(2) Salvation is becoming the sons of God.

 

(2) Salvation is becoming the sons of God.

 

The phrase "sons of God" carries a spiritual meaning. If everyone in this world were to say they are the sons of God, they would likely laugh and reject it. The reason is that they do not want to be interfered with by God. They regard God merely as a deity of worldly religion or superstition. They might view becoming a son of God as being possessed by a spirit. In the past, there were many shamans in our country. They view shamans as possessed by spirits—people who act according to the instructions of a spirit, predict the future, and so on.

Becoming a religious person often begins with a desire to rely on God when facing difficulties in life or when facing death. Choosing a religion for oneself—while unwilling to be subordinate to God like in Christianity, but wanting to possess one—is a religion for oneself. This is called idolatry, which is prevalent mainly in Southeast Asia; it involves creating human or animal figures to summon a deity and order what one desires.

Buddhism has been prevalent in Korea since ancient times. Buddhism is said to be a religion of emptying oneself. When one empties all the thoughts arising from the flesh, one reaches a state of nothingness, which is expressed as the Buddha, the pinnacle of enlightenment. The main principle is that one does not strive hard to become a Buddha oneself, but rather, through the practice of emptying oneself, one will eventually reach the state of a Buddha. This practice is achieved through observing precepts or through practices such as Zen meditation.

Christian principles share similarities. Although there are differences in methodology, emptying oneself aligns with Jesus’ command to deny oneself. Emptying oneself signifies that when Jesus Christ shed his blood and died on the cross, that death meant not only Jesus’ death but also the death of the believers. Emptying oneself implies the death of the flesh. In other words, it is the principle that the flesh dies and is reborn into a new life. This is expressed through baptism.

Baptism refers to immersion in water; the physical body dies in the water, and one is born from heaven into new life. Being born into new life is called resurrection, and a being resurrected in this way is referred to as the Son of God.

What many Christians today mistakenly believe is that resurrection is like a dead body coming back to life. While this may certainly be due to doctrinal errors or incorrect Bible translations, such errors are leading Christianity in the wrong direction. The principle of Christianity is to cast aside the carnal nature corrupted by greed (dying on the cross) and be born as a new being (resurrection). Therefore, those born as a new being become the sons of God. The mediators are Jesus, who died on the cross, and the resurrected Christ, and believers believe in being united with Him. Believers have also died with Him and resurrected with Him, becoming sons of God. This is because Jesus is the Son of God, and the principle is that believers become sons of God by being united with Jesus.

In the Old Testament, there is a grand narrative regarding the Son of God. First, through the Bible, God presents the concept of the Son of God within the grand narrative of the creation of the heavens and the earth. Next, He presents Himself as the first man, formed from dust and breathed into him. Thirdly, He assigns the meaning of "Son" by separating the first man, Adam, and making him male and female.

The first element is the expression "creation of the heavens and the earth."

Genesis 1:1 states that God created the heavens and the earth. Through this statement, people often think of the creation of the universe. However, it is actually explaining the background of the creation of the Son of God.

People often describe humans as a "miniature universe." From a philosophical perspective, ancient Greek Neoplatonism viewed humans as being at the center of the universe. Scientifically, humans are also seen as living organisms possessing a structure similar to that of the universe. The same is likely true from a religious perspective.

Looking at the Hebrew phrase in "In the beginning He created the heavens and the earth," the term corresponding to heaven and earth is "Et Ha-Shamaim We'et Ha'eretz." While translated as "heaven and earth," this is a Sino-Korean term meaning "sky and land" in our language. Therefore, most believers refer to this as the creation of the universe.

However, if we consider the meaning of the Hebrew, we can see that "Ha-Shamaim" refers not to the sky above, but to the Kingdom of God (Heaven). It is also translated as "heavens" in English. While the Kingdom of God is a God-centered concept, Heaven is the Kingdom of God within the hearts of believers, representing a believer-centered concept. The fact that this word takes the plural form indicates that it is rooted in the people of God.

"Earth" refers not to the world, but to the human body. In other words, Genesis 1:1 is not the creation of the universe, but rather God creating the body and spiritually planting the Kingdom of God within it.

This is not to deny that God created the universe, but rather to describe the meaning of Genesis 1:1-2 as the creation of a prison to confine the spirits of angels who sinned in the Kingdom of God. 2 Peter 2:4 describes the confinement of the spirits of evil angels that occurred in the Kingdom of God into dark pits, and the result of that is precisely Genesis 1:1-2. It can be said that this was the creation of the first flesh bearing the image of God. This first flesh is referred to as a dark pit. If we examine the spiritual state of the created beings described as "heaven and earth" in the Bible, Genesis 1:2 states, "The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved over the waters." Since there is a missing part in the original Hebrew translation of this passage, a re-translation would be as follows:

"The earth existed in formless, void, and formless darkness over the face of the abyss, and the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters."

The word "face" is missing from the translation of the beginning of Genesis 1:2. The "face of the abyss" refers to the face of deep waters, signifying the spirit. Therefore, the face of the abyss represents a state where the spirit is trapped within matter (the flesh).

The face of the waters is the face of flowing water. It signifies a living spirit. Thus, it indicates that the Holy Spirit is working within the living spirit. Chapter 1, Verse 2 consists of two parts: it contrasts the earth with the Spirit of God, and contrasts what moves through chaos, emptiness, and darkness with what moves upon the face of the abyss—that is, the face of the waters.

The question is why humans express the image of God spiritually, yet darkness akin to sin physically. It is a representation of the spirits of evil angels that were confined in the dark pits of the Kingdom of God.

This will be understood when looking at Jesus Christ, the last man, Adam. According to the Bible, He is called both the Son of Man and the Son of God. He was born of Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and the divinity of God was manifested. The creation of the universe—or rather, the creation of the first man—prefigures the birth of Jesus Christ. He was born with a body destined to die in the flesh, and Jesus, the last Adam, died on the cross for the sin of atonement.

The second aspect is that God molded man from dust and breathed the breath of life into him to create him.

Dust symbolizes darkness and sin. In Job 4:18-19, it says, “God does not trust even his servant, nor does he call his angel foolish; how much more so shall he who dwells in a house of dust, whose foundation is dust, which shall be destroyed before a gnat?”

This implies that in God’s eyes, a man made of dust is inferior to an angel. However, the breath of life given by God is also an expression implying that he will receive resurrection life in the future and possess a glorious form.

In Genesis 2:7, it says, “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (nefesh chai).” Nefesh chai is living life. To become sons of God, one must receive the breath (Holy Spirit) from God and receive the life of resurrection, and thus the image of God is restored. When Jesus was conversing with the Jews, He said that He and God were one, and upon hearing this, the Jews tried to stone Him. This is what Jesus says to them.

In John 10:34-36, those who received the word of God are called gods; the point is, what is wrong with Jesus Himself saying that He is the Son of God? The Son of God is described as a divine being, which signifies the image of God. Regarding the image of God, Colossians 1:15 refers to it as Christ.

Today, people in the world do not realize the image of God. Consequently, they have become unrelated to Christ. The image of God is not obtained through human effort, but must be breathed into it by God. The resurrected Jesus visited His disciples and breathed the Holy Spirit into them. Thus, they recover the image of God and become the sons of God.

The third point is that God caused Adam to fall asleep in the Garden of Eden and separated him into male and female. Although the expression states that He created the woman from Adam's rib, this is a symbolic one.

 

Adam represents Christ, and Eve symbolizes one who has turned away from God. In the Garden of Eden, Eve sinned against God first, and Adam ate the fruit of evil that Eve offered. This statement illustrates that the fallen angels committed sin because they wanted to be like God, and although God banished them from the Kingdom of God to the material world—the prison—God Himself clothed Himself in a body of sin, was born into the world as the first man, and through His body, many sinners of the world are born. Only by fully understanding this part can the entire message be unraveled.

Although God imprisoned the fallen angels, they were also His sons, and His plan was to bring them back to the Kingdom of God. The story of the prodigal son who left his father in the Bible is precisely this story. The spirit of an evil angel became human because it united with the flesh, but the way to return to the Kingdom of God is to cast off the body of sin and put on a body of righteousness.

 

Therefore, Jesus Christ, the Last Adam, died to the body of sin and resurrected with a body of righteousness. God intends to bring those united with such Jesus Christ back to the Kingdom of God. Thus, to become sons of God, one must become one who believes that they have died and resurrected with Jesus Christ. The story, translated as the Creation of the Heavens and Earth, the creation of the first man Adam, the making of man and woman, and the story of their expulsion from the Garden of Eden after sinning, is a story about the spirit of the angel who sinned in the Kingdom of God and the man who imprisoned him. Therefore, the message is that salvation is putting on the garments of Christ again, becoming sons of God, and returning to the Kingdom of God.

When I tell others the story of the angel who sinned in the Kingdom of God, there is a tendency to regard it as heresy, and they look at me with strange eyes. This is the reaction when a story they have never heard before is presented. Although the Bible mentions related content regarding Jude 1:6 and 2 Peter 2:4, the question is, what connection does a human have with the spirit of the angel who sinned in the Kingdom of God?

Those who have read the Bible extensively can see that stories are interconnected here and there in diverse and broad ways. This story, too, is not in the direct style, but is expressed in a way that allows for various interpretations. In particular, when Jesus conversed with the Sadducees about the resurrection, He explained it in the same sense as the angel in heaven, and I was most deeply impressed by this part.

While having a conversation with someone, I mentioned that we were angels in the Kingdom of God before being born into the world, but we fell and were born into it; he suddenly laughed. I strongly objected, asking, "Angels?" Since then, I have conducted in-depth research into the angels appearing in the Bible, as well as villains like Satan. I have come to believe that angels play a much broader role than the conventional concept and are having a direct influence on me.

Spiritual beings are invisible but can be described as entities that influence humans; with the exception of God, they are essentially all angels. They are expressed using different terms depending on the role they play. Perhaps, through the story of Mary Magdalene possessed by seven demons, I believe the seven demons residing within humans represent specific situations within their inner spiritual world. The number seven signifies being completely possessed by demons, and the story implies that a possessed person is cast out by the power of Jesus.

If we interpret this to mean that all humans, like Mary Magdalene, are possessed by demons, then the spirit within the body becomes one dominated by a dark spirit. Being "imprisoned" ultimately means that the spirit is confined in a prison.

Believers go to church on Sundays for the purpose of worship. They always confess their faith using the Apostles' Creed, yet Korean Protestantism has omitted the statement that Jesus descended into hell. This means they added it and removed it five times. Why did they do such a thing? It would not have been easy for them to explain. However, had they properly understood the meaning of 1 Peter 3:19, they would not have dared to commit such a dangerous act. It is human nature to arbitrarily alter even a confession of faith like this if it does not align with their own views. Given this, how can anyone believe the claim that an evil angel from heaven became human!