The Son of God Has the Evidence

June 25th, 2017

ICA Sunday Pulpit Message

(Intro)

It’s good to see you. Greet those around you. Have you had a good week? Today’s title is, “The Son of God has the evidence”. Something happened 20 years ago when I lived in Dallas. I went to pick up my children after school. I picked them up and I was on my way home. There was a stop sign. I stopped and then went. I saw a policeman giving a ticket to another person. He finished and then he stopped me. He said he was going to give me a ticket for not stopping. I wasn’t good at English at the time, so I just accepted it. There was a due date for a payment or go to a court hearing. I wrote stuff on the paper. I explained that I always went that way and I always stopped there. I said that because the policeman was giving a ticket to another person, he didn’t see me stop. It was a 4 way stop. With my camera, I took about 20 pictures of the place. I attached it to the letter. I drew a map as well. I wrote that my 3 kids were witnesses. I went to court with my kids. There were 10 other people there for the judge. I was the last. The judge said I was free to go. I didn’t understand what that meant. My kids said that I could go home. I didn’t have to pay any fine. At that time, I learned the saying, “free to go”. 10 people before me explained their situation. There was 1 man who was even yelling at a policeman. They all had to pay a fine. I had my evidence on my paper. My 2nd daughter explained it. So, only I got no punishment. I think that because I had evidence, I was able to go free. Something else happened 40 years ago. Former President Nixon was involved in the Watergate scandal. He was involved in wire-tapping. People found out. He denied it. After a thorough investigation, it was revealed. He was about to be impeached. He would be the 1st president to be impeached. So, he resigned. At that time, he was very popular. Before the evidence, he couldn’t do anything. He had to resign from his position. 2,000 years ago, Christians were persecuted. However, the early church people prayed and received power and evidence. They had the evidence and power from God. So, they couldn’t deny Jesus Christ as their king. The disciples with those evidences were able to preach the Gospel in Rome. Those with the evidence cannot be overcome. If you look at today’s scripture reading, the Son of God is not a normal person. The Son of God has the evidence. What I am trying to do is to explain how the Son of God has the evidence. We also have that evidence. When you hold onto that, you will have victory. If you hold onto the evidence that you are a son of God, then He will raise you up.  That is the taste of your walk of faith. Even if you are still, you will be rich. You might wonder why I am talking about money. I know you have hardships without money. When you don’t have money, you cannot overcome non-believers. That’s why we need to overcome financial problem. God will make you rich. God will give you the evidence. Since that isn’t taking place, you will suffer. You need to listen well.

1.      Jesus had the evidence of Christ

(1)    He revealed that He is the glorious God through transfiguration (Mt 17:2, 2 Cor 4:4, 2 Thes 2:14, Titus 2:13)

(2)    He revealed that he completed the Gospel through Moses and Elijah from the Old Testament (Mt 17:3)

(3)    He revealed that He is the Son of God as God the Father has spoken (Mt 17:5)

Today, Jesus revealed that is the Son of God. He went on the high mountains with 3 of His disciples. If you go up to the highest mountains, no one can follow you. Peter, John and James went with Him. Jesus is trying to share vital things. That is today’s scripture. His body transfigured. His face shined. His whole clothing changed to white. It seems like something out of a movie. They saw Moses and Elijah to His sides. They were the leaders thousands of years ago. It seemed like the Spirit came to them to have a conversation with Jesus. All of a sudden, there was a bunch of clouds and they heard a voice. God said, “"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" An average person cannot transform their body. However, Jesus changed. It is the evidence that Jesus is not an average person. It is the evidence that He is God of glory through His incarnation. Jesus is God. He is unique. He is the God who gave salvation. He will take care of you. Moses and Elijah came and obeyed Jesus. Moses was the leader of the law and Elijah was the leader of power. In the Old Testament, law and power is related to Jesus. In fact, the Ten Commandments talks about Jesus. The Tabernacle that Moses built signifies Christ. After the Exodus, the blood sacrifice represents Jesus. The clouds of pillar and fire and the manna represent Jesus. Elijah’s miracles represent Christ. And, Jesus was able to walk on water and cast out demons. He even revived the dead. Jesus is the main figure of the law and miracles. It is the evidence that He was the completion of the Old Testament. Also, there was a voice from the cloud. It is also written in Deuteronomy 18:15. God told Moses, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” The voice that Moses and Jesus heard were same. This is not just something usual. This was something to Jesus, who was the son of a carpenter.  God gave the evidence that Jesus is the Christ. Whether you believe it or not, Jesus came 2,000 years ago as the Son of God. He is the Christ who finished all the problem of our lives. He is God Himself. He only lived for 33 years, but performed formidable works. The servant usually dies for the king. However, the king died for his servants. He died on the cross. He did the for us. He died and resurrected. There is a vital meaning. He destroyed the devil who held the power of death. Everyone is afraid of ghosts and demons. We have to face death. That means that we are under Satan who holds the power of death. By rising again, He defeated Satan who held the power of death. After He died and ascended, He sent the Holy Spirit. Once you believe in Him and receive Him as you Lord, amazing spiritual changes will happen to you. He will enter inside of you. You will have the power of the Son of God. Even if your physical body dies, you will go to heaven. When you pray like Jesus, you will receive answers from God. When you pray in the name of Christ, evil spirits will flee. Jesus resurrected from the cross. You may face hardships, but God will raise you up. When you know the 3 things that Jesus did, He will take responsibility for your life. I have repeated that you don’t have to do anything. It is because people do strange things. Just be still. It is ok if you are thrown into a den of lions like Daniel. It is ok if you are enslaved like Joseph. Then, God will perform miracles. That will be your evidence. You could crumble down darkness. You can save people. God is alive. Even though I am weak and lacking, He saved me and will lead me. Possess the evidence and go forth.

2.      Jesus is continuously giving us evidences that He is the Christ

(1)    He is the only one who can give peace and joy in your heart (John 14:27, 16:33, 16:24, 17:13)

(2)    He is the only one who can save souls in your field (Acts 9:17, 9:27, 13:48)

(3)    He is the only one who can give blessings on the works that you do (Gen 39:23, 3 John 1:2)

There is evidence that God will give to us as He gave to Jesus. What is the change or evidence that you will have? You will have peace and joy in your heart. We are oppressed by worries and concerns. From that, you have depression. Many people have depression. People take meds and have counseling, but cannot solve their depression. When you entrust your worries to Jesus, you anticipate and pray. Then, He will answer you. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.”  “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” “"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” Depression will flee from you. That is the power of God. He could change your heart. You cannot do this while speaking in tongue. When you truly hold onto the Word and entrust everything to Him, the working of the Holy Spirit will take place. To what extent will you have peace and joy? Even if no one is helping you, you will be able to do it on your own. You may have financial problem. You may be upset when people ignore you. When things don’t work out, you are anxious. Once the Holy Spirit takes place, you will gain power regardless of people, incidents or works. You will have the eyes to see people around you differently. In the past, I received and gave out a lot of scars. However, you will see things differently. You will see how lacking a person is because you have strength. That is the spiritual power that God gave. When you don’t succeed in interpersonal relationships, you will avoid people. My mother knows how shy I used to be. I always cried in front of people. That is a spiritual problem. Then, I believed in Jesus. I was able to overcome that. Now, I meet too many people. You can change. You will give them answers instead of giving scars. You will influence people. You will have the power to guide them to church. Your relationships can change. That is the evidence. What is more vital are our lives. As we live our lives, we may have hardships. It isn’t easy to make a living. Not only that, you may have random suffering. Within that, God will give you restoration. You will discover the talents and skills that God gave. You will receive the answer of uniqueness if you go into deep prayer. Regardless of your hardship, if you have faith in the Holy Spirit, everything will change.  You will have the faith that God has the plan in the midst of sudden disasters. With faith and patience, everything will change. As a result, you will come to a realization, have peace and thanksgiving. Your life will change to the point where you always give thanksgiving. You will have the blessing of meetings. I am not saying for you to be drunk off blessings. Within that, we need to find the conclusion. ‘Everything can change with Jesus. He is the only one who can revive everything.’ You will realize that the secular things are nothing because Jesus changes and blesses me. You will have evidence. Everything is in Christ. It is not areligions. God created all creatures. He is with me. Even now, He guides and answers me. Most figures in the Bible were able to enjoy this kind of blessing. Some people had a misunderstanding that they needed to be strong and bold. Let me give you an example, Joseph. You all know that he suffered. However, there is no record of him complaining. That shows that peace and joy of God were upon his heart. His step-brothers sold him as a slave. However, he forgave them. He was prosperous as a slave, though. Then, he went to prison but received the answers from God. Then, he became the governor. When people are in that position because of corruption, they have a bad ending. However, Joseph kept rising up. The Bible says this about Joseph. In Genesis 39:2-3, it says, “The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did.” People think that Joseph suffered a lot and succeeded at the end. It is the opposite. If you are with God, He will change. It is the mystery of those who possess Christ. God is with me because of Christ. We are His Sons because of Christ. We pray in the name of Jesus and receive answers. God’s hidden plan will be fulfilled because of Jesus. Did Joseph believe in Jesus well? It never records whether he believed in Jesus. He entered inside of Christ completely. He earnestly held onto the covenant of his great-grandfather, which was Gen 3:15. That isn’t taking place in our life, so we have training. Joseph didn’t confess that 3 positions of Christ. He lived like Christ. A theologian studied Joseph’s life. His life was similar to Christ. Jesus and Joseph were loved by their fathers. Jacob loved Joseph the most in Genesis 37. In Matthew 3:17, Jesus was baptized and heard a voice form the heavens. "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." Jesus and Joseph surpassed their problems and ended up in high positions. Joseph became a governor of Egypt in Gen 41. In Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” He has the power in heaven and earth. He is Almighty God. They both suffered so much. People were against them both. Both also went to Egypt. They were both sold as slaves. Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife and Jesus was tempted by Satan. They were both bound and imprisoned. There were 2 people next to both of them. 1 believer and 1 non-believer. 1 denied Him while the other did not. Joseph cried for his brothers. Jesus cried for the Israelites. There are a lot of similarities between the 2. They both forgave and saved those who did wrong to them. Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!” Jesus restored and saved Israelites who nailed Him on the cross. Joseph heard Genesis 3:15 from his grandfather and imprinted it. It was imprinted into His life. The Lord is giving us this message so we can live just like Him. Have the spiritual eyes to see everything with the POV of Christ. Great fruits will come to us.

3.      Jesus shows the evidences to us as believers because He is with us (Acts 1:8)

(1)    Specialization only through the filling of the Holy Spirit (Gen 41:38)

(2)    Gospelizing that only Jesus is the Christ (Gen 37:3, Mt 3:17, Mt 41:41, Phil 2:9-11, Gen 45:5, Mt 1:21)

(3)    Globalization only for World Mission (Gen 41:56-57, Mt 28:18)

That is Ac 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;” It means that inside of the Holy Spirit, you will become specialists. Joseph became prosperous. Your work will become prosperous. Only Jesus will lead you that way. You need to ask everything to Jesus. ‘How can I raise my children well? How can I do my job the best? How can I study well?” Then, the spirit of God will make you prosperous. Daniel has to play golf with the filling of the Holy Spirit. If you don’t have this in your nature, you will waver according to the result of games. You will start to blame yourself. That is the being self-centered. Then, you will not receive great answers. May you receive the answer of specialization through the filling of the Holy Spirit. Remnants must pray for their studies with the filling of the Holy Spirit. If you can study well without the power of the Holy Spirit nor the name of Jesus and are imprinted, you won’t change.  You can gain degrees and achievements with your own power and effort. Thus, you will have your walk of faith in 2 separate ways. That is the deception of Satan. You must do it with the power of God to be able to focus.  Secondly, it is becoming a witness of Christ. What does it mean to become a witness of Christ? Everything in Christ needs to be revealed through my life. That is the process of Gospelizing. Joseph’s life was matched with Christ. Lastly, it is “to the ends of the earth” That is the globalization. Because of Jesus alone, God will bless me to follow Jesus and be prosperous to the extend where I am able to go the end of the earth.

(Conclusion) We are the witnesses who reveal that ‘everything is in Christ Jesus’. (Col 2:3)

Jesus is a unique being and everything in Him. God is leading you to be able to confess that. I bless that you will have that confession. I bless that you will discover yourself and have a blessing of meeting in Christ. May you receive the blessing of being prosperous. Everything is inside of Christ. It is a blessing when you enjoy the fact that God is with you. God has prepared everything so you need to find it!

 

(Prayer)

Almighty Father God, we lift up your name. Please pour down your grace so we can discard our powerlessness and ignorance to find Christ. We come to this conclusion and pray before You. Help us to have specialization, Gospelization and globalization in Christ. Allow us to find more than what I know and pray in Christ. In Jesus Christ name we pray, Amen.

Austin Immanuel