"Creation" Tagged Sermons

TRUTH IS MORE THAN PROPER DOCTRINE

We all know that JESUS IS THE TRUTH and the Way and the life that we need. This is no mere metaphor, it is the very meaning of truth. The truth is alive and incarnational. TRUTH IS PERSONAL, RELATIONAL, AND COMMUNAL.
Parker “To know as we are known”
Knowing truth demands ACTION ON OUR PART.
Encountering truth involves our surrendering to honest self-examination, rooting out the old beliefs, receiving light to see things the way God sees them, and doing the work of engaging with the Holy Spirit so that He can anchor truth in our soul. That is the meaning of truth in the way that Jesus uses the term.
ATONEMENT
1 John 1:5-2:2
1:7 “the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin”
1:9 “he will forgive us and cleanse us from all sin”
2:2 “Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice (propitiation) for our sins”
• The blood is a metaphor of Jesus death on the cross. The death of Jesus cleanses us from sin
• The death of Jesus provides the means of forgiveness
• The death of Jesus by which we are forgiven is the atonic sacrifice for our sins.
“Atonement” = At-one-ment, to make right to reconcile Oxford English Dictionary
John wrote his sermon in Greek.
Greek: Hilasmos
Hebrew: kipper
Meaning: to “cover” someone’s failure; to erase the debt; to purify the relationship
This truth is more than doctrine, this truth is personal, relational and communal. It affects every aspect of our life.
Colossians 1:9-10
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking
• That you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
• So as to walk in the manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him,
• Bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Let My People GO

Last year we have studied the book of Revelation all the way up to the 16th chapter. So I will not repeat what I have shared with you then. However, to fully understand the 16th chapter before us, we need to read it in context of the previous chapter.
The question must be asked: WHY DOES GOD HIMSELF LET ALL THIS TROUBLE COME UPON THIS WORLD? What’s the purpose of all this? The Answer: Let My People Go. In other words, God’s judgment will always fall on those who tried to destroy everything God has created, especially His crown creation: THE HUMAN BEING made in God’s image.
He will come unexpectedly! The vast majority of people will still be eating and drinking, focusing on their everyday lives, unaware of the dangerous times they’re living in. Just as the people in Noah’s day, they will be ignoring the warning messages and rejecting God’s righteous ways Noah, the prophet of God, was very likely mocked and ridiculed for preaching “righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). The Bible reveals that in the end time, prior to Christ’s return, people will also ignore warnings to repent. As Peter notes, “Scoffers will come in the last days, … saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
Noah preached for 120 years while he built the arch. Eventually only 8 people made it into the arch. THOSE WHO WERE IN THE ARCH WERE SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF GOD. This was not Noah’s idea. It was God’s master plan to destroy wickedness on this earth and to start over again. “I will destroy them with the earth”.
Egypt was the Empire that ruled the known world at this time. Egypt called the shots in this world. Without understanding what God did with Egypt, you will not understand the bowl judgments, the last 7 judgments that will come upon this whole earth, known as the wrath or judgments of God.
Like Egypt enslaved God’s covenant people, so has every world empire enslaved God’s people. The last Empire on God’s calendar was and is the Roman Empire. While today, this empire is fractured, it will COME BACK TO FULL POWER under ONE MIGHTY RULER, THE ANTICHRIST. By the time the bowl judgments will come upon this earth this REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE WILL BE IN FULL CONTROL OF ALL HUMANITY.
And Pharaoh said, “WHO IS THE LORD, THAT I SHOULD OBEY HIS VOICE TO LET ISRAEL GO? I DO NOT KNOW THE LORD, NOR WILL I LET ISRAEL GO.” Wrong thing to say to God Almighty who made the heavens and the earth and who is the owner of His own creation. But the rulers of this world have not learned anything yet. The final ruler of this world, before Jesus Christ will set up His kingdom here, will act exactly the same way. Look at the plagues God brought upon this nation Egypt. Four of the seven judgments of Revelation are copies of the plagues Egypt had to endure. They were literal plagues in Egypt and they will be literal judgments when God will pour his wrath upon this world.
LET MY PEOPLE GO. The final judgment upon this earth is carried out by God to set His people free, to set his entire creation free.
The first time he did use WATER.
The next time he will use FIRE.

It’s Who You Are

If you would have to give a definition of who Jesus is, what would it be?
Peter simply stated: You are the Christ, the anointed one, the promised Messiah, the Son of the living God.
The apostle Paul in the letter to the Colossian church is getting all excited when he giving them a definition of who this Jesus Christ is.
Notice how valuable that treasure is. First, the man finds the treasure and immediately recognizes HOW VALUABLE that treasure is. He does not tell anyone about his find, because he is concerned that someone else would take it from him. His heart is filled with great joy as he goes and liquidates everything he owns so he can go and buy the field in which the treasure is hidden. IN OTHER WORDS, TO GET THE TREASURE, HE IS WILLING TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING ELSE.
In the second parable, the man is portrayed as a merchant, a person of great wealth. He is seeking pearls so he could resell them with a profit. However, in his search He came across ONE VERY SPECIAL PEARL OF GREAT VALUE, he also was willing to go and sell everything he owned so he could get that particular PEARL. The treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price are both POINTING TO THE GREATEST TREASURE OF ALL TIME, JESUS CHRIST. In order to get that treasure we must be willing to give up everything.
Today’s evangelistic sermons are full of sugar that brings the hearer to a temporary “sugar-high” only to crash a few hours and days later.
The truth is that the person who finds the treasure, who finds the pearl, never has enough to procure this treasure unless he or she is willing to let go of everything.

Overwhelmed by God’s Glory

Daniel is also an incredible example of true worship. In other words, prophecy and worship must go together. The book of Revelation is also a book of worship. Jesus being revealed to the world as the only one worthy to receive worship and praise.
We might study Daniel and his visions and revelations for the purpose of knowing future events, but such would miss the whole point. The ultimate theme of the book of Daniel is GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND GOD’S GLORY. God had touched Daniel, he was a man of purpose, prayer, power and worship. This man put his trust and confidence in God alone.
Daniel saw God, not a prophetic chart. Daniel was not pursuing the knowledge of future events. He was pursuing God and he saw God’s glory.

Things a Child Can Understand

What is it that these disciples did not understand, yet the child Jesus brought into their midst did understand? How could this be that the Disciples who where chosen by the Lord Himself to become the Apostles, the movers and shakers of the 1st century, could not understand what this little child understood? Scientific studies and tests show that a child’s creativity – which includes imagination and wonder – diminished by 90 % between ages 5 and 7. When adults get to be 40, they have about 2 % of the creativity they had when they were 5 years old.
The more we know about God, the more overwhelmed we are with wonder.
Moses was changed because he was amazed by something God did in his life.