“This is a profound mystery.”

Thanksgiving remarks by Isaac Choi

Ephesians 5:31b-32a, “….And the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery….”

On October 24, 1972, God established our house church in Seoul, Korea. Dr. Samuel Lee blessed our house church with Ephesians 5:31-33. The main point was, ‘The two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery.’ There are so many mysteries in the world, mostly in nature. However, the Bible particularly talks about it in a human marriage that two become one flesh. How on earth do two become one? We know that one plus one is two. We have been learning this mathematical principle from a young age. Then, is the Bible a lie? No, certainly not. The word of God is the truth from the creation of the world. God is Almighty. The creator created the whole universe, including human beings. That’s why Apostle Paul, who had many PhDs in modern terms, proclaimed that marriage in God is a profound mystery.

I came from the north, Pyongyang, and I am a spoiled only son to my widowed mother. On the other hand, my wife Rebecca came from the south, the first child of eight children in the prestigious Moon family, which was well-known Confucius’ disciples. With these clear facts in both of us, it was impossible for two to become one in a human way. Although we were quite different in many ways, there was one common ground between us. We both believe in God and love God. Both of us had grown up from Sunday school although our faith was very much based on self-center. God had used this as a common factor in our marriage. In the beginning of our marriage Rebecca had a hard time even thinking about running away from Isaac Choi. I thank God that she didn’t run away. Our faithful God holds on to our faith in his hand, purified our sinful nature, and bond us together to be one in his image. It was a hard one to overcome to each of us. It was because we must die our selfish ego and bad habits. Rebecca was well trained in her characteristics such as sacrificial, mindful, kind, compassionate, loving, and so on in her home when she was young. But she had to learn to wait on God until her husband would grow up with full strength. To me it was almost dying myself and creating new elements of life due to my fixed only son characters; selfishness, proud mind, dependency, fatalistic elements of life, and many others. As long as we remained on God’s one side love and grace, he helped us to be united as one. He molded us through job training, sicknesses, and children matters in many possible ways throughout our 50 years of marriage life. Thank and praise God, who made us one despite our sinfulness and many short-comings! This is a profound mystery. We render honor and glory to God Almighty! When we became one heart and mind though we are two bodies, God made our family as mission-oriented and Jesus-centered.

On November 30, 1978, we came to the US as missionaries with our beloved three children. God enabled us to serve UIC pioneering work for 14 years, and then Loyola is pioneering another 14 years. God also entrusted Children with Bible Fellowship(CBF) to us, although we were not enough to take care of. By God’s grace, Rebecca and I had served both campus ministries as Bible teachers, prayer servants, and disciple-makers, as well as raising the next generation in CBF ministry.

After retirement from my job, we have been serving family discipleship ministry in order to mobilize CBF ministry through Teachers’ and Parents’ Education (T&PE) by visiting UBF chapters around the world. I desired to serve a small church as an elder when I was young. But God put me in a worldwide UBF church to serve his people with God’s words and raise next-generation leaders. Praise and thank God, who called us to serve Jesus’ world mission command. When we became one heart and mind with God’s help, we not only served world mission but also blessed our children to serve God’s mission. Isaac Jr became a professor shepherd at George Fox University to teach philosophy, theology, and even Bible. Becky is Steven’s high school teacher for math and computer. We believe she is a prayer servant for five thousand of her high school students. Daniel and his wife became Bible teachers and group leaders in his church. We could celebrate our 50th anniversary with family and our precious servants when we became one. This is a profound mystery. What a wonderful God’s grace and victory in our fifty years of marriage life despite ourselves! Although Rebecca is in her wheelchair now due to a stroke on May 23, 2022, we have seen marvelous God’s mercy and love through his Son, Jesus Christ. So we thank God again and again!

May God help each of all family to thank and praise God, saying, “This is a profound mystery.”