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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
The Message of the Cross(1) - God the Creator |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Gn 1:1 |
Date |
2005-03-13 |
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[Scripture]
[Genesis 1: 1]
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
[Invitation]
Viewing audiences all over the world, I am very glad to meet you in the name of Jesus Christ.
I am Rev. Jaerock Lee, the senior pastor of Manmin Central Church, located in Seoul Korea.
The title of the messages that I would like to share with you from today is the "Message of the Cross."
The "Message of the Cross" clearly explains the "providence of God for human salvation."
It is deep secret that was hidden since before the time began and lets us realize the great love and justice of God. "Who is God?"
"What is the reason God created heaven and earth, everything in it, mankind, and let him live on this earth?"
"Why did God place the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?" "Who is Jesus Christ and why is He the only Savior for the mankind?"
"Why do we receive salvation when we believe in Jesus Christ?" The message of the cross contains all the answers to these questions.
Since I first preached this message in 1985, it has led numerous souls not only in Korea but also all over the world to the way of salvation.
This message has been spread on audio and video tapes, by broadcasting and in books.
Countless people experienced wondrous works of God through this message.
They repented their sins from the depth of their heart and they came to have true faith and sound hope for the kingdom of heaven. They came to discard their sins and live in God's Word.
When I prayed in the name of Jesus Christ after they repented of their sins through the message, they experienced wonderful works of God's power. Diseases were cured and infirmities were made well. Demons and the power of darkness were driven out.
Whoever listened to the way of salvation and realized the way of salvation experienced wondrous works of God's power performed in the name of Jesus Christ.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will experience these wonderful works through this message of the cross preached as of today.
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters, when you attend church and lead a life in Christ, you will hear about the way of salvation in Christianity.
Let us briefly review it. About 2,000 years ago, Jesus, the Son of God, came to this earth to redeem the mankind from their sins.
Jesus was crucified to redeem the sins of the mankind and was buried. He resurrected on the third day. Those who believe in this fact will be forgiven of sins and receive salvation to go to heaven. Many of you know this much.
But we cannot say we truly know the providence of God contained in the message of the cross with only this much knowledge.
For example, why do you think God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
The reason why mankind became sinners is because Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Had the tree not existed, Adam wouldn't have sinned, so he could have lived in the Garden of Eden forever in comfort.
So, should God not have made the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in first place? Why did God put the tree where Adam could eat from it?
Didn't God know that Adam would eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? God is omnipotent and omniscient and He surely knew it.
Still, God put the tree of knowledge there. So, what is the reason?
Can you answer to this question clearly?
Have you ever heard a clear answer to this question anywhere before?
Of course, it is not that we will not be saved if we do not know why God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
If we repented of our sins and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we can be saved.
But if you understand the deeper contents contained in the way of salvation, you can have more sound faith.
You will understand the heart and will of God clearly and lead a victorious Christian life. You will be able to drive away temptations of the devil and enjoy the rights of the children of God, who is the light.
Let me give you an example. If you eat an orange, just eating it will definitely benefit you.
But, it would be better if you eat it knowing what kinds of nutrients it has and how those nutrients benefit us.
For example, let us suppose you came to know an orange has a lot of vitamin C and that this is good for the skin, it reduces tiredness, and promotes resistance against diseases.
Then, you will eat it not only because it is delicious but you will also eat it when you need it.
It is the same in the life in faith.
You should not just say, "I believe," but clearly understand the providence of salvation in the cross and live according to God's will. Then, you will be able to advance towards heaven with firm faith and receive blessings on this earth as God's children.
I urge you to imprint on your heart the message of the cross that I will preach beginning today.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will realize God's providence of salvation in the cross and receive grace and strength.
[Body]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, members who are attending the service through the satellite all over the country, members of branch churches, local sanctuaries, Light and Salt mission, Restaurant Mission, members who are attending the service on the Internet all over the world, viewing audiences, and [children of Sunday school] the first part that you will learn in the message of the cross is things about God.
Many people in this world insist that there is no god. There are also other people who worship gods created by man's imagination or make images of God's creatures and worship them as gods.
But even though we cannot see Him, God is surely living, and there is only the one and the only God whom we have to worship.
God is the creator of the universe, of all things, and mankind. He is the ruler and judge of all things. What kind of being is God?
In fact, it is not easy for man to explain about God. Man is a mere creature. God transcends all limits of man. God is limitless.
No matter how much we contemplate with our knowledge, we cannot fully understand and know about God.
But even though we cannot fully know about God, there are basic things that we have to know as God's children. I will talk about four different aspects of who God is.
First, God is the Creator of heaven and earth. Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Chapter 1 of Genesis tells us that for six days, God created the heavens and earth from nothing with His Word. On the last day of 6-day creation, He made the first man, Adam, the ancestor of all mankind.
Likewise, because man is created by God, he instinctively feels the existence of God deep in his heart.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
As said, God gave man eternity in their hearts.
Because they have this, those with good conscience vaguely acknowledge the existence of God and look for Him even if they do not hear or know about God.
Even among those who say, "I don't believe in God," there are those who fear the life to come thinking, "What if there is a heaven and hell?"
So, they try to live in goodness not to go to hell.
But Romans 1:20 says, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
As said, even though we do not see God directly, we can realize that there is God the Creator and there is only one Creator, because the evidence of the God the Creator is embedded in all things in the universe that were created by God.
Let me give you one such example. There are many people in this world.
There are many races and ethnic groups who have different languages, cultures, and colors of the skin.
But all of them have some things in common. All peoples and ethnic groups have two eyes. They all have two ears, one nose, and one mouth.
The locations are all the same. At the center of the face is the nose and the eyes are at the upper part;
The mouth is below the nose, and the ears are on each side of the face.
But it's not that only human beings have the same structure and locations. It is the same with animals: the birds of the air, insects, and fish in the sea. There is subtle difference according to the traits of each species, but basically they all have the same structure.
Furthermore, they have the similar structures of digestive system and reproduction system. The reason for this similarity is because things were created by the design of only one God the Creator.
The people of the world insist on the theory of Darwinism, and deny the creation by God.
But if the mankind has been evolved like they say, we would not have had the same structure.
We could have evolved into many kinds of forms and structures.
Also, if there were more than one creator, men and animals would not have had the same structures in the same ways.
It is because, if there were many creators, they would have made their creatures with the structures and functions according to their preferences.
But seeing that almost all things have one structure and function, we can surely understand that they were precisely designed and created by only one God the Creator.
Dear brothers and sisters, Darwinists say that living organisms have evolved from low level organisms into higher level organisms.
But Genesis 1:21 says, "So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."
Also, Genesis 1:25 says, "God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good."
There have been slight changes in the forms with the passing of time, but God created everything according to its own kind.
Fish have not evolved to become mammals, and mammals then to birds. It is not that apes evolved into human beings. Apes were created as apes and human beings as human beings. Also, only men were created as a being that has spirit, soul, and body in the image of God.
No matter how much an ape resembles a human being, it cannot realize the existence of God and worship Him like a man for it does not have spirit.
Also, when we look at nature, we can see more evidence of God the Creator. The earth rotates once a day and revolves around the sun once a year, and the moon revolves around the earth once a month.
Through these revolutions and rotations, we have orderly phenomena on earth.
We have day and night and the four seasons. There are ebb and flow of tides and circulations of the air.
And, these movements and locations of the heavenly bodies are set precisely to be appropriate and suitable for men and living organisms to have life. The distance between the sun and the earth and between the earth and moon in its orbit is always at the most appropriate distance.
It cannot either be closer or farther than now.
The earth has been rotating and revolving in such an orderly way without the slightest error, at the most appropriate distance, for an immeasurable amount of time.
Do you think all these orders could have happened by the Big Bang as some scientists insist?
Why not use some common sense? If you open a watch, there are many sophisticated parts assembled very accurately to make the watch move.
Let us now suppose somebody is showing it to you and telling you the following: "Nobody has made this watch. The parts came out by a volcano eruption and they were assembled by themselves and they began to move." Would you be able to believe this? Unless you are a fool, you will never believe it.
But saying this world and everything in it were made by evolution makes less sense than saying this.
How could the movement of a universe, which is incomparably more precise and accurate than that of a watch, be the result of chance?
How could such an elaborate universe move in strict order by itself?
This is possible only because the universe and everything in it was designed and created, and is ruled by the wisdom of God.
God the Creator made all these things with His power and is moving them. Because we have this kind of evidence, nobody can give an excuse on the final Judgment Day.
Nobody can say, "I thought there was no God!"
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, why is it that people do not believe, seeing such clear evidence of the creation?
It is because they tend to believe only what is seen in their eyes, touched by their hands, and understood with their knowledge and thoughts.
They do not tend to acknowledge the fact that there is a living invisible God. They do not acknowledge the signs and wonders recorded in the Bible.
But all the words in the Bible are truth itself. It is true that God created the heavens and the earth, and the signs, wonders, and powerful works actually took place.
These things can be done only by God the Creator. John 4:48 says, "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,' Jesus told him, 'you will never believe."
The thoughts and frameworks of men break down when they see signs and wonders that are beyond human limits.
When they experience something by the work of God that they thought was absolutely impossible, only then can they accept that only the Word of God is truth, although it does not coincide with their thoughts.
So, in the Bible, God showed us that He is the living God through the numerous works and miracles of His power.
To the Pharaoh and his officials in Egypt, Moses demonstrated the living God through the Ten Plagues.
Elijah brought down fire from heaven and let the heaven give rain after 3 and half years of drought.
Jesus proved that He is the Son of God through signs and wonders.
The apostle Paul healed diseases and infirmities, drove out demons, and revived the dead in the name of Jesus Christ. When people saw these things that could be done only by God the Creator, even unbelievers acknowledged God the Creator. They accepted the gospel and the Savior Jesus Christ.
Even in the times in which we are living today, these works of God are a must.
The power of God manifesting signs and wonders is the most solid evidence to let unbelievers believe in the living God, the Creator.
Countless signs and wonders have been taking place in this church since its opening, and as the time goes by, more powerful works are taking place.
For example, incurable diseases such as cancers and AIDS, and infirmities and physical disabilities are all being healed by the power of God.
These healing works are medically verified by the medical doctors in many countries including Philippines, Honduras, India, Russia, Germany, and Peru. Through these evidences, numerous people around the world have come to accept God and believe in Him in their heart.
Even those with much knowledge and those who had been worshipping idols came to acknowledge God the Creator and believe in Him seeing the works of the living God.
There are just so many such cases, but let me introduce to you just a couple of them.
Sr. Deaconess Eun Deuk Kim of Manmin Joong-ang Church was burned over almost her whole body by boiling water that was spilled.
She was severely burned on most her body except some parts including face and hands.
As you can see on the screen, the burn was so severe that she would have died, even if she had gone to the hospital. But when I prayed in the name of Jesus Christ, the heat left her body and the pain was gone.
Then, the cells of the nerves, veins, and skin that had been cooked by boiling water began to reproduce.
Since the cells that had been burned were already dead, they could not be regenerated by human method.
But God the Creator, who created men, completely reproduced the burned parts all anew.
She never took any medicine or went to the hospital, but her flesh was healed completely like the flesh of a baby.
In most cases, people are left with ugly scars even after treatment in hospitals.
But after receiving my prayers, she had no scarring at all, even though her burns were so severe.
She is now leading a happy and healthy life, serving the kingdom of God.
There are many other members of Manmin who had severe burns and were also healed by receiving prayer with faith. In those cases, all of them were healed very quickly without being left with any scar, although they did not apply any medicine.
Also, in July 2002, when we had a united crusade attended by hundreds of thousands of people in Honduras, numerous amazing works of God took place. Let me just tell you one of those cases.
Maria Dominguez, who was then 12 years old, had lost the sight of her right eye when she was two, and received a cornea transplant.
But the surgery didn't go well, and she could not see any light for 10 years. But when she attended the Honduras crusade and received the prayer, she came to see.
By the power of God the Creator who made the eye of man, her dead nerves were revived. In addition to these cases, there are just so many works of God the Creator taking place in our church. You can see these works for yourself on our church website or homepages of Manmin TV and other affiliated organizations.
As we can see through these evidences, God is truly living and is the Creator who created heavens and earth and everything in it.
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Psalm 53:1 says, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good."
The foolish and evil try to deny God only because they cannot see Him.
But as testified in the message today, God is truly living. The evidence of God the Creator is clearly seen in nature and the works of His power.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
I hope you will certainly believe in God, fear Him, and keep His commandments.
When you do your duty of man in that way, God the Creator will lead you to the kingdom of heaven and give answers to your prayers and desires of your heart.
He can even solve the problems that cannot be solved by man with His power.
When you receive the answers and blessings in this way, you can preach the gospel more strongly to unbelievers saying, "I have met and experienced God in this way!"
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will experience God's works in your everyday life and give glory to Him. |
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