[Easter Specia] Jesus Christ, the Love of God
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April 20, 2014 |
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Senior Pastor of Manmin Central Church Dr. Jaerock Lee
He is God's servant of love and power who has awakened all people of all nations by spreading the core of the gospel following the Lord's way and manifesting the fiery works of the Holy Spirit.
Manmin Central Church opened with only 9 adults and 4 children in 1982. Through the works of the Holy Spirit the church has grown to become a mega-sized church with approximately 10,000 branch and associative churches. Just as Jesus preached and confirmed the word by the signs that followed His teaching, Dr. Jaerock Lee confirms that the Bible is the truth by showing the power of God.
He has conducted many overseas crusades such as in Uganda, Japan, Pakistan, Kenya, the Philippines, Honduras, India, Russia, Germany, Peru, DR Congo, the U.S., and Estonia since 2000 and showed explosive powerful works. Among them, Uganda Crusade was reported by CNN.
He also preached in the Israel United Crusade 2009 in Jerusalem. He proclaimed Jesus is the Messiah and it was broadcast live in approximately 220 countries. He is dedicated to the Word and prayer to accomplish the providence of God who desires all people of all nations to be saved at the end time by proclaiming the gospel to the end of the earth and achieving the mission of the ministry to North Korea.(www.drlee.or.kr)
"By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).
1. Jesus took on human form and came to the earth to save all people
Jesus didn't come to the earth in dignity and honor though He is the Son of God. He was born in a stable to save people who are no more than beasts. He was laid in a manger to become the bread of life for all people. Ecclesiastes 3:18 reads, "I said to myself concerning the sons of men, 'God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.'" As said, men corrupted to become but beasts even though they had been created in God's image.
Jesus befriended the poor, sick, and the neglected and saved sinners. He had no place to lie so He lied down in the field. Sometimes He felt a chill and stayed in the rain. It was just as Matthew 8:20 says, "Jesus said to him, 'The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.'" Jesus lived in a lowly place and took the way of poverty without even having enough clothing and He did it to redeem people from all sins and poverty.
2. Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom of heaven and healed every kind of disease and sickness
After He overcame three tests in the wilderness, in Galilee Jesus began His public ministry of preaching and said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He called disciples, went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people (Matthew 4).
In the 2nd Chapter of John we are told that He began His ministry at a wedding feast in Cana in Galilee by manifesting the first sign of turning water into wine. He then went throughout all Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven and showed many signs and wonders.
One day, He opened eyes of a man who had been born blind. But the Pharisees didn't believe it and criticized Him. To them, the man whose eyes had opened boldly said, "Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing" (John 9:32-33).
Jesus who came as the Savior performed with God's amazing power and proclaimed the word of life so that people could believe Him and large crowds followed Him.
3. Jesus did only good and acted only in love
There was a woman who had had a sickness for 18 years caused by an evil spirit. She was bent double and could not straighten up at all. Jesus healed her on the Sabbath and the synagogue official, indignant, said, "There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day" (Luke 13:14). The official misunderstood the Word in Leviticus 23:3 that says, "For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest…" yet, he criticized Jesus who did only good.
If the official's own child had been suffering from a sickness caused by an evil spirit for 18 years and was healed of it through Jesus, he might have given thanks and glory to God with tears. However, though he taught the Law he didn't understand the love of God embedded in the Law. He was focused on seeking his own benefits, so he condemned Jesus as a sinner though Jesus had done only good.
In Luke 13:15-16 Jesus said, "You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?" He meant that it was a matter of course for God to set His children free from suffering just as people fed and took care of their livestock even on the Sabbath.
The Word of Jesus was soft and penetrated people's spirit and soul, so no one would dare to do Him harm no matter how evil they were. But instead they became rather humble before Him. Also the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him (Luke 13:17).
4. People tried to put Jesus to death without recognizing Him who came as the Messiah
Jesus performed an astounding work in Bethany (John 11). He said to Lazarus who had been dead and buried for four days, "Lazarus, come forth." Then, the man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings. Even though they witnessed it, the chief priests and the Pharisees didn't believe that Jesus had come as the Savior. Instead, they were filled with jealousy and they sought a way in which they might kill Him because they saw so many Jews coming to believe Jesus
They were people chosen by God, but they couldn't hear the voice of God. They persecuted God-sent prophets and failed to recognize their Messiah. Seeing them, how did Jesus feel? He felt sorrow and lamented just as He said in Luke 13:34, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!"
5. Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem humbly on a young donkey
What was the atmosphere like when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem to take the suffering of the cross? The chief priests had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it so that they might seize Him (John 11:57). Yet Jesus sat on a young donkey and entered into the city, Jerusalem, as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9. It was the way of death, but Jesus only obeyed the will of God.
At that time many Jews had come to the feast of Passover. Some took and waved palm tree branches that symbolized victory, others spread their coats in the road. Still others cut branches from the trees and spread them in the road. They began to shout, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!" (Mark 11:9-10)
Jesus came to Jerusalem in such an enthusiastic welcome. On Thursday night, prior to being seized, Jesus had the last supper with His disciples. He laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. And He began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel (John 13:3-11). Jesus did it to teach His disciples to serve others and sacrifice themselves all the more in preaching the gospel just as Jesus humbled Himself.
Jesus also gave hope for Heaven to them and encouraged them saying, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1). He also stated, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:18). He meant that He would be always with them by sending the Holy Spirit although He would no longer be with them in body after the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.
In Easter Performance 2004, Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem on a young donkey. Many people welcomed Him with shouts of joy, spreading their coats or branches cut from trees on the roadside and waving palm branches.
6. On Gethsemane Jesus prayed concerning His crucifixion
Before taking the cross, Jesus prayed on Gethsemane with an earnest heart to overcome the suffering He would be receiving. He said to God, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will" (Mark 14:36).
The suffering, distress and agony of the cross were something so excruciating that man finds it impossible to bear it. In the passion of the cross, on His body Jesus alone bore with the sins of all men and He was dismissed before God on behalf of sinners, which was unimaginably painful. But He said in prayer, "Remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will." He wanted to only follow the will of God.
Jesus prayed so fervently that Luke 22:44 says, "And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground." Right then, God may have felt more painful than Jesus did and shed tears. Nevertheless, God patiently endured with all these and allowed His Son to take the cross. It is God's heart to save us who became hostile towards God and practiced sin and evil. Then, how can we measure His great love?
In order to fulfill the duty of the Savior, Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, questioned by the high priests, and sentenced to the crucifixion by Pilate the governor.
7. Jesus was crucified to save all people
Jesus was finally taken to Golgotha and crucified there. It was to redeem men from their sins that He suffered many things by the hands of creatures and hung on the cross though He is the Son of God.
Jesus wore the thorny crown to redeem us from all sins committed in thoughts and His hands and feet were nailed through so that we could be redeemed from our sins committed by our hands and feet. As Hebrews 9:22 says without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness, He shed all His blood and He hung on the wooden cross on which everyone hung is cursed.
With forgiveness and love Jesus even interceded for those who were crucifying Him in such a torturous pain that was unbearable for a Man as He prayed saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."
Crucifixion is a form of slow and painful execution in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead. Jesus suffered hanging on the cross for as many as three hours. At noon, darkness fell over the whole land and lasted until 3 P.M. It shows us the anguish of God, who was watching His beloved and only begotten Son suffer, was so great that the sky became dark.
Right before His last breath, Jesus cried out, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" It means 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?' (Mark 15:34) It was Jesus' earnest plea towards mankind so that they would realize the love of God who wanted to save all men even by completely giving His dear Son on the cross and them to come to the way of salvation.
By saying, "I am thirsty," He allowed people to know why He had to die shedding blood and asked them to spread the gospel and lead many souls to salvation. Also, He said, "It is finished!" and "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." Having said these, He breathed His last (Luke 23:46).
The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, which symbolizes the wall of sins between God and us fell by Jesus becoming the atoning sacrifice for us. Therefore, anyone who has faith can enter the temple of God, pray, become God's children. They become able to communicate with God and enter the eternal kingdom of Heaven.
8. Jesus Christ overcame death, resurrected, and ascended into heaven
After being crucified and buried but before He resurrected, Jesus went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:19). Here, 'the spirits in prison' refers to the spirits of people who stayed in the Upper Grave. They had lived in good conscience and were worthy of salvation but died before Jesus was crucified.
Jesus had no original sin and no self-committed sin. He overcame death on the third day after the burial and resurrected. He appeared before Mary Magdalene first after the resurrection, and went to God and be clothed in God-given glory. Then, He appeared several times before His disciples including Peter and gave them hope for resurrection (John 20, 21). The resurrected Lord manifested that He was alive with many evidences during the next 40 days and showed Himself to approximately 500 brethren as well as His disciples (1 Corinthians 15:6).
In Acts 1, the resurrected Lord commanded His disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for 'what the Father had promised' which they heard about from Him (Acts 1:4). And He urged them saying, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Then, He ascended into heaven.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord who resurrected and ascended is now praying at the right hand of the throne of God for all men to be saved and preparing beautiful heavenly mansions for believers. As He promised in John 14:3, "I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also" the Lord will come on the cloud as the King of kings and the Lord of lords when the time comes (Acts 1:11). Hallelujah!
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