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The air in the temple courts was cold—sharp enough to cut. Eyes filled with killing intent. Hands gripping stones. And a woman trembling in terror. The scene in John 8 lays bare one of humanity’s oldest dilemmas—the tension between “sin and punishment.” The Law speaks plainly: “Stone her.” That was the justice of that age, the public definition of righteousness.

But in the suffocating center of condemnation, Jesus quietly bent down and began to write something on the ground. What, then, did the Lord write upon that rough dust?

Pastor David Jang (Olivet University) captures this moment and offers a piercing theological insight. What Jesus wrote was not a meaningless scribble, but—so he interprets—a “New Righteousness” and a “new law” that both fulfills and surpasses the old. When Jesus declared, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone,” He was not abolishing the Law. Rather, He was opening a doorway into a realm the Law’s cold scales could never reach: the sacred territory of forgiveness. Humanity was being invited into that new world.

From the Desperation for Bread to the Abundance of Forgiveness

The Lord’s Prayer, which we recite every day, is not a mere formula. In his preaching, Pastor David Jang emphasizes how finely ordered its spiritual architecture is. The prayer begins with a vast vocation—seeking God’s name and God’s kingdom—and then moves into an unmistakably concrete petition: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Yet what is striking is what comes next: “forgive us our debts,” that is, forgiveness.

This sequence pierces both the frailty and the dignity of human existence. For the hungry, ethics can feel like a luxury. God is the good Father who provides the bread we need. But being filled is not the end. A life nourished—body and soul—by heavenly provision must inevitably move toward the next stage: letting that life flow outward. And that outward flow is forgiveness.

Like a dam that must open its gates when the water rises, the limitless supply and love received from God must pour out as mercy toward others. George Müller, famed for praying tens of thousands of times, was said to emphasize “motives aligned with God’s will” when asked about the secret of answered prayer. In that light, why do we ask for daily bread? Perhaps not merely to survive, but to receive strength—to forgive someone, and to love.

“The Father’s Heart” Blooming from Rembrandt’s Brush

At this point, it is hard not to recall the late masterpiece of the Baroque master Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son. The prodigal returns with torn shoes and wounded feet, and the father embraces him without a single word of scolding.

Art historians often note a remarkable detail: the father’s two hands resting on the son’s shoulders are depicted differently. One hand appears thick and strong—the hand of a father. The other is gentle and delicate—like the hand of a mother. Justice and love, authority and mercy, united within one being: an image that evokes the very character of God.

Yet in the shadows of the painting stands the older brother, his expression icy. He protests, “I have served you for years—why slaughter the calf for that sinner?” This echoes the complaint in Matthew 20, the parable of the vineyard workers: those who worked from morning grumble, “Why give the same wage to those who came late?” It is the logic of legal fairness, the arithmetic of merit.

But Pastor David Jang points out that this is Cain’s jealousy—and the limit of the era of the Law. The Law seeks a horizontal justice: “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” The world of the Gospel—the era of grace—speaks of an overwhelming love poured down vertically from above. Realizing how absurd it is for someone forgiven ten thousand talents to seize a fellow servant by the collar over a hundred denarii—that awakening is where Jesus’ “new law” begins.

Putting Down the Calculator and Walking the Way of the Cross

Modern society still seems to live in the era of the Law. Social media and news are filled daily with the sounds of condemnation and stone-throwing. We divide people into victims and perpetrators, and we believe justice means achieving balance through precise retaliation. Of course, law is necessary for social order. But Christians are people who live beyond the law.

Pastor David Jang’s message is clear: “If we are in Jesus, we have already entered the era of grace—the new heaven and the new earth.” In the past, if someone struck your right cheek, it felt only natural to return anger with anger. But now we have been given a spiritual spaciousness—an inward abundance—that can turn the other cheek.

This is not humiliation. It is a powerful, proactive act of love—one that can shame the aggressor into recognizing sin and, ultimately, guide them toward life.

We live in an age that sends spacecraft to Mars and has AI writing poetry, yet the hatred and envy inside the human heart cannot be solved by technology. Only the love shown at the cross—the love that denies self and gives life to others—can melt what has hardened within.

Just as the Absolute God lowered Himself to our eye level and embraced us, so we also must lower ourselves toward others.

Epilogue: When Daily Prayer Becomes Revolution

When we finish the Lord’s Prayer, we are sent back into the world. “As we also have forgiven our debtors…” This confession must not end as mere vibration of the lips. It must become a decision: to withdraw hatred toward the one who wounded me today, and to begin praying blessing over the one who wronged me.

The essence of the Gospel Pastor David Jang proclaims ultimately rests in a spirituality that practices what it prays. With the strength of the daily bread God provides, we loosen our grip on the stones of condemnation. And with those now-empty hands, we embrace our brother.

Only then does the kingdom of God become not a distant promise for the far future, but a reality arriving in the very middle of today’s life. May we respond to that holy invitation—the love that fulfills the Law—and live within its new world.

In Victor Hugo’s epic Les Misérables, Jean Valjean is caught stealing silverware and is dragged by the police before Bishop Myriel. Having lived his entire life branded by the convict number “24601,” trembling under the fear of condemnation and judgment, Valjean is struck by the bishop’s words like a thunderclap:

“I gave you the silver candlesticks as well—why didn’t you take them too?”

In that moment, the chains of law that had tightened around Valjean snapped. Instead of condemning him as a criminal, the bishop treated him as one who had been forgiven, granting him the gift of a new life. This was not mere kindness. The bishop’s declaration—“I have bought your soul for God”—touches perfectly the opening movement of the gospel as Romans 8 proclaims it.

The Apostle Paul’s first sentence in Romans 8—“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”—is God’s strongest defense of our souls, and a decisive verdict.

Unshackling Yesterday, Soaring on the Wings of the Spirit

At the end of Romans 7, Paul cries out, “Wretched man that I am!” confessing the misery of humanity groaning under the law of sin. Many believers, even after receiving salvation, remain stuck in this lament as they see themselves still falling into temptation.

But the gospel does not imprison us in the dungeon of guilt. Pastor David Jang (founder of Olivet University) emphasizes the theological weight of the very first word of Romans 8: “Therefore.” It is not a mere conjunction. It is a watershed declaration that our identity has fully shifted—from sinners under the law to the righteous under grace.

“The law of the Spirit of life” has set us free from “the law of sin and death.” It is like a being who once struggled on the ground under gravity, now rising into the sky by a new law—lift. Even if the pull of sin still tries to drag us down, the power of the Holy Spirit lifts us higher, so that we do not ultimately fall.

Through his preaching, Pastor David Jang offers a profound spiritual principle to believers fighting sin: do not try to suppress sin by sheer willpower; rather, overcome the desires of the flesh by walking according to the Spirit’s desires. God sent His Son and condemned sin in the flesh, breaking the bondage of sin. This is the substance of our liberation—and the driving force of sanctification.

Beyond Strange Fear: A Blood-Bought Bond That Cries “Abba”

If freedom from sin is the settling of the past, “adoption” is the elevation of status toward the future. Paul explains this astonishing truth through the Roman adoption laws of his day. In the Roman world, adoption meant that all debts and legal obligations under the former family were canceled, and the adopted child received full inheritance rights—authority and property—under the new father.

Just as Bishop Myriel called Valjean “brother,” treating him as one who belonged to God, so God has purchased us at the price of Christ’s blood and entered our names into His household registry. We are no longer defendants before a judge; we are children in the arms of a Father.

The Spirit we have received is not the spirit of slavery that makes us fear again, but the Spirit of adoption. Pastor David Jang urges deep meditation on this truth: “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Even when the world mocks and Satan accuses, the Holy Spirit within us continually confirms, “You are my son, you are my daughter.” Strengthened by that testimony, we dare to call the Creator God “Abba, Father.”

This is not merely a change of address or a new religious term. It is an identity revolution: those who were cosmic orphans are seated as heirs who will inherit all things.

Heirs Marked by the Cross, Marching Toward Glory

Yet the path of God’s children is not always smooth. Paul declares, “If children, then heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” Just as Valjean, after becoming a new man, walked a road of sacrifice for Marius and Cosette, the Christian life is also a journey of following the way of the cross.

The world measures blessing by success and prosperity. Scripture, however, says that suffering for Christ is a sign of glory—proof that we are true heirs.

To believers in hardship, Pastor David Jang delivers a message of hope: the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Our suffering is not meaningless. It is part of the labor pains of a creation stained by sin, groaning as it awaits restoration—and it is the refining season in which Christ’s likeness is fully formed within us.

We live as sojourners on this earth, yet we do not ultimately fail, because the One within us is greater than the one in the world. God works all things together for good, and no tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, or any other hardship can separate us from the love of Christ.

Romans 8 is the essence of the gospel and a hymn of victory. Just as Bishop Myriel’s silver candlesticks lit the darkness of Valjean’s soul and guided him toward a saintly path, the Word of Romans shines upon us today with the light of true freedom and glory.

As Pastor David Jang insightfully reminds us: we are no longer condemned, but free; no longer slaves in fear, but honored children who call God “Father.” Hold this overwhelming grace in your heart. Fight sin without despair. Pass through suffering while fixing your eyes on glory. In the law of the Spirit, you are already victorious.