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God is love (1 Jn 4:8). God manages and governs the whole universe, and He is worthy to receive honor and glory from myriads of angels. However, having left the glory of heaven behind, God came to this tiny planet Earth to save His children. He came in the likeness of the sinful flesh and endured all kinds of shame and insults from sinners. He only desired the salvation of His children and walked the path of sacrifice. That is why the Bible says God is love.
The great love of God has made us what we are today. Keeping this in mind again, let’s take time to remind ourselves of the holy love and sacrifice of Father and Mother who have come to this earth to save Their children.
The path of sacrifice Jesus walked
As Heavenly Mother has told us to read the Bible a lot if we want to see Father, the Bible contains many traces of sacrifice which Heavenly Father left behind when He came to this earth 2,000 years ago. Among them, let’s look at the record of what Jesus went through until He was crucified after being arrested by the servants of the high priest.
Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor . . . But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered. “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” . . . Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. Mt 27:1–26
On the night Jesus established the New Covenant Passover, Judas Iscariot handed Jesus over to the chief priests in exchange for 30 silver coins, just as Jesus had foretold. All the disciples who had pledged to always follow Jesus left Him, and even Peter who was the best disciple of Jesus denied Him three times (Mt 26:47–75). Judas Iscariot regretted his betrayal of Jesus and ended up killing himself (Mt 27:3–10).
The Jews brought Jesus before Pilate the governor, and asked him to release Barabbas and to crucify Jesus who had no sin. They took the lead in crucifying Christ who came to this earth to give them the forgiveness of sins and salvation.
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him . . . When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him . . . And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit . . . Mt 27:27–56
The Roman soldiers stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on Him. They did many things that put Jesus to public shame and humiliation, without any hesitation; they flogged Jesus, placed a crown of thorns on His head, spit on Him, put a staff in His right hand, struck Him on the head, and mocked Him.
During His bitter suffering on the cross as well, Jesus was mocked and insulted by His creatures, including the chief priests and the robbers. They treated Christ this way although He came to this earth to save them.
To bring us salvation
The Bible gives a rough account of what Jesus suffered on the day of His crucifixion, instead of describing the horrible scene in detail. However, Jesus’ suffering on the cross, which the Bible portrays, makes us feel so heartbroken. Why did God, the Lord of heaven and the earth and the Governor of the whole universe, go though such horrible things?
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Lk 19:10
Jesus said He came to seek and to save the lost. God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, came down to this earth and suffered so much. This shows how grievous our sins are. He was ridiculed and persecuted a lot, and suffered the sharp pain of flogging, beating, and the cross. Because of His children’s mortal sins, He endured all the moments of suffering.
In heaven there is also a law that must be observed—the law that governs the universe. So, the God of justice sacrificed Himself to pay for our sins committed in heaven. If it were not for our salvation, there would have been no need for Jesus to put on flesh, be hungry and naked, be treated like a sinner, and be insulted on the cross. God endured all these sufferings and walked the path of sacrifice for us.
When we keep thinking about the path of suffering Jesus walked, we may wonder if He really wanted to come into this world where He would be rejected and despised. However, Jesus came to this earth to save His children 2,000 years ago; He silently endured all the humiliation, and said He would come to this earth again for the same purpose.
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Heb 9:27–28
Who on earth would want to go to the place, where he was once despised, persecuted and put to death, again? However, Jesus came to this earth again to redeem His children from the chains of death. Since the way of salvation He had opened by sacrificing Himself on the cross was destroyed by Satan through the Dark Ages, He came to this earth again and restored the way of salvation by bringing back the truth of the new covenant.
The path Jesus walked at His second coming was not different from the one He walked at His first coming. God Himself came to this earth, but there was no one who received Him; everyone rejected Him and did to Him whatever they wished. God could choose not to come to this earth again where pain and suffering would be waiting for Him. However, He came to this earth in the flesh again and demonstrated His own love for us. Heavenly Father and Mother have silently walked the path of humiliation to save Their children. As Their children, we should engrave Their sacrifice and love deep in our hearts.
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened
God had to suffer because of His children, but He never expressed His distress and fatigue. He wanted to give them more love and said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Mt 11:28–30
God carries much heavier burdens than ours, and He tells us come to Him and rest, putting down even the small burdens we carry. As God’s children, we should say to God, “How heavy Your burdens are! From now on, we will carry them ourselves.” However, Father and Mother are even willing to bear our burdens as well. We must not forget the endless love of Father and Mother.
Sometimes we pour out our complaints because things do not go as expected, and sometimes we hurt each other over something very trivial. However, if we think about the pain and suffering God went through, we come to realize that our yokes and burdens are very small. Since we have received this great love from God, we should not put ourselves before God, nor should we put our physical life above our spiritual life. Instead of foolishly clinging only to our visible earthly life because the spiritual world is invisible, we need to always realize the value of salvation and the great sacrifice and love of God.
The moment all the heavenly children enter the eternal kingdom of heaven after the work of salvation is accomplished, God will finally put His heavy burdens down. That is why we should put a lot more effort into preaching the gospel, caring not only about our own salvation but the salvation of others who have not yet received the truth.
If God had not come
What would have happened to us if God had not come to this earth? Let’s see through the Bible what the end of the unsaved will be.
. . . “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” Rev 14:6–11
. . . But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. Rev 19:19–21
The Bible shows that our enemy the devil represented as the beast, those who have worshiped the beast, and the false prophets who have performed miraculous signs to delude them will be captured and thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The punishment of hell is waiting for those who have not been saved. In the fiery lake of burning sulfur, the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever, and they have no rest day or night; they will writhe in agony for all eternity.
“. . . If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ Everyone will be salted with fire.” Mk 9:41–49
Jesus advised us to avoid hell no matter what the cost. He repeatedly emphasized that we must not go to hell. This shows how horrible the torment of hell is. There is only pain and torment in hell, where no one is allowed to die even if they want to. We cannot escape the judgment of hell by ourselves. That is why God came to this earth in the flesh; He anxiously wanted His children to avoid eternal punishment in hell, and endured the excruciating pain and suffering.
Do not neglect salvation
According to the Old Testament law, the Israelites had to offer animal sacrifices to make atonement for their sins. God came as the reality of all the sacrifices, bore all our sins, and suffered the shame and insult that we deserved. God loved us so much that He became a sin offering for us. So, we can hope for heaven now.
. . . how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him . . . You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet? . . . But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Heb 2:3–9
God, who is worthy to receive glory and praise in heaven forever, came to this earth, being made lower than the angels. To save us, He came down to this earth even twice and willingly walked the path of suffering. We must not ignore such a great salvation. God has given us salvation for free, but its value is never small.
I earnestly ask you not to lose the eternal blessing of salvation by indulging in transient pleasures like Esau. Let us run powerfully towards heaven, so that God’s saving grace for us will not be in vain. We need to always examine ourselves to see if we are committing the error of thinking that it is a waste of time to do something for Christ who chose to live a life of hardship to save us, while spending much of our time doing physical things. Holding fast to our salvation, let us preach the good news of salvation to all people in the world.
The kingdom of heaven God has prepared for us is such a beautiful place that no one can imagine its glory (1 Co 2:9). Like the king in the parable who said to the faithful servant, “Well done, my good servant! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities,” Father and Mother have promised to reward us for all our hard work, not forgetting even our smallest efforts (Lk 19:12–17; Rev 22:12). They acknowledge Their children, who have devoted themselves to preaching the gospel, as those who have understood the love of God and put God’s teachings into practice.
I would like to ask all of you, God’s children, to learn the love and sacrifice of God and to take the lead in saving our lost brothers and sisters, so that the mission of preaching to seven billion people can be accomplished quickly. God has opened the way of salvation for us through His sacrifice. I earnestly hope all of our heavenly family members will finish this race and enter the kingdom of heaven.