fruit of christ

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In John 12, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit!” He said. Today's churchgoers would have heard these words through sermons to the point that they hurt their ears. And everyone knows what this means, at least in theory. However, if you tell them to live according to these words, perhaps not even a single person will be able to live by these words. The reason is that in order to become a grain of wheat, I must first die, and it is never easy for a living human being to die.

So, does that mean that there is not a single person in this world who lives and practices these words? And there will be some who question it. In a nutshell, I have no choice but to answer “yes”. The reason is that no human being in the flesh can put into practice these words. Everyone who goes to church today shouts, "Let's become a grain of wheat" as a good word for churchgoers, but crying out with their mouth never turns into a grain of wheat.

In order to become a grain of wheat, you must first die to find out what a grain means. To put this in a more understandable way, I wondered how many people would be willing to accept this if I had been really unfair to the other person and asked me to go to the other person and blame me. A grain of wheat is the meaning. Jesus himself became a grain of wheat and showed us his reality.

Therefore, the words of the Bible are not put into practice just because you memorize them with your head and cry out with your mouth. In fact, it is written that we humans should live according to the Word, so if we think humans cannot live by the Word, it means that we should rather raise our hands as sinners. It means that when you raise your hand like that, Jesus will let you do it for you. When this is said, some will raise the question, "Then why does the Bible record so many things that people cannot put into practice?"

It is natural to ask such a question. The Bible is clearly written for humans to live by the Word, but at the same time, it reminds us that no one on their own can live by the Word. So, how can humans live by putting these words into practice? As we read the Bible or listen to sermons, we must have experienced these questions once or twice in our minds. The reason is because you are trying to digest the whole word of the Bible without getting used to it, so you will run into this question.

The Bible was written for only one purpose: to send Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and it reminds us that after Christ comes, all humans can come to God only through Christ. Therefore, even the words written in the Bible are absolutely forbidden for humans to live by practicing them. In order to put into practice the written word, Christ must be located in the heart of man. And in order for Christ to settle in the heart of man, a man with a sinful character must die at least once.

In the same vein, the saying “should become a grain of wheat” means that only those who have Christ in their heart can practice it. Those who have Christ in their heart can sacrifice themselves with just one grain of wheat, because even if they die, they can live again through Christ. However, since those who do not have Christ in their heart do not have the belief that they can live again even if they die, they will never be able to sacrifice themselves to others, even if they are afraid of dying.

The reason that Jesus was able to endure all kinds of reproach from the Jews was because he had the life of God through the Holy Spirit in his heart. Also, he was able to boldly surrender himself to the cross because the life of the Holy Spirit was holding on to the heart of Jesus, so he became a grain of wheat and he was able to die boldly.

Even today, if we truly believe in Jesus, we must be able to boldly become a grain of wheat for our husband (family) by following the steps of Jesus. No matter how hard you go to church and practice your faith for a long time, if your wife cannot become a grain of wheat for your husband, then he has the name of Jesus that he is alive, but in reality he is just a dead person.

This world is a place where each other is desperate to satisfy their greed (sin). In other words, it is a place where hungry hyenas (the devils) roam in search of food. If you want me to live in a place like this, I don't look any different from hyenas either. If we have the life of Christ, in order to save our husbands (family) from this full of death, we must boldly give our flesh as food to the hyenas. Because you can never save your family without putting something in its mouth to a hyena wandering in search of food. It is in this context that Jesus died on the cross to save mankind. But we are only calling on the name of Jesus, and we are not sacrificing ourselves at all.

Today, churches only build magnificent buildings, and as long as there are many members, it is God's blessing and a church where God is with them. Although the Jerusalem Temple, which the Jews considered the center of their lives at the time, was so splendid and magnificent, God boldly abandoned such a temple built with human hands and recognized only those who believed in His Son as His children. Those who forsake the model and believe in the Son of God who came in reality are those who are not affected by hypocrisy. In other words, they are not the only ones who speak up. They were always sincere, and their lives were not like those of the world. They were always willing to sacrifice themselves for others.

This principle is still the same today. If they are calling out the name of Jesus, but there is no point in which they look different compared to the people of the world, such a person must be regarded as someone who has already sold the name of Jesus and amassed wealth. And those who are swept away by the currents of the world without being fascinated by the magnificent buildings built on earth by those who have the hope of heaven cannot be said to be children of God. And the most important thing for believers is to learn how to sacrifice themselves in imitation of the spirit of sacrifice of Jesus.

However, those who have the life of Jesus in their hearts always know how to sacrifice themselves, and these are the ones who will not fall for temptation with anything in this world. Also, those who have life are the ones who always obey the Lord's commands with a constant heart no matter where and when he gives them. With these things, we can clearly distinguish the wheat from the chaff. From this, you will be able to feel to some extent that becoming a grain of wheat is not an easy task.

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