Return to God
Just as Moses said in the Book of Psalm, our life on this earth is but trouble and sorrow and it quickly pass, and we fly away to death in the end. (Psalm 90:9) Then why are we living the life of hardships and troubles on this earth?
The Parable of Garden of Eden
God teaches us the reason through the parable of the Garden of Eden. In the Garden of Eden lived Adam and Eve. Their life was prosperous, and everything was provided to them, even eternal life by eating from the tree of life. However, one day, eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden. Since they disobeyed the words of God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were cast out from the paradise to the cursed land which produced thorns and thistles instead of the tree of life.
This story of the Garden of Eden is a parable given to us to teach us about our origin and our life on this earth. We were once in the Garden of Eden (the Heavenly Kingdom) with God and other angels, but due to our disobedience we were sent down to this earth, the land of sufferings. We broke the heavenly law, and practiced lawlessness or committed sins. And because of the lawlessness and sins, we were separated from God. Because we were sent away from God and His blessings, we are in the agony of death on this earth.
Separation From God Due to our Sins
Isaiah 59:1 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Then how can we restore to the Garden of Eden our Home and live in joy and happiness with God again? Is there any way we can go back to the paradise again? The bible teaches we can go back to the Garden of Eden and eat from the tree of life again. To return to God, the very first thing that we need is to receive the forgiveness for our sins we committed in heaven. Since we were sent out due to our sins, it is natural that we should receive the forgiveness of our sins to go back to God and heaven.
The Forgiveness of Sins Through the Passover
Then how can we receive the forgiveness of sins to return to God? 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ taught us the way to receive the forgiveness of sins and return to God. On the night of the Passover, Jesus took bread and wine, which represents his flesh and blood, and gave to the disciples, teaching them that they could receive the forgiveness of sins through the Passover.
Matthew 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Returning To God through the Passover
By giving us the new covenant, Jesus opened the way to the Garden of Eden again that we may return to God. When we keep the new covenant Passover, we can return to God and be with God, receiving all the blessings we received from God in heaven again.
John 6:53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.
Hezekiah’s Passover
Once we got separated from God because of our sins, but now we can be with God by keeping the Passover. Therefore, we can be sure that we can go back to God by keeping the Passover. We can confirm this this the bible. In the time of King Hezekiah, the king realized the importance of the Passover and sent his message all over the land, inviting them to keep the Passover. And this was his message to the people.
2 Chronicles 30:6 At the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read: “People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be like your parents and your fellow Israelites, who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. 8 Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the Lord. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.”
Again and again he earnestly entreated the people of Israel to return to God by keeping the Passover. This message clearly teaches us that the Passover is the way to return to God and receive His blessing.
The Results of Obedience and Disobedience
Then what will happen if we do not keep the Passover and return to God? In the story above, despite the message from the king, many people did not listen to him. In those days, the nation of Israel was divided in two kingdoms: southern Judah and northern Israel. The people of Judah obeyed to the message of the king and kept the Passover, but the people of Israel not. Later the two nations had to face completely different consequences due to their action.
The kingdom of Israel got destroyed by the Assyrian army, but the kingdom of Judah was saved out from the war against Assyria. And God teaches the reason for those results.
2 Kings 18:12 This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.
God teaches that the nation of Israel was conquered by the army because they did not obey the command of God and keep the Passover. On the contrary, the land of Judah was protected from the disasters because they obeyed the command of God.
Conclusion
This lesson was given to us as examples. We are living on this earth, going through many sufferings and in the end to death. It is all because of our sins we committed against God in heaven by disobeying his commands. Now God came down to this earth and opened the way to the heaven again by giving the forgiveness of our sins through His own flesh and blood.
We should not be like the people of Israel who ridiculed and scorned the message of God to their own destruction. Rather, we should obey the words of God and keep the Passover like the people of Judah.
Christ Ahnsahnghong and God the Mother came down to this earth and opened the way to return to God by restoring the new covenant Passover which Jesus established 2000 years ago. And they are inviting us to return to them and to receive the water of life by keeping the Passover. Now we should not practice lawlessness again and disobey the words of God. We must return to the Spirit and the bride with a mind of humility and keep the Passover. And then they will forgive our sins and take us back to the eternal Garden of Eden.