of blaming others for our suffering and pain, we must believe that our loving God knows all things and is using them to shape us into the children He has predestined us to be.
Trust in the love and faithfulness of the God who has chosen and predestined you. Pray in faith: "Lord, help me endure this season well. Lord, help me to be patient in these trials. Lord, keep me from sinning during this time of suffering. Lord, help me to stay awake spiritually. Lord, help me. Keep me from straying from Your will. Keep me from denying You. Help me, Lord."
And proclaim with confidence: "I will endure in the Lord’s timing. I will persevere. And when the Lord’s time comes, I will see His glory." This is predestination. Those who are predestined will receive God’s blessings. Hallelujah! You are blessed. Let’s bless the person next to us and say, "You are predestined." Say it again: "What an amazing thing!"
Because everything that happens in our lives is within God’s election and predestination, we can confidently praise Him in all circumstances. Even in our weaknesses, we can humbly kneel before God. Why? Because we are people whom God has chosen to be His children. Because we have received such grace.
[Ephesians 1:6] To the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.
Where does praise come from? From grace. From awe. From overwhelming gratitude in Christ. God’s election and predestination before creation are acts of His grace. I hope all members of Hope in Heaven Church will give thanks for God’s great love and grace in choosing and predestining us before creation, walking with us, and guiding our lives. May we recover the joy of salvation and live to praise His glorious grace and fulfill His will. In the name of the Lord, I sincerely bless you.
[Application]
Do you believe that God predestined you to be His child before the creation of the world? What would have happened if God’s election and predestination did not exist?
What decision must you make today because of God’s predestination?
하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.
Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.