Shincheonji Bible: True Faith

Did you know that the appearance of Jesus as portrayed through media today, is actually incorrect? In movies and even paintings, Jesus is depicted as being very handsome with luscious locks and chiseled features. However, according to the Bible, it states that the appearance of Jesus was actually very far from this.

The reality of Jesus' true appearance is recorded in Isaiah 53:2:
"He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him."

Jesus, the promised Lord of Lords and King of Kings, didn't even have some beauty or majesty, but had no beauty and no majesty, as would be expected from a king.

God, who is the Creator of all creation, undoubtedly had the power to grant Jesus any appearance, to be even more beautiful and majestic than any celebrity or actor that we know of today. Even today, when people see a handsome or beautiful celebrity in real life, they follow the celebrity around just to catch a glimpse of the person. Likewise, more people during Jesus' first coming could have followed him if Jesus' appearance was also in this way, because humans are so easily convinced by what is seen with the eye.

Then, why didn't God make it easier on himself and have Jesus be this way?

Because, God was seeking for those with true faith, those who would follow Jesus not by his appearance or aura, but would follow and believe in the words that Jesus spoke at that time. Those who believed in Jesus' words believed that these words were from God, and that they were the truth. It couldn't have been easy carrying out faith at this time, yet the 12 disciples believed and held on to the very words of Jesus, even though everything else was going against them.

We are now living in a time where Jesus' is soon to come. Are we going to make the same mistakes as those in the first coming and follow based on only what we see? Or, are we going to check and discern the words that we are hearing, and believe words that are truly given by God as according to the Scriptures?

Let us be those who don't have faith that is pleasing to the human eye, but have faith that is pleasing in God's eyes. Amen.

Shincheonji Bible: Faith for Thought

What do people mean when they say they have faith in something? We can start to answer this question by understanding that having faith is just another word for believing and that believing is tied to trust.

Trust is a universal concept. Children come to trust their parents because of a lifetime of caring for them. People come to trust their friends after getting to know them through time spent together. Communities come to trust their leaders based on their actions and history. But in the same way it can be established, it can also be broken! A leader that doesn't act in the interest of the community will result in this.

So what has God done to be trustworthy? This answer is in the Bible where there are countless examples of God making a promise and then working to completely fulfill it. God has already been acting for thousands of years to prove that He is trustworthy. It is up to us to delve into the Bible, learn what God has done, and have the correct faith in the promises He made.

Shincheonji Bible: Faith in what We Cannot See

Today we live in a society where we have a tendency to only believe in what we can see. Some instances of this case are exemplified in the belief that the world is flat. Other examples can be seen from couple hundred years ago before we had a microscope to see the bacteria and viruses that make us sick. Many actually thought bacteria and viruses were the unseen evil spirits that plagued the people. Now the reason we believe that bacteria and viruses exist is because we can see them through a microscope. However, does this actually mean we can only believe in the things we can see with our physical eyes? What about the people who are blind? How do they believe that everything around them is actually real? These are some basic questions I even personally think about. This is because I am intrigued by the fact that many people in this world believe in something they cannot see which are things pertaining to the spiritual unseen world.

Why do people of Christianity believe in the unseen world and even in God who cannot be seen with our physical eyes? First, we cannot just believe in God who is unseen because we "feel" His presence. God provides us evidence of His existence, but where does He show this? God shows His existence through the scriptures. God promises many things in His scriptures and He fulfills them. Fulfillment of His scriptures is evidence that the Word is living and breathing. How can something that is not alive fulfill a promise, let alone make a promise? A rock cannot promise nor keep a promise, but the scriptures which God's spirit is given (John 6:63) provides promises and even fulfillment. Then our quest as Christians is to find evidences of God's existence so we may have faith in Him (Jn 14:29).

Many people of the Old Testament based their faith in the seen. For example, they sought for God's existence through miracles such as the splitting of the sea or even the fiery pillars that came down from the sky. However, even despite seeing those things, they lost their faith in God and even created gods themselves. Then we have to ask ourselves how faithless people must be and what kind of faith God seeks from our hearts.

Let us continue to seek God through the scriptures in which we are able to see Him even if our physical eyes are unable to. Amen!

Shincheonji Bible: The Last Hope

What is the greatest hope of our lives? Is it to be a rich? What is the hope that is deep inside of our hearts? Parents always try to help their children to have a bright dream so that they may grow to make those dreams a reality. Therefore, if we have a hope that is shining bright within our heart and mind, we can endure all hardships that come our way. However as a person with a life of faith, what are we hoping for? Is our hope to have the greatest riches of the earth? Is it to have the best career? We must reflect on what our hope is even through those who lived 2,000 years ago.

           Do you know how many prophets sacrificed their lives for God and spreading the gospel? Was it easy for them to give up their lives? Do you know why the 12 disciples of Jesus decided to follow Jesus? Weren’t they persecuted because they believed in Jesus? It is because they believed 100% of the hope of heaven that God promised. Moreover, they perceived that nothing more can be precious than life. Therefore, they believed God’s promise in order to receive eternal life.

          Then, let’s look into our hearts deeply. Do we really have the hope for eternal life? Our wishes and hopes for the world can’t last forever because it is meaningless without life. If we say that we have 100% faith in heaven and eternal life, let us put God’s Words of promise into our hearts just as the prophets and the twelve disciples did. Amen.

13 write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. - 1 John 5:13 -