But the greatest of these is love

For Christians, the ultimate goal of faith is salvation. To achieve this goal, the hope of the kingdom of heaven and faith based on such hope are needed. In addition, the practice of faith is the love toward God and neighbors. Therefore, love is possible only when there are the hope of the kingdom of heaven and faith behind it. God considered love as the greatest virtue of believers.



And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

(1 Corinthians 13:13)



Then, can those who have love only achieve the goal of salvation? The answer is ‘No.’ The Apostle John emphasized faith as of the most importance to get salvation.



… that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:15)



However, it’s hard to reach salvation with faith alone. Today’s Christians fall in this error. An expression of faith requires the hope of the kingdom of heaven.



so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:7)



That is, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven without having the hope of eternal life. ‘The greatest of these are love,’ ‘whoever believes in him may have eternal life,’ ‘we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life’: Among these words, what should we follow to get salvation? Since the greatest is love, is it enough to have love alone? Or, is it okay to have only faith since it’s written, ‘whoever believes in him may have eternal life’?



We must think about organic combination among faith, hope and love. If faith and hope are missing from love, it’s not different from the one who eats sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) after separating salt (NaCl) into each element (Na and Cl.) When edible salt is divided into sodium and chlorine, they become harmful materials. Therefore, we can achieve the goal of salvation by practicing love based on faith and hope.



In addition, there is one thing we should remember: Love toward God must be go first with regard to the practice of love. Loving neighbors based on such love is the whole duty of Christians.



Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)



Are there any Christians who do not love God? However, love with lips only is not love which loves God.



If you love me, you will obey what I command. (John 14:15)



Salvation begins with obeying God’s commandments. Obeying what God commanded enables us to love Him and is the top priority of believers who wish to enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Source of the Water of Life, God the Mother

In the Bible, the water of life refers to the truth of life through which we can have eternal life (Amos 8:11.) Only God has authority to give us the water of life. It was Jehovah who was the spring of living water in the age of the Father.



O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water. (Jeremiah 17:13)



However, Jesus was the source of the water of life in the age of the Son.



Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10)



Then, who is the spring of the living water in this last age of the Holy Spirit?



The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17)



In the age of the Father and in the age of the Son, there was only one God who was the source of the water of life respectively. But in the age of the Holy Spirit, two Gods -- the Spirit and the bride -- give us the water of life. The Holy Father, the Holy Son and the Holy Spirit are God in the Trinity. Who is the bride? Some claim that the bride is ‘the saints.’ But only God can give us the water of life.



He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. (Revelation 21:6-7)



It is our God who gives to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. Therefore, it’s a false claim that the bride is the saints. Then, who is the bride who gives us the water of life in the last days.



One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. (Revelation 21:9-10)



It’s written that the bride or the wife of the Lamb, who gives us the water of life, was Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven. Heavenly Mother has not appeared out of the blue, suddenly, all at once. The Bible testifies to God the Father and God the Mother from the first Chapter.



Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)



Male and female were created in the image of God, which proves that God the Father and God the Mother exist in God’s image. And in the last page of the Bible, it’s prophesied that the Spirit and the bride will give us the water of life.  Obviously, the water of life cannot be found in the churches that do not know the Spirit and the bride in this age when the Spirit and the bride give us the water of life. The World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG) believes in God the Father and God the Mother who have come as the Spirit and the bride according to the prophecies of the Bible, and preaches the truth of eternal life or the water of life.

Do we have to worship a wall of a city?

…and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. (Isaiah 62:7)



At a glance, some might think the above verse is about a prophecy that God will build the city of Jerusalem. But it’s just a fragmented understanding. If we look at the mate of this verse in the Scriptures, we can understand the meaning behind it.



But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. (Galatians 4:26)



A long ago time, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that God would establish Heavenly Mother just as Adam had named his wife ‘Eve’:



Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. (Genesis 3:20)



We need to know that Jerusalem recorded in the book of Isaiah does not merely refer to a city located in Palestine near the Mediterranean, but also contains a prophecy about Heavenly Mother. Those who consider Jerusalem as a mere building are to fall into a big error.



Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations? their kings led in triumphal procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined. (Isaiah 60:11-12)



Isaiah 60 is about the future glory of Jerusalem. The word “you” above refers to the city of Jerusalem. If you think Jerusalem is just a wall of a city, which exists in Israel, it’s concluded that you should worship a building to get salvation because it’s written, “For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish.”



Isn’t it strange? How can God, who forbade idolatry (Exodus 20:4), command us to worship a wall of a city? Such an error occurs because people consider Jerusalem as a mere city. They will result in destruction according to the warning of God regarding those who distort the Bible to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16.)



One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. (Revelation 21:9-10)



Jerusalem in the Bible stands for Heavenly Mother, who gives us the water of life in this age as the wife of the Lamb.



The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17)

Guided by Christ Ahnsahnghong and Heavenly Mother

I am a youth working as a guide in a public institution.
When I first started the job, I really wanted to quit it right away because of tough and tiring work.  However, as I assisted the people who needed my help, I could feel rewarded and even realize their warm heart that I have never felt before.
 
An old man who keeps saying, thank you for helping me, even though you must have been so busy.”
An old woman who slipped some snacks and coffee into my hand and students greeting with bright smile….

From time to time, something bad happens but only with the word of encouragement and consolation, my hurt feeling melts away. Only thing I did was to guide people to go to the right direction that they want to go, but from the elderly to students and kids greet each other with a nod.

All of a sudden, the lost brother and sisters occurred to me.  Still now, they should be wandering in the dark world, not knowing how to get to the kingdom of heaven.  We are very thankful when someone shows me the way in the building.  Then, what about Heavenly Mother who always guides us to the eternal heaven and even accompanying us so we do not get lost nor wander any more.  How much should we be thankful for Heavenly Mother?

As we are all God’s called ones who are now on the way to heaven, we’d better guide our lost brothers and sisters who are wandering to the right path to heaven.  That way, we could altogether enter the kingdom of heaven without fail.

Also, we should never be out of Heavenly Mother who is surely guiding us to the kingdom of heaven.

Family

One day, I found someone who could only live as a recipient of organ transplant on TV.  Although most people desperately await organ donors with a faint hope, they are barely keeping their tough life day by day, for it is not easy to receive organs from others.

Those who give their organs to patients standing on the brink of death were mostly their family.  Only if the family could live healthily at their side, they did not even seek a reward for this.

A wife said that she used to blame her husband when he did not make much money even in good health.  Now, since he got sick and there was nothing she could do for him, she finally decided to transplant her organ to him, hoping only he could recover soon.

From them, I could find much realization.  Our brothers and sisters in Zion are the spiritual ones who are given the flesh and the blood of God, who are now making a voyage in belief.  Then I started to think if I could willingly take some part of me to save my brothers who are in trouble and pain.

Born through the unconditional grace and love of God, we are surely essential parts of heavenly family who should accompany on the way back to our heavenly hometown.  That way, there should be no need to hate and envy each other.  From now on, we should become the children of God, who could enter the kingdom of heaven by loving our brothers and sisters with true heart and mind.

Solely for Her Children

In my childhood, I surely was a troublemaker who was considered as ten naughty children.

Every day I tripped, fell, and broke things around me that I shouldn't have.

I was full of curiosity and couldn't just stand without knowing the things that really wanted to know.


My mom always worried that I might hurt myself badly.

She even worried that I might become crooked, so she really took good care of me.

Growing up well under the shade of my “mom,” I was badly caught in the net of “puberty.”

I heard puberty doesn't last longer than one or two years, but didn't know why mine lasted for four years.


My mom tried to persuade me and did her very best.
The more that she tried to take care of me, the more that I tried to be crooked.


But my long roaming years eventually ended by my mom’s love.
After many years had passed by I asked her,


“Mom, how did you feel when I was roaming and wanted to be crooked?”

“It was my first time I wanted to die!”


I was really surprised.
A strong mom like her wanted to die because of her child?
I somewhat felt what parents’ love towards their children was like.
Mom still worries that I might be crooked again.


If I committed the same mistake and gave her a hard time, I surely would be a bad daughter.

I would never want to do anything that would give my mom a hard time.

Still now, Heavenly Mother is hurt by her thousands and more than ten thousands of children every day.


Despite of all that, She never hates us and prays for us worrying that we might be caught by Satan’s evil schemes.


Heavenly Mother truly solely lives for children.


I would never forget Heavenly Mother’s love and proclaim that love to the whole world.

I truly want to solely live for our Heavenly Mother.

A meal

 “…the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isa 53: 5)


 When I was having lunch after reading this verse recently, a thought flitted through my mind.


 “Do I, as a mere sinner deserve to have this wonderful meal?”


On the table, there were boiled rice, some various side dishes and even delicious stew. What about Father Ahnsahnghong?  He would never have had even a chance to eat one single bowl of warm rice in this world.  Thinking of Heavenly Father who would have preached in the mountain, alleviating His hunger with hardtack and streams, my eyes suddenly ached with tears.


 Then I realized that just as Father was whipped for me, such a prodigal sinner, all hunger and raggedness were suffered by Him as well.



Even though I always eat square three meals a day, I have never thought about where this peace and comfort we are enjoying right now might come from.  Without the sacrifice and love of God the Father, and God the Mother. We never exist right now.



Our Father Ahnsahngong! I am sorry but give thanks to You.  Even though You always starved, You used to give something to Your children.  Father always loves me with sincerity, even though I continue to commit a sin against Him.



Now, as Father asked us to do, I would like to become children of God, who follows Mother until the end wherever She goes.   I intensely miss Father.


I hope we could be with Father and Mother soon.