Here
is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with
him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he
will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he
cannot disown himself.
Paul
is writing his last letter before execution addressed to his spiritual
son, Timothy. New Testament scholars are convinced that Paul is quoting
here an ancient Christian worship chorus or “hymn.” It is assessed to be
one of the songs Christians sang as they were walking into the arena to
face certain death. Paul himself may have sung this hymn when he was
executed in Rome.
There is plenty of historical evidence that
people of the pagan world were amazed at the courage and joy – often
expressed in music – Christians exhibited when facing their death. Early
church father, Tertullian was reportedly converted soon after first
observing this exhibition of abnormal joyfulness. He later made the
oft-quoted statement that “the blood of the martyrs is seed!”
The
first couplet is powerful because it is in the Greek aorist tense which
indicates a specific moment in the past. When Christ calls us, we die to
sin and to ourselves. Therefore, the song begins, “We have already died
with Him and we will therefore live with Him!” It goes on to proclaim
that when we endure, we’ll reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will deny
or disown us; but when we are faithless, He always remains faithful
because it is a characteristic of His unchanging nature.
Korean
Elder Kwan-Joon Park was called an “Elijah of Korea” or sometimes a
“Daniel of modern times.” He died as a martyr for his faith in Christ
and his opposition to the Japanese colonial rule during the Second World
War when Korea was occupied by the Japanese Imperialists. The latter
enforced Shinto worship on the Korean people.
On March 24, 1939,
Elder Park went to Japan to protest against inhuman colonial policies of
Japan. He walked into the 74th Imperial Diet of Japan. When the opening
pronouncement of the lower house was made, he stood up from his seat in
the visitor’s balcony and shouted, “This is a great mission of God,
Jehovah’s great message!” Then he threw leaflets to the floor below
exposing cruel abuse of Korean Christians by Japan and warning them of
God’s imminent judgment and destruction of Japan as a result of her
wrong doing and tyranny. They also explained the resistance against
Japanese imposition of Shinto shrine worship upon Korean Christians.
Elder
Park was arrested and sentenced to six years in Japanese prison. While
serving his sentence he was martyred at the age of seventy. We don’t
know if he sang. But one line from his last poem written during his
imprisonment expresses well his firm resolution to die willingly for
Jesus Christ: “Since Jesus died for me, I will die for Jesus!”
RESPONSE:
Today I will resolve to live courageously even if it means facing death
for Jesus who died for me. I will express my joy in living and dying
for Him in every way – including singing!
PRAYER: Lord, help me to be joyful even in the face of death knowing that You are always faithful.
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