“Understanding the Present Time & Wake Up!”
Update: 2020-03-29
Description
The Message: “Understanding the Present Time & Wake Up!”
Do you remember the story of the turtle and the rabbit? The two animals argued about who was faster. The rabbit suggested a race which could be a long distance for the turtle. Interestingly enough, the turtle accepted his challenge. As we know, rabbits are pretty good at running. From the beginning of the race until the middle, the rabbit had run so fast. He knew that he was far ahead of the turtle, so he wanted to sit and relax under a tree for some time. Eventually, he lied on the ground, closed eyes, and soon fell asleep. The turtle was slow in the race; however, he kept on moving toward the finishing line. I could imagine that a big crowd of the animals cheered on the turtle when he completed the race. The turtle won! The joyful sounds caused the rabbit to wake up. He realized then that he slept too much, and the race was already over. This story teaches us that “slow and steady wins the race.” We should never give up when we face with unprecedented challenges. While thinking of the moral story, I asked myself, “What if someone could give the rabbit some kind of advice or warning during the race, ‘Do you understand the present time? Wake up!’” We have recently often heard similar comments regarding this current global pandemic situation. What if the leaders in some countries, in particular, China, would have honestly and urgently shared with us, ahead of time, what had been going on inside the country, instead of hiding and/or minimizing the outbreak occurring in their homeland? And then, we would be better prepared for this worldwide crisis.
Since many of our loved ones live in South Korea, my family and I have kept monitoring what has been going through in our homeland. Public events and many religious services there have been cancelled in the last few months. As of today, March 28, the number of people who have been affected by the coronavirus reaches approximately 9,300. The good news is that the daily infected number in the last seven days has been significantly reduced. It used to be a couple of hundred people and even double or triple of that number before and now it is about fewer than 100. Another positive story is that the number of recovering people has been increased up to around 4,500 which is more than a half of the people affected. As far as I am concerned, the people in South Korea are heading to the end of the tunnel and see a light that is getting brighter and brighter. Now, many churches start having their Sunday worship services in their church sanctuary while practicing social distancing at their worship places. They sit on a chair or pew, which is 2 meters apart from each other and there are no social fellowships before/after the services for a while. I believe this kind of practice helps them not only keep them safe but also focus their minds on the Lord and have a deeper intimate relationship with Him.
A couple of years ago, when I was on study leave, I planned and prayed about Advent/Christmas Eve services. During that time, one thought had struck me. That was regarding God’s promises and warnings in the Holy Scripture. When I looked at some common themes of the scriptures, I came to realize that from the beginning of the Bible to the end, God’s blessings were usually described with His warnings. After God created the heaven and the earth and everything in the Garden of Eden, He told Adam and Eve, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:17 ). These are God’s blessing for Adam and Eve as well as His warning for them.
One well-known Bible passage, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The following verses of this scripture show God’s blessing and warning more in detail: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:17-18). Did you notice some comparison between eternal life and eternal condemnation?
In our text for today, we find another of God’s warning from the Apostle Paul. He started off the phrase “understanding the present time.” In the Bible, there are two kinds of time. One is “Chronos” in Greek, which is used for chronological time. Today is Saturday. Yesterday was Friday. Tomorrow is Sunday. The other is “Kairos” which is used for specific purposes. Some phrases in this scripture, “the present time, the hour, the day, the night” are related to the second term of time. The question Paul had in this context is not about the current time and date: It is around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, 2020. It is about a Kairos moment where God speaks to us. In other words, our Lord may want us to be aware of the situations that we are in and of the direction we are heading to. God wants us to understand the present time. This understanding is not just to hear the Word of God but also to act based on what we are taught. God’s wake-up call in this scripture requires us to do two things.
Before we look at God’s two recommendations, I would like to share two more pieces of information. The first one is about the metaphor of Roman soldiers. When Paul wrote his epistles, he wanted to use an illustration of soldiers. In the epistle of Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 10 through 20, he explains that we as followers of Jesus encounter some invisible wars against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms and we need to put on the full armor of God. Interestingly enough, nowadays, we often hear the same illustration about the invisible war that we as a nation as well as a whole world have entered into, due to the Corvid-19. It is tough for us to deal with these unforeseen circumstances. The level of anxiety, depression, and discouragement has gone up, and a lot of people are suffering from this uncertain future, on top of losing their jobs and seeing their loved ones sick. The current enemy worldwide seems to be much bigger and stronger than we think.
In Paul’s time, the Roman soldiers had a tremendous responsibility to protect their emperor and the Roman Empire. They were always prepared to engage in battle against their enemies. They did not know what would happen to them in the near future. Some Roman soldiers avoided thinking about this by drinking, having parties, and other activities. Keeping this image in mind, let us take a look at the scripture after Paul asked about the present time. He said, “The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber” (Romans 13:11 ). The soldiers were to be alerted, suitably armed, and ready for the battle. We, as Christian soldiers, are also to wake up from the spiritual slump. We need to humbly and honestly ask God for His strength and wisdom not only to fight our spiritual, invisible enemies but also to stand up for Christ and protect God’s Kingdom and His people. That is the picture behind this text.
The second thing I would like to mention briefly is regarding the theme of time. Paul said that the hour had already come. What did he mean by that? The phrases, “the present time” and “the hour” in this scripture need to be interpreted with both of the phrases “the night” and “the day” in the following verse (Romans 13:12 ). Some theologians say that the night is “the absence of Jesus Christ.” Some say that the night represents the present era. Others think that the night is a symbol of sin and ungodliness. In a similar matter, the day can be “the presence of Jesus Christ.” The day can also be the time of Jesus Christ coming again. So both “the present time” and “the hour” are the period of the time in between Jesus was ascended into heaven and He will come again. In other words, Paul is mentioning the attitude of believers who are waiting for the time of the Second Coming of Christ.
In the New Testament, the passage related to the Second Coming is described more than 300 times. Whenever we speak of this topic, one question that always comes up is about the time of His arrival. The only answer that we are sure of comes from the Gospel of Matthew 24:36-44. “But about that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father… Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” The phrase “keep watch” here does not mean just sitting on the couches and looking for Jesus to come through the clouds in the sky. Its real meaning is described by what the Apostle Paul is saying in our main text: “Wake up from your slumber, put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:11-12).
O.k. now, let us go back to God’s two recommendations. Firstly, God wants us to “put aside the deeds of darkness” (Romans 13:12 ). Paul made a list of the works of darkness, such as drunkenness, sexual immorality, lustful acts, jealousy, and so on. All these are the typical passions of the night. We, as human beings, are supposed to live in God’s image. But these types of darkness do not let us move toward God’s righteousness. Someone said: “The first thing most of us do when we wake up in the morning is going to the bathroom.” I think that the person has made a good spiritual lesson from our daily habits. Every day some things, which are dirty and unclean, need to be taken away from our houses. It is like taking the garbage out regularly; otherwise, our homes will stink.
Likewise, if we do not remove some things ungodly from our spiritual lives, the house of our souls begins to stink as well. We need to put aside these sinful behaviors. The Bible says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand
Do you remember the story of the turtle and the rabbit? The two animals argued about who was faster. The rabbit suggested a race which could be a long distance for the turtle. Interestingly enough, the turtle accepted his challenge. As we know, rabbits are pretty good at running. From the beginning of the race until the middle, the rabbit had run so fast. He knew that he was far ahead of the turtle, so he wanted to sit and relax under a tree for some time. Eventually, he lied on the ground, closed eyes, and soon fell asleep. The turtle was slow in the race; however, he kept on moving toward the finishing line. I could imagine that a big crowd of the animals cheered on the turtle when he completed the race. The turtle won! The joyful sounds caused the rabbit to wake up. He realized then that he slept too much, and the race was already over. This story teaches us that “slow and steady wins the race.” We should never give up when we face with unprecedented challenges. While thinking of the moral story, I asked myself, “What if someone could give the rabbit some kind of advice or warning during the race, ‘Do you understand the present time? Wake up!’” We have recently often heard similar comments regarding this current global pandemic situation. What if the leaders in some countries, in particular, China, would have honestly and urgently shared with us, ahead of time, what had been going on inside the country, instead of hiding and/or minimizing the outbreak occurring in their homeland? And then, we would be better prepared for this worldwide crisis.
Since many of our loved ones live in South Korea, my family and I have kept monitoring what has been going through in our homeland. Public events and many religious services there have been cancelled in the last few months. As of today, March 28, the number of people who have been affected by the coronavirus reaches approximately 9,300. The good news is that the daily infected number in the last seven days has been significantly reduced. It used to be a couple of hundred people and even double or triple of that number before and now it is about fewer than 100. Another positive story is that the number of recovering people has been increased up to around 4,500 which is more than a half of the people affected. As far as I am concerned, the people in South Korea are heading to the end of the tunnel and see a light that is getting brighter and brighter. Now, many churches start having their Sunday worship services in their church sanctuary while practicing social distancing at their worship places. They sit on a chair or pew, which is 2 meters apart from each other and there are no social fellowships before/after the services for a while. I believe this kind of practice helps them not only keep them safe but also focus their minds on the Lord and have a deeper intimate relationship with Him.
A couple of years ago, when I was on study leave, I planned and prayed about Advent/Christmas Eve services. During that time, one thought had struck me. That was regarding God’s promises and warnings in the Holy Scripture. When I looked at some common themes of the scriptures, I came to realize that from the beginning of the Bible to the end, God’s blessings were usually described with His warnings. After God created the heaven and the earth and everything in the Garden of Eden, He told Adam and Eve, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:17 ). These are God’s blessing for Adam and Eve as well as His warning for them.
One well-known Bible passage, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The following verses of this scripture show God’s blessing and warning more in detail: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:17-18). Did you notice some comparison between eternal life and eternal condemnation?
In our text for today, we find another of God’s warning from the Apostle Paul. He started off the phrase “understanding the present time.” In the Bible, there are two kinds of time. One is “Chronos” in Greek, which is used for chronological time. Today is Saturday. Yesterday was Friday. Tomorrow is Sunday. The other is “Kairos” which is used for specific purposes. Some phrases in this scripture, “the present time, the hour, the day, the night” are related to the second term of time. The question Paul had in this context is not about the current time and date: It is around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, 2020. It is about a Kairos moment where God speaks to us. In other words, our Lord may want us to be aware of the situations that we are in and of the direction we are heading to. God wants us to understand the present time. This understanding is not just to hear the Word of God but also to act based on what we are taught. God’s wake-up call in this scripture requires us to do two things.
Before we look at God’s two recommendations, I would like to share two more pieces of information. The first one is about the metaphor of Roman soldiers. When Paul wrote his epistles, he wanted to use an illustration of soldiers. In the epistle of Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 10 through 20, he explains that we as followers of Jesus encounter some invisible wars against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms and we need to put on the full armor of God. Interestingly enough, nowadays, we often hear the same illustration about the invisible war that we as a nation as well as a whole world have entered into, due to the Corvid-19. It is tough for us to deal with these unforeseen circumstances. The level of anxiety, depression, and discouragement has gone up, and a lot of people are suffering from this uncertain future, on top of losing their jobs and seeing their loved ones sick. The current enemy worldwide seems to be much bigger and stronger than we think.
In Paul’s time, the Roman soldiers had a tremendous responsibility to protect their emperor and the Roman Empire. They were always prepared to engage in battle against their enemies. They did not know what would happen to them in the near future. Some Roman soldiers avoided thinking about this by drinking, having parties, and other activities. Keeping this image in mind, let us take a look at the scripture after Paul asked about the present time. He said, “The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber” (Romans 13:11 ). The soldiers were to be alerted, suitably armed, and ready for the battle. We, as Christian soldiers, are also to wake up from the spiritual slump. We need to humbly and honestly ask God for His strength and wisdom not only to fight our spiritual, invisible enemies but also to stand up for Christ and protect God’s Kingdom and His people. That is the picture behind this text.
The second thing I would like to mention briefly is regarding the theme of time. Paul said that the hour had already come. What did he mean by that? The phrases, “the present time” and “the hour” in this scripture need to be interpreted with both of the phrases “the night” and “the day” in the following verse (Romans 13:12 ). Some theologians say that the night is “the absence of Jesus Christ.” Some say that the night represents the present era. Others think that the night is a symbol of sin and ungodliness. In a similar matter, the day can be “the presence of Jesus Christ.” The day can also be the time of Jesus Christ coming again. So both “the present time” and “the hour” are the period of the time in between Jesus was ascended into heaven and He will come again. In other words, Paul is mentioning the attitude of believers who are waiting for the time of the Second Coming of Christ.
In the New Testament, the passage related to the Second Coming is described more than 300 times. Whenever we speak of this topic, one question that always comes up is about the time of His arrival. The only answer that we are sure of comes from the Gospel of Matthew 24:36-44. “But about that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father… Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” The phrase “keep watch” here does not mean just sitting on the couches and looking for Jesus to come through the clouds in the sky. Its real meaning is described by what the Apostle Paul is saying in our main text: “Wake up from your slumber, put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:11-12).
O.k. now, let us go back to God’s two recommendations. Firstly, God wants us to “put aside the deeds of darkness” (Romans 13:12 ). Paul made a list of the works of darkness, such as drunkenness, sexual immorality, lustful acts, jealousy, and so on. All these are the typical passions of the night. We, as human beings, are supposed to live in God’s image. But these types of darkness do not let us move toward God’s righteousness. Someone said: “The first thing most of us do when we wake up in the morning is going to the bathroom.” I think that the person has made a good spiritual lesson from our daily habits. Every day some things, which are dirty and unclean, need to be taken away from our houses. It is like taking the garbage out regularly; otherwise, our homes will stink.
Likewise, if we do not remove some things ungodly from our spiritual lives, the house of our souls begins to stink as well. We need to put aside these sinful behaviors. The Bible says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand
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