2015.8.16 礼拝

2015.8.16 礼拝

John 17:1-5 – 1 Jesus spoke these things and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the World was.

Message : “Know the Will of God”, that is,
1. Show the glory of God
2. Receive the glory of God.

The main purpose of the cross of Christ is not to save us. It was to fulfill the mission from the Father and bring glory to the Father, please the Father in heaven, and at the same time, receive the glory as the Son of God.

The universal system is built on this order. God created and supports the universe so that it will bring him glory and please him.

Unfortunately, God’s greatest creation – human – disobeyed and rejected to focus on God but rather wished to be like God by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. The result of refusing to put God first and in the center was doom and eternal death. The cable connected to God was pulled out like a robot rejecting recharg and losing its function.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God with ultimate authority, did not disobey the Father. He obeyed and did not stop to bring glory to the Father until the very end as written in Philippians 2:6-9. This is example that Christ set for us to copy and obey.

① Deny yourself and follow Christ
Matthew 16:24-26
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

② Understand the paradox of God and apply
When we deny ourselves and follow Christ, we can find the real happiness we seek. If we seek our own glory without God, we will not have glory. We will be blessed when we seek God’s glory. This is exactly the opposite from the earthly way of seeking happiness.

Matthew 6:31-33
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Let us practice this in our life, Let us use our time, money and energy in order to bring glory to God and put God first. There will be blessing beyond what human logic or common sense can imagine.