June 2009 (A Lesson from Mr. Roh's Suicide)
Dear Wowsarang Friends in the LORD Jesus
Christ,
It’s been a while since I wrote last
time. Now summer is just around the
corner. Anyhow this morning, finally I
turned off “furnace switch” in my basement. It means my house is ready for a
long hot summer. Yes, four seasons are a part of God-given courses of a
nature. Yet unlike a birth, a death of any
human being is an unnatural phenomenon. The angry and just God sentenced it upon the sinners Adam and his wife. Since then it stayed with all human race as a
curse of the Original Sin. But with the children of God it has lost its effect and power because of Jesus Christ on the
Cross!
In my motherland, South Korea, there has
been a national turmoil regarding a former president of the land. He has been under interrogation by Korean prosecutors
over the past month. He and his family members were suspicious of having taken
bribes while he was in office. So far, such interrogations seemed not favorable
to him, his family members and close cronies. Under such almost unbearable circumstances
he took his own life on early Saturday morning May 23, 2009 at nearby his own
residence in his hometown. There is time for power and time for depression to
lose it.
The deceased late Korean president was baptized
at a local Roman Catholic Church some 30 years ago. Later in his life, he denounced it and became
an apostate. Yet his wife has been a very devout Buddhist. From the Bible I understand
that Grace of God can cover even a Christian’s sin of a suicide, if Grace is to
be a true Grace of God. The shed blood of Jesus Christ is more than sufficient
and efficient to cancel out such a heinous sin in God’s heavenly tribunal. Yet the same Bible sternly and undoubtedly
warns us of the unavoidable fate of any apostate. For an apostate there is no such thing as a
second chance at his death bed unless he truly and humbly repents of the sin of
apostasy prior to his death (Hebrews 6:4-6)!
Because in his apostasy he crucified Jesus Christ for the second time!
For the Christians a death is the only
gateway to the Heaven! It’s a divine way
of transporting His own children to His presence. For the rest of the human
race, it’s a dreadful thing to face a death without the cover of Jesus Christ.
We need to remind ourselves of being ever
ready meeting the LORD at any time. That’s not enough! We need to get excited over meeting Him at
our death bed. That’s our only comfort
in Jesus Christ our LORD in both our life and death. Also we need to teach our
children of an importance of a Christian’s death tsince it is not a dreadful thing but
a joyful occasion. Thus the subject of a
Christian's death is to be dealt with judiciously and wisely at our home with a
grateful heart to the LORD. Jesus by His
own death opened up the gate to the Heaven for us. Hallelujah, what a Saviour! Oh, death where is thy sting! Oh, grave where is thy victory!
Your brother and pastor,
Sunny Boaz